16 Warbler Species at Frontera Audubon Thicket, 9/18/13

This morning was warm, humid, drippy, muddy and very warblery at Fronera Audubon Thicket in Weslaco.  The day started very slowly but by noon I had sixteen warbler species, a pretty good total for fall migration.  However the best birds were a couple of Yellow-throated Vireos.

I've been chasing butterflies a lot lately so my warbler photography was a bit off today.  They are so much more difficult to capture than butterflies.  Here's a few not so great pics.  As always the more common species like Wilson's Warbler always prove the most photogenic.

While the skulkers tend to be real teasers like this Kentucky Warbler.

And this Worm-eating Warbler.

I enjoy the plumage of fall Chestnut-sided Warblers.  I don't see too many.  I was a bit late on the draw with this pic.

This Blue-winged Warbler photo is a bit off too.

Here's today's list.

Frontera Audubon Center, Hidalgo, US-TX
Sep 18, 2013 8:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
55 species (+1 other taxa)

Plain Chachalaca  12
Green Heron  5
Turkey Vulture  1
Gray Hawk  1
Rock Pigeon  4
White-winged Dove  50
Mourning Dove  2
Inca Dove  5
White-tipped Dove  6
Common Pauraque  1
Chimney Swift  3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  5
Buff-bellied Hummingbird  12
Green Kingfisher  2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker  8
Ladder-backed Woodpecker  1
Green Parakeet  6
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher  2
Alder Flycatcher  1
Empidonax sp.  1
Great Kiskadee  2
Couch's Kingbird  4
White-eyed Vireo  3
Yellow-throated Vireo  2
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Green Jay  1
Black-crested Titmouse  2
Carolina Wren  3
Clay-colored Thrush  1
Curve-billed Thrasher  1
Long-billed Thrasher  3
Northern Mockingbird  6
Worm-eating Warbler  2
Northern Waterthrush  2
Blue-winged Warbler  1
Black-and-white Warbler  6
Tennessee Warbler  2
Kentucky Warbler  6
Hooded Warbler  3
American Redstart  3
Northern Parula  1
Yellow Warbler  8
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1
Yellow-throated Warbler  2
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Canada Warbler  3
Wilson's Warbler  2
Yellow-breasted Chat  6
Olive Sparrow  2
Summer Tanager  3
Northern Cardinal  3
Great-tailed Grackle  2
Baltimore Oriole  2
Lesser Goldfinch  4
House Sparrow  4

.

A couple of good Hidalgo County birds, 9/2/13

Last Sunday Mary Gustafson called me to say she had just found some good stuff while checking out the area wet spots north of Weslaco.  So I got out the next morning and saw the Ruddy Turnstone at the Sugar House pond.  It was my second ever for the county.

Over at Delta Lake, I ran into Mary who had just seen a Common Tern fly by.  I had never seen this coastal species in the county before.  A few minutes of waiting produced my 379th Hidalgo County species.

This is a bit of a tough ID when the bird is in flight as a moltling Forster's Tern can have a similar head pattern with a black nape.  The dark outer rectrices and dark edged primaries say Common Tern.  The next photo barely shows the dark carpal bar which is easy to see on a resting bird.