thebirderspost

Another beautiful drive down highways bordered by purple, orange,  yellow, white ad pink flowers.  Lots of green plants in the desert as well.

March 17th – St. Patrick’s Day!  Arrived at Sam’s Town RV park in Las Vegas where we’ve stayed twice before.  Just on the east edge of town next to Henderson.  Henderson has an excellent bird viewing area.  It’s cloudy but hot – about 30C!  Went out for Mexican food at our favourite restaurant at Sam’s Town – Willy & Jose’s  – good food!

March 18-19:  Birded Henderson.  Day 1 was cloudy without a breath of wind.  Started out about 17C in the morning – t-shirt weather.  Just excellent.  We got all our target birds, except for Wood Duck.  Next day it was partly sunny, calm in the morning and we got our duck!  Took alot of patience, but finally found both male and female.

This is what we thought we’d have for a record.  Can you spot this spectacular duck hidden in the middle of the photo in the brush?

Patience rewarded.

On another pond (there are 9 of them) we found this group sunning themselves.  L-R:  N. Shoveller, Mallard,  Ring-necked female, Common Moorehen & a bunch of shovellers, male and female.

Also found our Crissal Thrasher.  It was a Lifer for us the first time we came here.  We asked at the visitor center if they knew where we might find one – told us they nest here!  Sure enough!  Biggest bill of all thrashers.

Finally got some type of shot of Abert’s Towhee – not the greatest, but all we got!  We’ve seen his little black face quite a few times, but never long enough for a photo.

A red admiral butterfly showed up, which we’d seen in TX.

We think waterfowl are lovely.  Here is a Lesser Scaup.

…Pied-billed Grebe

…Cute little Buflenead

…a lovely pair of Cinnamon Teal, sleeping peacefully together.

This Ruddy Duck is still acquiring its rust plumage – what pretty feathers.  You can see a bit of his white cheeks as he sleeps.

…and this swarm of Shovellers feeding together.  We’ve seen this behaviour several different places.

Then there are the waders.  Here are 2 for Lorne.  An Avocet which has re-acquired his lovely rust head (which is white in winter) and a Black-necked Stilt.

These 3 Long-billed Dowitchers look large compared with the Least Sandpiper in front.

Of course, many Canada Geese are winging their way northward.

The acacia are in bloom everywhere, with gusts of sweet fragarance wafting our way whenever we go by.

Last year’s dried seed heads will be taken over by new green growth.

The purple prickly pear cactus is really bubble-gum pink!

Around the ponds Marsh Wren sang in the thickbrush and grass.  We finally found one out in the open.

I was thrilled to get a few shots of a Verdin.  Looks like he stuck his face into the acacia blossoms,  He flits about so fast it’s hard to get stop action.  Can you see the little red mark on the front of his wing?

Another fast mover is the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.  There he goes!

A Say’s Phoebe was flycatching from a telephone wire.

On our way out one of the men who works there and knows lots about birds showed us a hummingbird nest (he doesn’t usually show anyone).  It was Anna’s and there were 2 young just fledging (learning to fly).  There is one young one sitting out on a limb and the other still in the nest.  Theiy are born a day apart, so one is always more advanced.  The parents still feed them because their bills are not full-length yet.

All-in-all a great stop here in Vegas!  Now to Brigham City.

Yep – we’re feelin’ the pull of home and starting our journey north to Canada.  First stop out of Tucson:  Wickenburg AZ.  We will have passed by my friend JB’s place near Phoenix, however, no visit this time – sorry JB.  There are wild flowers blooming everywhere – along the roadside are lots of purple lupins, as well as other flowers I don’t know in yellows, pinks and whites.  It’s beautiful!

Mar. 14:  Got in just after noon, so after we hooked up, had lunch and Billy had his nap, we set out for Hassayampa (isn’t that a good word?) Reserve.  It is Nature Conservancy Land.  Temp today 28 C and clear with a light breeze.  It does not feel ANYTHING like 28C in TX!!  Much easier to take without humidity!  Still too hot for me, but walking amongst the shady trees along the river’s edge was better.

Hummers buzzed us in the garden outside the visitor centre.  There were at least 4 feeders we could see and we found 2 species:  Costa’s (wings longer than tail) … and Anna’s (tail longer than wings).  Here is a Costa’s first, then Anna’s.  Must be several pairs.

A well-camoglaged gecko waved his tail back and forth, which made him visible on this tree.  Otherwise…

There were several interesting species noted on the board, which we will pursue.  One of which we didn’t expect to see – thought perhaps it had moved on.

But not so!  Here it is – female Hooded Merganser!  In case you think the water looks wierd, it is covered with cottonwood fluff.

It was a short trip, just to get out, so we’ll back tomorrow.

On the way out we spied a male Phainopepla in a much better position than the last blog.  Can even see his red eye.

Mar. 15:  Cool morning 8C – nice.  Off to the rest area just a mile up the road from Hassayampa.  It is noted to be a good birding spot and it’s just lovely with lots of parking and pathways along the river.  There were even another pair of Alberta birders there with their rig!

A female Vermillion Flycatcher is sitting on a nest.

The male is busy in the picnic area nearby.  By “busy” you probably thought I meant flycatching – but as you can see, preening his butt happens to be what it means.

A Gray Hawk perched a way off.  We also heard and saw a Plumbeous Vireo, though not a good photo.  Added an Ash-throated Flycatcher.

The “piece de resistance” was this shot of a Lucy’s Warbler (this one’s for you, Don).  Not very good, but shows its most distinguishing field mark – red rump!  We saw one briefly last year at the Whitehouse parking lot in Madera Canyon.  See tomorrow for more!

