Feb Species Seen

Stuart Healy Journal - February, 2011 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Monday, February 28, 2011

Thursday, February 3, 2011
I haven't ventured into the field yet this month but I thought I'd give you an update anyway. Like almost everywhere in the country right now, southeast Arizona is experiencing some cold temperatures (record breaking in some locations) and it was 8 degrees overnight where I live (7 is the lowest I've ever encountered here). The temperature climbed to a whopping 10 degrees by 9:00am but never managed to get over above 25 degrees all day. Nothing compared to more northerly locations in the country but unusually cold by southern Arizona standards.

The only birds that I heard throughout the entire day while working at the keyboard were VERDIN, CURVE-BILLED THRASHER and PYRRHULOXIA. Most days I have 8-10 species.

Not surprisingly, I've had one postponement and one cancellation for this week as clients come to grips with the temperatures. I'm spending my time preparing for a trip to Texas and my journal will (hopefully) resume normal service when I hit the road on Sunday. Texas weather may actually be worse than Arizona in some locations so I'm hoping that improvements are rapid and significant!

Stay warm.

Sunday, February 6, 2011
I've delayed the start of my Texas trip and now won't be leaving until Tuesday. This morning I headed down to Sierra Vista EOP for only my second visit of 2011. The temperature has rebounded well after the big freeze and a total of 13 birders (more visitors than locals for a change) enjoyed a pleasant walk around the dikes under clear skies and zero wind.

Highlight of 50+ species were a couple of female plumaged GREATER SCAUP initially spotted by Tony Battiste of Battiste's Bed, Breakfast and Birds. Greater Scaup is a scarce species at this location as evidenced by the fact that I only have 6 sightings in 5 of the 19 years that I have birded here. Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that these birds could be seen without entering the interior of the facility. The birds were in the first (plastic edged) ponds on the right as you drive in from the main gate. However, If you stand on a vehicle and have stilts, no problem.

Otherwise, it was a fairly routine outing with only a couple of CANVASBACKS and 8 BUFFLEHEADS being of note among 13 duck species. Lots of spiffy NORTHERN PINTAILS (perhaps the most common duck today) are always a treat to see though, as are CINNAMON TEAL and RUDDY DUCKS already sporting breeding plumage. At least 30 RING-NECKED DUCKS were present.

The only shorebirds were KILLDEER and WILSON'S SNIPE. Several SORAS called from the marshes and some saw COMMON MOORHEN and heard VIRGINIA RAIL. Out-in-the open MARSH WRENS were uncharacteristically easy to see in the recent swealed ponds. Several COMMON YELLOWTHROATS were also seen (regular here in winter but often missed in the normally tall reeds).

It was a poor day for falcons and we didn't see Peregrine nor Prairie, both of which are expected at this type of year. Merlin was also absent and a lone KESTREL was the only family representative. About a half dozen NORTHERN HARRIERS just outnumbered RED-TAILED HAWKS.

LARK SPARROW and BLACK-THROATED SPARROW were the least common of 8 sparrow species. SAVANNAH SPARROWS were abundant. The wintering ROCK WREN was seen (has become a regular species here in winter and typically leaves by mid February). Other regulars included several small groups of HORNED LARKS, 10+ AMERICAN PIPITS, 30+ WESTERN MEADOWLARKS and the usual hordes of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS.

Believe it or not, after the scaup, HOUSE SPARROW at the Animal Shelter was the least common species. They are rarely seen here (except in summer) and it's 18 months since I last saw one.

The official tally for the morning was in the low 50s, a little higher than my personal list.

49 species recorded at Sierra Vista EOP (8:00-11:30am 37-53 degrees): SVEOP bar graph

Gadwall, Am. Wigeon. Mallard, Cinnamon & Green-winged Teal; N. Shoveler, N. Pintail,
Canvasback, Ring-necked & Ruddy Ducks; Greater & Lesser Scaup; Bufflehead
N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel
Sora, Am. Coot
Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe
Mourning Dove
Black & Say's Phoebes
Loggerhead Shrike
Chihuahuan & Common Ravens
Horned Lark
Cactus, Rock & Marsh Wrens
N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher
Am. Pipit
Common Yellowthroat
Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Black-throated, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds; Western Meadowlark; Great-tailed Grackle
House Sparrow.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Texas Trip Day 1: Sierra Vista - Fort Stockton (Trip list: 47)
Today I traveled to Texas ahead of a job that starts at the weekend. I'll be spending some time in the Houston area and on the central coast before meeting clients on Saturday. It wasn't a great day to be driving through west Texas where it always seems to be windy even on a calm day!. I saw winds up to 50mph and the temperature reached 82 degrees at one point.

Although this was essentially the first of two travel days, I was able to get some birding done starting with a stop at Willcox. Unfortunately, I was there way too early and was only able to stay a short time (of necessity due to travel). The only upside was that I was able to bird before the wind arrived.

Although I didn't see anything of note, the numbers of a few species were impressive. Along the entrance road (Rex Allen Junior Drive) I saw at least 300 LARK BUNTINGS, probably many more. On the driving range, some 250-300 AMERICAN WIGEON grazed very close to the road, much bolder than I've seen them act here before. I spent too much of my limited time trying to spot the hybrid Eurasian that has spent several winters here.

I counted an amazing 500 SAVANNAH SPARROWS made up of birds around the periphery of the main pond plus a large concentrated flock of 300 birds out in the grasslands. The flock had attracted the attention of a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK sitting quietly amidst the sparrows. I watched it make an unsuccessful pass. I also saw 50 SANDHILL CRANES, a small flock of BREWER'S SPARROWS and plenty of scattered VESPER SPARROWS.

All of the ponds (including a couple of temporal ponds) have high water and all were 90-95% ice free at 7:30am. I noted very few ducks - presumably the majority had to move on as a result of the recent hard freeze.

The wind started to increase as I traveled through New Mexico and roadside birds were few with only GREATER ROADRUNNER of note on the north side of the Franklin Mountains. The wind became extremely strong once I reached El Paso where I picked up a rental vehicle. If you're in El Paso and you can't see Mexico, you know there's something in the air!

Visibility was extremely poor on I-10 east of El Paso and roadside birding was impossible (not that there's much to see along this stretch). I listened to some comedy radio instead. A moving company service agent calls a customer. After pleasantries are exchanged, the agent says "I have some good news and bad news -- you know about all the recent icy weather we've had right? Well, the good news is that the driver is okay". More agent-customer dialog then "the bad news is that the truck didn't fare so well" Now the already irate customer says "what about my stuff" to which the agent replies "well, that didn't fare so well even more". The sketch then becomes a slanging match with lots of bleep-outs. Funny stuff but I guess you had to be there.

I left I-10 in Fort Hancock and stopped at McNary Reservoir. In the nearby fields the first three birds were raptors not heading where they wanted to go -- NORTHERN HARRIER, RED-TAILED HAWK and FERRUGINOUS HAWK. The viewing location at the reservoir is atop a dike in open country and I could hardly stand up let alone use optics. I was fortunate in that a large flock of 500 white geese were initially huddled against the berm and I was able to note SNOW and ROSS'S GEESE. I also saw CLARK'S and WESTERN GREBES, WHITE PELICAN and a few SHOVELERS. The wind ensured that I couldn't identify a small flock of gulls and everything else that I saw. By the time that I moved on the wind was about as bad as I've ever experienced. I was literally eating dust and was reminded of a pea-souper fog.

Traveling along I-10 at west Texas speeds (80mph limit) allowed me to get ahead of the wind and it was manageable when I reached Balmorhea Lake two hours later (5:00pm local time after losing an hour; 82 degrees). Unfortunately, birds were sparser than I had hoped but at least I could figure out what they were. I only had time to check the northwest corner of the lake where I noted 22 species including multiple GADWALLS, WIGEON, SHOVELERS & PINTAILS; and singletons of LESSER SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, SNOWY EGRET and CLARK'S GREBE.

