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.