RGV birding Part 1 (4/12/14)

We woke up at 5 on Saturday because we wanted to get an early start out to the island (South Padre Island). While getting ready, I checked all my sources to see if there was anything rare/cool being seen besides the various warblers, buntings, orioles, etc, that had been seen for the past few days. When I checked the Rio Grande Valley Birding Facebook page, I saw that there was a motorcycle festival going on at the Convention Center (which is some of the best birding on the island) through Sunday afternoon. I was super disappointed because that really threw a wrench in my plans, but we decided to be a bit flexible and head out to Sabal Palm instead. We got there around 7AM and I immediately knew it was going to be a bad day. The winds were terrible. 20-25 mph sustained winds with gusts between 30-50 mph meant that most birds were going to ground or got blown out and weren't going to be around. Oh well, that's what happens sometimes!

We first walked around the old plantation house on the property to check out the nesting Great Horned Owl. She's been in the same tree since January, so we've already seen here 3-4 times, but I never tire of seeing owls! We had some Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in the trees near the house as well. We walked around the front to head down to the feeding station and had our first new bird of the year, Bronzed Cowbird. I like them because they look sort of evil. They don't try and pretend they're nice, they just let you know with those red eyes that they mean business. On the path down to the feeders, we had some Hooded Orioles drinking from a hummingbird feeder, which was really upsetting to the hummingbird. We couldn't see it, but we could hear it flying all around scolding the orioles. The feeding station is always nice, and never disappoints when it comes to South Texas specialties. We had Green Jays, White-tipped Doves, Plain Chachalacs, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Clay-colored Thrushes, Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, etc.




We walked down the trail through the Butterfly Gardens and down to the Rio Grande. Along the way, we had our next new year bird, Brown-crested Flycatchers. The lighting was terrible, but luckily, these called, making it easy enough to distinguish them from Great-crested. We kept hearing this terrible ruckus near the blind so we kept walking towards it...only to be almost run over by the Border Patrol. For those not aware, the Rio Grande is the border between the US and Mexico and also is the southern border of Sabal Palm. The entire park is actually BEHIND the border fence, so Border Patrol is to be expected. I actually heard a lady last month ask if she was in Mexico now. I can see the confusion (especially when AT&T on your cell phone gets replaced by movistar/TELCEL), but the park is still US territory...no passport necessary!

We never saw the birds making the noise, but later figured out that they were Chachalacas. They're getting pretty territorial this time of year and also advertising for mates...so they are really freaking loud. Overhead we had a kettle of at least 200 American White Pelicans. It was one of the coolest things! We turned back towards the feeding station and saw a Bronzed Cowbird doing a display.



Then, we heard a loud noise in the brush. A loud noise in the brush in Texas is always scary. Is it a bobcat? A coyote? A different kind of coyote (the human kind...)? A crazy feral hog? Not today...this was a javelina!



That was a first for us and pretty cool, even if it wasn't a bird. Down near the end of the path, we had our first Olive Sparrows of the day. They were gathering nesting material. We walked down to the resaca and spent some time in the bird blind. We didn't have much down there except Least Grebe, Ruddy Ducks, and a Belted Kingfisher, so we left the blind and decided to walk some more. All of a sudden, my partner jumps back screaming "RED TOUCHES YELLOW RED TOUCHES YELLOW".



While not the biggest snake we've seen at Sabal Palm (last month's 5 foot Indigo takes the prize...), this Coral was definitely the most dangerous, so we headed away from that area. Near the end of the resaca, we got lucky when we looked up and our third year bird of the day, a giant Ringed Kingfisher. Seriously, they're huge. We went back to the feeding station and watched a Buff-bellied preen.






We left Sabal Palm and drove to Hugh Ramsey Park in Harlingen. As I mentioned, the winds were awful, and now the temperature was climbing, so I didn't expect much. At this park, we got nice looks at Curve-billed Thrashers and a Solitary Sandpiper. We also got really nice looks at some Great Kiskadees doing their flycatching. Finally, we went to Harlingen City Lake in hopes of catching the Fulvous Whistling Ducks that had been reported recently. No dice, but the there were plenty of Black-bellieds and Laughing Gulls braving the wind!

All in all, not the best day of birding in South Texas, but there were still a couple more days of the trip to go!

Sabal Palm http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17859948
Hugh Ramsey http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17862672
Harlingen City Lake http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17862717

Of Parrots and Pauraques

This past weekend, we made a trip down to Brownsville. I already knew that this was going to be more of a family trip than a birding trip (especially since we're going down on 3/21 and 4/11 again), so I didn't plan on us getting to see too many species. Plus, once we got down to the valley, the weather was bunk and made me not feel too bad about missing out on some birding experiences.

