Category: nature

Tuesday, January 13

As I noted in yesterday’s post, I scaled back today and headed to Resaca de la Palma. This is a brand new state park (open about 5 weeks) that has been getting good reviews. On the way over, I had noticed a birding trail sign right by the hotel, so I took a swing by. I believe it was for site 44, the Fish Hatchery. Partway down the road, two dogs ran in front of me, which caused a bit of a delay as I couldn’t see whether they had moved or not. I got down to the end of the road and didn’t see much habitat (reading the description later, I think I needed to go down to the right a bit), so I turned around and headed to Resaca.

On the entrance road, I picked up yet another flyover life when several Long-billed Curlews passed over (unfortunately I never got them on the ground). I found the parking lot and checked in. Arriving at 8, I was told the tram wouldn’t leave until 8:30 and that there was a short trail right there. I took a walk down to the end. On the way, I found a flock of migrants/overwintering birds that included a Blue-headed Vireo and a Black-throated Green Warbler. At the end was a nice overlook at the water. I found a bunch of Solitary Sandpipers, but not a lot more.

I got back to the headquarters ahead of the tram and found a couple Lark Sparrows in the trees. The tram driver showed up shortly and I was the only one around for it. I hopped off at the first stop (a couple more Tropical/Couch’s Kingbirds along the way). The driver told me that he liked the trails up a little further more than these and that I could catch the next tram in about an hour. I walked the short distance to the end of the first trail and immediately had a Myiarchus fly across the water. Unfortunately it disappeared quickly and I have no idea which one it was. The water was loaded with Least Grebes and when I turned around to go elsewhere a Wilson’s Warbler popped up.

Across the trail at the next opening, I didn’t find too much. It wasn’t close to time for the tram, so I figured I could walk down to the next set of trails and then catch the tram later. On the way down, there were several signs along the road including this one:

We had passed one in the tram. Passing quickly, I had read it as Shaky Habitat. I thought that was an odd way of saying fragile, but this makes more sense. Walking down the road, I found another Blue-headed Vireo. I turned down the next trail (the Flycatcher Trail) and followed the signs to the next overlook. There wasn’t much water around and the only bird at the water was an Eastern Phoebe. However, scanning through the vultures overhead I found a couple Blacks and later two Anhingas passed by as well. The vultures eventually came in close enough for photos.

I continued on and decided to follow the Flycatcher trail all the way around. Not too far down, a couple dragonflies flushed. I waited them out and one eventually landed. It looked like a darner and I quickly started snapping photos.

Once back at the car, I was able to identify it as a Turquoise-tipped Darner, another south Texas specialty, although one that appears to be expanding its range quite a bit.

Looping around, there wasn’t much else. Several Turkey Vultures flushed out of the trees but that was about it. Once back on the road, I continued on. Several Common Green Darners flushed out of the grasses and a surprise Northern Harrier flew by. Further on, a nice mature male Band-winged Dragonlet came close to posing in the open.

As one of the Green Darners eventually.

Further down, I caught something big flying over. It was quite pale but disappeared quickly. After puzzling for a second because male harrier didn’t seem quite right, I realized it had to have been a White-tailed Kite, another lifer. Again, not the best view.

I soon reached the Yellowthroat trail, which runs along water for a good distance and then intersects with a trail that appeared to run back to the road. Starting down, there were a couple egrets in the water and some Wood Ducks took off. A bit further down, I came across an Empid. It gave a couple whit notes and then disappeared. I walked back and forth for a few minutes looking for it. At one point I thought I had it and snapped a few photos before realizing it was just a phoebe, but shortly after I did get a brief view. One photo almost came out and from what I could see there was nothing to say it wasn’t a Least Flycatcher.

Looping around to the part of the trail that wasn’t by the water, I started seeing a few more insects (lots of Carolina Satyrs all along but not much else before). Several Dusky-blue Groundstreaks were flying around, giving moderate views of the blue upperside. No photos of that, but I did get some normal poses.

There were also a few Variegated Meadowhawks and this neat-looking spider (waiting on ID at bugguide):

As I passed into one of the real open areas, a Red-shouldered Hawk flew over and was immediately followed by the White-tailed Kite. This time, I was able to watch it for several minutes and then take several photos.

