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January 2006
Twenty Participants enjoyed a wonderful four days of birding in the LRGV. We got sprinkled on a little bit Friday and Saturday but other than that the weather was very agreeable.
Thursday after arriving in the LRGV some us spent the afternoon at Estero Llano Grande looking for the Ruddy Ground Dove. Two of us got good looks at it. Friday morning the whole group went back to try and see it and a few participants got a look at the Dove. We spent the day birding Santa Ana and Anzalduas County Park. Highlights for that day included the Red-naped Sapsucker, Cinnamon Teal, Bufflehead and Eared Grebe at Santa Anna, Gray Hawk, Altamira Oriole, Black Phoebe and Vermillion Flycatcher at Anzalduas. The duck and shorebirding at Santa Anna was incredible. David Poteet said that it is the best that it has been there in a long time. It was sad to see how dry it was in the valley and this was really noticeable at Anzalduas County Park where many of the trees did not have leaves and the ones that did have leaves the leaves were all curled up.
Saturday was spent birding in Salineno at the DeWind's, El Rio RV Park in Chapeno, Star County Park, McAllen, and Seven Palms Subdividision. I may have the name of the subdivision wrong. If I do please let me know. Saturday's highlights included Audubon's Oriole, Clay-colored Robin, Bewick's Wren, good looks at Olive Sparrow, Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler, Green Kingfisher, White-tipped Dove, Altamira Oriole, Hooded Oriole, Curve-billed Thrasher, Ringed Kingfisher and Canvasback at the DeWind's, Brown Jays, Song Sparrow and Northern Bobwhite at EL Rio RV Park, Lark Sparrows, Black-throated Sparrow, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher and Greater Roadrunner at Star County Park, Tropical Kingbird at Seven Palms subdivison and Green Parakeets and Red-crowned Parrots in McAllen. If you have never birded Salineno at the DeWind’s I highly suggest it because I was very impressed with the setup they have there. It should be a not miss stop on every trip to the LRGV.
Sunday morning was spent birding Sabal Palms in search of Grove-billed Anis and the Gray Crowned Yellowthroat. Neither bird was found but we did see Couch's Kingbirds, Black-throated Green Warblers and a Wilson's Warbler.
We saw 143 birds on the trip with I think just about all of the participants adding at least one bird to their life list and with a few adding as many as 35. A complete list of birds seen on this trip will follow and it also will broken down to what was seen at each location.
A big thanks goes out to David Poteet and Sean Smith for leading and making this a very successful trip.
Least Grebe SA (2), ELG (15)
Pied-billed Grebe SA (1), ELG (1)
Eared Grebe SA (1)
Double-crested Cormorant ELG (10), SA (5)
Neotropic Cormorant ELG (4)
Anhinga Rio (1)
Great Blue Heron SA (2), ELG (2)
Great Egret ELG (3), SA (2)
Snowy Egret ELG (1)
Little Blue Heron ELG (1)
Cattle Egret ELG (4)
Tri-colored Heron ELG (1)
White-faced Ibis SA
Black Vulture SA, AZP (5)
Turkey Vulture SA, AZP, ELG (5)
Greater White-fronted Goose
Gadwall SA, Sal, SP
American Wigeon SA (6), Sal, SP (5)
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal SA (4), ELG (2)
Cinnamon Teal SA (3)
Northern Shoveler SA (4), ELG (16), Sal (4)
Northern Pintail SA (2)
Green-winged Teal SA
Canvasback Sal (100)
Ring-necked Duck Sal (6), SP (5)
Bufflehead SA (7)
Black-bellied Whistling Duck (heard) Hotel
Ruddy Duck SA (6)
Osprey Rio (2), Sal (2)
White-tailed Kite SA (1)
Sharp-shinned Hawk SA (2)
Cooper’s Hawk SA (1)
Gray Hawk AZP (1), SP (1)
Northern Harrier SP (1)
Harris’s Hawk SA (7), ELG (1)
Red-shouldered Hawk SPS (1)
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel SA (2), AZP (1)
Aplomado Falcon BC (2)
Peregrine Falcon
Plain Chachalaca SA (5), Wes (6), SP (8)
Scaled Quail (heard) SCP
Northern Bobwhite Rio (5)
Sora (heard) SA (1)
Common Moorhen SA (5), ELG (2)