An Ash-throated Flycatcher was finally photographed, though we’ve seen a couple.  Not great, but a record.

Once again, we noticed so many wildflowers blooming.  It was gorgeous and we climbed up Lyke’s Lookout (and we liked it!)  Here are some scernery shots.

Heading down the lookout, we spied this Verdin.  Unfortunatly, you can barely see it has a yellow face.  It was singing up a storm – as many other birds were also.  Even Yellow-rumped Warblers which we found in numbers, flycatching, because there were LOTS of flies around this river.  Also the ubiquitous Ruby-crowned Kinglets were singing!

A butterfly with wings upright.  Unfortunately I didn’t see the tops which Bill said was beautiful.  Don’t know what kind – too many like this!

Do you recognize this guy?  Pretty sure he thinks he’s camoflaged.

Then he turned his head sideways…

Hummers are everywhere, not just at the feeders at the visitor center.  Anna’s or Costa’s – not sure – didn’t stay long enough.

4 1/2 hours walking was enough for us – and by then it was nearly 30C!  Back for lunch, a nap and a cool-down!

Mar. 16:  Back to the rest area to see if we could fine the Lucy’s Warbler again.

Sure enough here are a couple of shots, a little better this time (actually Bill didn’t want to admit to Don that he thought he was taking a photo of some type of vireo – and by a fluke, found out it was a Lucy’s!  Now it’s out!).  So here is a bent-head shot, showing the bit of red in the head, then a rear shot, showing its red rump.  There were pairs here, singing up a storm.  Bodes well for our SK buds seeing them in this rest area the end of April (maybe).

Also got another cute photo of the Vermillion female on the nest.  She looks nice and comfy.  The male is feeding her and she sometimes leaves her eggs to grab a quick bite to eat.  But she returns and snuggles in once again.

Here’s a nicer shot of the Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Before we left, I looked up to see what I thought wa a bird, but found instead this beautiful, huge Sphinx moth!  Wow – about 6″ across!

Off to Vegas tomorrow!

Had our service, which took waaaaaay longer than they said.  Poor kitties, who sat quietly in their carriers in the waiting room for 6 hours with no bathroom, food or water breaks!  They’re pretty disorganized in this place – we think the management has gone downhill quite a bit since we bought our unit here.  We were able to go back to our spot (RV park located right next door) around 5, but the guy had to come over to our spot at the RV park the next day to see to our thermostat problem.  The other issues were very minor and fixed.  The main problem had been thermostat, but he couldn’t figure it out.  So we washed the trailer and truck (by hand) which took all morning.  Bart came over about 1 and climbed on the roof.  H:e did not fix the problem, but DID find out what it was – so it’s registered in the Airstream database.  We’ll have to find another place to get it fixed later on – no biggie.

Mar. 12:  Planned to go to Tubac to try for the Sinaloa Wren, but we now have a “breaker” problem, which started happening when the people next door plugged in to their power outlet and it shorted out ours plus 2 others.  Then they did it again, trying to get it to work and did it AGAIN!  We were not happy.  So we stayed around another day to sort that out.

Mar. 13:  (Lucky Friday the 13th!)  Off to Madera Canyon first, to check for a Red-breasted Sapsucker.

First we turned off on Florida Canyon Rd, since the road we were on was too busy to stop and bird very easily.  We were happy to see our first Black-throated Sparrow!  We think he is one of the prettiest sparrows in NA.

We also found a pair of Phainopeplas – first the female, then the male (just a record shot).

All we found was a female Red-naped Sapsucker – not the Red-breasted and we already have this one from earlier – oh well.  We still like her!

At the feeder station, we were very pleased to spy the Hapatic Tanager, which only put in one appearance over the half hour we spent here.

We were entertained by the multi-level feeder with Pine Siskins and Lesser Goldfinches.

One doesn’t ovten see the belly of a woodpecker, but this Acorn perched upright for us, showing his lovely speckled breast and white belly.

We walked up the road to the other feeders and spied a group of Wild Turkeys.

The wild flowers are in bloom everywhere – here is a morning glory (I think).

Arizona poppies in bright yellow, pink and white.

A single yellow with its bright orange centre – beautiful!

The ocotillo are in bloom, which are a big draw for returning hummingbirds.   This year, with all the rainfall, even in AZ, the desert is carpeted in green and the ocotillo have leaves!  Sometimes the stems stay bare and only the flowers are in blossom.

We saw lots of the black swallowtail butterflies we saw in Patagonia and luckily Bill was able to capture one, showing both its top irredescent blue and lovely orange and white spotted underside!  Unfortunately we’d just had a few minutes of rain and it wasn’t sunny yet, so the colors aren’t as nice as they could be.

For the second time in his life (and mine also), we saw a pocket gopher (the 1st just a week ago in Patagonia!).  Bill had thought since he was a boy that they were naked, blind rodents!  But they can see and are furry – with big yellow teeth.

We found this Broad-billed Hummingbird, posing with its bill upright displaying its “boadness”.

We did not find the Sinaloa Wren, but as we left the river pathway, we saw a male Kestrel.  Almost at the same spot we’d seen one a couple of years ago – maybe the same one.

We now leave Tucson, starting our journey north, with stops along the way for a little birding.

Mar. 2-5:  Travelled to Benson AZ with stops at Uvalde TX, Alpine TX, and Las Cruces NM.  In NM we could certainly feel the dryness compared with the humidity we’ve had all along.  It got down to -2C overnight also!  Benson was clear, sunny with temp around 18C.  There was however, high winds.  At least we got out to our favourite little Mexican Restaurant “Mi Casa”.  The food was just as excellent as we remembered.  This is our very favourite Mexican restaurant ever!

