Day 2

Boom boom boom. What the actual fuck?  Who the hell decides to have a real Pow Wow at 2 in the fucking morning.  Boom boom boom. Dude, the beach is deserted and you decide to pull up next to me blaring some shit music on our car’s stereo at 2 in the goddamned morning?!

I go into my car to try and drown out the noise.  Then, miraculously, by 2:15, they leave.  God dammit.

I try to get some sleep, but it’s hard.

My alarm goes off at 6:00.  It’s time to get up.  At least I wake up to this.

It’ll be a good day.

My first stop, after packing up camp, is to drive out to Laguna Atascosa to try and find White-Tailed Hawks and the Aplomado Falcon I dipped on yesterday.  No luck on either, but I did pick up Bronzed Cowbirds for a new year bird.

#349 Bronzed Cowbird

Bronzed Cowbird

Oh well, I can still get the birds of prey before I leave.

The real target for the day is the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.  I had an appointment to see the owl and was gauranteed a sighting.  As I drive in to the ranch, I have a great look at a Northern Bobwhite in flight.  I’ve never gotten good looks at the bird before except in a zoo.  I also pick up Groove-Billed Ani on the way in.

#350 Groove-Billed Ani

Groove-Billed Ani

I pull up to the main house and am greeted by the owner.  There’s another birder there already looking at the owl.  It’s there posing for us!

#351 Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (Lifer 473)

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Also, while I’m there, I have 3 female Nilgai run across the road.  Unexpected for sure, but a nice addition to my mammal list.  Alas, I got no photos of them.

Before I left, I finally heard a calling Blue Grosbeak.  I thought this bird might elude me, as every time I searched for it, I missed it.

#352 Blue Grosbeak

From here, I headed to Estero Llano Grande one of the great birding sites in the US.  My two main goals here were the Brown-Crested Flycatcher and the Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet.  Both were to be found in the tropical zone of the park.  I did however miss the McCall’s Eastern Screech Owl and the Ringed Kingfisher.

#353 Brown-Crested Flycatcher

Brown-Crested Flycatcher

#354 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet

Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet

As I write this, I’m sitting in a lovely, but crowded Starbucks.  I’m exhausted.  Several hundred miles of driving and only a few miserable hours of sleep will do that to you.

Oh yeah, I got word that the pelagic trip has been officially canceled.  Part of me is relieved.  That money can be used for other purposes.

Before the evening closes out, I plan on hitting Old Port Isabel Road again to give the Aplomado one more shot.  Then, back to the beach and maybe some sleep.

Book Talley

As of the middle of day two, I’m nearly done with 3 audiobooks.

1. Allan Quatermain – H. Rider Haggard
2. The First Men in the Moon – H.G. Wells
3. Sylvie and Bruno – Lewis Carroll

Day 1

June 10, 2015

As I write this, I am laying in my wind-swept tent on the beach at South Padre Island.  With this wind off the gulf, I don’t know if I’ll sleep well tonight or not.

(Post Script: I did not)

I was growing antsy.  My original plan was to set forth on the 11^th.  That’s tomorrow by my reckoning.  However, there was nothing keeping me grounded at home, so I set forth a day early.  I’ll get more stops in this way.

On a down note, it looks like my pelagic birding trip will probably be canceled due to weather.  It’s supposed to rain all day on Saturday.  On the up side of this, it will save me some money for later in the trip.

I left my place around 7:30 this morning.  I finished packing and headed out.  The trip seemed shorter than any other time I had done this trek before.  I know that can be accounted for due to the fact that I road birded the entire trip.  I kept a list of every bird I saw in each county.  Each list was small, 4-8 birds, but I should have a nice swath of counties marked out on my county map after this.

I got into the Valley at 3:30 and knew this was a terrible time to bird, so I went to the Gladys Porter Zoo.  At one time, I raved about this little zoo, but now, it seems sad and dilapidated.  Yes, they still have a great collection, but the facilities are falling apart and the exhibits are poor at best.  I got some good photos of the rarities and headed out.

Long-Nosed Potoroo

West African Bushbuck

Sun Bear

My first birding stop was Old Port Isabel Road.  This is a terrible road for travel purposes, but great for birds.  It’s pretty much all dirt with huge ruts that will cause your car damage if you aren’t careful.  Here I was able to pick up some good birds starting with a lifer heard in a brushy area, a Botteri’s Sparrow.  As I kept driving, I picked up a Common Ground-Dove and a Gull-Billed Tern both needed on the year.

#343 Botteri’s Sparrow (Lifer 472)

#344 Common Ground-Dove

#345 Gull-Billed Tern

From here, I needed parrots, and the best place to get them is at dusk at Oliviera Park in Brownsville.  The park was bustling, but I decided not to pay any attention to the throngs of people.  I wandered around the park for some time listening and watching.  First thing I picked off was a Mexican Ground Squirrel.

Mexican Ground Squirrel

Then I found several Tropical Kingbirds.  Finally, a lone Green Parakeet came in (late I saw 8).  I know I had seen this bird earlier, but evidently I never ticked it off my year list.  Come to think of it, maybe it was on my trip in December and not in February.  Anyway, the real goal was the Red-Crowned Parrots.  Right at dusk, three flew in.