I reached what I thought was the trail back, but there was a trail closed sign on the ground (there had been several elsewhere as well). It was down on the ground, but since it was quite windy I wasn’t sure if it just blown over so I completed the loop and then walked down the road. I hoped to catch the tram going by, but it may have taken a noontime break.

It was quite hot out by now and very windy. The walk back was not much fun and pretty much devoid of anything. The kite made a couple more passes and some more Anhingas flew over but otherwise I saw nothing until I was almost back at the visitor’s center.

Just before reaching the visitor’s center, I found another flock of birds. It may have been the original one I saw as it contained a Black-throated Green and a Blue-headed Vireo, but they were also joined by a Nashville (and of course there were Orange-crowns and Yellow-rumps all over).

The BT Green posed well, but the Nashville wasn’t as cooperative.

Back at the visitor’s center, I checked out the butterfly gardens. There was a nice White Peacock, a Zebra, several Tropical Checkered-Skippers, a few Reakirt’s Blues, and a bunch of other skippers that I haven’t figured out. One of the park volunteers came by and talked for a few minutes. Apparently Blue Metalmarks are fairly regular, but no luck today.

At this point, I headed to Sabal Palm. It was a fairly long drive and I munched on the rest of my brisket as I went (I really would have appreciated the leaner cut here). Once I arrived, I checked, grabbed a map and started down the forest trail. It was late in the day and fairly quiet, but since I really wanted to see the Sabal Palms and not the birds, I was ok with that. The forest trail was spectacular and was truly another world. You’ll have to google up images and see what it’s like yourself as I didn’t have a small enough lens to really capture anything.

There were lots of dragonflies around, including Band-winged Dragonlets and Pin-tailed Pondhawks. The pondhawk was only suspected to fly year-round, so this should confirm that.

A bit further down, a large, orange butterfly flew by, my first Julia.

I took a quick walk to the photo blind. It was crowded and there wasn’t much visible (a few grebes, an Anhinga, a few ducks, and a bunch of turtles) so I moved on quickly.

I took the next trail that crosses the water and found one of my targets for the trip, a Roseate Skimmer. What a spectacular bug!

There were a bunch of skippers and a few Kiskadees nearby. I ended turning around and working my way through the rest of the forest trail. Partway through, I found a spreadwing. The light was quite difficult, but I got a couple acceptable shots.

I tried putting on the close-focus filter but wasn’t able to get a good shot with that. However, it was less flighty than most and I was able to catch it by hand. It didn’t settle down to let me get a good look at the appendages, but I did notice a couple dots on the underside of the thorax. Back home, when I posted my sightings to the Texas ode list, Dennis Paulson identified it as a Rainpool Spreadwing. Searching around, the dots do appear to be a mark, although I’m not sure if they’re diagnostic and if you can see those, you can probably identify it in other ways.

After finishing the forest trail, I checked the butterfly gardens and then took the river trail. I was rather disappointed as there turned out to be no view of the river. There also wasn’t much around other than Turkey Vultures and a single Osprey. After making the loop, I found the overlook at the river and realized it wasn’t that disappointing to be hidden.

But since it was a good place to sit and I was tired, I stopped for a few minutes. There was a sparrow-like chipping coming from a tree back up the path, but I ignored it. A youngish kid and his father walked up and the bird flew into the open. It wasn’t a sparrow, but a kingbird. I snapped a couple photos and watched it for a few minutes.

I was pretty sure the vocalizations were correct for Couch’s but decided to go back to the car and double-check. On the way, I got a basking Carolina Satyr but not much else. There was no sign of the Dusky-capped Flycatcher that had been reported. At the car, I grabbed the ipod and confirmed that it was a Couch’s, yet another lifer (unless I count the one at Santa Ana instead).

At this point, I headed towards Weslaco. I was planning on attending the bird walk at Estero Llano Grande in the morning and wanted to stop somewhere in that area. I forgot to check exactly where Weslaco is in relation to everything else and when I got tired, I stopped at the first hotel I found. I’d later figure out that I was in San Benito and should have continued for another 20 minutes, but I was tired enough not to care.