A few AMERICAN PIPITS worked the shoreline. Other landbirds included LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, MOCKINGBIRD, LARK BUNTING, PYRRHULOXIA and WESTERN MEADOWLARK.

It was 70 degrees and relatively calm when I arrived in Fort Stockton at 6:15pm, a little before sunset. However, it took less than two hours for the the wind to arrive. As I returned from dinner, garbage cans were flying and it felt bitterly cold. Quite an eventful day and I expect more of the same tomorrow.

47 species recorded:
Snow & Ross's Geese; Gadwall, Am. Wigeon, Mallard, N. Shoveler, N. Pintail, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed, Western & Clark's Grebes; Double-crested Cormorant, Am. White Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, N. Harrier, Sharp-shinned, Red-tailed & Ferruginous Hawks; Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, Marsh Wren, N. Mockingbird, European Starling, Am. Pipit, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song & White-crowned Sparrows; Lark Bunting, Pyrrhuloxia, Western Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch and House Sparrow.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Texas Trip Day 2: Fort Stockton - Houston (Trip list: 59; +12)
As I mentioned on Sunday, I delayed the start of my trip by two days, primarily to give the weather a chance to recover following last week's icy blast. It's ironic that the delay resulted in the timing being perfect for another Arctic express! Murphy never takes a break when I'm involved. I certainly wasn't prepared for what happened this morning after yesterday's temperatures -- it was 14 degrees in Fort Stockton with a wind chill of -2 as I gassed up the vehicle. I haven't felt as cold since I made a winter visit to Minnesota in February 1997.

Today I continued my journey east on I-10 through West Texas and the Hill County to Houston. The temperature hovered around 18 degrees for several hundred miles and I encountered snow starting in Sonora that lasted until I was east of Kerrville. Unsurprisingly, I don't have many birds to report.

I saw 7 birds in the first couple of hours and 6 of them were Ravens, the other was a Mockingbird. This explains why 9 out of 10 doctors with cardiac patients recommend travel through West Texas to avoid excitement.

When I planned this day I expected to be doing some birding in Kerrville but all I did was get gas. It was so cold and windy here that the credit card reader had iced up. I didn't see a single bird in town. With today's conditions it seems hard to believe that Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo will be back in about six weeks.

I listened to the radio for entertainment and was soon reminded about the disappearing adverb (most often manifested by dropping of "ly"). For example, someone promoting a reading fluency program for children said "I didn't read very fluent as a child". Why should America tremble?

After I cleared San Antonio the temperature had climbed into the high 20s, although I didn't see it break 30 all day. I'd planned to bird Katy Prairie (west of Houston) and I did so in conditions that were hardly conducive to birding in open terrain. Somewhat akin to birding in Sulphur Springs Valley with an icy wind blowing. Not fun and not productive.

Warren Lake was complete devoid of waterfowl and few birds were on offer in the 30+ miles of fields that I cruised. Best birds for me were NORTHERN BOBWHITE, a handful of CRESTED CARACARAS, BLUE JAY and 6+ PINE WARBLERS foraging in a roadside ditch. I briefly saw a lone longspur on Pattison Road but didn't get enough to make a stab at identification. Lapland is the most likely.

I'm on the north side of Houston in The Woodlands tonight ready for some forest birding tomorrow. Given the forecast for continued cold and windy conditions, I'm not sure how that will pan out.

Thursday, February 10, 2011
Texas Trip Day 3: Houston area (Trip list: 89; +30)
By Houston standards it was a cold day and the media certainly made a meal of it. The morning began cloudy in the mid 20s and it stayed that way until about midday. The afternoon was mostly sunny and reached 44 degrees. I looked up a typical day for this time of year -- average low 43, average high 65. Fortunately, the wind was not as strong as forecast (at least where I was) and overall the day was a bargain compared to yesterday.

I spent the day birding around Houston with three objectives -- to check on Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Monk Parakeet; and to photograph a Rusty Blackbird.

I began at W.G. Jones State Forest north of the city, my fifth visit to this location over the years and site of my first ever Red-cockaded Woodpecker sighting many years ago. Since then I've seen them elsewhere in Texas and in Florida. It was a little brisk when I started birding at 8:30am and the forest was quiet. I was a little surprised to see BLACK VULTURES already aloft. After some careful listening I heard the distant and weak calls of RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER. Seeing them was much more difficult and it took me until 10:00am to obtain a satisfactory view of two or three birds (northwest of the headquarters area).

As I tracked the woodpecker, other birds in the forest included RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, several YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS, multiple BLUE JAYS, CAROLINA CHICKADEE, BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH, CAROLINA & HOUSE WRENS and several EASTERN BLUEBIRDS.

The headquarters feeders and surrounding area had the most activity. Here I saw a few CARDINALS, lots of CHIPPING SPARROWS & AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and a lone PINE SISKIN. I also noted lots of PINE WARBLERS.

Next, I headed to Bear Creek Park on the east side of the city. This is a very large park and seems to be an excellent birding area (this was my first visit). I would have enjoyed spending the rest of the day here but I only "allowed" myself a few hours. The temperature was right at the freezing mark when I arrived and had climbed to 40 degrees when I left at 2:00pm.

When I did a "photo trip" to Florida in winter a couple of years ago, RUSTY BLACKBIRD was one of my photo targets and I never found the time to look for them, let alone get a photo. On this trip I made the effort and it didn't take long to track down a large flock of over 100 birds (there have been multiple reports from this location so I knew they were around). Finding them signaled the start of a frustrating period of trying (generally unsuccessfully) to get a photo. I've only seen this species a couple of times before today (a lone rarity in Arizona and a nesting pair in New Hampshire) and I had no idea about their behavior. I can now tell you that they don't tolerate close approach and are way more skittish than their Brewer's Blackbird brethren!

The birds were feeding in a swampy woodlot and jerked me around for more than an hour. All I had to do was look at them sideways as I tried to sidle up slowly and the entire flock took to the trees. Despite much effort, I barely managed "photo first" quality images of a male and female. Both were shot from a distance much too great for the capabilities of my equipment (and it shows).

Among the other species in the park (mostly in the vicinity of the blackbirds) were RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, a small group of WHITE-WINGED DOVES, RED-BELLIED & DOWNY WOODPECKERS, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, EASTERN PHOEBE, CAROLINA CHICKADEE, lots of singing TUFTED TITMICE (MOUSES?) and a few spiffy EASTERN BLUEBIRDS.

I reluctantly moved on and headed downtown to check on a MONK PARAKEET site. I barely had to get out of the vehicle to see 4 birds and I didn't linger.

The rest of the day (it was now 2:45pm) was mine now and I headed to Challenger Seven Memorial Park to do some casual birding. I'm staying on the south side of town in Pearland tonight and the park was a fairly convenient destination. This is another large park with a creek and associated wetlands and wooded areas. I enjoyed a couple of hours of birding in balmy 44 degrees conditions (still a little nippy with the breeze).

I saw a number of typical eastern woodland species that I'd already seen at other sites today including hordes of noisy BLUE JAYS and AMERICAN ROBINS. New for the day were SEDGE WREN, CEDAR WAXWING and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. I spent way too much time trying to photograph PINE WARBLER in a natural setting (they are easy to shoot on blacktop).

I've saved the best for last. Just as I was getting ready to leave, I heard a series of high pitched calls and immediately said to myself GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. I scurried back and found two of them foraging relatively low. I only have one very poor image so I started shooting until I filled up the memory card. The birds never stopped moving but I'm hopeful that I managed one usable image. Although I don't have a benchmark having never birded at this location before, I have to assume that a sighting of this species in a city park is a relatively rare winter occurrence. A good end to a successful day.

Friday, February 11, 2011
Texas Trip Day 4: Pearland - Ingleside (Trip list: 118; +29)
Today I headed southwest from Houston down to the central coast, visiting three locations along the way -- Brazos Bend State Park, Aransas NWR and Goose Island State Park. Unfortunately, I had to give short shrift to all of them. The weather continues to improve and it was only a little below freezing when I got underway this morning and up to 55 degrees by late afternoon. Sunny skies prevailed all day and the wind was generally manageable.

