My Best Ever Bay-breasted Warbler, 5/7/26

A late "cold" front was trying to enter the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas yesterday and I thought it might cause something interesting to land at South Padre Island.  I headed east and after passing San Benito the WhatsApp dinged.  Tammy Bulow had just found a Sulphur Bellied Flycatcher at the Convention Center.  It's probably the same one that was seen at the Birding and Nature Center five days ago.  A second chance!

Well have half dozen birders or more searched thoughout the day but to no avail.  I checked my records and found I saw a Sulphur-bellied back in 2006 at the Convention Center back before I had a camera.  I saw another at Quinta Mazatlan in 2008 and got photos of that one.  So it's not the end of the world.  Meanwhile there were other migrants to see.

I really got spoiled with warbler photography last weekend and despite quite a few warblers around, I found few I cared to shoot at.  After a while at the Birding and Nature Center where I found this cool Epimelissodes petulcus, I returned to the Convention Center.

Long time Valley bird photographer Larry Ditto and another photographer whose name I can never remember had chairs pulled up to the water feature waiting for action.  I may be a snob but I find most "photographers" have terrible nature observation skills.  They can only get photos if the bird is in their face.  But this afternoon they had warblers in their face and I joined in.

Most of the photo opps were OK but still not as good as I had last weekend.  The one exception was the Bay-breasted Warbler.  I was closer to them last week but the lighting and angles were always off.  This bird coming in to the Convention Center drip was really putting on a show.

 

Bay-breasted Warblers are just uncommon enough to always be a treat in the valley.  Their unique coloring is unlike any other bird species I know.  So no Sulphur-bellied Flycathcer but still a good day.