Frontera Audubon Thicket, 4/29/07

Got a late start today. Slept in till 8 which is pretty late for me. With school work to do, I wasn't going birding today, but then I looked out the bathroon window at the drip under the pittosporum and saw Kentucky Warbler, Gray Catbird and a singing Swainson's Thrush so I couldn't help myself. Mostly the same birds as yesterday at Frontera and it was really warm and humid. I was thinking about heading home and then I ran into Sean Smith who had just seen a female Black-throated Blue Warbler. That's a bird I need for the county list. They're rare as a spring migrant along the coast and really hard to find inland. I spent the next two hours wandering around looking for it and eventually found it next to the blind by the pond, the exact same place where Sean had originally found it. I only got to see the bird for a few seconds, noting the field marks, before it wandered into the dense brush. Still counts as Hidalgo County bird # 328. On the way out I refound the Black-billed Cuckoo who was laughing at me while I tried to photopgraph it with a dead battery. Oh well, still a good morning.

Here's a couple of bad warbler pics. No, actually they're good warblers. Just bad pics.





Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 5
Plain Chachalaca 12
Neotropic Cormorant 1
Great Egret 1
Green Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Laughing Gull 5
White-winged Dove 4
Mourning Dove 2
Inca Dove 4
White-tipped Dove 10
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 3
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 4
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 5
Great Kiskadee 4
Couch's Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 3
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Warbling Vireo 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
Black-crested Titmouse 4
Carolina Wren 2
Swainson's Thrush 3
Wood Thrush 1
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 2
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Tennessee Warbler 3
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 3
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 3
Summer Tanager 1
Olive Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Painted Bunting 1
Great-tailed Grackle 5
Bronzed Cowbird 2
Lesser Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 5

Frontera Audubon Thicket, 4/28/07

Birding started slow this warm, muggy morning at Frontera Audubon Thicket in Weslaco. I picked up a couple of warblers here and there and just kept making loops around the 14 acre park Things picked up later in the morning and by noon I had had fifteen species of warblers. I went back in the afternoon and got a couple more for a very respcectable 17 warbler day. However bird of the day goes to this Black-billed Cuckoo. Despite the poor pic you can still see his black bill and lack of rufous color.



Kentucky Warbler is always a hard one for me to find in Hidago County so I was happy to get this one for the year list.



Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 10
Plain Chachalaca 15
Great Egret 1
Green Heron 1
Gray Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Killdeer 1
Laughing Gull 13
White-winged Dove 8
Mourning Dove 1
Inca Dove 6
White-tipped Dove 8
Green Parakeet 2
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2
Groove-billed Ani 1
Chuck-will's-widow 2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Brown-crested Flycatcher 4
Great Kiskadee 4
Tropical Kingbird 2
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue-headed Vireo 4
Green Jay 1
Purple Martin 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 100
Barn Swallow 5
Black-crested Titmouse 3
Carolina Wren 3
Veery 2
Swainson's Thrush 4
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 2
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Golden-winged Warbler 1
Tennessee Warbler 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 4
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 2
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 1
Kentucky Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Wilson's Warbler 2
Canada Warbler 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 5
Summer Tanager 1
Olive Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Painted Bunting 2
Great-tailed Grackle 5
Bronzed Cowbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Baltimore Oriole 3
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 5

South Padre Island, 4/22/07

Heard that the Western Tanager was still at South Padre Island, so I headed out dark and early and arrived at the convention center to find photographers but no birders. They were sitting around like vultures waiting for it to get light and for migrants to show up at the little habitat patch. Didn't even have binoculars. I guess that's their business. It didn't take long to find the Western Tanager (Cameron County # 329) and his cousins. I normally don't like pics of birds at feeders or sitting on citrus but for these guys I'll make an exception.







Not too much else going on. Just a few warblers, including a Blackpoll at the convention center. A Sedge wren was in the uhm... sedge at the south end of the southeast parking lot. I headed on over to the mudflats beyond the swing bridge in Port Isabel and found a little flock of White-rumped Sandpipers.



Look at the size of the honker on this Wilson's Plover. There ain't no confusing it with a Semi-palmated Plover.