The one concession to birding I wanted was a visit to Oliveira Park near sunset for a look at the Parrots and Parakeets. If you ever go down to Brownsville, you have to check out this park. It is such an experience to have hundreds of Parrots come flying in, making more noise than you can believe.

We were on the look out for Red-crowned Parrots, which are the most common species, but also anything else we could find. When we got there, it was cold and drizzling, but there were tons of birds lined up on the telephone lines surrounding the park. Scanning the line showed Red-crowned Parrots (as expected), along with a handful of Red-lored Parrots. These are not an accepted TBRC/ABA species, but they are an established population and seem to be holding their own amongst the Red-crowneds. I also managed to spy a Green Parakeet (a lifer...which I thought I had already seen before...whoops!).

On the way back to my sister-in-law's house, we decided to cruise Resaca de la Palma State Park. We knew the visitor's center would be closed, but we thought the gate might still be open. It wasn't, but that was totally ok since we had an awesome bird (or 12) right outside of the gate. Our headlights managed to illuminate at least 12 Common Pauraques working the fields at the entrance to the park. What a neat experience to see these birds we normally only hear at night while sitting on my sister-in-law's porch.

The next morning, we got up in the rain and made it over to Resaca de la Palma again. This time, we knew they'd be open. We were looking for a specific new bird that has been seen lately. We paid our fees and headed to the feeders, keeping our eyes peeled. An employee of the park said that the bird had been seen the previous day, so we had high hopes. About 10 minutes later, we were rewarded by a very brief appearance of a Black-headed Grosbeak (lifer). After that, we were so cold, we packed it up and headed back for breakfast.

The April trip is very exciting and I can't wait to bird until I drop!

Texas year list as of 03/09/14: 198

In the Mood for Migration

During my lunch break, I noticed that "Birders: The Central Park Effect" is on Netflix. I have been watching it during my lunch break and totally jonesing for the end of the month/beginning of April.

I highly recommend this flick. It's a cute look at a variety of birds and birders and explains our obsession just a bit. :)

Here a gull, there a gull, everywhere a gull (aka searching for Slaty-backed Gulls)

Early in February, the border town of Laredo held a birding festival. As these things usually start on Thursdays and I have a full-time job, birding festivals are hard for me to get to. However, I always try to keep up with what's being seen, because you never know what rarities will pop up with so many eyes in so many places. For example, during last year's Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, a gentleman (whose name escapes me) found the second ABA/Texas record Amazon Kingfisher. We were able to drive down the next weekend and get good looks through a scope (owned by Steve Gross, who sadly passed away a week or two later). Anyway, back to Laredo. I didn't see anything interesting until Sunday. That's when word of a Slaty-backed Gull at Lake Casa Blanca International State Park started to trickle out. Long story short, the bird had first been seen on Thursday (OF COURSE!), but not believed until Sunday, when pictures and other birders made it out there to see (just one reason I always carry my camera...regardless of judgement from other birders who say bins are good enough).

I had been trying to convince my partner in crime/birding that we should go down to Laredo to get a glimpse of this bird since it's really rare for our area and we probably won't be going to AK anytime soon. It's hard to convince someone who's not a hardcore birder that they really do want to go look at a seagull on the border. The bird was still being seen for weeks afterward and I finally was able to talk my way into a trip south.

We set out early Saturday (March 1) for Laredo. There weren't too many birds at all on the way down there because it was so foggy, but as we got closer to Laredo, the fog lifted and a nice Pyrrhuloxia was seen perched on a telephone line. I love these guys! Once we got to the park around 10:30 AM we didn't see any gulls at all, but we headed to the boat ramp area anyway since that's where the bird had generally been seen from. There were no other birders until we pulled out the scope and started scanning the lake. One couple drove by and asked if we'd seen the bird. We said no and they said to keep looking because they saw it there yesterday. I was relieved because there hadn't been any reported sightings on the sites I check since Thursday (what is it about Thursdays?), so I figured the bird had to be around somewhere.

After a little while scoping, I started to get frustrated at the general lack of gulls and we decided to drive around the park. Up near a house, we saw a medium-sized bird on a fence. Cactus Wren! Beautiful bird, gave great looks, sweet lifer, but not what we came for. We drove a bit more, saw a few more cool birds (none new for the year though) and decided to try scoping again. Another birder came up again with words of encouragement and a thought to try the other side of the park. We drove to the other side to try scoping from there, and of course I saw a huge raft of gulls...visible from the spot we just left. We drove back to the original side, set up the scope, and finally had success. Slaty-backed Gull (lifer!), hanging out with a number of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls (neither new), and a Lesser Black-backed Gull (new for the year).

With joy in our hearts and sunburn on my arms (it was 91 degrees), we departed from Laredo. On the way out of town, we got one last new year bird, Northern Rough-winged Swallows. I had been hoping to bird other locations in Laredo since it was our first time birding there, but it was so hot and we were so drained that we made a promise to ourselves to come back another day.