Mar. 7:  San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.  How much fun to see new birds!  It was cool in the morning (8C – but a far cry from -2!) but sunny with a high forecast to be 20 with low winds!  Yay!

Our first White-crowned Sparrow!  They were the most numerous sparrow last winter, so it seemed weird that we didn’t seen any in TX!  They were out in numbers!

A beautiful male Pyrrhuloxia.

Our favourite towhee – Green-tailed (with a House Finch in the foreground).

Although the fields were quite dry and brown, along the river the large trees were glowing with spring green.

The chain cholla’s fruit had ripened to yellow.

Piles of logs have been left to dry where they’d been deposited by floods.

Several pairs of Vermillion Flycatchers were active – spring was in the air!  Males pursued females.  Here’s a female awaiting a suitor.

Here’s a male busy catching flies, in between amorous pursuits.

A Black Phoebe scanned for hatching larvae from the river.  Interestingly, we didn’t see the many types of sparrows we usually see here – I guess it’s a little too early.  Our SK birding buds are coming down this way the end of April, so will no doubt “clean up” on the migrating birds in this area!  Oh well, we’ll see them with the spring plumage warblers at Waskesiu in May.

Stopped at the sewage treatment plant on our way out and found a Say’s Phoebe…

…and a Horned Lark.

Then we headed for Ash Cayon B&B where we made a couple of trips last year.  As usual, there was lots of acitivity in the yard.  She has so many excellent brush piles and areas of protective cover.

Gila Woodpecker at a feeder.  They have taken over the noisy role that the Golden-fronted filled in TX.  This female does not have the big red patch on her head like the male.

It looks very similar to our female Northern Flicker, but the flicker has a brown back and a big breast spot.  Males also have a black or red moustache (malar)!

Here are 2 more towhees:  Top is Canyon, bottom is Spotted.

Once again we saw several yellow-nosed cotton rats, including 2 babies (about half the size of the adults, so not teeny).  They are not really rats, but in the vole family.  Luckily they do not cause problems for the birds, just eat seeds.

Now we have Bridled Titmice, which have taken the place of Black-crested which we found in TX.  How cute!

A White-breasted Nuthatch showed up on this nut bar.

Of course, especially for Veronica, we have the Mexican Jays.  They are big, bright, beautiful, smart and noisy (sound familiar?).

Also seeking shelter in the brush pile, this Rufous-crowned Sparrow – not as common as a Chipping Sparrow (foreground and of course it is not in focus, Bill wanting shoot the R-c).

Pine Siskins showed up at the communal seed feeder.  They are fairly plain, but have yellow on wings and tail.

A Bewick’s Wren ventured out of its shelter in the brush pile to flip a seed into its mouth.

A pretty male Least Goldfinch sat on a log.  They are also very communal birds, singing together in multiple harmony, their very sweet song.

What a great day!  So much fun to add so many new birds to the list!

Mar. 8:  My brother David’s 62nd birthday!  I sent him a card earlier, but sent an email this morning.  It is also my friend Rosemary’s BD – sent her an email also.

Off to Patagonia!  Stopped at the Paton’s yard, which has seen many changes.  The original inhabitants have left and a new caretaker has moved in.  There are some new signs, including advertising for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (we’ve done a few of those excellent tours!).  He is a part owner, along with a couple of others.

Managed to get this shot off whiloe it was resting in a tree – instead of on a feeder:  Broad-billed Hummingbird.

We always see Gambel’s Quail in the yard – no exception today.  This male is strutting his stuff.

The yard is being dug up by pocket gofers.  It is pretty rare to see one, but Bill managed to get a shot of its little furry face.

This little male Ladder-backed Woodpecker looks sort of punk with his spiky hairdo.

There was also a new dove for the list:  White-winged.

A mile down the road is the Patagonia-Sonoita Nature Conservancy lands.  A beautiful day for a walk.

Some of the large trees have amazing growths on them.  This knot was about 6 feet across!

Looks like a lava deposit, about a foot across.

The elephant’s trunk!

Spring is in the air, but the birds are not too abundant yet (yep, waitin’ for the SK buds!).

Just to prove the point that spring is indeed in the air, a pair of Pinacate Beetles locked in an embrace.  Sometimes they’re called stink bugs because they’ll give you a schnozz full of putrid aroma if you try to injure them).  We see them languidly walking along the dirt paths all over this area, but these 2 were hard at it, even when we returned over half an hour later!

There were some beautiful black swallowtail butterflies flying around,  Unfortunately, the only one which stayed for a photo ( a Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly) had lost a lot of its black as well as its turquoise irridescence.   The lower tail portion is still slightly colored, as you can see.  About 4″ across.

We did find 1 new warbler – Black-throated Gray.  Not the greatest shot, but you can see (if you look carefully), the little yellow dot in front of its eye.  Just a record shot.

The man who worked at the office at the park said there was a Long-eared Owl nesting at Lowe’s in Sierra Vista.  So on the way home, we stopped there to see it.  We were pretty excited – it would be a Lifer for me, and Bill has only seen 1 in his life.  Imagine our COMPLETE DISAPPOINTMENT when there were a pair of Great-horned Owls in the garden centre (open to the sky) nesting.  There is no phone number or we would have called that man right back and told him off! We were steaming all the way home!