Frontera Audubon Thicket, 4/21/07

Not too much going on at Frontera Audubon Thicket this morning. Southerly winds have most of the migrants heading north. This Swainson's Thrush got pretty excited when I did a crude imitation of it's song.



Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 10
Plain Chachalaca 12
Great Egret 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 2
White-winged Dove 10
Inca Dove 6
White-tipped Dove 10
Chuck-will's-widow 1
Chimney Swift 10
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Brown-crested Flycatcher 2
Great Kiskadee 4
Couch's Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Purple Martin 1
Bank Swallow 1
Cave Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 10
Black-crested Titmouse 4
Carolina Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Swainson's Thrush 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 3
American Redstart 2
Common Yellowthroat 5
Hooded Warbler 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 5
Summer Tanager 1
Olive Sparrow 3
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Great-tailed Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Lesser Goldfinch 1

Yesterday evening I got lucky finding this male Blackpoll Warbler in the yard. It was new for my yard list, #146 and new for my Hidalgo County list, #327.



Two nights ago about 250 Mississippi Kites descended on the neighborhood.

Sal del Rey, 4/14/07

Things were kind of slow this morning at Sal Del Rey unit of the Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR. Many of the shorebirds have packed up and left. At least the wind kept the biting flies away. Best bird was my FOS Bullock's Oriole by the parking area. Snowy Plovers were scattered along the shore.



Sal del Rey is a hypersaline salt pan and was once a source of salt for colonial Spaniards and Native Americans. The white crust is salt.



Here a side by side of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs at the cienega.



Northern Bobwhite 2
Eared Grebe 700
Turkey Vulture 8
Harris's Hawk 1
Swainson's Hawk 1
White-tailed Hawk 1
Crested Caracara 2
Snowy Plover 18
Killdeer 2
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 60
Sanderling 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 10
Western Sandpiper 80
Least Sandpiper 80
Franklin's Gull 6
Gull-billed Tern 1
Mourning Dove 8
Common Ground-Dove 5
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2
Ash-throated Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 4
Couch's Kingbird 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
Horned Lark 1
Tree Swallow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Cliff Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 10
Verdin 2
Cactus Wren 1
Bewick's Wren 1
House Wren 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Curve-billed Thrasher 1
Cassin's Sparrow 2
Lark Sparrow 6
Pyrrhuloxia 2
Great-tailed Grackle 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Bullock's Oriole 1

Turtle tracks to oblivion.

Llano Grande Flood Channel, 4/12/07

Spent an hour this evening at the Llano Grande flood channel south of Estero Llano Grande State Park. The water level is receding and conditions should be perfect for shorebirds in a few days. Best bird was this American Bittern.



Blue-winged Teal 5
Cinnamon Teal 5
Northern Shoveler 40
Ruddy Duck 1
Neotropic Cormorant 5
Double-crested Cormorant 1
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 1
Snowy Egret 3
Tricolored Heron 2
Roseate Spoonbill 2
Northern Harrier 1
Sora 1
American Coot 4
Killdeer 1
Black-necked Stilt 20
American Avocet 40
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper 5
Western Sandpiper 5
Least Sandpiper 60
Stilt Sandpiper 20
Long-billed Dowitcher 50
Mourning Dove 20
Chimney Swift 2
Tree Swallow 5
Cliff Swallow 3
Barn Swallow 5
Common Yellowthroat 1
Savannah Sparrow 25
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Great-tailed Grackle 25

Frontera Audubon Thicket, 4/9/07

I arrived at Frontera Audubon Thicket this morning only to have Patty tell me of eight dead Chimney Swifts in the street in front of the park. I went out and picked up a couple to put in the freezer. They looked like OK specimens. Chimney Swifts roost in the old hacienda and my guess is they were flying low over the steet looking for something to eat in the record cold weather and got nailed by traffic. We later rescued two that were trapped inside the old hacienda and found another dead one.



Look at the "needles" on the rectrices of this dead Chimney Swift.