I started with a check of 40 acre lake at Brazos Bend State Park. A chilly wind was blowing across the lake and I saw little in the way of waterfowl and herons. PIED-BILLED GREBES were very active and vocal though and perhaps they are beginning their nesting activities. The fairly dense vegetation on the west side of the lake had plenty of landbird activity and I saw the common species in short order. AMERICAN CROWS and AMERICAN ROBINS were numerous and noisy. The loud song of a CAROLINA WREN announced its arrival as did the raucous calls of RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS. The monotonous vocalizations of TUFTED TITMICE and chatter of CAROLINA CHICKADEES were ever present. All ho-hum for the locals but engaging for me as a once or twice a year visitor to Texas.

Other species near the lakeshore included RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, EASTERN PHOEBE, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER, SWAMP & WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS and numerous NORTHERN CARDINALS, seemingly with amorous intentions.

Over at Elm Lake I added BLUE WINGED TEAL, WHITE IBIS and COMMON MOORHEN and a handful of CAVE SWALLOWS working low over the water. I also noted DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, SNOWY EGRET and GREAT-TAILED & BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES. The open habitat (grass and scattered trees) along the lakeshore held DOWNY WOODPECKER, VERMILION FLYCATCHER and, finally, a nicely posed PINE WARBLER in an aesthetic setting.

I could easily have spent all day in the park and it was with some reluctance that I left after only two hours. It's been a while since I visited this excellent location. If I were a local resident, this would be my "Patagonia Lake".

Continuing on I noted SANDHILL CRANES in the fields along FM 1462 just north of Damon. Now came a couple of hours of driving, mostly in agricultural habitat. AMERICAN KESTRELS were very common and I easily saw over 30 birds. LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES were also numerous. Other raptors noted were several RED-SHOULDERED and RED-TAILED HAWKS and a WHITE-TAILED HAWK closer to the coast. I also noted LONG-BILLED CURLEWS in the dirt fields as I approached Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

Aransas NWR (along with Santa Ana NWR in the valley) is normally loaded with mosquitoes which is why I haven't visited much over the years. However, today it was quite windy and I didn't see (and, more importantly, didn't feel) any of the little buggers. Since every silver lining has a cloud, the wind and heat shimmer made identification of shorebirds and ducks very difficult and I didn't spend much time trying. I was able to identify GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, MOTTLED DUCK, NORTHERN PINTAIL, LESSER SCAUP, BROWN PELICAN (duh), BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and FORSTER'S TERN.

I made the obligatory visit to the tower where I saw a couple of WHOOPING CRANES at a distance of about a mile and lots more unidentifiable birds.

Driving back along the two-way section of the tour route was perhaps the second best bird of the day. I raised my glasses to view what I thought would be grackles -- wrong! Two GROOVE-BILLED ANIS were perched in a small bush protruding above the grass. The location was just south of the "Bay Overlook" pier on tour route. I watched them interact briefly until one dropped into the grass. They are listed as "occasional" in all seasons on the refuge checklist.

My final stop of the day was at Goose Island State Park. Although far from a prolific birding spot (too many people for my liking), this is a nice place to bird and I've always enjoyed my visits here (few as they are). Today it was a case of follow the birders to find the continuing YELLOW-FACED GRASSQUIT that was delighting the assembled masses. The bird stayed in the grass (at least as tall as the bird) and always in the shade. Consequently, it was remarkably difficult to locate even though it was only 100 feet away. I found myself following the FIELD SPARROWS several times. I shot 120 images and wasn't happy with any of them and had to settle for a nicely posed female GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE.

I scurried around the park picking up a few more species before continuing on to my overnight location of Ingleside, some 25 miles to the south. New for the day were a couple of LITTLE BLUE HERONS, a dancing REDDISH EGRET, a handful of ROSEATE SPOONBILLS, OSPREY, WILLET, RUDDY TURNSTONE, a moderate sized flock of LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS (no Short-billed heard) and a few (presumably recently arrived) PURPLE MARTINS. Based on size, several gull species were present but I only "ticked" LAUGHING GULL.

The Grassquit was a good end to a tiring but enjoyable day. I guess it's now up to the Texas powers-that-be to decide if it's a "countable" bird. I haven't seen the issue of the bird's provenance discussed much on Texbirds.

Saturday, February 12, 2011
Texas Trip Day 5: Ingleside - San Antonio - Laredo (Trip list: 139; +21)
I put in a long day today which translates into a short report. I spent most of the day birding at sites on the central coast then drove to San Antonio to meet clients for a trip that starts tomorrow. Unfortunately, they had airline problems and the scheduled 7:00pm flight didn't arrive until after 10:00pm. We then had to drive to Laredo where we had a motel problem to make matters worse - due to computer maintenance we couldn't check in right away. It was 1:45pm before I finally hit the hay.

A small flock of SANDHILL CRANES greeted me as I left the motel in Ingleside. A small pond in town held ANHINGA.

I started birding at Oystercatcher Point on the Rockport-Fulton peninsula (I've never seen an Oystercatcher here) then worked my way down Fulton beach road into Rockport. I then birded a few sites in Port Aransas (fairly crowded on this weekend day) before heading south to Mustang and North Padre Islands.

At Oystercatcher Point I picked up a few new trip birds including BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK, TRICOLORED HERON and WHITE-FACED IBIS. I was surprised that GREATER SCAUP were more numerous that LESSER SCAUP. Also present were FORSTER'S TERN and ROYAL TERN. In Fulton I had close looks at MOTTLED DUCK (distant views up until now) and also saw very close ROSEATE SPOONBILLS.

In Port Aransas I scanned many BONAPARTE'S GULLS looking unsuccessfully for a recently reported Little Gull. The jetty was loaded with fisherman and I decided not to invest the time in walking out to look for Northern Gannet. I did scan from the beach without success.

Checks of the Port Aransas Birding Center (lots of ducks, lots of birders) and Paradise Pond (many BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS and a few WHITE-WINGED DOVES) weren't particularly productive. However, Paradise Pond provided close up viewing opportunities of several common species including the pictured dove reaching for berries.

One of my hopes for the day was to find small plovers. However, checks of Mustang Island (many ROYAL TERNS) and Padre Island National Seashore went largely unrewarded. I found only a few SNOWY PLOVERS in the vicinity of Bird Island. Other species new for the trip at that location were LESSER YELLOWLEGS, SANDERLING and DUNLIN. I noted a couple of roadside WHITE-TAILED HAWKS on the drive down to the National Seashore.

On my way north to San Antonio I detoured to the small town of Orange Grove to check on MONK PARAKEET (several birds detected).

Sunday, February 13, 2011
Texas Trip Day 6: Laredo - McAllen (Trip list: 168; +29)
Day 1 with group: (Trip List: 72)
Today was the first of 7 days with John Chandler, Larry Cowan, Kevin Neill and Cathie Barron, all from the Vancouver area of BC. I've birded with all except Cathie once before; John and Larry last year, Kevin many years ago. We'll be birding in the Rio Grande Valley; the lower, central and upper coast; and around Houston looking for composite list of target species that are either lifers or ABA species for one or more of the group. I feel like a juggler. After such a late night last night we started late in Laredo this morning then birded our way down river to Salineņo before continuing on to McAllen, our base for a few days.

We began at Zacate Creek in Laredo where new birds came thick and fast -- first GREAT KISKADEE then AUDUBON'S ORIOLE and GOLDEN-FRONTED WOODPECKER. Next, Kevin spotted a soaring raptor that turned out to be a ZONE-TAILED HAWK, far from a "gimme" in the valley on any given day.

I checked the perch that the Amazon Kingfisher used last year and spotted a RINGED KINGFISHER. The bird quickly bailed and wasn't seen well by everyone until a couple of hours later. Shortly after reaching the Rio Grande we flushed a GREEN KINGFISHER (better views still desired for this guy). Also at the river were a few cormorants, ducks and dowitchers.