Texas year list as of 3/1/14: 193

Nueces County 2/15/14

One of my favorite birding locales is Nueces County along the South Texas Coast. This is about a 2.5 hour drive away from our home, so I enjoy seeing what I can spot along the highway driving down. There are the typical hawks, sparrows, doves, vultures, etc, but as we're doing a Texas Big Year, I was on the lookout for something new. Two flocks flying overhead added two new year birds, Snow Goose and Sandhill Crane.

Once we got to Corpus Christi, we stopped at Labonte Park. This was our first time at this location and while we saw some good birds, including Anhinga (a first in the county for me), there was nothing new for the year. So we moved onward to Blucher Park. This is a huge migrant trap in the county and is truly one of the birdiest parks in America. We haven't hit the stride of Spring Migration, so there weren't a ton of new birds, but we managed to add Great Kiskadee and Brown Thrasher to the year list. Come March/April, the number of warblers there will be fantastic! Not to mention Indigo and Painted Buntings and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks...I can't wait!

After leaving Blucher, we drove out to South Padre Island. Along the bridges, we were able to add Black-bellied Plover and Sanderling. Those are about the easiest shorebirds for me to pick out. Once on the island, we stopped at a small migrant trap called Packery Channel Park. The main target was American Oystercatcher (but no such luck today). Only new year bird was Willet, but he did have some company with a lot of other birds (none new unfortunately).

We continued down to Port Aransas and made our first stop at Paradise Pond. It was neat to add Cedar Waxwings to my county list, but the only new year bird was a very personable Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. He just would not stop flying around us. ;) There were also Winter Texans...not a species of bird, but a type of birder from the North who like to escape their terrible weather and enjoy all that South Texas has to offer.

Next stop was the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center. I love this place because it always has good birds, good birders, and giant alligators. And we found all three today. For the year list, we were able to add Cinnamon Teal (there was only one and thankfully another birder helped us find it), Least Bittern, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, White-faced Ibis, Sora, and American Avocet. I was happy to be able to help other birders see and identify the Least Bitter and White-faced Ibis and thankful for the eyes of others to get the Cinnamon Teal and Green Heron.

Finally, we thought we'd try a new spot for us, the Port Aransas Jetty. Driving down the beach towards the jetty, we added Forster's, Royal, and Sandwich Terns, while the walk along the jetty brought Ruddy Turnstone and Bonaparte's Gull. I'm excited to come back here and add more terns and gulls!

On the way off the island, we spotted a Long-billed Curlew working hear near a bridge. The honor of "Last Bird of the Day" goes to a pair of White-tailed Kites hovering over the highway on the way out of Corpus.

All in all a FANTASTIC day of birding with 84 total species, 21 new species for Nueces County, and 21 new year birds, bringing the 2014 total to 180!

Brown Pelican

Laughing Gull

Ruddy Turnstone

Royal Tern with funny hair!

Baby Texas Big Year - Birding Brownsville

We've decided to do a Baby Texas Big Year. All that means is we are aiming to get 350 species in Texas in 2014. Shouldn't be too terribly difficult and hopefully will be a lot of fun. :) After a mini-big day on New Year's and a bird count in Boerne, we were up to 96 by 01/03. A couple of extra bird walks got us to 105 by 01/17...then it was time for some fun! We decided to head down to Brownsville on the evening of the 17th in order to bump up our count a little bit. On the way down, we ended up spotting a Great-horned Owl on the side of the highway. Normally owls are pretty difficult for us, so it was quite a surprise that this was so easy.

The first birding stop in Brownsville was Sabal Palm Sanctuary. They've recently remodeled the old house and moved the Visitors' Center into that building. Fortunately, they still maintain the feeding station at the old center. :) At the time of our visit (01/18), there was a Great-horned Owl nesting in a tree just outside the new Visitors' Center. Two owls in two days will very little effort. If only all birding was so easy! An Osprey flew over, marking the first new bird of the trip. We went to the feeding station and added White-tipped Dove, Green Jay, Clay-colored Thrush (lifer), Gray Catbird, Olive Sparrow, and Hooded Oriole to the year list. Then, we walked down to the lake and had Mottled Duck, Least Grebe, and Green Kingfisher. On the way back we picked up Plain Chachalaca in the underbrush. We were able to help another pair of birders get their eyes on the Chachalaca as well. It's always fun to see someone's eyes light up when they find a bird they were looking for! :)

Clay-colored Thrush

Green Jay
Just outside Sabal Palm, we spied a Chihuahuan Raven (thanks to the wind which exposed the white feathers!). Near the intersection of University at 77, we had a falcon on the telephone wires...Aplomado Falcon (lifer)! Always fun to see birds in unexpected places. We had a Northern Harrier fly over an empty field, bringing the bird list to 120 at the end of the morning.

