South Padre Island, 2/28/10

With Honey at work today, my old teaching colleague Mike and I headed out to South Padre Island to see what was about. Still a bit early for spring migrants. We spent a few hours walking the boardwalks at the SPI Birding and Nature Center. Nothing unusual was going on but there's always interesting stuff to see. I enjoyed this Black Skimmer cruising by.



Here's a frantically feeding bunch of Roseate Spoonbills.



The Ardeids were looking sharp in their prenuptial finery. Normally I don't look twice at Great Blue Herons but I made an exception for this one.



A very tame Reddish Egret.



This Little Blue Heron dared me to get close.



There was not a lot of shorebird diversity, mostly Dunlin, Willits and both Yellowlegs. This was the only Marbled Godwit.



Yellow-rumped Warblers will be around a few more weeks before the main spring warbler invasion occurs.



After the boardwalk we drove the beach looking for unusual gulls. I think this may be a first cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull but I'm open to suggestions. Looks a lot like 27.11 in Howell and Dunn.



Here's some good looking Brown Pelicans.



We finised the day with some good food and suds at the SPI Brewery and some more at the Wahoo Saloon. A nice day was had by all!

Bentsen State Park, 2/16/10

After returning from taking my dad up to see Sal del Rey I got the call from Mary Gustafson and also from David Dauphin that an Aztec Thrush had just been found at Bentsen State Park south of Mission. So I rushed right over and spent a couple of hours looking for it but was not able to refind it. I guess I'll give it another go tomorrow. But on the way in I was happy to tick my Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl for the year. It was just south of the maintenance building where it has been heard lately.



Son of Smudge, the offspring of a supposed Altimira/Audubon's Oriole hybrid was hanging out at the feeding station.



I tried to make this bunting into a Lazuli but the whitish throat and faint streaking on the sides point to Indigo.



Here's a Snowy Plover from this morning's walk into Sal del Rey. My dad is 80 years old and made the 1.5 mile walk just fine. I hope I can do that when I'm that old.

Frontera Audubon Thicket, 2/14/10

Last weekend witnessed the demise of our visiting Roadside Hawk. Feathers were found on the trail near the photo blind that fit those of a Roadside Hawk. Breast and fight feathers were collected to be sent of to Dr. Arnold at Texas A&M to be examined. Not much was left when I visited in the afternoon. My guess is it was nailed by one of the other local raptors, perhaps the Cooper's Hawk or Red-shouldered Hawk or maybe even Red-tailed Hawk. I don't think a Great Horned Owl would have plucked its prey. Sad, but this stuff happens in nature. But, luckily for birders, another Roadside hawk is being seen up at Falcon State Park.



Yesterday I visited but didn't see anything too great. Here's a female Green Kingfisher.



And a fat White-tipped Dove.



Plain Chachalaca 6
Pied-billed Grebe 1
American White Pelican 18
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 150
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Gray Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 1
Inca Dove 5
White-tipped Dove 8
Red-crowned Parrot 1
Green Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Great Kiskadee 2
Couch's Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 2
Green Jay 2
Black-crested Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 2
House Wren 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Northern Mockingbird 5
Long-billed Thrasher 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 6
Tropical Parula 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Wilson's Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Altamira Oriole 2

Santa Ana NWR, 2/9/10

'Twas a cool, blustery morning at Santa Ana NWR. Not much going on. I really had to work to dig out a few warblers and kinglets. It's not too good when a Wilson's Warbler is the best bird of the morning. And a not too good picture either.



Blue-headed Vireo.



