Sunday, January 11, 2015

Frontera Audubon Thicket, 1/11/15

There's been reports of a Townsend's Warbler at Frontera Audubon Thicket in Weslaco so after a couple of days of crappy weather I decided to run over and check it out.  The sun popped out a bit, temps climbed up to 50 and warblers were out so it was a great morning.  One of my first birds was this Black-throated Green Warbler.


The morning had an early spring feel to it.  Which in the RGV should be happening soon.  Blue-gray Gnatcatchers always remind me of early spring in Missouri where I grew up.


This Nashville Warbler was the most cooperative I've ever seen.  It may have been extra confiding because of the presence of a Cooper's Hawk nearby..




The nearby Orange-crowned Warbler was equally friendly.


The Cooper's Hawk was perched just outside the blind overlooking the pond in heavy brush.


Back in the palms by the boardwalk, a Yellow-throated Warbler was hunting in its favorite habitat.  They have a real preference for dead palm fronds which hold a myriad of invertebrates.


I did some pishing back by the gate by the cemetery and called in a dull Pine Wabler.


Then a bright basic plumaged Indigo Bunting put in an appearance.  It seems like there's quite a few around the RGV this winter.


I never did see the Townsend's Warbler. So I finished the morning with seven species of warblers at Frontera and picked up the eighth for the day in our back yard, a Yellow-rumped Warbler.  Here's the list for the morning.

Plain Chachalaca  12
Great Egret  1
Turkey Vulture  20
Cooper's Hawk  1
Gray Hawk  1
Inca Dove  5
White-tipped Dove  5
Ruby-throated/Black-chinned Hummingbird  1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker  4
Ladder-backed Woodpecker  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Kiskadee  1
Tropical Kingbird  1
Loggerhead Shrike  1
White-eyed Vireo  2
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Black-crested Titmouse  5
House Wren  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  5
Northern Mockingbird  5
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Orange-crowned Warbler  5
Nashville Warbler  1
Pine Warbler  1
Yellow-throated Warbler  1
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Wilson's Warbler  1
Lincoln's Sparrow  1
Indigo Bunting  1
Great-tailed Grackle  1


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