Zapata County Kites, 8/25/23

On Aug 22 Tropical Storm Harold crossed into Texas at about Kingsville and proceeded west till it got to the Rio Grande and then went up river all the way to New Mexico.  I was hoping it would come to the Rio Grande Valley and bring us some much needed rain and maybe some good seabirds.  I was right about the seabirds.  A flock of seventy Magnificent Frigatebirds were photographed on power lines west of Freer by a Cesar Keberg Institute biologist.  I learned about them yesterday and surmised they must be around somewhere, maybe Lake Amistad or Falcon Reservoir.  So I made the run up to Falcon State Park this morning.

I spent four hours on the lakeshore and failed to find any frigatebirds.  But it was a good morning.  I was on the Zapata County side of the park when migrant Mississippi Kites started to lift.  And lifting up with them was this stonking Swallow-tailed Kite.  There are few records for the county.

The Mississippi Kites were also a real treat.  I counted about forty of them catching insects above the lake shore.

Reddish Egrets have been reported at Falcon lately.  Normally only present along the coast, I found a white morph individual on the Starr County side and a dark morph on the Zapata County side.  Juveniles can wander great distances.

I would guess that Snowy Plovers nest somewhere on Falcon Reservoir.

Several hundred Laughing Gulls were present.

A young Gull-billed Tern passed by.

The TOS Handbook states that Caspian Terns away from the coast are migrants but I would not be surprised if they nest at Falcon.  The bird on the left looks recently fledged.

I called it quits when the temp hit 95.  That's actually a pretty nice summer day at Falcon.

Swallow-tailed Kite Photobomb! 8/19/23

Today we tied a weather record for Weslaco, Texas.  It was the 62nd day of 2023 with temperatures reaching 100F or above.  So this summer when I get up in the morning it's hard to get motivated to go anywhere or do any yard work.  I usually just start birding from the porch, have some breakfast and then set the scope up in the back yard.  More of the same today.  But what can I say.  It's all right.

As lunch time approached today I had compiled a long list of birds for the morning and was feeling like I was doing pretty good when I spied a small flock of White Ibises in the distance.  As I raised the camera and fired a couple of documentary shots I noticed a dark shape flash across my view.  What was that?  I picked up the binocs and soon found a migrating Swallow-tailed Kite doing lazy loops.  I got a couple of shots and was happy to finally get one for this year's yard list.  It is the eighth I've seen in our seven years at Progreso Lakes.  Later in the evening as I edited photos I discovered I had actually gotten images of the kite as it passed behind the ibis flock.  Pretty cool!

The morning started with hummingbirds.  I had a Black-chinned, three Buff-bellieds and ten migrant Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

A couple of Painted Buntings failed to cooperate.

But our first Cooper's Hawk of the fall posed for photos.

Back by the water a migrat Black Tern passed by.  It's been a good fall for them.

A couple of times each year I will have a Long-billed Curlew fly over.

A Yellow Warbler posed overhead.  Several have been hanging around this week.

A young Tricolored Heron daily fishes just a few feet from our shoreline.

Here's today's list.

Jones yard, Progreso Lakes, Hidalgo, Texas, US

Aug 19, 2023 7:15 AM - 12:13 PM

Protocol: Stationary

53 species (+1 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  1

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)  2

Muscovy Duck x Mallard (hybrid)  5    Including four young

Plain Chachalaca  2

Eurasian Collared-Dove  1

Inca Dove  2

White-tipped Dove  1

White-winged Dove  150

Mourning Dove  50

Groove-billed Ani  1

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  10

Black-chinned Hummingbird  1

Buff-bellied Hummingbird  2

Common Gallinule  2

Black-necked Stilt  1

Killdeer  1

Upland Sandpiper  2

Long-billed Curlew  1

Spotted Sandpiper  1

Black Tern  1

Neotropic Cormorant  3

Great Blue Heron  1

Snowy Egret  2

Tricolored Heron  1

Cattle Egret  3

Green Heron  7

Black-crowned Night-Heron  7

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  2

White Ibis  6

Turkey Vulture  1

Swallow-tailed Kite  1

Cooper's Hawk  1

Golden-fronted Woodpecker  2

Ladder-backed Woodpecker  1

Alder Flycatcher  1    Calling "pep" repeatedly

Black Phoebe  1

Great Kiskadee  2

Tropical Kingbird  2

Couch's Kingbird  1

Black-crested Titmouse  1

Verdin  1

Purple Martin  1

Bank Swallow  1

Barn Swallow  2

European Starling  15

Northern Mockingbird  2

House Sparrow  10

Lesser Goldfinch  1

Hooded Oriole  2

Red-winged Blackbird  3

Bronzed Cowbird  40

Great-tailed Grackle  8

Yellow Warbler  2

Painted Bunting  2