More Great Migrants on South Padre Island, 4/25/26

After fun on the SPI flats, I ran over to the nearby Convention Center just in time for lunch.  Parking spots were filled by participants of some even at the Center but I still managed a close one just in time for lunch by the water feature.  My peaceful lunch was soon interruped by a loud ringing warbler chip.  I was expecting a Hooded Warbler or a waterthrush but instead found this Kentucky Warbler.

  Back to work after lunch.  I like the screwy plumage on this young male Baltimore Oriole.

Common Yellowthroat at the water.

A couple of birders joined me by the water feature as this Yellow Warbler came in.

One of them told me he had just seen a Worm-eating Warbler.  Dang!  I would like to see that.  A perky Ovenbird stole my attention.

Then something small and brown was digging around for bugs in the leaves.  I was expecting the Worm-eating Warbler, but saw someting better.  It was a Swainson's Warbler!  I suggested to the birder next to me that this may have been his Worm-eater.  He concurred.  We stayed on it and eventually got nice shots.  Pretty fantastic!

My other goal for the day was to see the Cape May Warbler.  A couple reported seeing it earlier in the morning but i couldn't find it.  So here's a couple of Tennessee Warblers.

Nothing new was happening so I mosied on down to Sheepshead.  As soon as I got out of the jeep I heard "Black-troated Blue Warbler."  It was a real skulker in the SW corner that refused good photographs despite a bunch of us looking for it.  These trans-Gulf migrants are hard to get in the RGV.

Meanwhile the Chestnut-sided Warbler was posing for photos.

It's been a good spring for Prothonotary Wrblers.

Finally got a Worm-eating Warbler on the day.  This one is an orange eater.

Friendly Hooded Warbler.

First Veery for the year.

Sixteen species on warblers on the day including Swainson's and Black-throated Blue along with a Parasitic Jaeger makes  for a pretty good day.

Parasitic Jaeger on SPI Convention Center Flats, 4-25-26

A possible Parasitc Jaeger has been hanging out on the mudflats north of the Convention Center at South Padre Island for the past couple of days.  Excellent photos from Friday showed it to be missing a foot so I thought it might be easy to find and maybe not surviving too long.  I drove out Saturday morning and found the flats muddy but firm enough to drive on.  I skirted the north edge and easily found the loafing jaeger.

Compare this bill to the huge ones on these Pomarine Jaegers from a long ago pelagic birding trip.

Looking at images online, these broadly barred under wing tertial coverts might also be a field mark for Parasitic Jaeger.  On Pomarine they seem  morre finely barred but I don't see this mentioned anywhere as a field mark.

There was also a fun little flock of ten Common Terns.  We usually get Forster's Terns.  A few Common Terns will winter amd are easy to ID by the carpal bar.  Here's a couple of breeding plumaed adults with one still in winter plumage.  The dark outer web of the outer rectrices has long been known as a field mark for Common Tern.  Forster;s Tern has a larger more orange bill.

If it stands, this Parasitic Jaeger is Cameron County bird species #443 for me.  No one else is close.