Tomorrow we’re off to Tucson, where we stay at the Lazy Daze KOA and get a service to to our airstream.  Nothing major, just a few small adjustments which are under warranty.  Then it will be off on more birding adventures before we make our way north.

Feb. 20-21:  Extremely cool these last couple of days with high winds.  Not good for anything but working.

Feb. 22:  Now a hot, windy day, but instead of winds at 50 kpm, down to 20 kph.  High 30C – too hot for us!

Feb. 23-24:  Now down to a high of 6C, then 8C with clouds and high wind.  Just awful.  Didn’t go out.  Thought about San, who celebrated her BD on the 24th – look forward to going out for oysters with her when I return.

Feb. 25:  Had been going stir-crazy – so good to get out for a walk, just over to Bentsen.  It was a cool morning (7C), and a 25 kpm wind, but among the trees, it was protected.  At least it was sunny!  A few people were on the canal road watching for the Hook-billed Kite.  The guy was a birding guide from another place in TX (though originally from Duluth, MN).  He asked if we’d send him our photo of the bird – which we did.  Also told him where to find the E. Screech Owl, who was sunning himself in his little tree hole.

No photos that were really new, just an unidentified bird, which we’ve sent to friends to help us.  So far, looks like female Purple Finch is the concensus.

Feb. 26:  The coldest morning we’ve had here yet – 4C!  However, it was forecast to be 21C by the aft and pure sun.  So off to Estero.

Glory be – we found the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, and so much closer than before.  The amazing thing though – it was singing its song!  Before it had only been giving its 2-note call.  Poor thing is probably looking for a mate, now that he’s found this excellent territory.  Sure hope a mate comes across the border!

The only other animal we came across before we headed back along the path was this bunny eating some of the new grass which has sprung up due to all the rain!

We stopped along the pond end enjoyed the ducks glowing in the sun.

How pretty is this  diverse little group of sleepers: L-R: Shovellerr, f. Cinnamon Teal, male CT and Green-winged Teal.  Three of them one-legged.  (The duck in front of the log is another f GWT)

This sleeping Blue-winged Teal looks interesting in that the white crescents on each side of his face make little pointy white eyebrows from this angle.

We did add another bird to our list – Purple Martin – but couldn’t get a shot, since it was flying away.

What we also saw flying high were Am. White Pelicans – this time along with a Turkey Vulture.

Up in the other area we  had no luck finding Tropical Parula, White-throated Thrush, Northern Beardless Tyranulet nor any of the orioles.  So we went off for lunch then over to Edinburg.

Nothing new here, but a close look at a Black and White Warbler.

On the deck at the same place this Red Admiral sunned itself, showing just a glimpse of the inside of its wings.

Had a glimpse of a female Indigo Bunting, but no photo.  Same for seeral other species.

We did however, find these tiny little daisies (about 1″ tall).  Billy obliged me with a flower photo.

Here is his shot of the waterfeature when we leave the garden.

Six hours on our feet was enough!  We went home where we took off   shoes and socks and put up our feet…ahhhhh!  Sweet relief!

Feb. 27: Another cool, wet day, so laundry was the order of the day.

Feb. 28: A few sunny breaks and a high of 21 gave us the option to get out for a walk.  Santa Ana was freezing cold (temp 4C = to the coldest morning ever here!).  We wore toques and gloves but were still cold!  Not much bird life, misty rain sometimes and high winds, even in the shelter of the trees!  No camera in this dim light!  Only a few of the regular birds, so nothing new.  Oh well, at least we got out!

Mar. 1:  This morning it was 9C!  Much better!  So we cleaned up the trailer, packed up a few things as a start for tomorrow, then set out in the aft for our last walk.  The sun came out and temp went up to 19C with calm winds!  Just gorgeous!

Some of the trees are acquiring their first hint of spring green.

A little Lincolnb Sparrow  was active at one of the blinds.

How lucky we felt to see an Olive Sparrow in more than one place!

With spring in the air, the thrashers were singing!  This Curve-billed was no exception.  The other day one was singing from our satellite dish on top of our trailer!

Now we leave TX, heading for AZ.  We did not have the nice weather we expected for the last 3 1/2 months, but with Bill working quite a bit, at least we didn’t miss out on much!  Our total number of species: 218.

We stop at 3 places on our way to Benson, where we’ll stay a few days and do some AZ birding.  Bye, bye TX!

Feb. 8:  Billy returns at 2:30 PM!  Yay!  I’m so very happy and so are the kitties (I’m sure).

Feb. 9:  Did some catching up on errands.

Feb. 10:  Visited ELG to try for a WHITE-THROATED THRUSH!  Was only seen on 2 days and not yesterday.  But we didn’t see it, nor the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat.  It was a hot day – high 30C.  Just walked in the morning and not much bird life.  There was however, lots of other sights.

One was the alligators in the lake, sitting on the surface, taking in the heat.  One birder reported to us that 2 Muscovy Ducks had flown into the lake and his wife took a photo when the alligator’s jaws were about 4 feet from the duck before it took off!  Wooh!  Holy Mackerel!  While there, we saw the Pauraque again, then heard a very familiar song – Tennessee Warbler!!!  This is the most common warbler in Prince Albert National Park.  We hear it every day in every type of environment at Waskesiu when we stay there.  So neat to hear one tuning his spring voice.

There were lots of fish – don’t know if they’re talapia, but looks like plenty to keep the alligators happy if they miss their bird.

In the same pond was a close Yellow-crowned Night Heron sitting high up the tree where he can sleep peacefuly without fear of a lunging gator!

In the small pond behind us, where we heard the Tennessee Warbler, a Tri-colored Heron was busy fishing.

