Frontera Audubon Thicket, 4/27/09

We finally got a little rain last night to ease our sever drought. The local birds were all singing their heads off and a few migrants were around. Not a lot of birds but good diversity. Philadelphia Vireo passes though in small numbers each spring.



Here's a stunning Chestnut-sided Warbler, one of fourteen warblers species I saw this morning.



Fuzzy pic of a brilliant Golden-winged Warbler.



Black-throated Green Warbler.



One of seven Painted Buntings.



Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 10
Plain Chachalaca 15
Snowy Egret 1
Green Heron 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 2
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Laughing Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 4
White-winged Dove 10
Inca Dove 8
White-tipped Dove 10
Chimney Swift 10
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 5
Couch's Kingbird 2
White-eyed Vireo 4
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 3
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Green Jay 1
Bank Swallow 10
Cliff Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 20
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 4
House Wren 1
Northern Mockingbird 4
Long-billed Thrasher 6
Curve-billed Thrasher 1
Golden-winged Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 2
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Cerulean Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 4
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 1
Mourning Warbler 1
MacGillivray's Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 5
Yellow-breasted Chat 3
Olive Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 2
Indigo Bunting 2
Painted Bunting 7
Dickcissel 1
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Great-tailed Grackle 6
Baltimore Oriole 1
Lesser Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 6

Ruff at Hornsby Bend, 4/20/08

Yesterday morning I woke up at 5:30 AM and made the decision that I needed to see the Ruff (actually it's a female so it's a reeve) at Hornsby Bend sewerage treatment plant in Austin. Five hours and 330 miles later I'm looking at from about 50 yards. The only other Ruff I had ever seen was at a sewerage plant in Phoenix about 20 years ago. This poor pic was through my spotting scope.



There were plenty of other shorebirds around like this American Golden-Plover.



There were also several breeding plumaged Eared Grebes.



I didn't stay long as I still had the return trip ahead of me. This brilliant Hooded Oriole was in Rachal in Brooks County.

Willacy County, 4/13/08

Yesterday afternoon Honey and I made it over to Port Mansfield in Willacy County to see if any warblers were forced down by the cold front. Well the only warblers we could find were a Tennessee and a couple of Nashvilles. But we enjoyed the afternoon and I got a few new birds for my Willacy County list like Whimbrel and Franklin's Gull. I was surprised to see ten Pyrrhuloxia scattered about the town. They are leftovers from the winter invasion.



Here's another with two Curve-billed Thrashers and the Laguna Madre in the background.



This morning was perfect with temps in the 50's and low humidity. Something we don't get in the Valley too often. I headed up to the western side of Willacy county and found a few more birds for the list.

These Wild Turkeys were nice.



This was my first Bullock's Oriole for Willacy County.



I found Ash-throated and Brown-crested Flycatchers. Notice how much smaller the bill is on Ash-throated and how much paler it is compared to Brown-crested.





This Harris' Hawk was reluctant to leave his perch along the road.



Here's a Least Grebe.



And this photogenic Merlin was my final bird of the morning and increased my Willacy County life list to 181.



I wound up with 82 species for the morning.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 25
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 1
Gadwall 10
Mottled Duck 10
Blue-winged Teal 20
Northern Shoveler 20
Ruddy Duck 5
Wild Turkey 6
Northern Bobwhite 16
Least Grebe 5
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Anhinga 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Snowy Egret 3
Cattle Egret 1
Green Heron 2
White-faced Ibis 2
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 10
Harris's Hawk 3
Swainson's Hawk 7
White-tailed Hawk 1
Crested Caracara 6
American Kestrel 1
Merlin 1
Sora 3
Common Moorhen 8
American Coot 50
Killdeer 1
Black-necked Stilt 15
Solitary Sandpiper 3
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Least Sandpiper 2
Stilt Sandpiper 1
Long-billed Dowitcher 25
Eurasian Collared-Dove 1
Mourning Dove 60
Inca Dove 3
Common Ground-Dove 10
White-tipped Dove 1
Greater Roadrunner 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Ash-throated Flycatcher 2
Brown-crested Flycatcher 3
Great Kiskadee 3
Couch's Kingbird 5
Eastern Kingbird 1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 20
White-eyed Vireo 1
Green Jay 2
Horned Lark 1
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 10
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Verdin 3
Bewick's Wren 1
House Wren 1
Marsh Wren 1
Northern Mockingbird 15
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 6
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Summer Tanager 1
Olive Sparrow 1
Cassin's Sparrow 3
Lark Sparrow 10
Lincoln's Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 6
Pyrrhuloxia 1
Blue Grosbeak 1
Red-winged Blackbird 200
Great-tailed Grackle 50
Bronzed Cowbird 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 200
Orchard Oriole 1
Bullock's Oriole 2
House Sparrow 15

Frontera Audubon Thicket, 4/12/08

Nothing exciting at Frontera Audubon Thicket this morning. Eight Yellow-breasted Chats were the most I've ever seen there.



Then there were these Painted and Indigo Buntings.