I was in the mood for a burger and put Whattaburger into the GPS. Following the directions, I saw one and pulled in. It was pretty good for fast food, but not great. Back at the car, the GPS offered to continue finding it. Since the hotel had no wireless, I went to look for a Wal-Mart and see if they had any cheap patch cables. Unfortunately, the GPS said I arrived and all I saw was a vacant lot. I decided to manage without internet for the night. I had requested the room for two nights but when I stopped at the desk to say I’d be moving on, the person said she had only checked me in for one, so it worked out. I went back to the room and collapsed (my allergies had really started acting up and I would later hear that the mountain cedar pollen count was into the thousands).

Monday, January 12

Today I planned on spending the morning at Santa Ana NWR and then heading over to Bentsen for the afternoon butterfly walk. That proved to be a good plan.

I reached Santa Ana at 8 and checked in at the visitor center. I was going to pay cash, but when I mentioned that I had a duck stamp the person at the desk got all excited that someone would actually use one. I grabbed a trail map and started out. I started at the Chachalaca Trail and immediately had an Olive Sparrow. Quite the skulker. A few feet further, I had a better view of Long-billed Thrasher but still not great.

At the overlook, there were a bunch of grebes, including several Least, along with many teal and a few yellowthroats.

Continuing on to the lookout, I finally got better views of the thrasher and sparrow (got photos of the thrasher as it turned away). At the blind, I caught a brownish bird down near the water. It took a few seconds for it to click in, but it was a Clay-colored Thrush (formerly Robin)! One of the birds I really wanted to see. But yikes it was dull. It posed for a series of shots (all at the same angle though).

At the blind, I got my first moorhen of the trip and there was a Carolina Wren working where the robin had been. Moving on, I came across an Olive Sparrow sitting up, almost in the open. It appeared to be eating and stayed still for several photos.

Back at the start of the trail, I ran back to the car for a quick snack and found two Plain Chachalacas by the headquarters. They didn’t stick around for good views, so I moved on to the Willow Lakes trail. It was fairly quiet and I branched off to the Cattail Trail. Shortly down there, I had a couple birds pop up. Clay-coloreds! And there was a third one chupping nearby. And then 10 yards further were two more calling! I can’t say with 100% certainty that there were no repeats, but I think there was a flock of 5.

The trail soon opened up and a White-eyed Vireo popped up, followed by a few Kingbirds. Unfortunately, they moved way into the back trees and stayed silent, so I had to let them go as Couch’s/Tropical. I also heard something that sounded vaguely like a Spotted Towhee around here.

I continued on and eventually reached a dirt road, which had the only roadrunner of the trip run across. I wandered in the direction of the water that was nearby and found a large flock of swallows overhead. They appeared to be Cliff or Cave but the light was awful. I was having a hard time making them into Cliff, but since I still haven’t caught up with any of the November Caves in Mass I let them go for now.

The water was not overly interesting (a Kestrel, a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, and a bunch of skittish ducks) so I turned around. The swallow flock returned and I felt more convinced that they were Cave and even managed a few pictures.

Back near the kingbird spot, I found a single bird on the other side of the trail. I grabbed the camera and lucked into one shot as it flew off. If the wing is spread fully and I’m reading Pyle properly, it’s more likely a Couch’s (and in a bit of foreshadowing, listening to vocalizations the next day, I noticed that Couch’s have ones that sounded like what I thought was a towhee).

Back at the Willow Trail, I started around that part of the loop. Just before it opens up, my first Zebra fluttered out but it was pretty quiet otherwise. Near the photo blind were a few White-Skippers that I eventually identified as Laviana and a Snout. A few other things including a Longtail flew by but none that I could identify.

I moved on to the tower, which turned out to be a waste. The view was nice but it really needed a few signs telling you what you were looking at. I zipped back to the car and had lunch (cookies and a mineola). The mineola had 3 seeds per segment, which made for quite a mess. And of course, at the hotel the next day, I had the other one I bought and it had 2 seeds total.

At that point, I drove over to Bentsen and got there just in time for the butterfly walk to start. The crowd was a bit more beginner than I would have liked, but I can’t complain when 75% of things were new to me. We worked the gardens by the headquarters for a while and then caught the tram to the gatehouse. At the gatehouse, the first thing from the leader was “uh oh, there’s Mike and he’s waving.” We ran over and found out that he had just found a Chestnut Crescent. I’m not totally sure, but there’s probably less than 10 US records, so it was quite a nice butterfly.

