"Western" Flycatcher at Bentsen, 1/15/11

I heard from Mary that someone had found a possible "Western" Flycatcher at Bentsen Rio Grande State Park yesterday. So I got up this slightly warmer but drippy morning to look for it. This first day of precipitation after several rainless months really made the birds active. Orange-crowned Warblers were all over the place and there was plenty of action while I searched for yet another mystery empid. Finally after three hours of walking the Acacia Loop trail numerous times in the vicinity of the feeding station, The "Western" Flycatcher showed up right where it was seen yesterday. Dark skies didn't help my weak photography skills.



Up seeing it and firing a few pics I tried whistling my version of the Cordilleran Flycatcher "who-wheet" call. The bird immediately jumped to a new perch. However it failed to respond to any more of my calls. Odds are greatly in favor of this being a Cordilleran Flycatcher which is resident south of here in the Sierra Madre Oriental as opposed to Pacific-slope Flycathcer which is a west coast species. Whichever it is, it's still my Hidalgo County bird #361. I've been on a roll lately!



While waiting for the empid I saw my second Tropical Parula for the year.



One of my goals today was to find the Pine Siskins reported earlier. They are not annual down here. Luckily one popped up for a bad photo.



Plain Chachalaca X
Gray Hawk 1
White-winged Dove 1
Mourning Dove 1
Inca Dove 14
Common Ground-Dove 2
White-tipped Dove 15
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1
Ringed Kingfisher 2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 12
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 1
Pacific-slope/Cordilleran Flycatcher (Western) 1
Eastern Phoebe 7
Vermilion Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 6
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Green Jay X
Black-crested Titmouse 2
House Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10
Hermit Thrush 1
Northern Mockingbird X
Long-billed Thrasher 5
Curve-billed Thrasher 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 30
Tropical Parula 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 12
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Olive Sparrow 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 10
Northern Cardinal 8
Red-winged Blackbird X
Altamira Oriole 4
Pine Siskin 1