South Padre Island, Willacy County 9/6/23

Ron Weeks came down a few days ago to work on his Willacy County list.  He has about fifteen Texas counties with over 300 species of birds seen and is just a few away from that total in Willacy County.  So we made a run up the beach on South Padre Island to see if we could add a few.  My total is at 292 and I'm just parely staying ahead of Ron.  Well he wound up with a distant Brown Booby at the Port Mansfield Channel jetty which was new for him.  I was right next to him and think I got on the bird but it was very distant through the scope and I failed to see many field marks so I'm not counting it.  My best bird was this striking adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.  At the time I thought it might be a new county bird for me but turns out I had already seen one.

Se saw about a dozen Common Terns which are uncommon down here, especially in breeding plumage.

Weirdest bird of the day goes to this misplaced female Cinammon Teal.  We did see a couple of migrant teal flocks that we called Blue-winged.

Ron was wanting a Red Knot for Willacy County but the only one we saw was in Cameron County.

Otherwise is was just the usual stuff like the ultra long billed Long-billed Curlew.

Plenty of Brown Pelicans.

The only Herring Gull was this adult.

A nice day with a very drivable beach for a change.  Tomorrow I'm off for a solo trip to Agentina.  I haven't been out of the country since our pre covid trip to Australia in 2019.  It's gonna be cold in Tierra del Fuego.  Hope I can find some birds.

Hummers at Progreso Lakes, 9/5/23

Yesterday our local weatherman announced Weslaco had reached 100F for the 70th time this year.  And here at Progreso Lakes we've had maybe a half inch of rain since May and less than five inches for the year.  The upshot is it's dry out there.  I set an all time high for our Progreso Lakes yard of 110 species last month and my only explanation is our acre yard on Moon Lake is an oasis attracting hungry and thirsty migrants.  Now the hummingbirds are here in greater numbers than I've ever seen with at least twenty migrant Ruby-throats,

I enjoy the variation in sprouting gorget feathers among the young males.

Best I can tell this young female Selasphorus is unidentifiable despite some pretty good spread tail shots.  It's either a Rufous or an Allen's.  We still need Allen's Hummingbird for our yard list.

We have at least three Buff-bellied Hummingbirds.

Tomorrow Ron Weeks is coming down from Lake Jackson and we're going to drive up the beach on South Padre Island and hope to add some juicy birds to our Willacy County lists.  Should be fun.  And next week I'm off to Argentina and Tierra del Fuego where I'm going to be looking at temperatures in the low 40's.  It will be cold but a nice change.

Zapata County Kites, 8/25/23

On Aug 22 Tropical Storm Harold crossed into Texas at about Kingsville and proceeded west till it got to the Rio Grande and then went up river all the way to New Mexico.  I was hoping it would come to the Rio Grande Valley and bring us some much needed rain and maybe some good seabirds.  I was right about the seabirds.  A flock of seventy Magnificent Frigatebirds were photographed on power lines west of Freer by a Cesar Keberg Institute biologist.  I learned about them yesterday and surmised they must be around somewhere, maybe Lake Amistad or Falcon Reservoir.  So I made the run up to Falcon State Park this morning.

I spent four hours on the lakeshore and failed to find any frigatebirds.  But it was a good morning.  I was on the Zapata County side of the park when migrant Mississippi Kites started to lift.  And lifting up with them was this stonking Swallow-tailed Kite.  There are few records for the county.

The Mississippi Kites were also a real treat.  I counted about forty of them catching insects above the lake shore.

Reddish Egrets have been reported at Falcon lately.  Normally only present along the coast, I found a white morph individual on the Starr County side and a dark morph on the Zapata County side.  Juveniles can wander great distances.

I would guess that Snowy Plovers nest somewhere on Falcon Reservoir.

Several hundred Laughing Gulls were present.

A young Gull-billed Tern passed by.

The TOS Handbook states that Caspian Terns away from the coast are migrants but I would not be surprised if they nest at Falcon.  The bird on the left looks recently fledged.

I called it quits when the temp hit 95.  That's actually a pretty nice summer day at Falcon.