Also in the area were Vesta and Phaon Crescents, a Great Southern White, and a bunch of skippers including Fawn-spotted and Brown Longtail.

We moved down to the boat ramp where there were a bunch of good butterflies that I didn’t get a chance to photograph. They included Cyna Blue and Red-bordered Metalmark and more skippers included Common Mellana, Clouded, and Eufala. Now if I can remember which one this photo is…

We then caught the tram back (but not before one of the park volunteers ran up and asked if we heard him shouting Hook-billed a few minutes ago, ack). He also had seen the Orange-breasted Bunting that I hadn’t even been aware of, but since I wanted to get to Brownsville, I didn’t look today and figured I’d come back later.

Back to the car and off for Brownsville. I was pretty tired and checking through the listings at the hotel, I saw that there was a Rudy’s nearby. I drove over and got a half pound of brisket, which meant I had lunch for the next day as well (wish I remembered to get the lean instead).

I started looking through the guides for tomorrow. I was planning on heading to Laguna Atascosa and South Padre before getting to Sabal Palm, but I didn’t feel up for the long drive and remembered that a new center had just opened, Resaca de la Palma. I decided to head there instead.

And here’s two more butterflies that I didn’t fit in above, a Silver-banded Hairstreak and a White-patched Skipper:

If I’m counting correctly, this is the 100th butterfly species I’ve photographed (not sure which one was #100 observed but it was also at Bentsen and Large Orange Sulphur is most likely).

And a Chachalaca somewhere at Santa Ana:

Sunday, January 11

I woke up about 7, confirmed that I still couldn’t figure out how to access the hotel wireless and also that the shower didn’t appear to be working (although I think I got this figured out by the next hotel). I took a look out the window and noticed a bunch of birds on the water. Setting up the scope quickly, I found them to be mostly American Coots and Blue-winged Teal with a few blackbirds mixed in.

After the standard hotel breakfast, I went back to the room to pack up and get going but took another look out the window and ended up spending close to 30 minutes watching. By far the best thing was an oriole that appeared to have an orange head and black throat. I couldn’t make it into anything but an Altamira, which was the first life bird of the trip (bad views of life birds would be a common pattern for awhile). Eventually it moved on and a Vermilion Flycatcher replaced it! As I finally got ready to go, an American Kestrel came in and landed on the light pole right outside the window.

Little did I know how common they were in the area.

I finally got going and checked out. On the way out, I took a walk around the hotel. The view from the ground wasn’t as good, but I did pick up a few Yellow-rumps.

The first stop I made was at the Zapata Public Boat Ramp (LTC-085 mentions it). Apparently it’s a big fishing area (I forgot to take a picture of the hotel parking lot, but it was 90% pickups with trailers and boats). At the water were more coots and some Neotropic Cormorants (I think, cormorants trouble me). I walked up the road a bit and found a bunch of Orange-crowned Warblers (probably more than I’ve seen total in Massachusetts) and the only House Finches of the trip. There were a couple Ruby-crowned Kinglets mixed in as well and Laughing Gulls and American White Pelicans flew over.

After the boat ramp, I went looking for the city park to check for White-collared Seedeater. On the way out from the boat ramp, I got a quick look at a Green Jay in someone’s yard, life bird number two. I missed the turn for the park somehow and decided to head up to San Ygnacio (LTC-087) instead. Upon arriving there, I took a quick look around but didn’t feel comfortable by myself and headed back toward Zapata. On the way I got yet another lousy life look when a Crested Caracara flew over. There were also a couple Chihuahuan Ravens along the side of the road and some Eurasian Collared Doves as well. A couple Black Vultures overhead were nice.

I took a quick trip down the Hebbronville Scenic Drive (LTC-086), or at least in the general direction. Lots of kestrels on the wires and at least 5 Caracaras as well. Meadowlarks flushed regularly, but I never was able to figure them out (for the entire trip actually).

