Texas, Part 2

[kestrel]

On December 5, we stopped by Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. We finally saw our first Ringed kingfisher here.

We then made our way to the National Butterfly Center to try for a then-recently-reported Audubon's oriole, which we found .

Lots of Plain chachalacas were around, especially at the feeders:
Plain chachalaca by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

We also saw a hybrid Altamira-Audubon's oriole:
Hooded oriole X Altamira oriole hybrid by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

Later that day, we visited the Old Hidalgo Pump House. This spot produced our first, and only, Curve-billed thrasher of the trip.

The main highlight here, and nearby, was the resident Monk parakeet population:
Monk parakeet by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

The following day didn't produce very many exciting finds, except for our second flock of Northern bobwhites.

On the day of our flight back to Seattle, we had some time to kill in San Antonio. So we went to the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. Even though we couldn't find any Cave swallows, we did hear a Sora. Our last stop before dropping off the rental car was Brackenridge Park, where we had our last lifers in the form of Egyptian goose and Carolina chickadee.

Overall, the trip met all my expectations, if not exceeded them. Paul got 56 lifers, and I got 53. Here's the trip report:

ebird.org/tripreport/68794

[paulos]

Great hybird Oriole shot!

On the way to McAllen/Hidalgo, we stopped at Estero Llano Grande State Park where we saw our first Common Pauraque, Bronzed Cowbird and Buff-bellief Hummingbird. Later we visited Santa Ana NWR.

A trail-side Common Pauraque.

A Bronzed Cowbird.

The ubiquitous Mockingbird.

From Santa Ana, a Great Kiskadee (also everywhere!).

White Ibises were common and gorgeous.

We had some decent views of a Green Kingfisher, much more satisfying then the brief distant appearance of our first in Brownsville.

At Santa Ana and other places along the Rio Grande, we were able to build up our Mexico list with birds across the river. The river is pretty small and not so grande in my opinion. But here's a distant White-tailed Kite in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Here are a few from Bentsen Rio-Grande Valley park on the 5th. A Harris's Hawk perching during our fruitless search for Hook-billed Kites.

One of many, many Green Jays.

It was nice to see a lot of the tiny Least Grebes.

The Butterfly Centre was one of my very favourite stops, with 3 (and a half with the hybrid) oriole species, a Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, and many of the southern Texas specialties.

Here's what we settled on as a late Orchard Oriole from its tiny size and two wing bars (though the ebird entry remains unaccepted--Hooded could be possible).

More Chachalacas

I loved seeing all the tiny Inca Doves.

Long-tailed Grackles were the local stand in for Crows, Ravens, Brewer's Blackbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds and Starlings.

Brief views of a Clay-coloured Thrush

And why not? Here is the skulking Tyrannulet (I was told this is pretty much the usual for Tyrannulet pictures. You should see how bad my Golden-crowned Kinglet pictures are).

 

We saw our first Ringed Kingfisher at Anzalduas Park along the Rio Grande, which was swarming with border patrol and game warden trucks and boats (all patrolling the border).

The Hidalgo Monk Parakeets were great.

We saw a couple of Vermillion Flycatchers on our way through Salineño and Zapata, which is always a treat.

Here's a Cardinal from our last Texas day near San Antonio.

A photogenic Egyptian Goose in San Antonio.

On our way back up from Seattle, we made a few stops in my old haunts in the Skagit. It was nice to see the thousands of Snow Geese. The highlight was a Bewick's Tundra Swan on Fir Island in the Conway area. The lowlight was the cold wind!

[Chris]

Another great report. So many Laughing Gulls!

How'd you spot the Common Pauraque?

[paulos]

We had a tip from another group of birders that it was a few feet off the path. We crept very slowly around the area and found it napping among the sticks.

[Randy]

Fantastic trip and reports!!