South Padre Island, 5/16/16

With the low pressure system that's been on top of us for the past day I figured maybe it was time to check out South Padre Island for some late migrants and empidonax.  It worked out great with plenty of photogenic warblers and cooperative empids to study.  I'll save the empids for a separate post.  Here's my first Bay-breasted Warbler for the year.

Plenty of Yellow Warblers about.

A dull female Blackburnian still looks pretty nice.

Magnolia Warblers spread their tails just like a redstart when they approach the water feature.

American Redstarts  were constantly showing off.

Non-warblers were also looking good like this female Scarlet Tanager.

And this male Western Tanager.

A pretty cool pose by this Veery.

Gray-cheeked Thrushes have been more common than usual this year.

Red-eyed Vireos really do have red eyes.

A Blue-headed Vireo.

Most years I miss Black-billed Cuckoo but this is my third one this year.

A lone Cedar Waxwing was checking out the water feature at the Convention Center.

A dull but still pretty Painted Bunting.

Here's a list.

Blue-winged Teal 6
Brown Pelican 2
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) 1
Tricolored Heron 1
Reddish Egret 1
Willet 1
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Sanderling 2
Laughing Gull 25
Least Tern 10
Royal Tern 20
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 3
Eurasian Collared-Dove 10
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Common Nighthawk 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 8
Eastern Wood-Pewee 6
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 5
Acadian Flycatcher 6
Alder Flycatcher 1 Calling "pep"
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher) 3
Least Flycatcher 2
Great Kiskadee 1
Eastern Kingbird 3
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Barn Swallow (American) 6
Veery 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush 2
Swainson's Thrush 1
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Tennessee Warbler 5
Common Yellowthroat 5
American Redstart 8
Magnolia Warbler 6
Bay-breasted Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler (Northern) 8
Chestnut-sided Warbler 8
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 2
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Western Tanager 2 male and female
Pyrrhuloxia 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Blue Grosbeak 1
Painted Bunting 1
Dickcissel 1
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Great-tailed Grackle 10
Orchard Oriole 5
House Sparrow 10