Zoroark Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/106630 My father invited me to join him at the very southern tip of Texas for a segment of his huge camping trip (one that probably could use its own thread). I'll be visiting later this month into early March, for approximately two weeks. Notable places we'd like to visit include: Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park Estero Llano Grande State Park Quinta Mazatlan South Padre Island (many more hotspots) Anzalduas Park Sabal Palm Sanctuary Port Aransas area (hope to see the Whooping Crane!) Plenty of other places between Brownsville and Corpus Christi If anyone has any advice before we head down there, I would greatly appreciate it. I have way too many targets to list them all here, and I hope to nab a few dozen lifers with photos. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Fingers Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I don’t have any advice so all I can say is: good luck!! May you see many Whooping Cranes in the Port Arkansas area! Get some good photos! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueJay Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 One place I would recommend checking out is Salineno Wildlife Refuge, especially the feeder area as it provides amazing photo opportunities of stunning birds like Green Jays, Altamira Orioles, and Great Kiskadees. Here is my checklist from January last year. https://ebird.org/checklist/S100813290. Here is the entire trip report https://ebird.org/tripreport/32628. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 @BlueJay I appreciate it, but my father is staying in Falcon before I fly out, and we aren't going to be traveling back west of McAllen (unless there is some mega-rarity like a Brown Jay). I've been working on transcribing data on my targets across most of the big hotspots between McAllen and South Padre Island so we can see most of the big specialties. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peromyscus Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Good luck and enjoy, @Zoroark! I haven't been there in over 12 years. But in a four-year period in the 2000s I visited seven times, always staying in the McAllen-Weslaco area. I so want to go back. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 19 Author Share Posted February 19 I'm leaving this Wednesday! 😀 My father is currently chasing the Red-billed Pigeon and Morelet's Seedeater in Salineño. We'll be staying at Bentsen Palm for the first week before moving to South Padre Island then up to Corpus Christi. We have a few specific days planned (23rd in Santa Ana, 25th in Estero Llano), but much of the trip will be based on things like weather, how good the activity is, and the locations of rarities like Hook-billed Kite (there's one hanging around Bentsen right now). Depending on my father's luck in Salineño, a drive there could be in the cards. I assume most of the information in this comment from @Liam is still valid. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing those pygmy-owls. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 Oh yeah, still valid, for the most part, but with a couple of updates: 1. I think the Santa Ana NWR trails are all open now, but I haven't visited in a year so I could be wrong. 2. Bentsen is actually an enjoyable place to bird now that I've spent more time there. If you focus on the feeder areas, especially. There's a Rose-throated Becard there now that moves between the La Familia feeder area (map) and the Ebony Grove picnic area (and the adjacent feeders). Hook-billed Kites have been putting on a show at Bentsen this winter. I saw two on my last visit. They hang out in the woods south of Roadrunner Crossing (note: the map does not face north). The bird I saw perched was just south of Roadrunner and east of Mesquite. More info on my eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S127723197 3. Check out the Butterfly Center. Good birding there too, not to mention the amazing butterfly diversity. There's a Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet on the Hackberry Trail on the levee. Learn its call and you should be able to find it pretty easily. They're scarce in the winter. Also look for the McCall's Screech-Owl in tree holes on the levee. DM me and I'll share the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl spots with you. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Liam said: Check out the Butterfly Center. We'll very likely visit that after going to a "main attraction" and still having a few hours in the afternoon due to its proximity to the RV park. From the rare bird alert, it looks like an Audubon's Oriole is there now, and a Groove-billed Ani was there a few days ago. Edited February 20 by Zoroark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 21 Author Share Posted February 21 Wow, it's going to be hot. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Fingers Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 2 hours ago, Zoroark said: Wow, it's going to be hot. That’s to hot for me… now comparison time: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 2 hours ago, Snake Fingers said: That’s to hot for me… now comparison time: And that's too cold for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 It is beautiful here right now, 91 degrees. We have all the windows open, and it has been really nice day for working outside. