At 942: Blue Bunting chase gives me four more

-
     Blue Bunting, a vagrant from Mexico, was being reported since Feb. I needed one more rarity to motivate me to make the long drive down and back. Long-eared Owl was seen briefly sometime back at Hidalgo county until it disappeared from its roost. Then it was just refound for a day. Last week, Tropical Parula offered good views at Santa Ana NWR. I had seen it in Ecuador before, but I felt a good view was required. These two, plus a shot at Red-billed Pigeon, and a reliable Green Parakeets roost convinced me to make a trip now.

Blue Bunting - immature male
     I wanted to get up as early as 4:30 am but I snoozed until 6:45! I was on the road after a light breakfast by 7:30 am. I got tea in a flask which I planned to drink from about halfway on the trip. First spot was of course Quninta Mazatlan for the Blue Bunting. I reached the place after noon, and was disappointed due to the crowd. I parked a little away and walked in the heat and dust with loads of people. It looked like a kid's outing. The place is closed on Sundays, and out of all weekends, I chose a weekend where they were holding what looked like a party! It turned out to be a fest for Monarch Butterflies. I quickly went in with just hope as I had already made the long drive! I got directions to the amphitheater where the bird was sighted at different intervals. On the way I met a birder who said he had the bird that morning! I sat down in the heat with a hat on. Kids were running into the feeder areas, and it was annoying. Only one parent apologized. I got support when a few more birders joined. We took the front row of the amphitheater and made sure kids don't run into the feeders area. A bird of the right size and colour flew into some shrubs and none of us could get a proper look. A couple of us split up, and I went a few meters away for a different angle on the area the bird frequents. It was a hopeful wait. I took a break, and came back to my spot, where one of the other fellow birders was alreay there. The waiting continued until I spotted a bird hopping a little away in bad light. I could see the black mask on an overall dark blue bird using binocs. Blue Bunting was bird 939! I called in the others, and none of us could see it after that. I walked to the backside of the amphitheater and did not find it. I went back to the amphitheater, and waited a few minutes. I got an idea to check towards the right and backside of the amphitheater. I did not find it there, but I kept checking the ground. When I reached the exact backside again, I saw it feeding on the ground! I got satisfactory looks and a decent picture. Unfortunately the other birders did not get proper looks and were continuing their vigil, and I decided to move on to my next target - the Tropical Parula.


     I drove to Santa Ana NWR and got directions to the bird from a few birders finishing their hike. They advised me to listen for it's call and said spotting the bird was difficult as it stayed on top of tall trees. I overshot the portion they recommended. It was hot, but the Willow loop had good tree cover.  I heard what I think was a Black-and-White Warbler, which was on a tree top. With stops, I was being bitten by mosquitoes. I realized that I forgot the bug spray this time too. I planned to walk back and forth on a section of the trail. On the way back I heard a different call, and then I spotted a bird right in front on a low tree. Yellow throat and breast, no white eye-arcs - it was the Tropical Parula! I was glad to head back due to the increasing heat, and gave directions to a couple of excited birders who wanted the Parula. I had seen the bird a long way away for poor brief looks at Tandayapa Valley in Ecuador. So this is not a lifer, but a good bird for US.


     I headed to Andalzuas Park to see if I can find Sprague's Pipits. I arrived at 4:20 pm and had time until 5 pm when the park closes. I slowly drove around and checked grassy areas. I met a birder visiting from Poland who wanted the Pipit as well. We split up and none of us had any luck. Since it is a border park, the police/border patrol started asking people to leave by 4:45. I'm OK to miss this, as this can be seen in Austin or Williamson county, but still tough though. 


