Frontera Audubon Thicket, 5/3/11

A nice cold front blew in yesterday and grounded some migrants causing a pretty good birding day around Weslaco for the first time this spring. I spent the morning at Frontera Audubon Thicket and ran up a list of 68 species including 14 warblers. I'm always happy to see a Blackburnian Warbler but wish they would be more photogenic.



Huck found this Philadelphia Vireo last week and it's still around. I missed it for the county last year.



Another bird I missed last year in Hidalgo County was Scarlet Tanager. I saw this one as I was leaving the Thicket.



After lunch and a nap I decided I needed to check ou the Valley Nature Center as Raul had seen a bunch of warblers there during the morning. After entering, a nice lady told me she had just seen a Golden-winged Warbler and I found it easily. This is another species I don't see every year.



Yesterday I saw my first Kentucky Warbler for the year and I got another today at VNC.



Canada Warblers always seem to be in the shade making for difficult photography.



So an hour and a half at the VNC turned up eleven warbler species making for 16 on the day. Not too bad. Here's my list for Frontera.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 20
Plain Chachalaca 12
Snowy Egret 1
Green Heron 1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 3
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Gray Hawk 1
Laughing Gull 3
White-winged Dove 12
Inca Dove 1
White-tipped Dove 6
Green Parakeet 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Chuck-will's-widow 1
Chimney Swift 10
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 12
Green Kingfisher 2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 6
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 2
Empidonax sp. 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
Brown-crested Flycatcher 5
Great Kiskadee 4
Couch's Kingbird 1
Eastern Kingbird 2
White-eyed Vireo 3
Warbling Vireo 3
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Bank Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 1
Black-crested Titmouse 4
Carolina Wren 2
Swainson's Thrush 1
Clay-colored Thrush 1
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 4
Long-billed Thrasher 3
European Starling 1
Tennessee Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 5
Chestnut-sided Warbler 5
Magnolia Warbler 5
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 2
American Redstart 8
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 1
Mourning Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
Canada Warbler 3
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Olive Sparrow 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 5
Indigo Bunting 1
Painted Bunting 4
Great-tailed Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Orchard Oriole 5
Altamira Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 6
Lesser Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 1