Pine Grosbeak at Palo Duro Rerservoir, 11/27/23

So far birding has been pretty fantastic in Texas this fall.  The Corpus Christi area has a Cattle Tyrant, Eastern Marbled Godwit and three American Flamingos while the Rio Grande Valley has hosted Five Limpkins, two American Flamingos, several Blue Buntings and a Rose-throated Becard.  Then the group of fantastically skilled young birders who have been monitoring the Brown Jays at the Santa Margarita Ranch found both a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and a Mottled Owl.  And that's not to mention all the uncommon western birds that have passed through the Valley this fall.

I was taking it it easy at home this past Saturday, watching the hummers from the back porch when the damn WhatsApp dinged again.  Someone had earlier in the day found a funny looking Rose-throated Becard at Resaca de la Palma which turned out to be the first Texas record of Gray-collared Becard.  That's a bird I have never seen despite quite a bit of birding in Mexico through the years.  So I grabbed the camera and raced over on that drippy day.  As it happened I got a very poor glimpse of the bird in the late afternoon and left before it was refound and performed before the admiring crowd of birders.  I failed to see the Roadside Hawk also.  Arg!!!!!!

That evening at home I saw a Facebook post on the Texas Chase Birds group stating the Martin Reid and Sheridan Coffee had seen a Pine Grosbeak found earlier in the day in the snowy Texas Panhandle by Greg Cook and Steve Glover.  Damn I would like to see that bird but it's nearly 900 miles away.  So I went to bed with the intent of getting up early and going back to Resaca de la Palma for the Gray-collared Becard.

Well I got up early Sunday morning and decided the becard might stay a while but the Pine Grosbeak might not be there long.  So I quickly packed and made the 750 mile drive to Amarillo where I spent the night.  Another early morning and two more hours to Palo Duro Reservoir.  I wandered around Dedication Park for a few minutes but soon found the spot on the west side of the park by the pavilion.  And there in the willows was the Pine Grosbeak as advertised.  What a spanking bird!!!

Pine Grosbeak is actually a large finch and not related to the other grosbeaks which are tanagers.  They live in coniferous forests in the Rocky Mountains and across Canada.  Occasionally there are winter irruptions where Pine Grosbeaks wander southward.  There are a handful of previous winter records in Texas.

So I'm back home now.  I think tomorrow I will give the Gray-collared Becard another try though I know of no sightings today.