I was moving slow yesterday morning, trying to decide where I was going to bird, when the WhatsApp dinged. Bill Beatty had just found a Sage Thrasher at the Valley Land Fund's Sheepshead lot on South Padre Island. Sage Thrashers winter in variable numbers from year to year in the Valley but are always very uncommon to rare. I've seen quite a few in Hidalgo County, but the species has always eluded me in Cameron County. So I ran out there and there it was. Cameron County bird #416.
A real treat in our Progreso Lakes yard the past few days has been two immature White-crowned Sparrows. They seem to be enjoying the cover, free food and bird bath so I may have them for the winter. Today they were joined by a third. They seem to be of both of the subspecies that occur down here. This is the dark lored "oriantha" subspecies from the Rocky Mountains.
And this is the white lored "gambelii" from northern Canada and Alaska.
Meanwhile the Rio Grande Valley is hosting visitors from NE Mexico. So far reported are an Elegant Trogon, a Rose-throated Becard, six "Lawrence's" Dusky-capped Flycatchers, six Crimson-collared Grosbeaks and a couple of Blue Buntings. It's also been a good fall for butterflies so I'm wondering if the Mexican invasion is a result of good reproductive summer. Now it would be nice if one of these would show up in our yard.
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