More warblers at Frontera, 9/7/09

The warm, humid, muggy, buggy, southeast winds continue at Frontera Audubon Thicket in Weslaco. In the spring, migrants ride this wind to their summer homes up north. However in the fall, the same wind impedes their southerly migration so we currently have a lot of warblers backed up waiting for the next train. I found 16 warblers species this morning including a late Canada. Despite buckets of warblers, I couldn't get any pics. So here's a late Broad-winged Hawk that was hanging around.



Here's today's list.

Green Heron 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 2
Gray Hawk 1
Killdeer 1
White-winged Dove 60
Inca Dove 5
White-tipped Dove 5
Green Parakeet 6
Chimney Swift 40
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 15
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 3
Couch's Kingbird 3
White-eyed Vireo 8
Warbling Vireo 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 4
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 5
House Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Clay-colored Thrush 1
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 5
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 10
Northern Parula 2
Yellow Warbler 3
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 5
American Redstart 2
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Mourning Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Hooded Warbler 5
Wilson's Warbler 15
Canada Warbler 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Blue Grosbeak 2
Painted Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Great-tailed Grackle 1
Lesser Goldfinch 6


Yesterday, lister that I am, I decided to head up to Austin to tick the Calliope Hummingbird that has been hanging around for the past month at the Zilker botanical garden. I had not seen one since my Arizona days. He's a little cutie but didn't pose well for pics.

Frontera Audubon Thicket, 10/3/09 (The blog is alive!)

Gee, I haven't posted anything since last March. Well you haven't missed much. The spring migration was the worst in the history of the world and the summer averaged about 105 F with howling winds every day and no rain. However after a month in the Philippines with rain here while we were gone and fall migration getting on it's time to get the blog up and running. I'll post on the Philippines trip later.

Despite suffering from intense jetlag I still decided to run over to Frontera Audubon Thicket to check things out. I got to meet Cindy, the new director. She seems on top of things and is ready to do what it takes to keep the refuge going strong. It was hot, humid, muggy, muddy and buggy in the thicket. But it was also very birdy. I scored 14 species of warblers including my only Worm-eating of the year. I also found this very cooperative Northern Beardless Tyrannulet.





Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 13
Plain Chachalaca 15
Little Blue Heron 1
Green Heron 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Gray Hawk 1
White-winged Dove 85
Inca Dove 6
White-tipped Dove 4
Common Pauraque 1
Chimney Swift 1
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 12
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 5
Black-chinned Hummingbird 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 8
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 2
Least Flycatcher 1
Empidonax sp. 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Brown-crested Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 5
Couch's Kingbird 2
White-eyed Vireo 8
Warbling Vireo 1
Barn Swallow 5
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 3
House Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 5
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Curve-billed Thrasher 1
Tennessee Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 12
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 3
American Redstart 3
Worm-eating Warbler 1
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 2
Mourning Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Hooded Warbler 4
Wilson's Warbler 10
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Painted Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Lesser Goldfinch 3