Good Day after a Bad Day, 1/7/21

Wow, yesterday was such a bad day.  On 9/11 I watched in horror.  Yesterday I was just naseous and heart broken but I think I felt worse.  Maybe America can mend but there may be too many jackasses.  If these were desparate jobless starving people I could understand.  But all I saw was a bunch of fat hateful racists.  I bet Putin was laughing his ass off while most Americans cried.  And Trump pouted.

Anyway I felt better when I got up this morning and looked out the window and saw this plucky White-throated Sparrow in our Progreso Lakes yard.  It was only our second ever.

And I finally got the Fulvous Whistling-Duck for the year list.

Honey wanted to work out today so I dropped her off at the gym and I ran over to nearby Quinta Mazatlan.  I'm not really serious about doing a big year but there are so many good birds around now that I feel I should tick them just in case I change my mind.  Everyone was seeing good stuff at Quinta today but it took me a while to get "tuned in."  Things started slow.  I missed Bert and Baceliza's Blue Bunting at the Amphitheater but I got the Black-headed Grosbeak.

I couldn't find the Pacific-slope Flycatcher in the Ebony Grove but I got poor shots of the Dusky-capped Flycatcher after other birders found it.

So I headed over to the Discovery Center where a male Blue Bunting had been seen.  No problem!

I was back in the groove.  I got good looks at the female Black-headed Grosbeak but I failed to get a photo.  So here's one of the ten Clay-colored Thrushes.

My juices were flowing so I went back to the Ebony Grove and easily found the Pacific-slope Flycatcher.

So what the hell, I went back over to the Amphitheater and found the female Blue Bunting I had missed earlier.

I would rather be lucky that good.  But sometimes I just like being good!

Happy New Year 2021!

I spent the late morning and afternoon at Estero Llano Grande State Park trying to get the new year list off to a good start.  As I walked back to my car for lunch I saw some commotion and people running towards one of the volunteer's camp sites.  Turns out there was a Crimson-collared Grosbeak feeding in the anacua behind Steve and Sue's trailor.  At least six of the NE Mexican endemic have been seen in the Valley this winter.  This one seems to be a young male.  I've never seen the red on a juvenal.

While I was sitting in the blind waiting for warblers at the water feature, the Elegant Trogan put in an appearance but I only got this poor shot.  Can you spot the trogon?

This Clay-colored Thrush was more cooperative.

Always nice to get a Hermit Thrush.

Then it was time to make the rounds of the ponds.  This Virginia Rail was nice.  I didn't see one last year.

Otherwise there was nothing noteworthy though there were lots of birds.

Estero Llano Grande SP, Hidalgo, Texas, US

Jan 1, 2021 11:45 AM - 4:14 PM

Protocol: Traveling

3.0 mile(s)

71 species (+2 other taxa)

Blue-winged Teal  6

Cinnamon Teal  2

Northern Shoveler  50

Gadwall  6

American Wigeon  1

Mottled Duck (Gulf Coast)  2

Green-winged Teal (American)  100

Ruddy Duck  1

Plain Chachalaca  7

Least Grebe  12

Inca Dove  10

White-tipped Dove  12

White-winged Dove  5

Mourning Dove  1

Black-chinned Hummingbird  1

Ruby-throated/Black-chinned Hummingbird  1

Buff-bellied Hummingbird (Northern)  1

Virginia Rail  1

Sora  2

Common Gallinule (American)  6

American Coot (Red-shielded)  80

Killdeer  1

Long-billed Dowitcher  18

Wilson's Snipe  2

Anhinga  1

Double-crested Cormorant  1

American White Pelican  28

Great Blue Heron (Blue form)  1

Great Egret (American)  2

Snowy Egret  10

Black-crowned Night-Heron  4

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  6

White-faced Ibis  6

Black Vulture  3

Turkey Vulture  1

Northern Harrier  1

Red-shouldered Hawk (lineatus Group)  1

Red-tailed Hawk  1

Elegant Trogon  1

Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Northern)  5

Ladder-backed Woodpecker  3

American Kestrel  1

Black Phoebe  4

Eastern Phoebe  4

Vermilion Flycatcher  4

Great Kiskadee  6

Couch's Kingbird  1

Tropical/Couch's Kingbird  2

Blue-headed Vireo  1

Green Jay (Green)  6

Black-crested Titmouse  2

Cave Swallow (Texas)  8

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (caerulea)  2

Marsh Wren  1

Carolina Wren (Northeast Mexico/South Texas)  1

European Starling  8

Long-billed Thrasher  1

Northern Mockingbird  6

Hermit Thrush  1

Clay-colored Thrush  2

Cedar Waxwing  2

House Sparrow  2

Lark Sparrow  6

Lincoln's Sparrow  1

Altamira Oriole  2

Red-winged Blackbird  100

Great-tailed Grackle  40

Black-and-white Warbler  1

Orange-crowned Warbler  6

Common Yellowthroat  2

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  12

Crimson-collared Grosbeak  1

Northern Cardinal  3