Eventually, I made my way over to Falcon State Park, arriving at about 10:30 and picking up Loggerhead Shrike and Lark Sparrow along the road in. I pulled up at the gate but the window appeared closed so I pulled in to the parking lot to pay. Started to walk over to the self pay station and someone walking by tells me that this is the employee’s entrance and the visitor entrance is over there. So there were people in there. I went in, paid, and grabbed a map. It was a bit windy, but I decided to walk the nature trail for a few minutes at least anyway. I ended up spending a couple hours walking around.

Early highlights on the trail included a huge flock of cormorants going by. I took 4 photos of different parts of the flock and don’t think I got them all. Here’s one, anyone want to comment on which cormorant? You probably want to click through and hit all sizes to get a decent look.

I got two more life birds on the walk in: a lousy look at a Great Kiskadee as it flew over and a better look at Black-crested Titmice.

Other good birds included several Pyrrhuloxia, White-eyed Vireos, and good numbers of gnatcatchers. I spent some time working the gnatcatchers and could only come up with Blue-gray.

There were also lots of bugs around here. Butterflies included my first Queen, Gulf Fritillary, Reakirt’s Blues, and Little Yellow along with Ceraunus Blue, Dainty Sulphur, and White Checkered-Skipper. There was also a Familiar Bluet or two and a good number of Robber Flies. The experts aren’t sure about the robbers (probably because of the picture quality) but there apparently aren’t any species expected in January.

Dainty Sulphur:

Little Yellow:

Reakirt’s in various stages of wear:

Ceraunus:

Checkered-Skipper:

Two Robber Flies (male and female):

Bluet:

On the way back, I heard a bit of scratching in the brush and eventually found a Long-billed Thrasher but yet again had lousy looks.

Back at the car, I drove around a bit and came across an immense flock of cowbirds:

I stopped at the boat ramp where there was another Vermilion Flycatcher. I started down the trail from there and flushed an interesting dragonfly off the ground. It landed and I was able to snap one photo before it flew off again, moving along the path about 2 feet off the ground until I lost track of it. Checking out the photo later, I expected one of the pondhawks, but it turned out to be a Straw-colored Sylph. The date ranges I can find for that appear to be April to November, so it’s quite an extension. Whether that’s early or late I’m not sure but it was the first of several seasonal extensions I found.

It was also ode #100 for me. Other things along the trail included a female Band-winged Dragonlet, a Wandering Glider, a Checkered White, a Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak, a Fatal Metalmark, and a Texan Crescent. Birds weren’t overly plentiful and I headed back to the car fairly quickly.

Checkered White:

Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak:

Fatal Metalmark:

Texan Crescent:

Once back at the car, I drove around a bit and then headed out. On the way, I flushed a flock of pipits. Most flew off, but one stayed on the ground and ran around, giving me time to roll down the window and get a few shots.

The next stop was at Salineno. For those who haven’t been, it’s a tiny spot along the Rio Grande. It was formerly a trailer park populated by birders but has since been transfered to USFWS. One birder still lives there and has a huge number of feeders set up. You can wander in to the yard, sit down, and watch. It was absolutely spectacular with tons of Texas specialties flying around and making lots of noise. In 20 minutes, I had about 20 species including another three lifers (Audubon’s Oriole, White-tipped Dove, and Golden-fronted Woodpecker). But I also finally got good views of Altamira Oriole, Green Jay, and Great Kiskadee, in addition to Inca and White-winged Doves, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, and the only Chipping Sparrows of the trip. A Lincoln’s Sparrow also popped up, which was a highlight until I discovered that they were the most common sparrow around.

A selection of shots:

This female oriole’s a bit interesting and I need to actually do some research on it:

After watching the feeders, I went back to check on the car. The nonbirder type had been down at the river and there aren’t too many people who go down there for legal things other than birds. Fortunately, he had left and I spent a few minutes watching the river. There was something big in the trees where the Red-billed Pigeons are supposed to hang out but after I set up the scope it turned out to be an Osprey.

A car of birders from Alabama drove up and I spent a few minutes talking to them while we waited for Muscovies to flew by (which never happened). Apparently there were Olive Sparrow, Clay-colored Thrush, and a few other things at the feeders earlier and a Green Kingfisher along the river. I wandered down the path a bit after they left, but other than a Sharpie I didn’t find much.

