Estero Llano Grande State Park, 5/27/07

My target bird this morning at Estero Llano Grande State Park was Purple gallinule. They are an uncommon summer resident in Hidalgo County. After walking around most of the ponds I thought I was out of luck but then found this guy feeding along Ibis pond. I finally got this poor pic of him in a mesquite.



Not much else going on. The small egret rookery was busy.



Brown-crested Flycatcher.


Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 20
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 9
Mottled Duck 1
Blue-winged Teal 2
Green-winged Teal 1 late
Ring-necked Duck 1 late
Plain Chachalaca 5
Least Grebe 3
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Neotropic Cormorant 8
Great Egret 5
Snowy Egret 10
Little Blue Heron 10
Tricolored Heron 1
Green Heron 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
White-faced Ibis 1
Purple Gallinule 1
Common Moorhen 5
American Coot 30
Killdeer 5
Black-necked Stilt 5
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Least Tern 2
White-winged Dove 10
Mourning Dove 5
Inca Dove 2
Common Ground-Dove 3
White-tipped Dove 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Common Nighthawk 1
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Green Kingfisher 2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Alder Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 8
Great Kiskadee 6
Couch's Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 2
Purple Martin 2
Cave Swallow 20
Barn Swallow 1
Black-crested Titmouse 1
Northern Mockingbird 6
Long-billed Thrasher 1
European Starling 5
Olive Sparrow 2
Lark Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Great-tailed Grackle 50
Bronzed Cowbird 1
Lesser Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 5

Sal del Rey, 5/20/07

Nothing exciting this morning at Sal del Rey unit of the Lower Rio Grande NWR. Best birds were a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers acting territorial. This is pretty much the south end of their breeding range. Most of the shorebirds are gone. This Wilson's Phalarope was being photogenic.





There were about 40 White-rumped Sandpipers around.



It's hard to imaging how these birds can feed in water that is so saline. This is salt precipitate forming as the water in the lake evaporates.



There's usually something cool to see at Sal del Rey. This time I ran into a heard of 15-20 feral hogs near the cienega. These are the descendents of hogs originally brought over by the Spaniards.



And then there's everyone's favorite insect, low man on the totem pole, the humble tumble bug. This guy's got some fresh nilgai dung. Yum!



Here's a Greater Roadrunner.



Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 5
Mottled Duck 2
Blue-winged Teal 1
Northern Bobwhite 6
Eared Grebe 1
Turkey Vulture 3
Crested Caracara 1
Snowy Plover 10
Killdeer 2
Black-necked Stilt 1
White-rumped Sandpiper 40
Baird's Sandpiper 1
Wilson's Phalarope 20
Laughing Gull 3
Gull-billed Tern 2
Mourning Dove 10
Common Ground-Dove 10
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Alder Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 5
Western Kingbird 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 3
Cliff Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 5
Verdin 2
Cactus Wren 2
Bewick's Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Northern Mockingbird 5
Curve-billed Thrasher 2
Yellow Warbler 2
Cassin's Sparrow 1
Lark Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 1
Pyrrhuloxia 2
Blue Grosbeak 4
Painted Bunting 2
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Great-tailed Grackle 4
Bronzed Cowbird 10
House Sparrow 1

Santa Ana NWR, 5/19/07

Nice cloudy, cool morning at Santa Ana NWR. I didn't see anything great but ten species of warblers were a bit unexpected this late into the spring. Every spring I hear Empidonax flycatchers that make a loud, repetetive, vigorous "schpeek" call. Today I saw one that was oviously Yellow-bellied Flycatcher doing the call, but I saw a couple of others that were browner and less yellow below giving the same call. Last September I was calling these Acadian Flycatchers but was told Acadians migrate later and that they were Yellow-bellieds. So I remain a bit confused but this is a for sure Yellow-bellied.



There were plenty of Red-eyed Vireos today.



Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 6
Blue-winged Teal 2
Northern Pintail 1
Plain Chachalaca 10
Least Grebe 1
Neotropic Cormorant 2
Great Egret 10
Snowy Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 3
Tricolored Heron 2
Green Heron 1
Harris's Hawk 1
Common Moorhen 1
Killdeer 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Stilt Sandpiper 1
White-winged Dove 35
Mourning Dove 6
Inca Dove 1
Common Ground-Dove 1
White-tipped Dove 3
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 10
Groove-billed Ani 7
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Lesser Nighthawk 1
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 12
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 4
Brown-crested Flycatcher 10
Great Kiskadee 6
Couch's Kingbird 4
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 4
Philadelphia Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 12
Green Jay 1
Barn Swallow 2
Cliff Swallow 4
Black-crested Titmouse 5
Carolina Wren 3
Northern Mockingbird 10
Long-billed Thrasher 10
Clay-colored Robin 4
European Starling 1
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Magnolia Warbler 3
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 3
Common Yellowthroat 12
Olive Sparrow 10
Northern Cardinal 4
Indigo Bunting 2
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Great-tailed Grackle 15
Bronzed Cowbird 12
Hooded Oriole 2

Frontera Audubon Thicket, 5/13/07

Beautiful sunny Sunday morning at Frontera and I had it all to myself. Nothing exciting but good numbers of migrants were nice after all the windy birdless days. This scruffy Kentucky Warbler was one of eleven species of warblers.



The boardwalk over the wetlands at the back of the refuge is now complete and the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks put it to good use.





Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 20
Plain Chachalaca 15
Gray Hawk 1
White-winged Dove 10
Inca Dove 5
White-tipped Dove 6
Red-crowned Parrot 2
Chimney Swift 8
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 12
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 2
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Alder Flycatcher 2
Least Flycatcher 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Brown-crested Flycatcher 3
Great Kiskadee 5
White-eyed Vireo 2
Warbling Vireo 6
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Purple Martin 2
Cliff Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 2
Black-crested Titmouse 3
Carolina Wren 4
Swainson's Thrush 5
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 2
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Cedar Waxwing 25
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 3
Kentucky Warbler 2
Mourning Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 2
Wilson's Warbler 3
Canada Warbler 8
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Olive Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 3
Great-tailed Grackle 10
Bronzed Cowbird 1
Hooded Oriole 1
Lesser Goldfinch 4
House Sparrow 8

Cameron County, 5/12/07

I decided to work on my Cameron County year list today. First stop was to get the Tamaulipas Crows that are nesting near the Brownsville airport. Years ago hundreds of these, then known as "Mexican Crows", would spend the winter at the Brownsville city landfill. Now only a few remain and they're not present every year. I got this one along Hwy 4 just west of Vermillion St. He even let out his pathetic "uhgghh" call. Sounds more like a belch than a bird call.



Next on the list was Sabal Palm Sanctuary. Driving along the entrance road just south of the levee I heard the song of the Yellow-green Vireo Mary Gustafson had discovered last week. The song is quite similar to Red-eyed but slower with a few burry notes like Yellow-throated. Not a great pic but you can see it's got a lot of yellow below.



I wanted to see the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat that has been present for the last few years. I saw one there several years ago and saw my first there back in 1988. No luck today. I ran into a birder who said he saw it singing from a tree near the far end of the boardwalk. I walked back there and found a singing yellowthroat in a tree at the end of the boardwalk. Unfortunately it was a Common Yellowthroat. Hmmmm. I sure run into this a lot.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 4
Mottled Duck 3
Plain Chachalaca 10
Least Grebe 6
Great Blue Heron 2
Green Heron 6
Common Moorhen 3
American Coot 2
White-winged Dove 1
Mourning Dove 10
Common Ground-Dove 6
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 8
Groove-billed Ani 1
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 3
Great Kiskadee 5
Couch's Kingbird 2
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Yellow-green Vireo 1
Green Jay 2
Black-crested Titmouse 4
Carolina Wren 8
Veery 1
Swainson's Thrush 2
Northern Mockingbird 2
Long-billed Thrasher 5
Cedar Waxwing 100
Yellow Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Canada Warbler 1
Olive Sparrow 8
Northern Cardinal 4
Painted Bunting 1
Great-tailed Grackle 10
Bronzed Cowbird 3
Baltimore Oriole 2
Lesser Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow 3


I thought about heading home at this point but decided South Padre Island might be worth a try. It turned out pretty good. Quite a few warblers around like this really sharp Black-and white Warbler.



There were also lots of Empids and dozens of Eastern Wood Pewees. For the third week in a row I fownd a Black-billed Cuckoo. This was my first for cameron County.



Earlier in the day birders had discovered another Yellow-green Vireo at the convention center. I only caught a glimpse of it. Interesting was a huge flock of Black Terns resting on the mudflats behind the convention center.





Reddish Egret 3
Cattle Egret 15
Roseate Spoonbill 2
Osprey 1
Black-bellied Plover 4
Semipalmated Plover 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 3
Willet 2
Ruddy Turnstone 10
Sanderling 5
Least Sandpiper 5
White-rumped Sandpiper 4
Baird's Sandpiper 3
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Short-billed Dowitcher 25
Laughing Gull 100
Franklin's Gull 10
Royal Tern 30
Sandwich Tern 100
Forster's Tern 50
Least Tern 5
Black Tern 2500
Rock Pigeon 10
Eurasian Collared-Dove 6
Inca Dove 4
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 5
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 5
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee 25
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Alder Flycatcher 2
Least Flycatcher 4
Brown-crested Flycatcher 1
Couch's Kingbird 1
Western Kingbird 5
Eastern Kingbird 15
White-eyed Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Yellow-green Vireo 1
Bank Swallow 20
Cliff Swallow 20
Barn Swallow 200
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Veery 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush 1
Swainson's Thrush 5
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 2
Cedar Waxwing 80
Tennessee Warbler 2
Northern Parula 2
Yellow Warbler 3
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Magnolia Warbler 12
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 3
Bay-breasted Warbler 3
Black-and-white Warbler 4
American Redstart 10
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Kentucky Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
Summer Tanager 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 4
Great-tailed Grackle 10
Orchard Oriole 8
Baltimore Oriole 10
House Sparrow 5

I finished the day with this pair of Aplomado falcons along Hwy 100. Turned out to be a good day of birding in the valley.

Frontera Audubon thicket, 5/5/07

Don't know if the thermometer went below 80 this morning. It was warm, windy and muggy at Frontera this morning with few migrants around. Only three warblers. I'm sure they're taking advantage of the southerly winds and travelling north. I found another, or the same as last weekend, Black-billed Cuckoo. They're very uncommon in south Texas in migration.



This Olive Sparrow was singing and having a good time while his wife was scrounging around on the ground for nesting material. Mother Nature knows best!



Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 10
Plain Chachalaca 15
Green Heron 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1
White-winged Dove 8
Inca Dove 4
White-tipped Dove 10
Green Parakeet 7
Red-crowned Parrot 5
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Common Pauraque 1
Chimney Swift 10
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 2
Great Kiskadee 6
Purple Martin 2
Barn Swallow 1
Black-crested Titmouse 4
Carolina Wren 2
Gray Catbird 3
Northern Mockingbird 1
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 1
Olive Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 4
Indigo Bunting 1
Great-tailed Grackle 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Lesser Goldfinch 2

Last night I checked out the ponds at Llano Grande. Found a White-rumped Sandpiper and two Pectoral Sandpipers. This Long-billed Dowitcher and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron were looking sharp.