After a nap, we went to Harlingen Arroyo Colorado to pick up some more birds. At the feeding station we spied Common Ground-Dove and Buff-bellied Hummingbird. We walked down to the river and were able to see Harri's Hawk, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Curve-billed Thrasher. That evening, we drove a resaca and added Anhinga and White Ibis. At the end of the day, we got to 127. Not bad for a few hours of birding!

Sunday, the 19th, we drove out to the South Padre Island Birding and Convention Center. Walking the trails, we were able to add Northern Pintail, Redhead, Red-breasted Merganser, Brown Pelican, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Clapper Rail, Common Gallinue, Spotted Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit (lifer), Laughing Gull, Herring Gull, Caspian Tern, Black Skimmer and Common Yellowthroat. I love this area! The trails go right through the marsh and make it very easy to pick up birds like rails that are sometimes really difficult to spot. After walking the trails, we walked up to the Convention Center to look for a female American Redstart which has been seen near the water feature. Another birder already had eyes on the Redstart and she kindly pointed it out to us. On our way back to San Antonio, we picked up Tropical Kingbird, White-tailed Hawk, and Brewer's Blackbird.

Clapper Rail

American Redstart
Two day trip added 3 lifers and 42 year birds...up to 148 already!

Christmas Count…part deux

We did our second CBC on Friday, January 3rd.  We bit the bullet and decided to go owling before the rest of the count started.  Owling started at 5 AM in 25 degree weather.  It was cold.  And windy.  And miserable.  And unsuccessful for the most part.  We have one Eastern Screech-Owl respond to us, along with a bunch of chickens.  But you know what?  It was totally worth it.  What a blast listening to a skilled birder with years of experience make awesome calls.

The rest of the CBC started at 730 AM.  For the most part, we had the same crew for our route as we did for the previous circle.  The two new folks were fun to meet, and after grabbing a cup of coffee, we were ready to head out.  We didn't have high expectations because it was so cold and windy.

Our first stop didn't yield much, except a grouchy landowner and a local deputy, until we were getting ready to leave.  Out of the east came a Cattle Egret (an early bird for this county).   We made the original finder fill out the rare bird sheet…no one likes doing that.  We then broke into two groups.  Our group headed to the local water treatment plant.  On the way, we had some Eastern Bluebirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackles, White-winged Doves and European Starlings.  When we got to the plant, we had American Kestrels, American Coots, Bufflehead, Ruddy Ducks, Mallards, Pied-billed and Eared Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, and Killdeer.

The water treatment plant was one of the first places we really noticed that there was a definite lacking in numbers of birds.  We had decent diversity of species, but not in the numbers we would have expected.  We were also missing some expected species like Osprey, Canvasback, and Redhead.  After scoping the lake, we walked a field that had normally been very good for sparrows.  We had exactly 2 Vesper Sparrows.

We met up with the rest of the group and left the water treatment plant.  Fortunately, not all landowners are grouchy, and we were granted access to a very large private ranch that again did not have much.  The sun had finally come out, but the temperature just didn't get very high (by South Texas standards).  We left the ranch and drove down to one of the lakeside neighborhoods.  Again, we had some nice species by the water (including a Swamp Sparrow), but the numbers were very low.

As we were leaving, we had a couple of unknowns on a wire.  We got out, scoped them, and had our first unexpected birds of the day: Black Phoebe!  On our high, we headed to the main part of the lake to do our last bit of birding.  We pulled in and had a bunch of American Pipit near the restrooms.  There was a gorgeous Vermillion Flycatcher on the volleyball net which provided another highlight to a fairly mediocre day of birding.  Our proximity to the first clean restroom in hours prompted us to take a bathroom break.  While I was washing my hands, I heard "Caracara!", so I hit the dryer because I wanted to get out and see our first Caracara of the day.  The rest of the group was still watching the bird and telling our complier Ray to hurry up and get out of the bathroom.  I watched the bird fly west into the sun and didn't understand why everyone was so excited.  The shape didn't look like a Caracara at all.  The bird was soaring and much larger than a Caracara.  The group was then shouting "Bald Eagle! Bald Eagle!"  I thought they were pulling my and Ray's legs.  I had told them a story about how when I first started birding, I was always trying to turn Caracaras into Bald Eagles, so I thought they were doing the same to me.  They were so insistent that we all hopped in the cars and drive to the end of the park where we saw the bird fly.  We got out and heard Ray call out that he had the bird.  It was a freaking Bald Eagle!  Best bird of the count, by far!  The day started out slowly, but the last hour of birding really made up for it.

I would highly recommend a CBC to anyone, beginner to advanced.  You can always learn something new from the count and have a great time hanging out with other birders.

Bald Eagle 

Vermillion Flycatcher 

American Pipit