There was a nice warbler flock with ten species actively feeding in the cool damp weather. Too dark for pics.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 10
Plain Chachalaca 10
Snowy Egret 1
Green Heron 2
Broad-winged Hawk 5
White-winged Dove 1
Inca Dove 6
White-tipped Dove 10
Chimney Swift 20
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 8
Brown-crested Flycatcher 2
Great Kiskadee 2
Couch's Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 2
House Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Long-billed Thrasher 2
European Starling 1
Blue-winged Warbler 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 5
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Worm-eating Warbler 1
Ovenbird 3
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Hooded Warbler 2
Wilson's Warbler 1
Olive Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 25
Great-tailed Grackle 5
Altamira Oriole 1
Lesser Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow 1

Later in the afternoon I found these FOS Scarlet Tanager and Eastern Wood Pewee in the backyard. The Scarlet Tanager was about 40-50 yards away when I phtographed it.

South Padre Island, 4/8/07

I took Honey to work at 6 AM and went back home. The choice was to crawl back into my nice warm bed or head out in the cold windy drizzly darkness to South Padre Island to see what the storm had grounded. Sanity is not my strong point so I chose the later. I went by way of Rio Hondo and Hwy 106 to see the large flock of Fulvous Whistling Ducks and American Golden Plovers. The ducks were there along with the lingering Snow Goose but I could only find two plovers. Saw my first Pectoral Sandpipers for the year. A Mallard was unusual for Cameron County. Here's a photogenic Willet. Don't know if it's eastern or western and I don't care.



Headed over to the Island. There were a few migrants grounded by the cold wet weather. Best bird was a male Varied Bunting at the Convention Center which I saw for 0.89 seconds. Still counts as a county bird! Saw a couple of wet Upland Sandpipers



Here's a few cooperative warblers.







This Brown Trasher is rare for south Texas.

Santa Ana NWR, 4/6/07

My target today at Santa Ana NWR was Mississippi Kite. After my luck with the Swallow-tailed Kite yesterday I thought I waould take advantage of my lucky streak. I was on the hawk tower before 8 AM and it didn't take long to find a Mississippi Kite perched on s distant snag. Half an hour later several were up and heading north.



The Four Musketeers (Pat and Bob Dewenter and Sandy and Mark Turner) joined me just in time for some Franklin's Gulls.



And then the Anhinga show started. Large migrating flocks like this are fairly common in the spring.





Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 30
Mottled Duck 5
Blue-winged Teal 5
Northern Shoveler 15
Plain Chachalaca 15
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Neotropic Cormorant 8
Anhinga 400
Least Bittern 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 8
Snowy Egret 15
Little Blue Heron 15
Tricolored Heron 1
White-faced Ibis 2
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 40
Osprey 1
Mississippi Kite 14
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper's Hawk 1
Gray Hawk 1
Harris's Hawk 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 30
Swainson's Hawk 4
Merlin 1
Sora 1
Common Moorhen 5
American Coot 25
American Golden-Plover 5
Killdeer 1
Black-necked Stilt 2
Long-billed Dowitcher 5
Franklin's Gull 70
White-winged Dove 6
Mourning Dove 15
Common Ground-Dove 1
Chimney Swift 8
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Green Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 12
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 8
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 4
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 2
Couch's Kingbird 20
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 23
Loggerhead Shrike 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Green Jay 8
Tree Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 10
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 3
House Wren 3
Clay-colored Robin 1
Northern Mockingbird 5
Long-billed Thrasher 2
European Starling 1
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 10
Olive Sparrow 4
Lincoln's Sparrow 6
Northern Cardinal 1
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Great-tailed Grackle 15
Bronzed Cowbird 8
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Altamira Oriole 1

Sal del Rey, 4/5/07

Wow, what a great birding day! This morning I lay in bed trying to decide where to bird today on my first day of Easter break. With the stong north wind I decided to skip going to the hawk tower at Santa Ana and instead headed up to Sal del Rey to look for some county year birds. The wind had most of the shorebirds pushed into the southwest corner so I started the long slog along the muddy shore. The Eared Grebes are still there with the flock up to 700. I could see the Wilson's Phalaropes were still around so I moved in closer to get a good count and then I see this little white-crowned guy. My goodness, A Red-necked Phalarope amongst the 200 Wilson's. Four or five wintered here a few years ago.





Here's a couple of Wilson's Phalaropes.



