Santa Ana NWR, 1/12/25

After a week of cold, by our standards, weather I decided to take advantage of a sunny warm day to check out Santa Ana NWR and put some birds on the new year list.  The Pintail Lakes Trail left the brush and ran along the west end of the Pintail Lakes complex.  Not a lot on this portion of the lake but a flooded woodland turned up some interesting stuff.  Best was this Hermit Thrush.  They are present most winters but not easy to find and usually hard to photograph.

My first Black-and-white Warbler for 2025.

Least Flycatchers winter in small numbers in the RGV.  The "fwit" call helps with the ID.

Plenty of ducks on the lake.  Despite the different colors of drake Cinnamon and Blue-winged teals, they are closely related.  Females are very similar and the two species often hybridize.

The Buffleheads are still present on the far east end.  Only three today.

Drake Northern Pintails.

The Eared Grebe continues along with Least and Pied-bills.

Greater Yellowlegs with a diminutive Least Sandpiper.

Something flushed a flock of Long-billed Dowitchers.

After later "post mortem" inspection of the photos I was abler to pull out a couple of Stilt Sandpipers.

Raptors included Gray and Red-shouldered Hawks.

First of the year swallows included Tree and Cave.

I'll do Willow Lakes next time.

Santa Ana NWR (LTC 059), Hidalgo, Texas, US

Jan 12, 2025 9:49 AM - 1:15 PM

Protocol: Traveling

1.5 mile(s)

71 species (+1 other taxa)

Blue-winged Teal  60

Cinnamon Teal  8

Northern Shoveler  60

Gadwall  150

American Wigeon  8

Northern Pintail  40

Green-winged Teal  10

Ring-necked Duck  3

Lesser Scaup  12

Bufflehead  3

Ruddy Duck  65

Plain Chachalaca  7

Northern Bobwhite  12

Inca Dove  12

White-tipped Dove  6

Mourning Dove  1

American Coot  200

Killdeer  1

Long-billed Dowitcher  50

Wilson's Snipe  1

Spotted Sandpiper  2

Greater Yellowlegs  6

Stilt Sandpiper  2

Least Sandpiper  4

Least Grebe  8

Pied-billed Grebe  3

Eared Grebe  1

White-faced Ibis  2

Snowy Egret  1

Great Blue Heron  1

Turkey Vulture  2

Osprey  1

Northern Harrier  1

Harris's Hawk  1

Gray Hawk  1

Red-shouldered Hawk  1

Belted Kingfisher  2

Golden-fronted Woodpecker  2

Ladder-backed Woodpecker  2

Crested Caracara  3

Least Flycatcher  1

Eastern Phoebe  6

Vermilion Flycatcher  3

Great Kiskadee  6

Tropical Kingbird  1

Tropical/Couch's Kingbird  1

White-eyed Vireo  1

Loggerhead Shrike  1

Green Jay  6

Black-crested Titmouse  3

Verdin  2

Tree Swallow  2

Barn Swallow  1

Cave Swallow  5

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3

Northern House Wren  2

Carolina Wren  2

Long-billed Thrasher  2

Northern Mockingbird  3

Hermit Thrush  1

Clay-colored Thrush  1

House Sparrow  10

Olive Sparrow  5

Altamira Oriole  1

Red-winged Blackbird  1

Great-tailed Grackle  5

Black-and-white Warbler  1

Orange-crowned Warbler  5

Common Yellowthroat  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  6

Northern Cardinal  3