Now came the main reason for a visit here -- a walk along Las Palmas trail to look for WHITE-COLLARED SEEDEATER. After some careful searching I spotted a lone bird totally by accident as I tried to track something else. The seedeater (female/young male) was feeding atop some grasses and everyone was able to get a scope view. This was the only bird we came across. Fortunately, as I've said many times before, one is all that it takes.

The trail was generally quiet apart from noisy KISKADEES, of course; and GREEN JAYS that delighted all. COUCH'S KINGBIRD briefly called from the Mexican side of the river and lives to fight again. Other species included BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, EASTERN PHOEBE, CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN, VERDIN, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, ORANGE-CROWNED & WILSON'S WARBLERS and LINCOLN'S SPARROW.

We continued on picking up HARRIS'S HAWK and CRESTED CARACARA along highway 83 about 15 miles south of Laredo (more as we traveled further south).  Our next stop was in San Ygnacio where we stumbled into at least 4 COUCH'S KINGBIRD in a small wash on Uribe Street. The river level is very high and the "Seedeater Sanctuary" has been flooded for some time. We made a brief stop in Jim Ringo's yard (no Brown Jays this year) and picked up our first PLAIN CHACHALACAS of the trip. Also present were INCA DOVE and EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE.

We stopped for lunch in Zapata then checked the pond near the library (site of my first ever Seedeater). Seedeaters haven't been reported here recently and Laredo has now become my "go to" spot for this species. Species here included ANHINGA, EASTERN PHOEBE, VERMILION FLYCATCHER, GREAT KISKADEE, a probable COUCH'S KINGBIRD (silent) and GREEN JAY.

South of town we added another HARRIS'S HAWK and LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE.

A vigil at feeders at Falcon State Park paid off with 10 SCALED QUAIL, not an easy bird in the valley. They were at the site host feeders (site 117). Among others seen at the feeders were GREEN JAY, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, OLIVE SPARROW, PYRRHULOXIA and numerous ALTAMIRA ORIOLES adding color. OSPREY and WHITE-PELICAN were seen over the lake.

Our final stop of the day was at Salineņo. The shortcut road produced LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE and BLACK-THROATED SPARROW. The feeders produced all three expected orioles -- HOODED, ALTAMIRA and AUDUBON'S plus the other regulars including BLACK-CRESTED TITMOUSE, 2-3 LONG-BILLED THRASHERS and several OLIVE SPARROWS.

Unfortunately, we didn't spot any Muscovy Ducks at the river crossing. Present here were OSPREY, our only BLACK VULTURE of the day, a probable MOTTLED DUCK (not counted), RINGED KINGFISHER and AMERICAN PIPIT.

A good first day.

72 species recorded:
Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, N. Shoveler, Plain Chachalaca, Scaled Quail, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants; Anhinga, Am. White Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great & Snowy Egrets; Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black & Turkey Vultures; Osprey, N. Harrier, Harris's, Gray, Zone-tailed & Red-tailed Hawks; Crested Caracara, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning, Inca & White-tipped Doves; Ringed & Green Kingfishers; Golden-fronted & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black & Eastern Phoebes; Vermilion Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Green Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, Black-crested Titmouse, Verdin, Bewick's & House Wrens; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, N. Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Am. Pipit, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, White-collared Seedeater, Olive, Black-throated & Lincoln's Sparrows; N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Hooded, Altamira & Audubon's Orioles; House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Monday, February 14, 2011
Texas Trip Day 7: Lower Rio Grande Valley (Trip list: 182; +14)
Day 2 with group: (Trip List: 102; +30)
Today we spent the morning at Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park, mid afternoon at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, late afternoon at Edinburg Wetlands and early evening in McAllen viewing Green Parakeets.

At Bentsen we had success with a couple of continuing rarities -- BLUE BUNTING and BLACK-VENTED ORIOLE as well as a number of regular species. The oriole was initially a no-show near the nature center feeders where it has visited most recent mornings. While waiting for the bird to show (and enjoying lots of noisy PLAIN CHACHALACAS, GREAT KISKADEE, GREEN JAYS and ALTAMIRA ORIOLES among others), we heard that the Bunting had been seen at a nearby wet area. although unfortunately, the bird had gone by the time we got there. However, this particular cloud had a silver lining and we were called back to the feeders where everyone just about managed views of the Oriole before it disappeared.

Temporarily abandoning rarities we started looking for Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet. Sadly, we didn't find a Tyrannulet but did encounter ANHINGA, GRAY HAWK, WHITE-TIPPED DOVE, GOLDEN-FRONTED & LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS, EASTERN PHOEBE, VERMILION FLYCATCHER, WHITE-EYED VIREO, CAVE SWALLOW, CLAY-COLORED THRUSH, LONG-BILLED THRASHER and OLIVE SPARROW

Later in the morning our timing was excellent to see a pair of BLUE BUNTINGS coming in to water along with NASHVILLE and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS.

A midday stop at the visitor yielded excellent views of BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD but we missed a rare-for-here Rufous Hummingbird.

After lunch we headed to Santa Ana NWR in search of a Painted Bunting (reported yesterday) and a hoped for Hook-billed Kite (several recent reports). We dipped on both -- the bunting because I took a wrong turn and missed the trail that we needed; and the kite perhaps because it was super windy up on the viewing tower.

Nevertheless, we saw plenty of birds and our first Armadillo of the trip (pointed out to us as Armadill-a in a drawly accent). We saw many of the valley regulars that we saw at Bentsen and added a number of species to our day list including several duck species, WHITE-PELICAN, LEAST GREBE, GREAT EGRET, WHITE-IBIS, ROSEATE SPOONBILL, OSPREY, great looks at CRESTED CARACARA, BLACK-NECKED STILT, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, a surprise GOLDEN-ROWNED KINGLET and INDIGO BUNTING.

Next we checked Edinburg Wetlands hoping for Fulvous Whistling-Duck (one had been reported recently). We scanned hundreds of BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS and came up empty. Among the species new for the day here were RING-NECKED DUCK, LESSER SCAUP, LITTLE BLUE & GREEN HERONS, COMMON MOORHEN and GREEN KINGFISHER.

We finished up just before dusk at 10th and Violet in McAllen, a traditional spot to view GREEN-PARAKEETS. We saw many hundreds of them gathered on wires -- always a treat.

72 species recorded:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Gadwall, Blue-winged & Green-winged Teal; N. Shoveler, Ring-necked & Ruddy Ducks; Lesser Scaup, Plain Chachalaca, Least & Pied-billed Grebes; Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants; Anhinga, Am. White Pelican, Great Blue, Little Blue & Green Herons; Great & Snowy Egrets; Black-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Cooper's, Gray & Red-tailed Hawks; Crested Caracara, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Inca & White-tipped Doves; Green Parakeet, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Belted & Green Kingfishers; Golden-fronted & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; Eastern Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, White-eyed Vireo, Green Jay, Tree & Cave Swallows; Black-crested Titmouse, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Golden-crowned & Ruby-crowned Kinglets; Clay-colored Thrush, N. Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, European Starling, Orange-crowned, Nashville & Yellow-rumped Warblers; Olive Sparrow, N. Cardinal, Blue & Indigo Buntings; Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Black-vented & Altamira Orioles and Am. Goldfinch.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Texas Trip Day 8: Lower Rio Grande Valley (Trip list: 192; +10)
Day 3 with group: (Trip List: 119; +15)
This morning we briefly checked Edinburg Wetlands then headed to Allen Williams residence. The remainder of the day was spent at Estero Llano Grande State Park followed by an (unsuccessful) evening vigil for Red-crowned Parrot in Weslaco.

Our early visit to Edinburg Wetlands shortly after sunrise was brief (30 minutes) and unsuccessful -- just as yesterday afternoon we did not see Fulvous Whistling-Duck. Most of yesterday's BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS were initially absent then came flying in to the main pond in small groups so they obviously roosted elsewhere. Most of the same birds seen yesterday were present including LEAST GREBE.