Gadwall 100
Mottled Duck 4
Blue-winged Teal 15
Northern Shoveler 100
Northern Pintail 4
Green-winged Teal 2
Green-winged Teal (American) 3
Ring-necked Duck 7
Ruddy Duck 3
Plain Chachalaca 2
Least Grebe 12
Pied-billed Grebe 5
Neotropic Cormorant 5
Great Egret 9
Snowy Egret 1
Tricolored Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 3
Turkey Vulture 3
Harris's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Common Moorhen 12
American Coot 100
Black-necked Stilt 3
Mourning Dove 1
White-tipped Dove 2
Green Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 3
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 9
Eastern Phoebe 4
Vermilion Flycatcher 2
Great Kiskadee 13
White-eyed Vireo 3
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Green Jay 10
Tree Swallow 4
Cave Swallow 2
Black-crested Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 3
House Wren 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 14
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 10
Clay-colored Thrush 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler 15
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 7
Wilson's Warbler 1
Olive Sparrow 4
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Altamira Oriole 1
House Sparrow 1

On the way home I passed a recently mowed field with a dozen young White-tailed Hawks looking for mouse corpses.

Edinburg Scenic Wetlands, 2/7/10

I headed over to Edinburg Scenic Wetlands this morning to look for the Northern Flicker that has been present the past few weeks. I couldn't find it but was happy to find only my second-ever-for-Hidalgo County Field Sparrow.





Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 45
Gadwall 25
Blue-winged Teal 120
Northern Shoveler 100
Green-winged Teal (American) 20
Lesser Scaup 10
Ruddy Duck 40
Least Grebe 7
Pied-billed Grebe 2
American White Pelican 3
Neotropic Cormorant 5
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Blue Heron 7
Snowy Egret 3
Cattle Egret 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 13
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 1
Common Moorhen 15
American Coot 65
Killdeer 5
Black-necked Stilt 13
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Least Sandpiper 7
Stilt Sandpiper 2
Long-billed Dowitcher 35
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 3
Inca Dove 4
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Great Kiskadee 2
Couch's Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 2
Blue-headed Vireo 1
House Wren 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4
Northern Mockingbird 6
Curve-billed Thrasher 4
American Pipit 3
Orange-crowned Warbler 13
Yellow Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 50
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Field Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Great-tailed Grackle 20

Crimson-collared Grosbeak at Quinta Mazatlan

The amazing onslaught of rarities continues in south Texas. A couple of days ago a male Crimson-collared Grosbeak was found in McAllen at the Quinta Mazatlan branch of the World Birding Center. This morning I was able to find the bird feeding on Coyotillo berries and get a couple of photos before it was chased away by a mockingbird.





Quita Mazatlan also has its own Tropical Parula feeding on citrus, much like the one at Frontera.





Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 8
Plain Chachalaca 25
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Long-billed Curlew 1
White-winged Dove 22
Mourning Dove 4
Inca Dove 2
Common Ground-Dove 2
White-tipped Dove 4
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2
Great Kiskadee 5
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Green Jay 5
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Clay-colored Thrush 1
Northern Mockingbird 4
Long-billed Thrasher 4
Curve-billed Thrasher 3
European Starling 5
Cedar Waxwing 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 10
Nashville Warbler 1
Tropical Parula 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Summer Tanager 1
Crimson-collared Grosbeak 1
Northern Cardinal 3
House Sparrow 100

Boca Chica Beach, 2/2/10

Lately there have been all these reports of great birds at Boca Chica Beach east of Brownsville. People have reported Brown and Masked Boobies, Great Black-backed Gull and Pomarine Jaegers. So I went to have a look for myself as these would all be great year birds. All I got were a bunch of gannets and some messed up gulls. These photos taken from the end of the south jetty show 1st year, 2nd year and adult Nortern Gannets. I tried to turn some of them into boobies but failed.







This heavily streaked adult Ring-billed Gull made me want to turn it into a California but then I noticed the yellow eyes.



These two first cycle American Herring Gulls show moderate and extensive post-juvenile scapular molt. At least that what I figured out from Howell and Dunn's "Gulls of the Americas."





This trio of Eared Grebes were hanging out close to shore.



A big bird went by.



These Sanderlings were in a hurry to get to the party!



This Reddish Egret begged to have its picture taken.