#346 Tropical Kingbird

Tropical Kingbird

#347 Green Parakeet

Green Parakeet

#348 Red-Crowned Parrot

Red-Crowned Parrot

There is considerable debate as to where these birds came from.  Are they escapees or are some from the wild in Mexico.  On-going study will soon answer this, but for my take, these birds now represent one of the largest, and most stable, populations of either species.  They have essentially become the northern extension of what was originally two Mexican only species.

I then headed to the beach north of South Padre Island where I currently am getting a crick in my neck writing this.  Tomorrow should be fun.

Planning my epic summer road trip – the Texas leg

Road trips for me are always a work in progress – until I return home.Last year, I did a two week trip from my home in Fort Worth to Southern California and back.  I loved almost every minute of it and have been itching to do it again.  This year, I plan on doing a few things differently.

Day 1 (Thursday June 11) – Leave home

• Drive to Pedernales Falls State Park
• Target Birds
  • Golden-Cheeked Warbler
    • Might be late in the year for this one, but it’ll be worth a shot.  I know the birds will be there, but oddly the records on eBird disappear after the first week of June.  Are people just not birding the park then or have the birds stopped singing or a combination of both?
• Camp at Pedernales

Day 2 (Friday June 12)

• Drive to the Rio Grande Valley
  • My guess is that I’ll spend most of this day at Estero Llano Grande
• Target Birds (at Estero)
  • Northern Bobwhite
  • Anhinga
  • Common Ground Dove
  • Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
  • Groove-billed Ani
  • Eastern Screech Owl
  • Ringed Kingfisher
  • Red-Crowned Parrot
  • Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
  • Brown-Crested Flycatcher
  • Tropical Kingbird
  • Bank Swallow
  • Bronzed Cowbird
• If I get everything I need here, there are plenty of local spots to hit like the parrot roosts (I haven’t visited Olivera Park in a few years).
• Head out to South Padre Island.  In the afternoon, I’ll probably spend a lot of time at the SPIBC.
• Camp north of town on the public beach.

Day 3 (Saturday June 13) – Pelagic

• This is something I’m looking forward to (except for the seasickness).  12 hours of deep water birding with some of the best birders in Texas.  (Reminds me, I still need to sign up for that trip!)
• I won’t put an expected species list up because that is an effort in futility.  I’ll just show up and be excited with what I get.

Day 4 (Sunday June 14)

• Final day in the Valley.  I’ll probably head to Salineno.  From what I hear, it’s under birded in the summer due to temperature, but there’s the possibility of Brown Jays and Red-Billed Pigeons.
• I also plan on hitting Laredo after this to try and find the White-Collared Seedeaters.  I think I got these at the end of last year, but I have my doubts about my identification.  Best to make sure this time.
• Drive to Big Bend

Day 5 (Monday June 15) – Big Bend

• The death march.  By day five, let’s see how insane I really am.  I got the Colima Warbler last year, but it is the single hardest bird I’ve ever logged.  Nine hours of hiking in 100 degree heat with dehydration and altitude sickness.  I swore I’d never do it again.  I lied.  This time, with experience, I will do things differently.
• Target Birds
  • Scaled Quail*
  • Zone-Tailed Hawk
  • Band-Tailed Pigeon
  • Elf Owl
  • Mexican Whip-poor-will*
  • White-Throated Swift
  • Blue-Throated Hummingbird*
  • Broad-Tailed Hummingbird*
  • Western Wood-Pewee
  • Cordilleran Flycatcher
  • Gray Vireo
  • Hutton’s Vireo
  • Violet-green Swallow
  • Bushtit
  • Crissal Thrasher*
  • Colima Warbler
  • Painted Redstart
  • Hepatic Tanager
  • Western Tanager
  • Black-headed Grosbeak
  • Varied Bunting
  • Scott’s Oriole
• If anyone has suggestions on how best to do this trip, I’m all ears.  I know that the second half of the day will be sleeping/napping/resting and cursing the birding gods.

Day 6 (Tuesday June 16)

• I can already tell this trip will be longer.  I left Big Bend on day 2 last year.
• I plan to pick up any straggler birds in the morning and then head to the Davis Mountains.  There’s a new bird blind there that is supposed to be one of the best places in the US for the Montezuma Quail.
• Target Birds
  1. Scaled Quail*
  2. Montezuma Quail*
  3. Broad-Tailed Hummingbird*
  4. Western Wood-Pewee
  5. Cassin’s Kingbird
  6. Bushtit
  7. Hepatic Tanager
  8. Black-Headed Grosbeak
  9. Blue Grosbeak
  10. Bronzed Cowbird
  11. Scott’s Oriole
• From the Davis Mountains, I will head north to Balmorhea, the only reliable spot in Texas for Western and Clark’s Grebes.
• Target Birds
  1. Eared Grebe
  2. Western Grebe
  3. Clark’s Grebe
  4. Cassin’s Kingbird
• I’ve had a grebe deprived year it seems.

From here, I will drive straight to Chiricahua in Arizona.  I think 6 days in Texas will be enough by this point.

*Lifer bird