And continuing the "birds on the fence" theme how about two Clay-colored Sparrows.



Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 40
Plain Chachalaca 15
Green Heron 1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
Mississippi Kite 1
Broad-winged Hawk 15
White-winged Dove 12
Inca Dove 6
White-tipped Dove 6
Chimney Swift 7
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Green Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 8
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Brown-crested Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 5
Couch's Kingbird 3
White-eyed Vireo 2
Barn Swallow 3
Black-crested Titmouse 4
Carolina Wren 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Clay-colored Robin 2
Northern Mockingbird 5
Long-billed Thrasher 5
Curve-billed Thrasher 1
European Starling 4
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 2
Northern Parula 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Ovenbird 2
Common Yellowthroat 7
Hooded Warbler 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 8
Summer Tanager 1
Olive Sparrow 2
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 10
Indigo Bunting 2
Painted Bunting 3
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Great-tailed Grackle 10
Bronzed Cowbird 2
Orchard Oriole 2
Baltimore Oriole 4
House Sparrow 10

Glossy Ibis at Santa ana NWR, 4/6/08

In my last post I mentioned spending some time examining an ibis in a flock of White-faced Ibis that I thought might be a Glossy. After posting the pics on Texbirds the vote is Glossy Ibis 9, White-faced Ibis 2. Glossy Ibis is a very local uncommon breeder in southeast Texas and more common farther east. It is very rare down here. Notice the slate-colored facial skin with a narrow white border in front of the eyes and brown eyes of the middle ibis. This time of year the White-faced have a reddish facial skin and red eyes. Some of the flock even had a broad white border surrounding the red facial skin.





So this makes Hidalgo County bird #333 for me and how many birders have seen a Blue Bunting and a Glossy Ibis in the same day? Not too many.

Santa Ana NWR, 4/6/08

Anticipating a big hawk flight this morning, I positioned myself early up on the tower at Santa Ana NWR. The Turners were up there hoping to see some Mississippi Kites. I told them I had one over our house last might. Well, the first two hours were really slow with only a handful of hawks. This Harris' Hawk has a nest nearby.



This Bronzed Cowbird was sitting eye-level on the lookout for females. A family of locals with their kids had climbed the tower just to look around. I let them look through the scope at the cowbird which at the time was the only thing close. The family didn't speak English except for a 12 or 13 year old boy who upon seeing the bird said "It has red eyes. Will it kill you?" In the land of chupacabras I guess cowbirds can be killers too.



Mark and Sandy called it quits at 10 AM and with a big bunch of kids climbing the tower I gave up also. Well, I was right about a big flight. The hawks were in Mexico and had not arrived yet. By the end of the day the hawk watch team on the levee had recorded 45,000 Broadwinged and 1000 Swainson's Hawks.

Meanwhile I decided to check out Pintail Lake. There was lots of the regular stuff but nothing too great. I had a small flock of warblers with Northern Parula, Nashville and Black-throated Green warblers. I spent some time studying a flock of White-faced Ibis trying to make one into a Glossy. Then as I was getting close to the levee and about to head back to the car, I did some pygmy owl calls in an area where I often find a warbler or too. I heard a "tink" call several times from the brush and then noticed a small black bird. Getting my binoculars on it I saw a bluish-black bird with a bright blue forehead and blue cheeks. Oh my goodness! It's a male Blue Bunting. As I tried to position myself for a photograph, the bird slipped deeper in the brush. It called a few minutes but I couldn't refind it despite some serious digging through the brush. I hate getting a good bird like this for only a few seconds. Hope someone else can find it but I'll be surprised if they do.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 30
Mallard (Mexican) 10
Blue-winged Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 12
Plain Chachalaca 5
Least Grebe 5
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Neotropic Cormorant 1
Anhinga 1
Great Blue Heron 3
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 15
Little Blue Heron 3
Tricolored Heron 4
Cattle Egret 7
Green Heron 1
White Ibis 1
White-faced Ibis 50
Roseate Spoonbill 1
Turkey Vulture 25
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Harris's Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk 3
Gray Hawk 1
Swainson's Hawk 3
Crested Caracara 1
Common Moorhen 2
American Coot 12
Killdeer 1
Black-necked Stilt 35
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 30
Long-billed Curlew 2
Least Sandpiper 17
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Stilt Sandpiper 5
Long-billed Dowitcher 3
Rock Pigeon 2
White-winged Dove 8
Mourning Dove 6
Inca Dove 2
White-tipped Dove 3
Groove-billed Ani 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Green Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 12
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 8
Couch's Kingbird 20
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 40
White-eyed Vireo 4
Green Jay 2
Barn Swallow 1
Black-crested Titmouse 6
Carolina Wren 5
House Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4
Clay-colored Robin 1
Northern Mockingbird 6
Long-billed Thrasher 4
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 5
Northern Parula 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 10
Olive Sparrow 6
Lincoln's Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 3
Blue Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 200
Great-tailed Grackle 10
Bronzed Cowbird 12
Lesser Goldfinch 1