Bald Eagle at Anzalduas County Park, 10/18/09

Gee, that's a subject line I never thought I'd write! This morning while birding with a my friend Mike Wertz at Anzalduas County Park (in Hidalgo County south of Mission) I spotted a large dark raptor raise above the levee as I drove past the central restrooms. Quickly we got out of the car and the bird came up again. In my scope I saw a very large dark raptor with a huge bill, dark head, neck and breast and paler belly with whitish splotches. In flight, the wings were long and rectangular, dark underneath with irregular whitish splotches and projecting finger-like primaries and held horizontally (not like the V dihedral of a Turkey vulture). The long broad tail was dark underneath as best I could tell. Certaninly not white based as in a Golden Eagle. I immediately recognized it as a juvenile plumaged Bald Eagle. We lost it from view after a minute. We then raced up onto the levee where I was able to refind it in the scope as it lazily circled, fairly low, in the distance. After several minutes it drifted into Mexico and vanished. I guess it was a migrating bird headed south but it conceivably could be hanging around the river at the base of Anzalduas Dam. I saw an adult once years ago at a lake near Cerralvo in NE Nuevo Leon (coincidentally also with Mike) so they must occasionally pass through the Valley. Anyway it was quite a surprise. While I was initially studying the eagle through the scope I didn't think about trying to get a pic. By the time I thought about it , the bird was almost gone.



The park was fairly dead with two Yellow-throated Warblers as the only warblers we saw. Hundreds of swallows circled over the water and the open field. We did not check for pipits. Saw my first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season and was pleased to find five House Finches near the first restrooms. Roy Rodriguez had reported them in the park last spring. The House Finches were my Hidalgo county bird #343 and the Bald Eagle was #344. It's hard to get two new county birds on the same day!





We finished the morning with a fine perched Merlin that gave great looks.



Mottled Duck 6
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Snowy Egret 2
Cattle Egret 3
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Roseate Spoonbill 2
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 20
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk 15
Gray Hawk 1
Swainson's Hawk 3
Merlin 1
Common Moorhen 2
American Coot 15
Killdeer 6
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 6
Laughing Gull 1
Rock Pigeon 200
White-winged Dove 2
Mourning Dove 4
Common Ground-Dove 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 4
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 1
Vermilion Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 2
Couch's Kingbird 20
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 1
Green Jay 10
Tree Swallow 5
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 50
Bank Swallow 1
Cave Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 500
Black-crested Titmouse 3
House Wren 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4
Northern Mockingbird 5
European Starling 1
Yellow-throated Warbler 2
Red-winged Blackbird 50
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Great-tailed Grackle 25
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Altamira Oriole 1
House Finch 5
Lesser Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 5