We saw a White-tailed Kite hunting again, but not close enough for a photo.  However, this beautiful flower was blooming along the path – it’s some type of thistle bush.  Almost looks like a white Alberta wild rose!  About the same size.

Although we failed on the orioles also, we ran across some butterflies.  This one is Queen and is over 3 inches across.

This is one I’ve been hoping to see – its picture is on many of the butterfly garden signs scattered throughout the valley.  It is a Mexican blue-wing also over 3″.

Feb. 11:  Haircuts and phone calls to try to sort out our stove woes at home.  Oh woe!  We have been owners of 3 induction top slide-in ranges at once (don’t even ask)!  This is not ideal and it has taken MONTHS to try to sort it out, with poor cousin Jane as the middle man!  Looks like we may have licked it now.  We have at last been credited with 2 of the ranges, so now only own 1!  Hope it’s a goodie (waiting for more reports from Jane who is living at our place).

Feb. 12-16:  Billy works and I do laundry plus more phone calls.

Feb. 18:  Finally located the visitor center at Laguna Atacosta National Wildlife Refuge (LANWR).  First time we tried to find it, we couldn’t.  But now we have.  We hear from the naturalists that spring is just beginning in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.  Proof is in the yuccas (and maybe in the song of the Long-billed Thrasher).

Here is the yucca coming into flower.  A spectacular column of white flowers, growing taller and taller as it blooms.  The pink sheaths fade to white.  Seems to have come out of nowhere, at least we don’t remember even seeing the top emerging a few days ago.  A wonderful sight.

Feb. 19:  TWO LIFERS!!  AMAZING!  On the way to S. Padre Is. we saw a couple of ravens near the nest site where we were watching for the Aplomado Falcon.  We were informed that TAMAULIPAS CROWS nest there – hence a Lifer!  No photo, since we were driving down the busy highway.  Unfortunately, no falcon.

These 3 amigos (Black Vultures) and several more were massed on a carcass on the road.

We found our first Sandhill Cranes.

When we got to the world birding centre and walked the boardwalks, first thing we saw were lots of white butterflies.  How pretty on a purple flower.

There were  lots of these little blue dragonflies (damselflies?).

Down at the shore were these 3 amigos – can’t resist Black Skimmers.  I think they almost look eye-less (sort of like Ruddy Ducks).

Not yet in ANY of their spring plumage (but they’d better hurry up!) were Sanderlings.

We were so close to the birds in the canals, can’t help but add a few duplicates, just because I like them!

Here is a Pied-billed Grebe.  This is a really cute little grebe, but I thought here he/she looked particularly elegant!

Schools of tilapia were abundant.  Here is one near the surface where you can see its turquoise-blue head.  The inside of its mouth is pink and sometimes looks like painted lips.

You can see the top red of its legs on this Common Moorhen.

Once again the Sora paraded for photos – not the shyness one finds at home!

We’d been searching in vain for – and finally saw – not 1 but 2 CLAPPER RAILS!!  This was within 5 minutes of each other – holy mackerel!  Even managed a photo – yay.  Another LIFER!

The wind had really picked up by now, so we headed back.  Here’s a lovely Reddish Egret “blowin’ in the wind”.

The light was perfect on the feathers of this Tri-colored Heron.

We stopped in the little town of Laguna Vista just across the bridge on the mainland, to see if there was anything on the shore of a small park, since the tide was out.

A fisherman was cleaning fish and a group of bold Brown Pelicans were mooching entrails.

One more time searching for the falcon along Hsy 100, but still nothing.  So home to the kitties!

Superbowl lost by my team.  Billy likes both teams and didn’t care (what a poop!).

Feb. 2/3:  Rain, cold.

Feb. 4-8:  Billy went to Atlanta to a LW conference.  Boo hoo!  Just me and the kitties.  Lonely and bad weather.  Stayed in the whole time until Saturday.  Went for a little walk at Bentsen.  Saw the Indigo Bunting again, but not much else.  Too sad to do anything.

Jan. 26:  Off to S. Padre Island early this morning.  A perfect day: clear skies, low winds, temps to 25.  The boardwalks at 2 sites provided close looks at waterfowl.  Bill had a great time.

My personal favourites were the Black Skimmers.  Here are shots depicting: flying, bathing and something of which I have no idea.  We speculated they were cooling off?  Maybe de-bugging?  Resting? First we thought one had died, but I put the scope on it and could see its eye opening and closing.  They we saw another one do it – then another!  In researching on the web, the only site which gave a reason was an Audubon site, saying they’re just sleeping.  Cornell had nothing of this activity.  Others had observed it but didn’t know why they did it.  Black Skimmers were a LIFER for me on my 50th birthday in Peru (15 years ago).  I won’t forget that day when we got up at about 4 AM to go down the Amazon River (don’t know how the drivers missed all the logs in the pitch black), to climb a huge kapok tree (with stairs and a platform) to watch the sunrise and observe early bird activity.  When we returned to camp we saw the skimmers.  I had only seen them previously on TV, but had been captivated.  I remember the day with some embarassment, since it was the 1st time I’d gone without makeup in “public” – ever – HA!

A Laughing Gull flew by.

Flocks of Dunlin moved in waves from place to place.  Here’s a Black-bellied Plover – another shorebird, all on its own.

This Caspian Tern glowed in the sun.

Other animals inhabit the fresh water wetlands.  This aligator is a momma, however, we didn’t see her babies.  She’s about 10′ long.  Probably thinks we can’d see her due to the twig camoflage.

