Grace's Warbler at Oliveira Pk, Brownsville 12/30/24

Yesterday Michelle David was birding at Oliveira Park in Brownsville, famous for its roosting parrots, when she found a warbler that initially struck her as a female Blackburnian Warbler.  Well it should have as it was basically a gray and white warbler with a yellow throat and breast, black streaking on the sides  and a dark crown.  It lacked the black mask of a Yellow-throated Warbler.  But the yellow extended up over the eyes causing her to realize this was something different.  She got photos and quickly sent them to Justin LeClaire who quickly recognized the bird as a Grace's Warbler, a first record for the RGV.

Grace's Warblers breed in pine forests of the SW United States and winter in similar habitat in Mexico.  I've seen many in Arizona and west Texas and have often thought they could get lost in migration and show up in the Valley.  But I was sitting comfortably on the couch, watching football, and didn't want to make the long drive on what was proving to be a very hot day.  So I stayed home with plans to get an early start in the morning.

There was about ten of us looking this morning and it took over two hours before it was pulled out of the salt cedars along the jogging trail.  Good photos were hard to get on this windy morning and I'm thankful to get a few recognizable images.

Other warblers included Myrtle Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned, Wilson's and this Yellow Warbler which was flagged on eBird though they pretty regular in Cameron County in winter.  I suppose it could be that these are often misIDed and reviewers want to check them out. 

During the winter months five species of parrots roost for the evening at Oliveira Park:  Red-crowned, Red-lored, Lilac-crowned, White-fronted,  and Yellow-headed with Green Parakeets often passing overhead.  Today I only saw a couple of Red-lored Parrots and about thirty Green Parakeets.  But new for me at the park were five Monk Parakeets flying overhead.  Michelle told me they had recently moved into the neighborhood and she took me to a nest a few blocks away.  These guys will soon be common as they are near the Hidalgo Pumphouse.  Monk Parakeets are native to the subtropics of Argentina and can take some pretty cold temperatures.  There are nesting colonies scattered across the country though they have never spread as much as people feared.  I first saw them south of Houston where their large communal stick nests are often place on high power poles.  This pair found a palm to their liking.

Grace's Warbler is my 437th bird species for Cameron County and my 46th warbler.

National Butterfly Center stuff 12/15/24

It's been a good fall for unusual butterflies in the Rio Grande Valley so I have been spending quite a bit of time at the National Butterfly Center south of Mission, Texas.  A Winter Wren has been present there for a few weeks but not being cooperative for me... till today.  I was sitting at the bird feeding station hoping for its magical apparition as has been describe to me by other birders and sure enough today I finally got my turn to watch this little cutie.  It was a little shady and distant so my photos are not great but I bumped up the iso to 1600 and got some ok images.

For many years the Winter Wren of North American and the Wren of  Europe and Asia were considered to be the same species.  Now the Eurasian Wren has been split off as has the Pacific Wren of the Pacific Coast of North America.  The eastern North American species remains the Winter Wren.  We get a few every winter but they are secretive and hard to photograph.

Meanwhile last week a White-throated Sparrow hung around a few days.  I thought it would enjoy the free food and stay awhile but it appears to be gone.

An Eastern Bluebird has been hanging a round but I've yet to see it.  One great thing about living in the RGV is you can see eastern, western, Mexican and even northern species of birds.  You never know what you're going to get.