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 4 hours ago, Zoroark said: Wow, it's going to be hot. That's not bad at all, on the contrary, it is wonderful weather. Wish we had it year round! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Fingers Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 52 minutes ago, Kevin said: It is beautiful here right now, 91 degrees. Just no. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 21 Author Share Posted February 21 (edited) 1 hour ago, Kevin said: That's not bad at all, on the contrary, it is wonderful weather. Wish we had it year round! Oh, I agree. We've had days where the temperature doesn't go below 100°. On the contrary, we practically never have below about 25°. I wonder what my first lifer is going to be. My vote goes to the Green Jay. Edited February 21 by Zoroark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 1 hour ago, Zoroark said: the contrary, we practically never have below about 25°. How nice! Just a few years ago it was -2 here, and just a few months before it 116. Must be nice to live somewhere where the weather is more stable. It will be 95 degrees and two days later we are sledding. There is just something wrong with that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 3 hours ago, Zoroark said: wonder what my first lifer is going to be. My vote goes to the Green Jay. What is some of your other perspective lifers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 I figure I might as well copy my list. Here are the birds I have anywhere from a fair to high chance of seeing on the trip. Some of these are very local, while others are fairly widespread. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Fulvous Whistling-Duck Mottled Duck Plain Chachalaca Least Grebe White-tipped Dove Groove-billed Ani Common Pauraque Buff-bellied Hummingbird Whooping Crane Snowy Plover Stilt Sandpiper Gull-billed Tern White-tailed Kite Hook-billed Kite White-tailed Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Eastern Screech-Owl Ringed Kingfisher Green Kingfisher Golden-fronted Woodpecker Crested Caracara Aplomado Falcon Monk Parakeet Red-crowned Parrot Green Parakeet Rose-throated Becard Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet Great Kiskadee Tropical Kingbird Couch’s Kingbird Green Jay Black-crested Titmouse Cave Swallow Sedge Wren Long-billed Thrasher Clay-colored Thrush Sprague’s Pipit Olive Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Seaside Sparrow Altamira Oriole Audubon’s Oriole Tropical Parula Black-throated Green Warbler 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor Cochrane Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 I'd guess one of the kingbirds for the first lifer, they're everywhere down in the RGV. If not it will probably be Whistling-duck or Caracara. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Kingbird or Whistling-duck. Kingbirds are just too easy to spot while driving, before you even stop to bird. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 The first lifer, at the RV park, was the Golden-fronted Woodpecker, followed by the Altamira Oriole and Great Kiskadee. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 (edited) A visit to Santa Ana NWR brought me 11 lifers: White-tipped Dove (bad photo) White-tailed Hawk (photo) Green Jay (photo + audio) Black-crested Titmouse Fulvous Whistling-Duck (photo) Mottled Duck (photo) Plain Chachalaca (photo) Least Grebe (photo) Green Kingfisher (photo) Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet (bad photo + audio) Olive Sparrow (photo) And I'm now up to 158 for the year. Edited February 24 by Zoroark 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 (edited) A trip to the neighboring Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park and National Butterfly Center proved fruitful. While we didn't see the Code 3 Hook-billed Kite, I did manage five lifers and snagged a photo of the titmouse, and improved the other two with bad photos. Crested Caracara (photo) Long-billed Thrasher (photo) Clay-colored Thrush (photo) Audubon's Oriole (photo) Eastern Screech-Owl (photo) We will likely try to get the kite again on a day we don't feel like going far. I obtained five additional firsts for the year. Edited February 25 by Zoroark 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 (edited) We went to Estero Llano Grande State Park and joined a bird walk, seeing 72 species and a hybrid Mottled × Mexican Duck. Six of those were lifers: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (photo) Common Pauraque (photo!) Stilt Sandpiper (photo) White-tailed Kite (seen only) Tropical Kingbird (heard only) Couch's Kingbird (heard only) And eight additional FOYs. We also stopped by Frontera Audubon Center, but it was mostly mosquitoes with a few birds. Edited February 26 by Zoroark 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peromyscus Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Congratulations on your lifers. Estero Llano was my favorite park when I was visiting the lower Rio Grande Valley back in the 00s. I'm glad the paraques are still there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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