Talapia are the most common fish.  Apparently they make communal holes in the sand by sucking up mud in their mouths and spewing it out elsewhere – then lay eggs in the shallow dips.  These guys are about a foot long but there are various sizes throughout the canals.

Closer than we’ve ever gotten to a Green Heron.  Very pretty (though not really very green!).

My best view ever of the elusive Sora.  It gadded about in the reeds, letting us see it from every angle.  Some great feet eh?  All the birds seem to have gotten used to people walking along the boardwalks.

Common Moorehens were very vocal with their hoarse cries.

  Several Pied-billed Gremes were evident, though they lose their black bill mark in non-breeding plumage.

Surprisingly, Great Blue Herons even ignored us.  The upper shot was a sleeper – I don’t know what this 2nd activity is, but it’s nothing I’ve seen before!

A flock of about 14 White Ibis flew in – here are 3 in symmetry.

Best view of a Tri-colored Heron.

This Reddish Egret was busy – as were the Tri-colored, catching minnows which swarmed in large schools.

We also visited the Sheepshead Street which has 2 sites where warblers and other interesting species are sometimes seen.  Apparently in April, during migration, they basically fall at peoples’ feet with exhaustion after crossing the Gulf of Mexico.  It must be quite a site, as told to us by a woman from Wisconsin who’d seen it.

Today there were no perching birds in the grounds of the Convention Center, just butterflies.  But what a wonderful day!

Jan. 27:  A windy day but sunny – high 27.  We were so pooped from yesterday, we didn’t want to anything too much.  So walked at the butterfly center down the road.  Didn’t see anthing new, but the light was nice for photos.

The Altamira Oriole matches its dinner.

Even a Clay-colored Thrush looks pretty good closeup, showing his streaky chin.

The lady who feeds said a Cooper’s Hawk pretty well decimated their Chachalaca flock last year, but there are still some around.  You can see this one’s red chin which puffs up when displaying.  Both sexes have this red pouch, but only the males use it to attract females (figures).

A Lincoln Sparrow taking a shower.  One of the best things all the parks provide is water.  From elaborate waterfalls, to dripping taps to misters – they’re all essential for drinking and bathing – wonderful photo ops as well!

We were vcery happy to also get a shot of an Olive Sparrow in much better light than before.  A nice walk then groceries and shopping.

Jan. 28/29 – inclement weather.  Jan. 30:  Over to ELG to try for the elusive (for me) Gray-crowned Yellowthroat.  I SAW IT!!  LIFER FOR LOIS TOO!!  YAY!  Now Bill doesn’t have to feel so bad.

We didn’t stay for long after that, but I thought I’d include this White-tailed Kite hunting.  Tail splayed, feet hanging down, hovering, peering down.

Feb. 1:  Superbowl day.  Went over to Bentsen for a walk in the morning.  Luckily John, the hawk man, was there and we found out the Hook-billed Kites appear around 8 AM flying east, then between 3 and 6 PM flying west.  We will try to get out there to see them.

We also heard the Ingdigo Buntings have been seen at the Kiskadee Blind, so off we headed.  There were lots of birds and John had a novice birding group with him who joined us for awhile.  Lots of stuff around with the water feature plus seed and grapefruit stations.

Managed to get a couple of bathing beauties for your enjoyment.  Here are the N. Cardinal group.  Their down is a very blue-gray.

The water feature attracted a large flock of Common Ground Doves.  They are only 6″ long – only half the size of a Mourning Dove, and have a lovely scaled head and neck.

We rarely see the yellow crest of a Great Kiskadee, but we happened to catch it partway up.

Speaking of invisible crests, this Orange-crowned Warbler was taking a bath and we could really see his orange crest.  He was pretty pooped by the end and laid down his little head.

At last we got a couple of decent shots of a male Indigo Bunting.  Just starting to get blue feathers on his breast, but lots of blue on his wings and tail.  He’ll eventually turn all blue (and boy will the girls like him then!).

As we passed the canal at the visitor center, we at last had a chance to photograph our favourite little flycatcher – Black Phoebe (Jackie this is for you).  Then he took off.

As usual, there is lots of border guard activity – trucks everywhere.  Today a noisy helicopter flew right overhead. (Scared away the phoebe.)

At 3 PM we headed over to the canal again, to see if we could spot the elusive Hook-billed Kite.  At 3:30 – THERE IT WAS!  At last, after 2 months.  Well.  What a day!  Now home to the Superbowl!  GO SEAHAWKS!!

Despite a few showers, the temps haven’t gone much below 10C at night for awhile now.  Day time near 20 or above.  Howling winds on Saturday, so Bill worked and I cleaned (yep – the place is pretty spotless!)  But later in the afternoon the winds died down so we took a little walk at Bentsen.

Here, we saw the usual suspects, but in some nice light, worth a few photos:  Green Jay, N. Cardinal and Eastern Screech Owl.

Jan. 25th:  A glorious day of very light winds, mostly sunny in the morning, getting a bit cloudy in the aft.  High 20C.  Perfect!  Off to ELG to see if we could find a couple of Hooded Orioles.  First we found out a male Wood Duck was seen in the pond in front of the visitor center (never found him).  Then we found out a LIFER was seen in the grassy fields around the ponds – Gray-crowned Yellowthroat!

It is a Mexican bird and there are only about 50 records of it in the US in the last 100 years.  So who got to see it?  Billy – but not me!  When it popped up again, he even got a shot of it – though not great, it is identifiable.  He has sent this photo to one of the local naturalists at ELG and another Parks guy from S. Carolina we ran into.  Yay Billy!  Their habitat is dense, grassy fields.