Next we visited Allen Williams yard ("wildscape") located in Pharr. Allen's business is Williams Wildscapes and the yard is a great example of his work -- i.e. some preserved natural habitat in an urban environment. An appointment is required to visit the property where many of the common Rio Grande Valley species can be seen. The yard is currently hosting a rare Crimson-collared Grosbeak which was the main reason for our visit. After first purchasing some oranges as instructed, we arrived shortly after 8:00am in time for Allen's normal feeding time of 8:15am.

After the introductions, Allen pointed out an EASTERN SCREECH-OWL using an enhanced tree cavity in the front yard. It was a very cloudy morning with crappy light and I managed a barely usable image (a photo first for me). The grosbeak called as we viewed the owl (I recognized the shrill, whistled call from a brief encounter with the bird at Frontera Audubon Thicket in April 2009) and we headed into the back yard where Allen proceeded to place oranges in various locations. I picked up the call of a SUMMER TANAGER, not a bird that I expected to see on this trip (classified as rare in the lower valley in winter). We soon saw the male tanager high in the canopy of a tall tree.

It wasn't long before the female CRIMSON-COLLARED GROSBEAK put in an appearance and starting feeding on the oranges. Although the bird was certainly wary, it was actually quite confiding (no doubt it has been gawked at enough to know that there isn't a threat). Once again, poor light was my photographic enemy. We stayed about 40 minutes enjoying the grosbeak along with PLAIN CHACHALACA, GOLDEN-FRONTED WOODPECKER, WHITE-WINGED DOVE, calling but unseen COMMON GROUND-DOVE, GREAT KISKADEE, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, LONG-BILLED & CURVE-BILLED THRASHERS and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

We moved on to Estero Llano Grande State Park where a small group of FULVOUS-WHISTLING DUCKS were immediately visible from the viewing deck at the visitor center. Two visits to Edinburg without success then an easy sighting. Such is birding!  Several BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRDS were at the visitor center feeders and nearby birds included PLAIN CHACHALACA, GOLDEN-FRONTED WOODPECKER and GREAT KISKADEE. Seeing a theme here?

Unfortunately, we couldn't maintain the duck momentum and for much of the day we focused on trying to see a White-throated Thrush without success. The bird has been around for a while (and still remains into March). Sadly, despite a fair amount of time and effort by some of us, we failed to see the bird. To rub salt in the wound, the thrush was seen while we were at lunch.

Of note in the Tropical Zone was a roosting COMMON PAURAQUE pointed out to us as we began searching for the thrush. Estero usually has several of these birds on day roosts during the winter months but they can be very hard to detect. Note how well the bird's plumage colors match the leafy environment. We actually saw three different individuals throughout the course of the day. I was disappointed with the photo in that the tail is out of focus. Unfortunately, given the angle of the shot, the light was such that I couldn't get the settings to achieve the result I wanted in a hand-held situation.

Among the birds seen in the Tropical Zone during the thrush-less search were COMMON GROUND-DOVE, WHITE-EYED & BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, GREEN JAY, LONG-BILLED THRASHER, WILSON'S WARBLER, OVENBIRD and OLIVE SPARROW.

In mid afternoon we abandoned the thrush search and walked the trails around the ponds in search of GREEN KINGFISHER. I'm happy to say that we found a bird in a rare "Murphy gets screwed moment" that I always enjoy. As we crossed the bridge over the drainage ditch near Grebe Marsh, I said "this is a good place to look for the Kingfisher". Right on cue a bird flew directly towards us! We had a good flight view of a colorful female but couldn't relocate the bird in a nearby channel despite hearing its clicking calls. Several LEAST GREBES were on their namesake pond.

We continued on to Alligator Lake where we saw several Alligators and a WHITE-TAILED KITE hunting over the fields. Also present were ANHINGA and COMMON MOORHEN. Birds seen while walking the trails included a pair of MOTTLED DUCKS, CINNAMON TEAL, several soaring WHITE PELICANS, LITTLE BLUE & TRICOLORED HERONS, CRESTED CARACARA, and CAVE SWALLOW. We also saw a silent Tropical/Couch's Kingbird that had to be left unidentified. Both species are currently present so any guesswork would only be folly.

As we left the state park, the second EASTERN SCREECH-OWL of the day was staring at us from its cavity located in a parking lot tree.

We spent the last hour before dark near Valley Nature Center in Gibson Park. Unfortunately, Red-crowned Parrots didn't grace us with their presence. The only new species for the day was a soaring PURPLE MARTIN.

According to the info that I've been able to glean, Red-crowned Parrots are much harder to find reliably this year. I later saw a report of a flock of 20 parrots seen in flight just outside Estero today!

73 species recorded:
Black-bellied & Fulvous Whistling-Ducks; Gadwall, Mottled & Ring-necked Ducks; Blue-winged, Cinnamon & Green-winged Teal; N. Shoveler, N. Pintail, Plain Chachalaca, Least & Pied-billed Grebes; Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants; Anhinga, Am. White Pelican, Great & Snowy Egrets; Little Blue, Tricolored & Green Herons; Black-crowned Night-Heron, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks; Crested Caracara, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Spotted & Least Sandpipers; Lesser Yellowlegs, Rock Pigeon, White-winged, Mourning & Inca Doves; Common Ground-Dove, Eastern Screech-Owl, Common Pauraque, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Green Kingfisher, Golden-fronted & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; Eastern Phoebe, Great Kiskadee, White-eyed & Blue-headed Vireos; Green Jay, Purple Martin, Tree & Cave Swallows; Black-crested Titmouse, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, N. Mockingbird, Long-billed & Curve-billed Thrashers; European Starling, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers; Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, Olive & Lincoln's Sparrows; Summer Tanager, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Texas Trip Day 9: Lower Rio Grande Valley - Ingleside (Trip list: 201; +9)
Day 4 with group: (Trip List: 144; +25)
Today was our last day in the valley and it was a long day. We were on the road from 6:30am to 8:30pm traveling a total of 350 miles and we really didn't have time to cover all the locations that we visited. We started with a brief visit to Santa Ana NWR for another try at Hook-billed Kite then headed east towards the lower coast. We looked for Aplomado Falcon on the Old Port Isabel Road and at Laguna Atascosa NWR; then birded on South Padre Island. On our drive north to Ingleside (near the coast northeast of Corpus Christi), we checked the fields near Sebastian for Mountain Plover.

Hook-billed Kites were reported again from Santa Ana NWR yesterday so we opted to invest a short time at the tower. It was a cloudy morning and the gray sky didn't help in identifying the few raptors that were aloft. Most of the TURKEY VULTURES were still roosting and a lone BLACK VULTURE was seen in flight. The sighting of WHITE-TAILED KITE got us in the kite family but that's as close as we came in our attempt on Monday and again today. A fast-flying PEREGRINE FALCON was seen by some.

Looking down across the vast canopy from the tower, a singing WHITE-TIPPED DOVE remained unseen; a constantly calling COUCH'S KINGBIRD was in continuous view; and a singing WHITE-EYED VIREO played peek-a-boo. Also seen were fly-by MOTTLED DUCKS, GREEN JAY and RINGED KINGFISHER. Birds seen along the trail between the parking area and the tower included ANHINGA, GOLDEN-FRONTED WOODPECKER, EASTERN PHOEBE, GREAT KISKADEE, TREE & CAVE SWALLOWS; BLACK-CRESTED TITMOUSE, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER and OLIVE & LINCOLN'S SPARROWS. Just 35 species in all on a short and focused visit.

Heading east from the refuge towards Brownsville (via routes 281, 1732 and 511) we saw a number of raptors including more WHITE-TAILED KITES, HARRIS'S & RED-TAILED HAWKS, CRESTED CARACARA, AM. KESTREL, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE and other field birds.

Northeast of Brownsville we spent some time on the Old Port Isabel Road where there have been multiple recent sightings of Aplomado Falcon. This road can be very treacherous and is often impassable when wet (see journal for 4/13/2010) but today we were fortunate to see it dry. We were not so fortunate with the falcon (although we only covered the first couple of miles).

