Take me to the river....

Wednesday we explored areas along the Rio Grande trying to clean up on some missing birds. We still hadn't found a few valley specialties and we're hoping to track them down before we left the valley.  First up was Anzelduas County Park. This is an interesting little park right on the river. I really can't figure out why people would go there, there isn't that much to do, but I guess a picnic is always fun and you can look across the river and wave at all the people in Mexico having picnics in their park. There is a large short grass field immediately to the right as you enter this park. The field was filled with meadowlarks and pipits which we scanned for both Western Meadowlark and Sprague's pipit but could not locate. 

Continuing on at the bend in the river there was a ringed Kingfisher perched in a tree which almost immediately took flight heading into Mexico. A large flock of house finches and eastern bluebirds was working the ground beneath the trees with yellow rump warbler's and a vermilion flycatcher adding to the colorful show. A flock of greater white fronted geese flew overhead adding them to our Texas list as well. A feeding flock of lark sparrows and a verdin were also great to see. As we were watching the lark sparrows I looked up and an eastern screech owl was sitting in a hole in a tree looking at us through angry eyes. Only a few photos were taken. Lol. On the way out of the park we spotted a small hawk sitting on a power pole. Great looks at this beautiful adult gray hawk. 

Next we went out to Salineño to the feeding station at the DeWind house. This place is truly unbelievable. And old trailer home, a few plastic chairs and a bunch of feeders comprise the site that sits a few hundred yards from the Rio Grande. There was a light, misty rain as we arrived and continued the duration of out visit.  Hoards of birds called and chattered as they came into the feeders. Close to 20 kiskadees loudly called and dive bombed the yard. Altamira Orioles and hooded Orioles flitted in and out of the yard. We waited patiently for the guest of honor as we watched the feeding frenzy go crazy when a Cooper's hawk invaded the yard. Minutes later a beautiful Audubon's Oriole came in to the bark butter on the tree limb. This is possibly my favorite oriole of the valley and certainly the most difficult to locate. We thanked our hosts and walked down to check the river. A few ducks paddled around down river but otherwise the wet weather kept it pretty quiet. 

An hour later we pulled into a small neighborhood along the river. A gate was across a dirt road which was the location of our targeted bird. It took less than 90 seconds. Four white collared seed-eaters  popped up from the tall grasses and perched on the brush nearby. This was a bird I imagined would take a lot of work to find. Nope. Life bird for all of us in less than 5 minutes. Check. 

We headed into Laredo for the night. Tomorrow we will begin to make the swing toward home with a few stops long the way. So long valley. See you soon...

A few cell phone shots from the camera for now. Too tired for the real thing today. 

Ani good birds around?

Tuesday was the best weather day we have had yet. Blue skies, sunshine and warmer weather. We went to Sabal Palm sanctuary first and walked the trails of the jungle like setting. A beautiful hooded oriole was working the trees above the feeder near the visitors center among 15 green jays. A yellow throated warbler put on a nice show right after I spotted a great horned owl hiding in a palm. A small flock of warblers worked the edge of the resaca including a northern parula, but not its tropical cousin I was hoping to find. A loud call note caught our attention and after searching for a minute we located a dusky capped flycatcher on a bare limb. The bird almost immediately took off to a more secluded area but I momentarily had great looks. We spent some time watching a family of least grebes move around the lake as great kiskadees continuously chattered all around us. We decided to walk the native trail where we had our first good Looks at the Rio Grande of the trip amazingly enough. There were plenty of birds on the opposite bank. Mexico life list? Not yet. Lol. 

The trail wound through an open wooded area where a large black bird sailed into the brush. Groove billed ani. We waited it out and two more joined it. One bird perched on top of a shrub giving us great looks and photos. Finally a life bird on this trip. It only took 6 days. Ha

Next we headed out to Old Port Isabel Road. It's been some I've been on this drive but I didn't remember it being quite so rural. The "road" was basically two tire tracks though a mud slide. Although mostly dry, some areas were quite thick and a little unnerving. We stopped before it got too ugly and immediately a cactus wren popped up to scold us.  The angry little fella perched up, believe it or not, on a cactus of all things. A covey of bobwhite darted across the road in front of us as we were getting ready to turn around to find more suitable pavement since the road ahead of us seem to be deteriorating rapidly. We tried to enter the road from the opposite and but it was also a complete pit of mud so we headed out to South Padre Island. 