A few sparse trees dot the landscape.  Back at the pond, a flight of White-faced Ibis flew in.

Here they are in flight and one landing.  They don’t really have much white on their face, just a small white outline.

We saw lots of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks today in different ponds. Here are 3 taking a nap.  As you can see, their eyes don’t always close – always watchful.  We may try for a Fulvous Whistling Duck seen at Edinburg tomorrow.

A Tri-colored Heron also flew over.

I admire the beautiful plumes of the Great Egret.

Jan. 26:  Another beautiful day with light winds, mostly sunny, high about 24C.  Off to Edinburg to see if we could find that Fulvous Whistling Duck.

As we left the driveway of the park, there were a pair of Muscovy Ducks sitting up on the embankment (that the border patrol drive all the time)!  Cool looking ducks, although many say you can’t count them since they’ve been domesticated.  As far as we’re concerned, we don’t make bones about what we tick off:  if it’s on our list, it  gets a check!  They are definitely making their own way in the world!

Here’s what we found 2 of running across the road and by the time we got alongside, just got a back-end shot.  It seemed to bode well that we had such a good start as we left our residence!

Edinburg brought disappointment to start with – then success!  As we arrived in the parking the resident rooster make an appearance – a handsome fellow indeed!  We didn’t find that whistling duck, but got some nice shots in the pond.

Here are a few Black-necked Stilts, especially for Lorne.  I loved the 2nd shot where it seems to be kissing its partner!

Speaking of birds which make me think of others, here’s another Cinnamon Teal, especially for Gallie.  She passed away just over a year ago and I think of her so often when we’re birding.

Around the pond where we looked for the Winter Wren.  First we found a Wilson’s Warbler.  In breeding plumage he has a black cap, not just this pale gray.  (Later we found a more mature Wilson’s, but couldn’t get a shot).  For Sandy, I’ve added the taking off shot!

Happily, we found our Winter Wren!  Not much to look at this LBB, but sings like a…well, sings an amazing long, warbling song.  If you have an app – listen!  (Frannie!)

Back on the grounds I couldn’t resist including this lovely Black-and-white Warbler.  Such a nice photo.

Around the pond both a female and a male Green Kingfisher were hunting (male with the rust breast).

After 6 hours on our feet yesterday, we’d decided not to do too much today, so left Edinburg just after noon and headed for Hidalgo to see if we could find the Prairie Warbler.

Took a little walk along the border fence there, on the grounds of the  old Pumphouse (now a museum), where we found a Red-shouldered Hawk (imm).  New for the list!

My honey Billy, indluged my love of many other things, like flowers and butterflies.  A little white one looked so pretty on the green plants with blue flowers.

Down on the river an Anhinga (often called the snake bird because of it’s neck) was drying it’s wings.  An ancient bird.

Back at the pumphouse, we asked about the Prairie Warbler and spoke to a man who knew where to look for it.  We sat down on some benches in the shade, keeping out eyes peeled on the area he mentioned.  After about half an hour, decided we weren’t going to see it, when we noticed a movement and got our glasses on it quickly enough to both identify it!  Not long enough for a photo, but we saw the bright yellow with black stripes on the sides!  A LIFER!

We headed back down the street where Monk Parakeets were said to be nesting on some telephone poles.  Sure enough, there they were!  They live in large colonies year-round, in urban areas.

Here are 2 peeking out of their nest which is about 3′ across!

Here’s one perching on a wire nearby.  Would love to get a photo of it flying – with large bright blue wing tips!  Another LIFER!

Finished for the day, we headed home.  Only to discover, sitting on a wire next to the road, a Common Black Hawk!  Another LIFER!  Couldn’t stop on this major thoroughfare to photograph it, but we were jacked!   What a day!

We’re not too enchanted with the cool, rainy, cloudy weather this year.  Shut in with Bill working while I clean/do laundry/cook for a few days, then…it finally turns nice!

Jan. 15:  Shut in all day at 8C with rain and clouds – then a few breaks start to develop in the clouds.  Even a glint of sun, so we take off about 3:30 to Bentsen to take a walk (what a relief).  Much to our complete delight we finally saw a Bobcat!

We had just started down the road after the main feeding station, past the maintenance yard – THERE IT WAS!  Very exciting, since none of the staff we’d spoken with had seen one this year yet (mind you we hadn’t asked all the trolley drivers who make the trip through the park every day).  We were so happy we’d gotten out for a walk!  Actually the sun really wasn’t seen again, but we didn’t care.  It was 13C with a strong breeze.

First bird we saw after we checked in at the visitor centre (which we saw the other day from the car) was a Cattle Egret.  This time much closer than before.  So nice to get out – we were going a bit stir-crazy.

Jan. 16:  This trip to Weslaco, we stopped at the other 2 parks before Estero Llano Grande.  First was the Nature Centre – a small city park with many bird feeding stations, water features and a mile of pathways.  Not very lucrative on the pathways, but as we entered, we saw Green Parakeets flying overhead – one of our target birds – yay!  Too fast for a photo.

We didn’t see anything else new, but found out the turtles we are seeing (which I thought were snapping turtles) are called red-eared skippers.  You can see why.

They have planted a large variety of flora throughout the park, including cacti.  I love this little prickly pear with fuzzy yellow nubs.  It’s not really very prickly.

As usual, the squirrels have become expert at getting into feeders which were meant to thwart them.  Fat little buggers!

Next we stopped at the Audubon Center where Townsend’s Warbler, and Winter Wren were reported.  Sure enough, we found the Townsend’s right away – with the help of another couple.