Swallow-tailed Kite Photobomb! 8/19/23

Today we tied a weather record for Weslaco, Texas.  It was the 62nd day of 2023 with temperatures reaching 100F or above.  So this summer when I get up in the morning it's hard to get motivated to go anywhere or do any yard work.  I usually just start birding from the porch, have some breakfast and then set the scope up in the back yard.  More of the same today.  But what can I say.  It's all right.

As lunch time approached today I had compiled a long list of birds for the morning and was feeling like I was doing pretty good when I spied a small flock of White Ibises in the distance.  As I raised the camera and fired a couple of documentary shots I noticed a dark shape flash across my view.  What was that?  I picked up the binocs and soon found a migrating Swallow-tailed Kite doing lazy loops.  I got a couple of shots and was happy to finally get one for this year's yard list.  It is the eighth I've seen in our seven years at Progreso Lakes.  Later in the evening as I edited photos I discovered I had actually gotten images of the kite as it passed behind the ibis flock.  Pretty cool!

The morning started with hummingbirds.  I had a Black-chinned, three Buff-bellieds and ten migrant Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

A couple of Painted Buntings failed to cooperate.

But our first Cooper's Hawk of the fall posed for photos.

Back by the water a migrat Black Tern passed by.  It's been a good fall for them.

A couple of times each year I will have a Long-billed Curlew fly over.

A Yellow Warbler posed overhead.  Several have been hanging around this week.

A young Tricolored Heron daily fishes just a few feet from our shoreline.

Here's today's list.

Jones yard, Progreso Lakes, Hidalgo, Texas, US

Aug 19, 2023 7:15 AM - 12:13 PM

Protocol: Stationary

53 species (+1 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  1

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)  2

Muscovy Duck x Mallard (hybrid)  5    Including four young

Plain Chachalaca  2

Eurasian Collared-Dove  1

Inca Dove  2

White-tipped Dove  1

White-winged Dove  150

Mourning Dove  50

Groove-billed Ani  1

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  10

Black-chinned Hummingbird  1

Buff-bellied Hummingbird  2

Common Gallinule  2

Black-necked Stilt  1

Killdeer  1

Upland Sandpiper  2

Long-billed Curlew  1

Spotted Sandpiper  1

Black Tern  1

Neotropic Cormorant  3

Great Blue Heron  1

Snowy Egret  2

Tricolored Heron  1

Cattle Egret  3

Green Heron  7

Black-crowned Night-Heron  7

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  2

White Ibis  6

Turkey Vulture  1

Swallow-tailed Kite  1

Cooper's Hawk  1

Golden-fronted Woodpecker  2

Ladder-backed Woodpecker  1

Alder Flycatcher  1    Calling "pep" repeatedly

Black Phoebe  1

Great Kiskadee  2

Tropical Kingbird  2

Couch's Kingbird  1

Black-crested Titmouse  1

Verdin  1

Purple Martin  1

Bank Swallow  1

Barn Swallow  2

European Starling  15

Northern Mockingbird  2

House Sparrow  10

Lesser Goldfinch  1

Hooded Oriole  2

Red-winged Blackbird  3

Bronzed Cowbird  40

Great-tailed Grackle  8

Yellow Warbler  2

Painted Bunting  2

Backyard Visitor at Progreso Lakes, 8/16/23

Fall migration has been really great over the past week.  I spent five hours in our back yard at Progreso Lakes today and recorded 60 species.  But I found the bird of the day while I was watching the evening news on TV.  I looked out the window and saw what appeared to be a tall, long necked dove.  I knew what it was and couldn't believe it.  An Upland Sandpiper was foraging in our yard.

Upland Sandpipers nest is open grassy fields from the midwest up to Alaska.  They winter in Argentina.  During fall and spring migration they are often found at area turf farms and are referred to as grasspipers along with American Golden Plovers and Buff-breasted Sandpipers which also prefer similar habitat.

Anyway here's the list for the day.

