It was then off to the tropical zone again. By the time we got there there were 40 people gathered. They were all peering through the chain link fence into the trees beyond. With all of the rain in the last months the anacua trees have fruit and the thrushes we're loving it. A half dozen clay-colored thrushes and american robins were feeding with mockingbirds and squirrels making every movement worthy of a look. I finally spotted the bird after about an hour in one of the trees. Darker backed than clay-colored and a definite eye ring stood out as well as the white throat. Everyone in the group except for another woman were looking at a nearby clay-colored at the time and I think we were the only two to see it at that time before it dove into the tree again. Though I would have loved to have gotten a photo it would have been close to impossible as the bird was about 50 feet back in the top of the tree with leaves and branches all around that I'm sure the camera would have auto focused on just to annoy me.
Satisfied with the look we moved on to Resaca de la Palma to try for the tropical parulas that seems to love the parkinglot. We spent about an hour wandering around after checking in then we met another couple who were looking for the bird as well. This was their third time trying and they were leaving empty handed again. That's always discouraging to hear. But we kept looking. A little while later we ran into a nice couple we had seen over at the thrush spot and they said they had just seen the bird Minutes before. So we headed over to that area and walked around it multiple times before I saw some slight feeding movement in an ebony tree above our heads. Finally bright yellow was visable, then the blue back and wing bars then just the head with the dark eye line until finally the bird came into the open for 15 seconds before retreating back into the thick canopy. Tropical Parula. Check.
Next we went over to SPI (South Padre Island ) just because it was a beautiful, warm and sunny afternoon. The gulf was beautiful and many people were out enjoying the day. About a million people were at the convention center for a dance show so we skipped that and just enjoyed the drive and the beach.
We decided to go back to Estero again to finish off the day there. The thrush had been seen plenty throughout the afternoon but sightings had dropped off by late in the day. We enjoyed the area and chatted with a few folks before deciding to call it a day. Four new birds in the area was great considering I came down primarily for the gray-crowned yellowthroat. The weather for the next day was predicted to be even better than today so definitely looking forward to more sun and birds.
I am so glad you got the birds! PHEW much better day! FOUR birds and you really only came for the one! Love these posts! It is cold and brutal here so I am living through you! Keep them coming.
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