Just back from a 10 day trip birding the Texas Hill Country, Lower Rio Grande River and the Texas coast. Overall it was a great trip with lots of exciting birds.
We started at Cancan, Neal's Lodge and found two endangered species, Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler. Both species are very rare and only occur on a limited range.
We had great views at Lost Maples Natural Area. The Golden-cheeked Warblers were easy to find by listening for their distinctive song, reminiscent of the Black-throated Green Warbler of the east. The Black-capped Vireo took a bit more effort to find. We climbed a steep trail for about a mile, in +30c temperatures, but finally had excellent views of 2 or 3 individuals.
The Lower Rio Grande region was an interesting area for a number of specialties that just reach into southern Texas. These species included Least Grebe, White-tailed Hawk, Plain Chachalaca, White-tipped Dove, Ringed Kingfisher, Red-billed Pigeon, Common Pauraque, Great Kiskadee, North Beardless Tyannulet, Couch's Kingbird, Clay-colored Thrush and Green Jay to name a few.
While birding along the Rio Grande for a few days we visited a number of the State Parks, Wildlife Refuges and Audubon areas. Frontera Audubon House and Thicket, near Weslaco, had a few rarities including a female Crimson-collared Grosbeak and Blue Bunting. Other north bound migrants included Hooded Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula and Blue Grosbeak.
Many areas were very dry due to a lengthy drought, but Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge and Estero Llano Grande State Park had a number of ponds and lots of activity including both Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling Ducks, Least Grebe, Green and Ringed Kingfisher, Mottled Duck and White-faced Ibis.
Before heading to South Padre Island we made a brief stop along Old Port Isabel Road and had fantastic views of both Aplomado Falcon and White -tailed Hawk resting in trees while Cassin's Sparrow's were in full song!
On South Padre Island we had a number of spring migrants including Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Summer Tanager, Yellow-breasted Chat and Yellow-throated Warbler. These birds were attracted to the fruit feeders and water drips at the South Padre Convention Center, always a good location to look for migrants.
We finished the trip part way up the Texas coast in the Corpus Christi area at Blucher Park with a small variety of migrants. Highlights included Kentucky Warbler, Chuck-wills-Widow, Indigo Bunting and Buff-bellied Hummingbird.
A wonderful 10 days of birding and photography.
You can view photos of the trip here.
Good birding,
Bruce
Many Yellow-throated Vireos go undetected during migration further south and are found on their breeding grounds early in the season.
Though a rare visitor and very rare nester in the Otawa area, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a regular summer breeder north of Kingston, in the Chaffeys Lock area.
A Solitary Sandpiper shares a log with a few Painted Turtles.