The habitat here is mostly open fields with a few ponds and distant Loma Alta Lake. The sighting of two beautiful WHITE-TAILED HAWKS soaring high and eventually low was the highlight of our time here (one of only a handful of species that was a lifer for all members of the group). Among the other species seen were WHITE PELICAN, our first WHITE-FACED IBIS of the trip, OSPREY, CRESTED CARACARA, LONG-BILLED CURLEW, VERMILION FLYCATCHER, HORNED LARK and EASTERN MEADOWLARK. There were also some distant gulls and terns too far away to reliably identify.

I had been hoping to skip Laguna Atascosa NWR (not one of my favorite places) but having missed the falcon we made that our next destination. After a quick stop at the visitor center where we noted common feeder moochers such as PLAIN CHACHALACA, WHITE-TIPPED DOVE, GREEN JAY, LONG-BILLED THRASHER and OLIVE SPARROW, we took the bayside drive loop (15 miles).

Aplomado Falcons have been seen regularly here including as recently as yesterday at mile 4 and 8. We passed those locations without incident and it wasn't until we reached a little beyond mile 11 that we got much raptor action. We stopped to view a WHITE-TAILED HAWK and as we scanned around the area, an APLOMADO FALCON flashed by and was seen briefly only by me and Kevin. Barely enough to identify the bird really (not counted by anyone) and the bird wasn't seen again. Also seen at this spot was our only MERLIN of the trip.

Earlier, we noted plenty of birds along the stretch of the loop drive that comes close to the water. Among the species foraging in the Laguna Madre were many RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, LITTLE BLUE HERON, dancing REDDISH EGRETS (including White phase); ROSEATE SPOONBILL and CASPIAN TERN. On the grassland side of the road we saw NORTHERN HARRIER, CRESTED CARACARA, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE and SAVANNAH SPARROW.

After leaving the refuge we headed directly to South Padre Island. We started by checking beaches on both Laguna Madre and Gulf sides of the island in the vicinity of the World Birding Center (WBC). The hope here was for small plovers but results were extremely disappointing. Lots of people out enjoying the afternoon sunshine but few birds except for the omnipresent LAUGHING GULLS.

We moved on to the WBC boardwalk where we found lots of birds. I briefly spotted a SNOWY PLOVER but I was the only one to see the bird. Loafing species close to high tide were many BLACK SKIMMERS and FORSTER'S & ROYAL TERNS; with lesser numbers of DUNLIN, LESSER YELLOWLEGS and BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS. Also present were AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN PINTAIL, REDHEAD, TRICOLORED HERON and GREAT & REDDISH EGRETS.

Our options now where to stay here for the rest of the day or to start our journey north so that we had enough daylight left to check for Mountain Plover. We chose the latter after all to brief 45 minutes on the boardwalk. In retrospect, it probably would have been better to stay and seek out plovers and whatever else that might have been present. However, one of the many things that I haven't managed to figure out in all my years is to have hindsight in advance. Boy, would that sell like hotcakes.

We reached the regular Mountain Plover spot on CR 1600 in Willacy County, northeast of Sebastian, with plenty of daylight to work with. The birds are regular here in winter and have been reported in numbers recently. However, we came up empty. Although we had enough daylight, the wind was very strong and blowing dust was a problem. The only birds we saw were a few HORNED LARKS.

We threw in the towel around 6:30pm and arrived in Ingleside a couple of hours later.

82 species recorded:
Gadwall, Am. Wigeon, Mottled & Ruddy Ducks; Blue-winged & Green-winged Teal; N. Shoveler, N. Pintail, Redhead, Red-breasted Merganser, Plain Chachalaca, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Am. White & Brown Pelicans; Great Blue, Little Blue & Tricolored Herons; Great & Reddish Egrets; White & White-faced Ibis; Roseate Spoonbill, Black & Turkey Vultures; Osprey, White-tailed Kite, N. Harrier, Harris's, White-tailed & Red-tailed Hawks; Crested Caracara, Am. Kestrel, Merlin, Aplomado & Peregrine Falcons; Am. Coot, Black-bellied & Snowy Plovers; Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Curlew, Sanderling, Dunlin, Laughing & Ring-billed Gulls; Caspian, Forster's & Royal Terns; Black Skimmer, White-tipped Dove, Ringed & Belted Kingfishers; Golden-fronted & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; Eastern Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo, Green Jay, Horned Lark, Tree & Cave Swallows; Black-crested Titmouse, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, N. Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, Olive, Savannah & Lincoln's Sparrows; N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and House Sparrow.

Thursday, February 17, 2011
Texas Trip Day 10: Ingleside - Clute (Trip list: 204; +3)
Day 5 with group: (Trip List: 162; +18)
Today we moved up the coast as far as the Freeport-Lake Jackson area with birding sessions in Port Aransas, Rockport-Fulton, Goose Island State Park and Aransas NWR. Apart from early morning low-lying clouds that impacted our birding on the coast, it was a fine weather day and we had good success with our main target species -- Whooping Crane and Yellow-faced Grassquit.

For the second time in a week for me, flyover SANDHILL CRANES greeted us as we left our motel in Ingleside for a trip over to Port Aransas. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, WHITE & BROWN PELICANS and lots of LAUGHING GULLS were gathered at the ferry terminal in Aransas Pass. On the short ferry crossing we saw ATLANTIC BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHINS in the channel.

In Port Aransas we headed directly to the jetty area, primarily to scan for Gannets and to check the beach for gulls and terns. Unfortunately, visibility was very poor and offshore scanning was difficult to say the least. We saw three dark seabirds that were most likely immature Northern Gannets. However, since immature Brown Booby couldn't be ruled out, there was nothing in the win column. It was also tough to check through the gull flocks and a possible Lesser Black-backed Gull also had to be left unidentified.

Among the birds that we did identify were 4 COMMON LOONS, SNOWY EGRET, WILLET, RUDDY TURNSTONE, SANDERLING, many BONAPARTE'S and a few HERRING GULLS; and FORSTER'S & ROYAL TERNS.

Next we drove along the coast in Rockport and along Fulton Beach Road hoping for a close up view of Mottled Duck. No luck with that but we did see BLUE-WINGED TEAL, several egrets, WHITE IBIS, ROSEATE SPOONBILL, OSPREY, WILSON'S SNIPE at the Traylor Road pond, SPOTTED SANDPIPER and many BLACK SKIMMERS & ROYAL TERNS. A brief stop at Oystercatcher Point was unproductive and only produced REDHEAD.

Next, we visited Goose Island State Park where we spent an enjoyable couple of hours. The YELLOW-FACED GRASSQUIT (present since January 27) was not being seen when we arrived but it only took about 45 minutes to locate the bird. Initially seen close and in-the-clear perched atop a small bush (when I didn't have a camera), the bird soon dropped into the grass and was more difficult to see and photograph. It's amazing how this bird blends into the grass.

The bird is often seen with Field Sparrows, but not today for us. This was a target bird for some so Murphy once again got his licks. We spent some time trying to locate the flock without success, seeing only EASTERN PHOEBE, BLACK-CRESTED TITMOUSE, CARDINAL, lots of BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.

Out by the fishing pier we saw PINTAIL, REDHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, 4 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, WILLET and AMERICAN PIPIT.

The original plan for today had been to take a boat trip out of Rockport to view Whooping Cranes. However, when I was here last year I saw them easily from shore not far from the state park and a family of three (two adults and a youngster) have returned to the same location for only the second time. A couple of days ago, the group decided to forgo the boat trip and take a chance on this location. Now it was the moment of truth. After leaving Goose Island we drove up Lamar Beach Road to 8th street where the three WHOOPING CRANES were reasonably close to the road (the pictured bird is the adult male). Last year the birds were a little too far away to photograph at this location. The birds today where still some distance away but I fared better despite hand-holding my larger lens.

BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS were in the same field as the Cranes. The drive along Lamar Beach Road produced more of the same ducks we had seen earlier plus GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, LESSER SCAUP and LITTLE BLUE & TRICOLORED HERONS. 

After heading back into Rockport for lunch, we drove north to Aransas NWR picking up a few field birds on the journey -- NORTHERN HARRIER, AMERICAN KESTREL, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE and EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

We spent 2+ mid afternoon hours at the refuge hoping to find the pair of Groove-billed Anis that I saw here last week. Unfortunately, we dipped on those birds and managed to miss Sedge Wren for good measure! The highlight of our time here was the first perched GREEN KINGFISHER of the trip (all other sightings have been of birds in flight). We also had good views of COUCH'S KINGBIRD.

Among the other birds seen on the refuge were BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, BLACK VULTURE, COMMON MOORHEN, LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER, EASTERN PHOEBE, MARSH WREN, ORANGE-CROWNED & YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and our first COMMON GRACKLES of the trip.

The two hour journey north to our overnight destination of Clute produced the first RED-SHOULDERED HAWK of the trip on 35 just south of the Guadalupe River Delta. Further north we saw SNOW GEESE, several CRESTED CARACARAS and SANDHILL CRANES in multiple locations.

82 species recorded:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Snow Goose, Gadwall, Am. Wigeon, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, N. Pintail, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants; Am. White & Brown Pelicans; Great Blue, Little Blue & Tricolored Herons; Great & Snowy Egrets; Black-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black & Turkey Vultures; Osprey, N. Harrier, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks; Crested Caracara, Am. Kestrel, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Sandhill & Whooping Cranes; Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Am. Oystercatcher, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Wilson's Snipe, Bonaparte's, Laughing, Ring-billed & Herring Gulls; Forster's & Royal Terns; Black Skimmer, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged & Mourning Doves; Great Horned Owl, Belted & Green Kingfishers; Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Couch's Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Black-crested Titmouse, House & Marsh Wrens; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, N. Mockingbird, European Starling, Am. Pipit, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-faced Grassquit, N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Common & Great-tailed Grackles; Brown-headed Cowbird, Am. Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Friday, February 18, 2011
Texas Trip Day 11: Clute-Houston (Trip list: 208; +4)
Day 6 with group: (Trip List: 174; +14)
Today we birded on the coast in the Quintana area then spent some time inland at San Bernard NWR. At the end of the day we drove north to Houston. As yesterday, the morning began very foggy along the coast before turning into a sunny day.

We started by checking Quintana (Bryan) beach with very poor results. We drove along the beach as far as the Brazos river mouth hoping for small plovers (Wilson's, Piping & Snowy) without success. Disappointingly, the entire two miles stretch of beach was almost devoid of birds (even gulls were hard to come by). Some of the impoundments a few hundred yards from the gulf had a few birds and our only success of the morning came here in the form of a lone BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE (new for three members of the group). Sometimes we have to be thankful for small mercies.

Also seen were WHITE PELICAN, REDDISH EGRET, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, WILLET, SANDERLING, DUNLIN and several "standard" gull and tern species -- RING-BILLED & HERRING GULLS and FORSTER'S & ROYAL TERNS.

We moved a few miles east to the jetty. The drive along CR723 produced ROSEATE SPOONBILL, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. The fog was much thicker in the vicinity of Quintana Jetty and what few birds were around were difficult to see. We saw some of the same species as on the beach and only added BROWN PELICAN and LAUGHING GULL. Driving back along 723 we finally managed good views of MOTTLED DUCKS in a plant pond.

Next we headed over to Surfside, barely a mile from the jetty across Freeport Harbor Channel but a journey of 10 miles by vehicle. We spent an hour working the Cordgrass marsh and adjacent habitat here without much success. We were primarily looking for Seaside Sparrow and although we had one bird "cornered" (or so we thought), the little sucker got away with only the briefest of flight views. I didn't even add it to my day list. We were also hopeful of rails but only managed the briefest of glimpses of CLAPPER RAIL in flight. While searching we saw GREATER YELLOWLEGS and several WHIMBRELS.

Heading out of town on SR322 we noted OSPREY plus a handful of roadside water birds including LITTLE BLUE HERON, WHITE IBIS and a trip first AMERICAN AVOCET.

After a lunch stop in the small community of Jones Creek, we saw RED-SHOULDERED HAWK on the way to San Bernard NWR. We spent three mid afternoon hours at the refuge and picked up a few target species (this was our first visit to any form of eastern woodland habitat on the trip). We saw Alligators but no hoped for rails (Black, King and Clapper are possible).

On the boardwalk at Bobcat Woods and adjacent Wolfweed Reservoir we saw NORTHERN SHOVELER, PIED-BILLED GREBE, GREAT EGRET, WHITE & WHITE-FACED IBIS, BLACK VULTURE, NORTHERN HARRIER, EASTERN PHOEBE, the first definite AMERICAN CROW of the trip, CAROLINA CHICKADEE, CAROLINA WREN, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET and SAVANNAH & SWAMP SPARROWS.

The Moccasin Pond loop was interesting and produced 3 YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS and many BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES (first and second sightings of the trip respectively).  Other species seen included BLUE-WINGED TEAL, NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, CRESTED CARACARA, COMMON MOORHEN, GREATER & LESSER YELLOWLEGS, WILSON'S SNIPE, BELTED KINGFISHER and MARSH WREN.

Less than an hour and thirty minutes after leaving the refuge we were in downtown Houston viewing MONK PARAKEETS at a regular spot near the University of Houston. Several birds were fussing around a communal nest site. A good end to the day and one less task for tomorrow. BLUE JAY and AMERICAN ROBIN were new trip birds at the same location.

76 species recorded:
Gadwall, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, N. Shoveler, N. Pintail, Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants; Am. White & Brown Pelicans; Great Blue & Little Blue Herons; Great, Snowy & Reddish Egrets; Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White & White-faced Ibis; Roseate Spoonbill, Black & Turkey Vultures; Osprey, N. Harrier, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks; Crested Caracara, Am. Kestrel, Clapper Rail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Sandhill Crane, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Am. Avocet, Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs; Willet, Whimbrel, Sanderling, Dunlin, Wilson's Snipe, Laughing, Ring-billed & Herring Gulls; Forster's & Royal Terns; Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged & Mourning Doves; Monk Parakeet, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, Am. Crow, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina & Marsh Wrens; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, European Starling, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, Savannah & Swamp Sparrows; N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Boat-tailed & Great-tailed Grackles; Brown-headed Cowbird and House Sparrow.

Saturday, February 19, 2011
Texas Trip Day 12: Houston (Trip list: 210; +2)
Day 7 and final day with group: (Trip List: 188; +14)
Today was a short day as we needed to get to the airport by 3:30pm. We spent most of our time birding at W.G. Jones State Forest some 40 miles north of Houston followed by an hour at Jesse H. Jones Park not far from the airport. As things turned out, it's just as well that we picked up Monk Parakeet yesterday because we sure ran out of time today for that and other remaining targets.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Brown-headed Nuthatch were our primary targets at WG Jones State Forest. I've never failed to find them here on five previous visits but I came close today on the woodpecker. Last week when I was here (Feb 10) it took 2.5 hours to get a decent look on a cold morning. I certainly didn't expect that it would take almost 5 hours today. Yikes! We eventually saw both birds and a number of other woodland targets but we definitely burned way too much daylight.

We started north of the headquarters area shortly before 8:00am and left after two hours to try our luck in the southern part of the forest (accessed from Jones Road south of FM 1488). After a couple of hours there we returned to the HQ area and found success about an hour later. Just when it appeared that we would get skunked, I finally heard the chatter of RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER and turned to face the sound. Almost immediately, two, possibly three birds flew off then mercifully landed in plain view on the trunk of a pine. Quite a relief for me I can tell you. This and the nuthatch were the main reason that Houston was on the itinerary.  While far from conspicuous, we had excellent views of BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHES examining cavities in both the north and south parts of the forest.