American Coot SA, ELG (10), SP
Sandhill Crane SP
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt SA (15)
American Avocet ELG
Greater Yellowlegs SA (5)
Lesser Yellowlegs SA (2)
Spotted Sandpiper ELG (2), SA (2), AZP (1)
Long-billed Curlew AZP (1)
Least Sandpiper SA
Short-billed Dowitcher SA (5)
Long-billed Dowitcher SA
Wilson’s Snipe SA
Ring-billed Gull SP (5)
Caspian Tern
Rock Pigeon AZP (15)
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove Sal, ELG (4)
Mourning Dove ELG (3)
Inca Dove SA (2)
Common Ground-Dove ELG (8), Sal (4)
Ruddy Ground-Dove ELG (2)
White-tipped Dove Sal (5), SP (6), ELG (1)
Green Parakeet McA (500)
Red-crowned Parrot McA (12)
Greater Roadrunner SCP (2)
Eastern Screech Owl Sal (1)
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (heard) SP (1)
Buff-bellied Hummingbird Wes (3)
Ringed Kingfisher Sal (2), Rio (1)
Belted Kingfisher SP (1)
Green Kingfisher Sal (1), ELG (1), SA (1)
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (All Locations)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker SA (2), ELG (2)
Red-naped Sapsucker SA (1)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker (All Locations)
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet (heard) AZP (1)
Black Phoebe AZP (3), Sal (1)
Eastern Phoebe SP (2), SA (3)
Vermillion Flycatcher AZP (5), SCP (1)
Great Kiskadee (All Locations)
Tropical Kingbird SPS (2)
Couch’s Kingbird McA (1), SP (5)
Loggerhead Shrike SA (3), ELG (2), SP (2)
White-eyed Vireo ELG (2), SA (2), SP (1)
Blue-headed Vireo Wes (1)
Green Jay (All Locations)
Brown Jay Rio (4)
Chihuahuan Raven Rio (1)
Purple Martin Rio (5)
Tree Swallow SA
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse Sal (3), SP (3)
Cactus Wren Rio (1), SCP (1)
Carolina Wren SP (1), Sal (1)
Bewick’s Wren Sal (2)
House Wren (heard) SP (1), SA (1)
Marsh Wren (heard) SA (2)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet ELG (1), Sal, SP
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher SA (3), Sal (3), AZP (2), ELG (2)
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher SCP (3)
Clay-colored Robin Sal (1)
Northern Mockingbird (All Locations)
Long-billed Thrasher SA (4), Sal (2), SP (2), Rio (1)
Curve-billed Thrasher Sal (1)
European Starling
American Pipit AZP (35)
Orange-crowned Warbler (All Locations)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s and Myrtle), Audubon’s: Sal (1), (All Locations) Wilson’s Warbler SP (1)
Black-throated Green Warbler McA (1), SP (6)
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat SA (1), Rio (1), Sal (1)
Olive Sparrow ELG (2), Sal (2)
Chipping Sparrow SCP (10)
Lark Sparrow SCP (10)
Black-throated Sparrow SCP (1)
Song Sparrow Rio (1)
Lincoln’s Sparrow Sal (2)
Swamp Sparrow Rio (1)
White-crowned Sparrow SCP (1)
Northern Cardinal Sal (1)
Pyrrhuloxia ELG (2), SCP (3), SA (3), Sal (1)
Red-winged Blackbird SCP, Rio, SA
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark SCP (20)
Common Grackle SA, RIO, SCP
Great-tailed Grackle SA, Rio
Brown-headed Cowbird SCP
Hooded Oriole Sal (3)
Altamira Oriole SA (2), AZP (1), Sal (8)
Audubon’s Oriole Sal (5)
Lesser Goldfinch ELG (2)
American Goldfinch Sal (5)
House Sparrow Sal
Birds in Bold are target birds for the trip/LRGV Specialties. Birds in italics and Bolded are rare for the area they were seen in.
Locations: Santa Ana (SA), Estero Llano Grande (ELG), Anzalduas County Park (AZP), DeWinds (Sal), EL Rio RV Park (Rio), Star County Park (SCP), McAllen (McA), Weslaco (Wes), Sabal Palms (SP), Boca Chica (BC), and Seven Palms Subdivison (SPS).
Participants: Peg McNealy, Bernice Hotman, Adam Wood, Pat Pease, Lou Fowler, Harlan Evans, Carolyn Lewis, Robin Leonard, Layton Guinn, John Schneider, Mary Dodson, Gwen Robberson, Patsy Lawrence, Jim and Betsy Winn, Liz Zivley, Gene Calvert, Nancy Hannan, and Kay Piper.
~Adam Wood, Field Trip Coordinator, birdman_570@yahoo.com, 713-515-1692
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