We know him from BC birding trips – he nests on the west coast, all the way to Alaska, but migrates to Mexico and across the southern states.

He was foraging with a couple of buddies, including this Nashville Warbler – a rather pretty fellow himself.

I can’t resist this little cutie either – Black-crested Titmouse.

Interestingly, as we were heading back to the truck, we saw something moving in the undergrowth – a Common Pauraque!  This one wasn’t marked with sticks beside the trail, since it was sort of “fleeing” from us.  It flew a few feet, just off the ground, then flew again until we couldn’t see it.

The last pond we passed before the Visitor’s Center yielded a Great Egret glowing in the sun.  If you look carefully, you can see the long plumes down his back.

When we got to ELG, some birders were observing something – which was ANOTHER Common Pauraque, sitting in a clearing off the path (about 20′ away).  When we spoke to one of the birding guides, he said there are about 40 pairs in the park – we had no idea!

We didn’t manage to see the female Painted Bunting which had been seen yesterday here.  But with such a gorgeous day, we can’t complain about anything!

Jan. 17:  A clear blue sky!  Despite walking ALL DAY yesterday (and boy were we tired) we just had to get out again today.  Not such a big trip – just to Edinburg. It was already 12C when we set out.  By the time we got there, we could wear our t-shirts!

The first bird we saw was this N. Cardinal glowing in the sun, singing to a female nearby!

Also the cutie-patootie Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher.  Some of my favourites are the “action” shots.  Such an interesting position – love those white outer tailfeathers.

Here’s another neat one (but Bill doesn’t really like it) – Orange-crowned Warbler taking off.  Cool!

A new bird for our list was this juvenile male Indigo Bunting – barely enough to identify him – but he will be a beautiful dark blue when he matures.  Right now he is brown with blue dots!

As usual around the pond, these cormorants were roosting in the highest tree.

Along the edge near us was a Snowy Egret with those yellow clown feet!  He is actually very pretty with his white plumes on front and head, with a few wisps blowing up near his tail.

Along one of the canals a Bewick’s Wren was singing.  He finally came in for a close-up.

The usual 2 types of vireos were also foraging among the trees along the pond and the canals – Blue-headed and White-eyed.  Here’s the latter singing a beautiful song!  Can really see his white eye with yellow band across the face.

The last bird of the day: Tri-colored Heron.  All-in-all a lovely day to be out, even if just for the morning!

Feb. 19th:  Boca Chica Hwy.  Up at 5 AM, away by 6.  A 2 hour drive to get out to the ocean through Brownsville.  The weather was supposed to be cloudy all day, but we saw the sun break through a few times.  Our luck began with a bang – a pair of Swallow-tailed Kites flew over!  This is before we even had the camera in the front seat (a mostly driving day).  They are a bit like White-tailed Kites, but with a long split tail (about 4″ longer) – spectacular!

Our next bird is a LIFER for NA – White-tailed Hawk.  He sat with his back to us (preventing us from seeing his beautiful white front!) – but you can see how short his tail is with much longer wings.  Reddish on the shoulders on a gray body.

The beautiful Harris’s Hawks were hunting in a family group.  Here is a lovely front view.

We thought it a rather pleasant day, weatherwise, with temps around 20C – but apparently this Loggerhead Shrike thought otherwise!

We have had several sightings of Crested Caracara, but finally close enough for a photo.  Here’s a triptych of one preening!

This Wildlife Preserve is located just south of dockland near Port Isabel and San Padre Island, on the Atlantic coastline.

But there are also some lovely wildflowers (Could not find our what kind they are.)

There are lots of salt flats, excellent for wading birds.  This group of Reddish Egrets (with many white morphs among them) were scattered across a large area, including a few Roseate Spoonbills.

We found those spoonbills courting in a closer spot later.  They raise their head into the air and open and close their bills.

Our first terns included mostly Caspian – but a few Royals as well.  I think these are all Caspian – very big!

Here is a Long-billed Curlew – some long bill eh?  We see them in the spring on the prairies.  We hoped for more shorebirds, but once we got out to the ocean, there were too many people (not like 4 years ago).  Camping, fishing, running and driving vehicles along the shore.  We got out of there fast.

Stopped at Resaca de la Palma – just to case the place.  Visitor Center closed, but we took a short walk.  We were here on one of the Harlingen birding trips we did a few years ago.  The first birds we saw were Lark Sparrows which usually feed on the ground, but this one was in a tree!  Bill then had a 2 1/2 hour conference call, which he did out near the truck, walking the whole time.  We were tired puppies when we got home!

Jan. 20th:  Katherine’s 24th birthday!  I was so happy to receive a note from her yesterday that my BD card had arrived yesterday!  As she said, “impeccable timing”!

This will be the hottest day we’ve had in a long time with a completely clear, blue sky!  High 29C!  We only felt like tackling a walk in the morning at Santa Ana.  Last time we were here, it was so muddy, we walked with huge clogs of mud on our boots and went for 5 hours!  We won’t do that again!

The woodlands around ponds have a wide variety of flora  Spanish moss grows here – but nowhere else we’ve found.  Shades of Louisiana!

There are lots of places for birds to hide.

But we managed to capture a Black-headed Grosbeak especially for Don!

A beautiful Couch’s Kingbird perched near it’s mate, though we couldn’t get them both together.  (Why is it always “we” when only Bill takes photos????)

We saw some interesting warblers, but couldn’t get a clear enough view to identify them.  Bill has some photos, but even when we look, it’s hard to figure it out.  Oh well – a butterfly instead.  Now home to air conditioning!