Then I get a nice look at a two bull Nilgai (Wilson's Phalaropes in the foreground)





A White-tailed Deer splashed across the muddy shore. See the splash to the left. The animal was really flying!



Then 20 migrating American Golden Plovers flew low overhead. They had no interest in the hypersaline water and just kept on going. Also got my FOS Semi-palmated Sandpipers. On the way back to the car I saw a few Broad-winged Hawks starting to take to the sky. And then there was a big group of 200 high in the sky and headed north. Can someone tell me how the birds fly north with no flapping into a north headwind. I don't get it. Well, despite my success on the morning, the hawk flight got me to thinking I wish I had gone to the hawk tower. Maybe it would have been a good day for a Swallow-tailed Kite(I'm never satisfied.) I checked out Delta Lake on the way back to Weslaco. Nothing interesting. Then as I passed the baitshop-trailer park I saw some big fork-tailed something flying overhead. Holy-moly! I got my Swallow-tailed Kite. Gee, that's pretty weird.





I've been working hard lately. I think I deserve a day like this.

Northern Shoveler 1
Northern Bobwhite 1
Eared Grebe 700
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 10
Northern Harrier 9
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 220
Swainson's Hawk 1
White-tailed Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Crested Caracara 4
American Golden-Plover 20
Snowy Plover 10
Killdeer 2
Black-necked Stilt 2
Sanderling 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 8
Western Sandpiper 70
Least Sandpiper 150
Stilt Sandpiper 8
Wilson's Phalarope 200
Red-necked Phalarope 1
Mourning Dove 30
Common Ground-Dove 8
Great Horned Owl 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Great Kiskadee 2
Couch's Kingbird 10
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 12
Loggerhead Shrike 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Green Jay 2
Purple Martin 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 10
Cliff Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 4
Verdin 2
Cactus Wren 3
Bewick's Wren 3
House Wren 2
Northern Mockingbird 5
Cassin's Sparrow 2
Lark Sparrow 2
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Pyrrhuloxia 3
Great-tailed Grackle 5
Bronzed Cowbird 10

But then I get home and find this going on in the back yard. "Hey, What are you lookin' at?"

Santa Ana NWR, 4/1/07

I arrived at the hawk tower at Santa Ana NWR at 8:15 only to be joined a few minutes later by North America's premiere hawk expert, Bill Clark. Most of the morning was uneventful with a few resident Harris', Swainson's and Gray Hawks drifting by and only 25 migrant Broad-winged Hawks. It was educational to listen to Bill's behavoiral observation of a nearby female Harris' Hawk. The man has obviously spent a lot of intimate time with raptors. Bill's expertise really paid off when I spotted a distant dark broad-floppy winged raptor. I told Bill I had a candidate for a Hook-billed Kite and after locating the bird he confirmed my ID. The resident Northern Beardless Tyrannylet made a few territorial singing rounds about the tower to the delight a few visiting birders.

On the way out I stopped by Willow 1 to check out a calling Clay-colored Robin.



As I approached the levee near the entrance I happened to look up only to see hundreds of Broadwinged Hawks streaming across the sky. These were birds that had spent the night in Mexico on the other side of the stalled cold front. At noon they were just now crossing the Rio Grande in to the USA. The Broad-wings then formed a couple of huge kettles and ascended into the clouds. Magnificent!





Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 10
Plain Chachalaca 10
Neotropic Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Snowy Egret 6
Tricolored Heron 2
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 25
Osprey 1
Hook-billed Kite 1
White-tailed Kite 2
Northern Harrier 1
Gray Hawk 2
Harris's Hawk 4
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1200
Swainson's Hawk 3
White-winged Dove 1
Mourning Dove 8
White-tipped Dove 2
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 12
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 5
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 2
Great Kiskadee 8
Couch's Kingbird 20
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 5
Green Jay 2
Tree Swallow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 10
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 1
House Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Clay-colored Robin 2
Northern Mockingbird 3
Long-billed Thrasher 3
Olive Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Great-tailed Grackle 20
Bronzed Cowbird 10
Hooded Oriole 1
Altamira Oriole 2
Lesser Goldfinch 1