We decided to go walk the boardwalk's at the convention center to see what kind of birds were around.   Clapper rails were sitting around in the sun, reddish egrets and tricolored Herons gave close up looks and laughing gulls and black skimmers cruised the shore. Virginia rail and sora were also walking around in the marsh but no purple gallinule that had been seen there. 

From there we decided to try Laguna Atascosa NWR. Things have changed since the last time I was there. The wildlife drive that was 15 miles is long no longer open to the public. Since a few assholes decided to run over and kill two ocelots. 

Inside the visitor center we talk to a very nice man and an incredibly strange woman. Now mind you, we have been driving around most of the day and most of the week for that matter, so we are all a little slaphappy and tired. You know how when something is funny and you are tired it makes it even more funny? Well this was one of those moments.  The nice lady at the refuge is about to give us some information about going to find aplomado falcon when she paused and began licking her lips and sticking her tongue out faster than any reptile I have ever seen. Her tongue was moving so fast that it was almost a blur but the sounds that she was making were so loud that it was impossible not to notice. Normally I would not make fun of somebody ( that is a lie) and I tried my best to hold it together without looking at my buddies, but one little poke from shawn and it was all over. I managed to hold my composure as the two of them walked away hysterically laughing, but once we got outside I completely lost it. It will be one of those things that we laugh about for a long time to come. 

So we headed out, parked near a gate and walked out into the refuge. After searching for a little while 2 Falcons were spotted on fence post about a quarter of mile away. Aplomado Falcons. We watched the birds through the scope for a while chasing off northern harrier's and white tailed hawks. We tried to jockey to get a better view but they were not visible from the road. Some crappy digiscoped photos were taken just to record our sighting though.  The sun had set and it was time to end of the day. Wednesday we will explore some border towns seeking a few more rarities....

Long walk. Long drive. Long two days.

On Sunday we started off at Estero Llano and joined the "bird walk". It was windy and cold. Again. Note to self:  I need to pay better attention to weather forcasts when packing for trips. Shorts and t-shirts are not cutting it. 

Despite the slightly less than stellar weather we pulled a lot of new year birds and valley specialties. Common Paraque is always pretty cool to see. Tropical and Couch's kingbirds calling away, a black chinned and buff bellied hummingbirds zipping around, plain chachalaca lurking in the scrub and kiskadees loudly calling from everywhere make this part of the country a place every bird nerd should visit. 

News came in around the time we were  finishing up that a blue bunting had been found at Santa Ana NWR. So of course we headed over there. Like we wouldn't. Right. We met the man who found the bird in the parking lot, viewed his photos and congratulated him on a great find when we arrived. We set off following a park employee to the spot where the bird had been spotted. We walked the trail for more than an hour with no luck. And virtually no birds except for a few very loud white eyed vireos. We decided at that point to explore more of the park. If you've never been there let me tell you that it is large. Very large. 

More birds new for the trip include 

Altamira Orioles, Harris's hawks and an over wintering juvenile broad winged hawk.  At this point we decided to head back to the car, grab something quick to eat and figure out what we were doing next. For some reason we decided to hike the cattail trail to see if we could spot a Fulvous whistling duck that had been reported earlier but had moved deeper into the park. Remember when I told you that the park was large? Well we really had no idea until we hiked that trail.  Large doesn't even cover it. What was supposed to be "about a mile" turned into a 6 mile round-trip death march.   Without a single fucking whistling duck for that matter. Five hours spent at the refuge with very little to show for it. To say the least we were a little disappointed and exhausted. We headed back to the hotel where I managed to fall asleep in about nine minutes. 