I also did manage to build up a list of birds on the Mexican side of the river (some ducks and herons and blackbirds flying over), so I now have a 6th country I’ve seen birds in.

Leaving Salineno, I got back on the highway for the drive to Mission. The GPS didn’t seem to be able to find my hotel (Hawthorn Suites) but I got there after a little bit of circling. Quite nice, although I probably didn’t need a suite or the two table settings that were provided. Dinner was at the first place I found, a Chili’s. About what I expected, acceptable and would have been good if they trimmed the steak properly.

Oops: I managed to forget that as I was driving along the highway to Mission, I came across two kingfishers together. One was huge and had to be a Ringed (yet another lousy life look). I think the other was a Belted, but it was hard to tell at 70MPH.

Double oops: The Long-billed Thrasher appears to be world #500!

Saturday, January 10

Day 0 was a travel day, flying from Boston to San Antonio with a stop in Atlanta and then driving south to Zapata.

Up at 6, off to the airport by 6:30. A crow, some gulls, and a red-tail along the way. Got dropped off, walked in, checked my bag and cleared security in about 10 minutes. I found the gate, which was being used for an earlier flight and settled in nearby. An amusing moment came when a TSA agent walked over and shouts to someone sitting a row over that he left his keys at the counter. He went running back and after returning kept cracking up every few minutes.

The flight took off right on time and was pleasant, even though I was stuck in a middle seat (maybe I should have paid the $6 to pick the seat out ahead of time). Halfway through there was a page for any medically trained person. Nothing appeared to be happening until just before we began the descent when the two people in the first row moved and an older man and woman took those seats. The man was given an oxygen tank and they announced that there would be an ambulance at the gate.

Once we landed in Atlanta, two EMTs came aboard. I was sitting close enough to hear the general story. Apparently the guy had a pacemaker put in about a year ago and it was malfunctioning a bit and he blacked out. Once he got the oxygen, he appeared to be doing much better and was probably ok by the time we landed. And even with waiting for the EMTs to take him off, we still were out early (presumably we had cut all the lines to get to the ground).

The gate for the next flight was only a few down, so I walked around a bit checking out all the food. I eventually settled on Popeye’s, which was quite good (and my 3 chicken strip meal came with 4 pieces of chicken for some reason). After that, it was a fairly long wait for the next flight.

We eventually boarded. This time, I had an aisle seat (on the 2 seat side). Again, the flight was very pleasant. The landing in San Antonio was a bit rough for no apparent reason but an extra bounce is still not much. My bag came off the carousel quickly and a Hertz shuttle was pulling up as I got outside.

After a quick trip to the Hertz location, I got the standard “oh, we don’t have the car you rented available” but they did have a Mazda 6 (instead of a Ford Focus) for a couple dollars more and then started applying various discounts so who knows how much different it actually was. Soon enough, I was handed a set of keys and out at the car. I grabbed the lever to open the trunk and instead popped the hood. Apparently the trunk was the thing that didn’t really look like a button next to the lever.

Once settled into the car, I entered Zapata into the GPS and started out. Inside the packet of information Hertz gave me was a note that the airport expansion has made a mess of the roads right there and old directions don’t work. I didn’t see that until much later and ended up driving in circles and entering areas that didn’t look like the public was overly welcome for a few minutes before I decided to just start for a highway and assume things will figure themselves out.

Sure enough that worked. The GPS recalculated and had me going in the right direction almost immediately. Other than a fast merge across 3 lanes, it was quite easy to get onto I35 and start south. Even though it was about 6PM, it was still light enough to see the flocks of grackles, a cormorant, some pigeons and starlings, and a few vultures and Buteos as I headed south.

The road emptied out pretty quickly. The GPS had issues with the business road (it told me I was off the route every time I passed an exit for a good 100 miles) but otherwise there were no problems. It worked well as the highway ended in Laredo (which was good, as it didn’t look nice) and got me to the next part with ease. I stopped at a Subway in the middle of nowhere. It was at a truck stop and was rather interesting to hear broadcasts that shower 1402 was now ready over a loudspeaker as I was eating.

I reached Zapata by 9:30 or so and found my hotel (the Holiday Inn Express) easily.