Jones yard, Progreso Lakes, Hidalgo, Texas, US

Aug 16, 2023 7:00 AM - 11:48 AM

Protocol: Stationary

60 species (+3 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  15

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)  1

Mallard x Mottled Duck (hybrid)  6    Continuing adult male and five offspring

Plain Chachalaca  2

Eurasian Collared-Dove  2

Inca Dove  2

White-tipped Dove  1

White-winged Dove  150

Mourning Dove  50

Groove-billed Ani  1

Chimney Swift  1

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  2

Black-chinned Hummingbird  1

Buff-bellied Hummingbird  3

Common Gallinule  1

Black-necked Stilt  1

Killdeer  1

Upland Sandpiper  3

Stilt Sandpiper  1

peep sp.  2

Spotted Sandpiper  2

Neotropic Cormorant  5

Great Blue Heron  1

Snowy Egret  4

Tricolored Heron  1

Cattle Egret  6

Green Heron  8

Black-crowned Night-Heron  7

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1

Turkey Vulture  1

Osprey  1

Green Kingfisher  1

Golden-fronted Woodpecker  3

Ladder-backed Woodpecker  1

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher  1

Great Kiskadee  2

Couch's Kingbird  1

Tropical/Couch's Kingbird  3

Eastern Kingbird  1    Dark grey medium sized passerine with white tip of tail flying south across water

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher  1

White-eyed Vireo  1

Green Jay  1

Verdin  1

Purple Martin  40

Barn Swallow  6

Cliff Swallow  2

Cave Swallow  2

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1

Carolina Wren  1

European Starling  40

Northern Mockingbird  4

Clay-colored Thrush  1

House Sparrow  40

Lesser Goldfinch  3

Hooded Oriole  2

Altamira Oriole  1

Red-winged Blackbird  8

Bronzed Cowbird  100

Great-tailed Grackle  10

Yellow Warbler  3

Painted Bunting  4

Dickcissel  1

Progreso Lakes, 8/15/23

My goal today was to replace the float valve in the guest toilet but it didn't happen.  Instead I spent the morning in our Progreso Lakes yard playing with birds.  We don't get  a lot of Tricolored Herons so this tame immature bird feeding on Gambusia close to our shore was a treat.  Normally the water is a couple of feet deeper and this bird would not be feeding here.

This Great Blue Heron would not normally be able to stand in this water either.

A flock of fifty White Ibis were acting like they were migrating south.

Five Black Terns were nice.

I think this is a second fall Laughing Gull followed by two hatch year birds.

I've been hearing Dickcissels lately and one finally landed in the yard.

Jones yard, Progreso Lakes, Hidalgo, Texas, US

Aug 15, 2023 6:40 AM - 10:33 AM

Protocol: Stationary

53 species (+3 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  10

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)  2

Muscovy Duck x Mallard (hybrid)  5    Adult male and four young

Mottled Duck (Gulf Coast)  18    Flock did a couple of laps.  No doubt stressed by drought.

Plain Chachalaca  4

Eurasian Collared-Dove  2

Inca Dove  1

White-tipped Dove  1

White-winged Dove  200

Mourning Dove  25

Groove-billed Ani  1

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1

Buff-bellied Hummingbird  2

Common Gallinule  2

American Coot  1

Killdeer  1

Spotted Sandpiper  1

shorebird sp.  8

Laughing Gull  3

Black Tern  5

Neotropic Cormorant  13

Great Blue Heron  1

Snowy Egret  2

Tricolored Heron  2

Cattle Egret  1

Green Heron  8

Black-crowned Night-Heron  3

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1

White Ibis  50

Turkey Vulture  1

Eastern Screech-Owl (McCall's)  2

Golden-fronted Woodpecker  2

Ladder-backed Woodpecker  1

Great Kiskadee  2

Tropical Kingbird  2

Couch's Kingbird  5

Black-crested Titmouse  1

Verdin  1

Purple Martin  5

Tree Swallow  1    Scope views of immature perched with Barn Swallows, greenish back, whitish below from throat to vent

Barn Swallow  5

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1

European Starling  12

Northern Mockingbird  5

Clay-colored Thrush  3

House Sparrow  8

Lesser Goldfinch  1

Lark Sparrow  1

Hooded Oriole  1

Orchard/Hooded Oriole  2

Altamira Oriole  1

Red-winged Blackbird  6

Bronzed Cowbird (Bronzed)  10

Great-tailed Grackle  10

Northern Cardinal  1

Dickcissel  1