When the alarm went off at 4:30 AM this morning my feet were still throbbing but I managed to pull myself together and haul us on a 4 hour drive up to Goose Island State Park. We had not even parked the car before we spotted the first target for the day. Two whooping cranes were foraging at the side of a small pond on private land just off the road. Photos were taken and within 5 minutes the birds took flight and flew off into Aransas NWR to join three others. Five in a day. Well actually in 15 minutes. Not bad at all. Luck was definitely on our side. After searching around the area for just a little while we decided to book it down to a rest area off of Highway 281. A painted redstart had been seen there for a couple of days and we decided to give it a shot. An hour and a half later we were looking at this beautiful warbler foraging on the ground, fanning its tail and calling nearly at our feet. High-fives all around. This was not a bird I expected to see so early in the year or in Texas for that matter. But it was a welcome pick up after yesterday's misses. From there we decided to head back south and check on a few more of the local parks. On the drive down at 75 miles an hour I spotted a scissor tailed flycatcher and immediately pulled over and backed up on the highway ( yes on the highway) so that we all could get great looks and some photos. Unfortunately all of the places we wanted to see to the south of us were closed on Mondays. Go figure. I suppose a little research ahead of time would have told us that but at least it put us in position for the last couple of targets of the day. 

 We drove around the McAllen area listening for the raucous, jungle like calls of parrots and parakeets. Before long we spotted a large flock of parakeets flying ahead of us. Of course we were on one of the busiest roads with the most traffic lights I have ever been on in Texas at the time. Expletives all around. 

 We managed to track down the flock as they were perched on telephone wires outside of a Chase bank. It really is unbelievable how loud 300 parakeets can be while sitting on wires above your head. Shortly after arriving, the guys had taken 700 photographs when a Harris's  hawk cruises in and makes the birds a little uncomfortable. They took to the sky shrieking and headed off to the east. At this point, with about 45 minutes of daylight left we decided to gun it down the road to try to find red crowned parrots that roost in a neighborhood of McAllen. A quick half spin through the neighborhood and there they were,  doing what these birds do, annoying the shit out of an entire neighborhood. Approximately 130 birds landed in tall tree and squawked nonstop for 10 minutes as the machine gun fire of the cameras managed to capture as much as they could in the fading daylight. Score. It was a great way to end a pretty damn good day in the valley and to erase some of the disappointment of yesterday. Tomorrow we will try to track down some of the birds that we have missed so far and hopefully add to our lists for the 

year.  Hopefully I'll be able to stay awake long enough to upload some pictures tomorrow. 

Day three: Texas

Waking up finally in Texas was a great way to start the day. We got a pretty early  start considering that once again we were all pretty tired from driving and birding. It was cloudy and cool and began to rain a fine mist on us as we headed to Bolivar. Our first target for the day was a mountain plover that had been hanging out on the beach for the last week or so. We

Made a fast stop at Rollover Pass where we were greeted by hundreds of shorebirds, brown and white Pelicans and black skimmers. Many photos taken and quite a few life birds for my buddies. We decided to make haste to Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary though since a large thunderstorm was brewing in the gulf. We arrived and in a few fast minutes of searching we located the plover standing alone at the edge of the surf. At the same moment I watched a barn owl flopping his way over the dunes and our attention was divided momentarily.  We all decided that the mountain plover deserved our attention just a bit more. The Barn owl sat on a post off in the distance and we were able to get a few photos before our attention was completely upon the plover. We were able to set up shop and watch this bird along with whimbrel, longbilled curlew, red knots, Sanderlings, black bellied plovers, Willets, marbled godwits, many pelicans, gulls and terns 

and piping plovers. We walked the beach a while to observe and identify all of the species and decided to move on since the rain was moving in. 

We then headed up to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge where we drive the roads checking for new birds. Just as we entered the refuge a Vermilion Flycatcher was working the maintenance yard. Another liger for my travel companions giving excellent looks and photo opportunities. We travelled on between raindrops to find more birds. Seaside sparrows were active and easily viewed after some searching and again more photos. The refuge held many species of ducks and geese, herons and egrets and two very "easy" American bitterns put on quite a show. At this point the rain picked up a little and we decided to head towards Houston.  

As we got closer, the rain stopped in the clouds moved out; The summer signing in the sky was blue. We headed towards Bear Creek Park to try to locate another bird that had been reported.  Apparently a Greater Pewee has been spending the winter in this part for the last couple of years. We arrived with about an hour of daylight and high hopes of finding this wayward migrant. After about an hour of searching we had added a handful of species to our year list but no pewee. We soeread out to look around and I began to hear the bird calling in the distance. 