While searching for the Red-cockaded, we came across RED-BELLIED, DOWNY & PILEATED WOODPECKERS and YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. Other species included BLUE JAY, CAROLINA CHICKADEE, TUFTED TITMOUSE, CAROLINA WREN, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, CEDAR WAXWING, PINE WARBLER, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, PINE SISKIN and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.

We finished up at Jesse Jones Park, mainly because it was close to the airport rather than offering the chance for more target species. However, we managed to pick up a WINTER WREN on the Cypress Boardwalk Trail. The bird was first heard calling (a much "softer call than the Pacific Wren) and we eventually had good looks at this skulker.

After dropping everyone at the airport, I started my journey home by driving to Kerrville (280 miles, 4.5 hours) for an overnight stay.

35 species recorded:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Great Egret, Black & Turkey Vultures; Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied, Downy, Red-cockaded & Pileated Woodpeckers; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Blue Jay, Am. Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina, House & Winter Wrens; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, N. Mockingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped & Pine Warblers; Chipping & White-throated Sparrows; N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common & Great-tailed Grackles; Pine Siskin, Am. Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Sunday, February 20, 2011
Today I completed my journey home driving 800+ miles from Kerrville to Sierra Vista with a stop in El Paso to return the rental vehicle.

Trip List  Trip Photos

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Today was the first of two days with Richard Thunen from Newport Beach, CA. We visited Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs and Paton's Yard in search of a few target species and photo opportunities.

It's been a little while since I was at Patagonia Lake and I was shocked by how dry the habitat has become -- the words depressing and threadbare will perhaps convey an accurate impression. We did well on sparrows and poorly on flycatchers while tallying 60 species.

Highlights of ten sparrow species were RUFOUS-CROWNED, singing RUFOUS-WINGED, a lone BLACK-CHINNED (on the road to the natural area) and many BLACK-THROATED. The only flycatchers noted at the east end of the lake were a couple of GRAY, a beautiful VERMILION and a calling ASH-THROATED. I failed to turn up Dusky or Hammond's in the willow forest.

We looked for Black-capped Gnatcatcher at the natural area (as far as the dam) but only came across a couple of BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHERS. Also at the natural area were ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, many TREE and several VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, ROCK WREN and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

At Kino Springs I was hoping for Gilded Flicker but we found only a couple of NORTHERN FLICKERS. Good views of the continuing male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER were some consolation. The bird was in a large pine near the pro shop, not its "usual" spot near the swimming pool. Four ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS were in the same binocular view at this location.

The clubhouse pond had a decent selection of 8 duck species including CINNAMON TEAL, CANVASBACK and BUFFLEHEAD as well as a few NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS.

Paton's Yard was packed with birders (over 20) and had plenty of birds, albeit of limited diversity. We dipped on Violet-crowned during a 30 minute mid afternoon visit. Highlights were side by side CARDINAL & PYRRHULOXIA, LAZULI BUNTING and lots of PINE SISKINS.

Thursday, February 24, 2011
Out again today with Richard Thunen. We spent most of our time in Sulphur Springs Valley looking for a few target species and photo opportunities.

We started looking for thrashers and had good success with BENDIRE'S THRASHER on Coffman 1mi south of Davis and CRISSAL THRASHER on the south dike at Whitewater Draw after coming up empty on Bagby Road and Lee Road. Both these locations are good for Crissal but failed to produce today.

Of note at Whitewater were GRAY FLYCATCHER and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER on the eastern edge of the willow grove. The Ash-throat is the earliest that I've seen at Whitewater by over a month (previously March 30). It's interesting to note that although a few birds overwinter in southeast Arizona, I don't have any winter records in Cochise County.

We didn't spend any time at all looking at the impoundments but couldn't fail to notice lots of SANDHILL CRANES and a couple of SNOW GEESE. Also present were two GREAT HORNED OWLS, a calling GREATER YELLOWLEGS and lots of LARK BUNTINGS near the headquarters building feeders.

Further north in the valley in Kansas Settlement area, the continuing ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was hunting on the south side of Arzberger Road a little east of the 2m marker at 11:15am. We had fantastic flight views of the bird as it soared and kited. When it went to the ground for prey the bird became instantly invisible in the tall vegetation. Also in the area were FERRUGINOUS HAWK, a NORTHERN HARRIER that briefly interacted with the Rough-legged and many WESTERN MEADOWLARKS. I noted a small sparrow that I just "knew" would be a Brewer's. However, on close investigation, the bird turned out to be the tiniest VESPER SPARROW that I've ever seen. There's always something to learn.

Several CANADA GEESE and a lone ROSS'S GOOSE continue at Faria Dairy Pond. No sign of the four Western Grebes. Apart from plentiful AMERICAN WIGEON and RUDDY DUCKS, there wasn't much in the way of waterfowl.

At St. David Monastery, it took about 30 minutes to locate the female RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN that we observed on and off from 1:25-2:10pm. Based on very dull plumage, I think this individual is female. The bird was in the "hackberry strip" that runs along the western edge of the main (dry) pond. It stayed mostly on the ground and was very difficult to see for much of the time, only occasionally offering in-the-clear views. An AMERICAN ROBIN and several HERMIT THRUSHES worked the same area. There is still a ton of fruit here and it should last all partakers for a while.

We didn't venture very far away from immediate hackberry area and still recorded over 20 species during the course of our time with the Robin. Among the birds noted were singing WHITE-WINGED & INCA DOVES, GILA & LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS, VERDIN, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, singing and chasing BEWICK'S WRENS, male and female PHAINOPEPLAS, numerous NORTHERN CARDINALS and a couple of ABERT'S TOWHEES.

Monday, February 28, 2011
First of two days with Greg Bodker from Houghton Lake, Michigan. We visited Patagonia Lake State Park, Paton's Yard and lower Carr Canyon looking for a number of target species. 

Birding was a little on the slow side at Patagonia Lake but we eventually mustered about 60 species. As on my visit last week, we did well on sparrows and poorly on flycatchers.

Highlight of the day was a female BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER at Sonoita Creek Natural Area. We first heard the bird calling near the gate below the parking area. However, a foray into the scrub only yielded a couple of BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHERS. A few minutes later we heard the bird again and tracked it down a little further along the road. To reach the area where the bird was seen, walk down the steep, concrete section of the road that leads to the spillway. Look for a small inlet on the right with a picnic table. The bird was foraging in the hackberry trees in this location. Several Black-tailed were calling in the same area so caution is required. The Black-capped eventually flew off towards the dam.

Sparrow highlights were RUFOUS-WINGED (on the one way park exit road) and BLACK-CHINNED (on the road to the Natural Area). Others included VESPER, LARK, BLACK-THROATED & LINCOLN'S SPARROWS.

GRAY FLYCATCHERS were common but I managed only a brief glimpse of a single DUSKY and didn't get a sniff of Hammond's despite spending time along the creek. Disappointingly, the only VERMILION noted was a female. However, since several other parties reported none, we shouldn't grumble. Birds along the creek were few and far between and none of the Trogon seekers we talked to had met with success. WILSON'S SNIPE was the only bird of note among a ton of RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS.

Of note on the water were 2 WESTERN GREBES at the east end of the lake. Other waterfowl included a few CINNAMON TEAL, many GREEN-WINGED TEAL, the usual gang of COMMON MERGANSERS and a single LESSER SCAUP.

We looked for Neotropic Cormorant but didn't detect cormorants of either species. While scanning, we noted a PLUMBEOUS VIREO at Boulder Beach.

Our stop in the Paton's yard was short -- Violet-crowned Hummingbird has not been seen since the cold weather event and INCA DOVE was our only success here. Also present were EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, WHITE-WINGED DOVE, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and PINE SISKINS.

In lower Carr Canyon, I was unable to turn up Arizona Woodpecker despite 90 minutes of effort.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Monday, February 28, 2011

Feb Species Seen

Stuart Healy Journal - February, 2011 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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