Tropical Parula at Anzalduas, 11/2/09

This morning I coaxed Honey out of our nice warm bed on her day off to go birding at Azalduas County Park south of Mission. It was a magnificent, cool clear morning. We started by walking the large field at the entrance where we were able to flush a couple of Sprague's Pipits, my first of the fall. We then walked a lap through the trees scaring up an adult Gray Hawk and finally finding a decent flock of wintering passerines with Orange-crowned, Black-and-white and Yellow-throated Warblers. I struck out on the usual Northern Beardless-Tyrannulets. We then drove to the west end of the park above the dam. Checking out the grove of trees behind the cable near the dam I was happy to find this Tropical Parula. It appears to have a bit of an eye-crescent which is not uncommon for Tropical Parulas down here.





While I was digging out up the Tropical Parula, Honey spotted a Merlin on top on the dam. We then walked north along the edge of the water and turned up the resident Black Phoebe. There wasn't much going on below the dam All in all, the park was a bit slow but it was still a good morning of birding.



Pied-billed Grebe 1
Neotropic Cormorant 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Anhinga 1
Snowy Egret 1
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 60
Osprey 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Gray Hawk 1
Merlin 1
American Coot 15
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 1
Rock Pigeon 50
Mourning Dove 2
Inca Dove 10
Common Pauraque 1
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3
Black Phoebe 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Vermilion Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 8
Couch's Kingbird 1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Green Jay 10
Bank Swallow 1
Cave Swallow 3
Barn Swallow 200
Black-crested Titmouse 3
House Wren 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 12
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5
Northern Mockingbird 3
Sprague's Pipit 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 8
Tropical Parula 1
Yellow-throated Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 6
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Eastern Meadowlark 1
meadowlark sp. 72
Great-tailed Grackle 2
Lesser Goldfinch 4