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.
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