Frontera Audubon, 8/8/16

I ran over to Frontera Audubon this morning hoping something unusual like a Prothonotary Warbler or maybe a Yellow-throated Vireo, both of which I need for the county year list.  As expected I didn't see those but I did find my first Yellow-bellied Flycatcher for the fall.

Is it a pitta or a tesia?  No it a tailless Olive Sparrow.

A stop at the feeding station turned up something rustling in the nearby plumbago.  I thought it would be a warbler or maybe a wren, but it turned out to be a young Common Gallinule which I later photographed on the pond ,which is right behind the feeding station.

Also on the pond was a Solitary Sandpiper and a couple of Least Sandpipers.

Back along the east side of the wetlands I flushed the Louisiana Waterthrush, heard a Yellow Warbler and got a photo of this Least Flycatcher.

Buff-bellied Hummingbirds were really common.  I entered 15 on eBird but there may have been more.

On my second loop around the trails I found a couple of Black-and-white Warblers and a bit later two more of them which I assumed were different birds.

So it was a toasty but productive morning

Frontera Audubon Center, Hidalgo, Texas, US
Aug 8, 2016 7:40 AM - 12:10 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
43 species

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (fulgens) 19
Plain Chachalaca 10
Green Heron 3
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 3
Gray Hawk 1
Common Gallinule (American) 1
Killdeer 3
Least Sandpiper 2
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 1
Inca Dove 5
White-tipped Dove 10
White-winged Dove 550
Mourning Dove 3
Chimney Swift 3
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 15
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Green Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Northern) 5
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2
Green Parakeet (Green) 2
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 3
Brown-crested Flycatcher 2
Great Kiskadee 2
Couch's Kingbird 5
White-eyed Vireo 4
Green Jay (Green) 2
Black-crested Titmouse 3
Carolina Wren 3
Clay-colored Thrush 6
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Northern Mockingbird 5
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Black-and-white Warbler 4
Yellow Warbler (Northern) 1
Olive Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Great-tailed Grackle 8
Orchard Oriole 2
Lesser Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 5

Santa Ana NWR, 8/3/16

Recognizing I wasn't going to see any good birds while laying around the house, I crawled out into the heat this morning and drove over to Santa Ana NWR.  I checked out the brush around the visitors center for juicy butterflies and odes but not much was stirring so I headed on down the tour road.  One of the first sounds I heard after crossing the levee was the "ee-ee-ee-ee" of Northern Beardless Tyrannulet.  This one was cooperative though a bit scruffy.

I heard some "whit"-ing nearby and managed to find three Least Flycatchers.  Seems like they come in small groups more so than the other Empids. 

I walked on towards the Pintail Lakes complex and picked up a probable Alder Flycatcher.   But it was silent so will go on eBird as a Traill's  There was also a couple more Leasts.  My studies of the Empidonax this spring made the IDs pretty easy.

A nearby Olive Sparrow trilled.

I failed to get a photo of a calling Blue Grosbeak but did manage one of this Painted Bunting.

Nothing unusual on the water at Pintail.  I did like the colors on the young Tricolored Heron.

Back at the old manager's residence, a Javelina or Collared Peccary as it is properly called sauntered by.

Groove-billed Anis are pretty common this time of year.

So nothing great but an interesting morning as usual.  Certainly better than puttering around the house.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (fulgens) 15
Mottled Duck (Gulf Coast) 11
Plain Chachalaca 6
Anhinga 1
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 22
Tricolored Heron 1
Cattle Egret (Western) 1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 5
White-faced Ibis 3
Turkey Vulture 1
Harris's Hawk 3
Common Gallinule (American) 1
American Coot 2
Black-necked Stilt 1
Killdeer 10
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 4
Inca Dove 3
Common Ground-Dove 10
White-tipped Dove 3
White-winged Dove 300
Mourning Dove 10
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 4
Greater Roadrunner 1
Groove-billed Ani 8
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1
Green Kingfisher 2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Northern) 4
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 4
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 2
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher) 2
Least Flycatcher 5
Empidonax sp. 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 3
Great Kiskadee 6
Tropical Kingbird 2
Couch's Kingbird 6
White-eyed Vireo 4
Green Jay (Green) 2
Purple Martin 6
Barn Swallow 1
Cave Swallow (Texas) 6
Black-crested Titmouse 5
Carolina Wren 3
Northern Mockingbird 6
Common Yellowthroat 4
Olive Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 4
Blue Grosbeak 1
Painted Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Great-tailed Grackle 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Orchard Oriole 1
Hooded Oriole 1
Altamira Oriole 3
House Sparrow 3