We hightailed it over to the area and located the bird sitting in a bare tree continuously calling. Lighting was tough for photographs but we took a lot anyway as to be expected. High-fives all around and then it was into the van to begin the maker trip to Harlingen for the evening. After a 5 1/2 hour drive we arrived and checked into our hotel and currently I'm enjoying a white wing Belgian White Ale. All is right with the world at the moment. Tomorrow morning we got Estero Llano for all of the valley specialties. With some lick we will add quite a few birds to the year list. 

Yes. There are still birds out there.

After some much-needed sleep we hit the road early again to travel farther into Louisiana. Our first stop was at a gas station just off the highway. In the field behind the building there were pipits, shovelers, flocks of snow and Ross's geese flying over, an obliging loggerhead shrike, mockingbirds, Palm warbler, white crowned and savannah sparrows. A beautiful crested caracara did a flyby which was a nice addition to our lists and hopefully the first of many to come. 

Then it was on to Lacassine national wildlife refuge. This refuge has an auto tour which which loops around the ponds. Here we added coots, common gallinules and lots of ducks, herons and egrets.  More snow geese and nearly 300 greater white-fronted geese got plenty of attention. It was Windy and cold but a great way to spend a few hours. 

Our next stop was Cameron Prairie National Wildlife refuge to look for a

previously reported Eurasian wigeon and a ferruginous hawk. We found the wigeon in a matter of minutes and then proceeded to take thousands of photos of ducks, geese, ibis, stilts and egrets, spoonbills and cinamon teal. 

Well they did. Haha.  Then after searching the entire area again and only seeing Krider's red tails we relocated the dark morph ferruginous hawk hunting the wetland and then perched. It was a great way to end the day. Driving another 2 hours to check into a hotel that puts us about an hour away from our targets for tomorrow. Pics and updates numbers and birds tomorrow. Sleep is unavoidable and I fear the six pack will go untouched tonight. 

January 1, 2015: It Begins

Early to bed; early to rise. Or maybe late to bed early to rise. Regardless, the year ended with family and a quiet night at home and the new year started at 6 AM when the alarm sounded to start the crazy 10 days ahead. My buddy Shawn arrived at 7:30 and were on the road by 7:45. Juncos, goldfinches and a bald eagle began the trip. The 3 hour drive south produced a handful of additional birds-kestrel, horned larks, canada geese, blue jays, cardinals, robins etc We arrived in Dayton around 11:30 and momentarily watched a raven being harassed by 6 crows. Jacob packed up, hopped in and we were off.
Turkey and black vultures owned the skies with a few red-tails and loads of starlings as we journeyed south through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and finally stopping in Hammond, Louisiana for the night after a 17 hour drive. It's been a long day. The real adventure begins tomorrow.
29 species on the day

Countdown to Day 1

 It's the midpoint in the month: December 15. We're Almost there. January lurks around the corner, taunting and teasing, daring us to be ready. Well I will be ready. There is something invigorating about January 1 for anyone who is crazy enough to count birds.  It is a clean slate. A blank page. A fresh start. They completely unmarked checklist. And right about now it is desperately needed. 

2014 has been a fun year. County listing took on a new meaning for me. Staying close to home and trying to find as many birds as I can in a relatively small area. It's challenging and not without reward, but a year in one county will not be enough for 2015. The new year will bring a new challenge. For the moment we'll call it practice, but I am confident that once we start, there will be no turning back. Attacking the lower 48 states will be the goal. 

It started with an idea to fill in holes in my life list and then to build Jacob's list and then to full out try for as many birds as possible.  The idea took hold and now we are running with it. Running straight down to Texas on January 1. We've added another passenger to our adventure so there will be three of us basically going full throttle for 10 days. The drive alone should add new birds but the adventure will be the real story behind the birds. Where will we start? Where will we go? How's my birds will we see? Those unanswered questions will soon have definitive answers and photos that follow. Stories and chases shared. 

All I can say right now is I cannot wait for it to be January 1st. Can't wait to get this show on the road. Bring it on 2015. Let's see whatcha got! We're ready for you. Stay tuned...