     I went to Estero Llano State Park after seeing reports of Eastern Screech-Owl at day time. There is a nest box there which I wanted to check. I arrived just after official close of the park (the office closes, but there is a self-pay section) and had a chat with a ranger. Apparently the bird was outside for a good part of the morning, but I was out of luck. He recommended the night walk they had that night from 8 pm to 10 pm. I walked around the park for normal birding - saw good ducks and a Northern Harrier with a Red-winged Blackbird that was having it's final moments - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S43732363 

     I was thinking of passing time until 8 pm and decided to postpone Green Parakeets roost which can be seen anytime when I'm in the area. I was browsing for locations when I saw comments that the birds arrived by 7 pm at the roost (sunset was 7:40 pm). This is when I decided to make a 30 minute drive to the McAllen roost. I went into a parking lot of a shopping complex based on the gps location at ebird, and I could see nothing initially. I drove around to park somewhere where I could reassess, when by luck I heard them. I saw them on wires high up. I parked my car, walked a little to avoid being backlit and got good looks. These are descendants of released birds and wild birds and are countable according to ABA rules. Green Parakeets were bird 940. 


     After I saw the Parakeets, I started my drive back immediately. I arrived back at Estero Llano SP at 7:50 pm, and after changing to hiking shoes, I went to the owl-box. It was dark but I could make out a head, and one owl flew and fed something to the one in the box. I increased ISO and took some poor pics, when one started calling. Eastern Screech-Owl was bird 941. The call is not a screech for the inappropriately named bird. Since the bird can be seen in Austin and most parts of east US, I hope to get better looks eventually. 

     The night walk started off with a talk explaining about the insects, mammals, reptiles and birds we might find in the walk. Story about Crazy Ants was interesting. The highlight of the walk to me was sighting of Bark Scorpions that stay in tree barks during the day and hunt during the night. We were given torches that provided dark purple light, which helped us spot scorpions. It is called black light to be precise. It also has a UV light component, which causes the skin of the scorpions to glow. This made us locate them easily in the dark.

Checklists: 

     I stayed at McAllen for the night and drove to Salineno the next day, which was 1.5 hrs away. I made a slow drive at Dump road which was not birdy - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S43745954.
My target for the day was Red-billed Pigeons which are hard to see now after deforestation along Rio Grande river. I was determined this time after a few failed attempts. I talked to the guy at the DeWind's Yard, and he advised me to take a trail and wait at the end. He said it's going to be hard, and they are more of early-morning birds. They fly to an island on the river (where they nest) which requires a scope to see, and most reports are flybys along the river. Another birder from PA joined me and we saw good birds on the hike. White-collared Seedeater was flagged by ebird. I saw Cassin's Sparrow for a prolonged view. We joined two other birders and we all started walking back. When we reached the river, one of them pointed me to a large greysish bird flying, which was the Pigeon. I was not satisfied with the looks. I decided to wait at the location for any more flybys and my fellow birder kept vigil with me for a while to help me out - two pair of eyes are better than one was his advise. It was getting hot and we had no shade. After sometime the birder left, and I was looking at the river for flybys and scanning the trees far away. A Cooper's Hawk was carrying a kill, and made a return after a while. While I got my binocs off it, I saw three Pigeons fly by, but I was too late - I could just see the wings and tail. I discovered that I could go up a trail a little and sit under shade for a view over the river. After about 10 minutes of waiting and scanning, I saw a bird sitting on a tree top far away. I put binocs and could see the general shape and colours. I was satisfied to call it as a lifer, and Red-billed Pigeons became bird 942!



Photos contained in:











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crossed 1000 with a trip to UT-ID border

-
Image
     I found time to make a short visit to either Dry Tortugas to see the Noddies or south Idaho to see the endemic Cassia Crossbill. I called the Dry Tortugas NPS and got a response that seeing Noddies at a relatively close distance wasn't a guarantee. The only place a ferry would take you to is Garden Key, and the place (Bush Key) where the Noddies nest is closed for the bird's breeding season. I did see birds sitting somewhere on Garden Key photo'ed and submitted to ebird, but I want a good guarantee before purchasing tickets to Keywest and finding accomodation at the expensive place. Also, spring time would have the added benefit of getting to see migrants. This made be choose south Idaho.      Ticket to SLC was much cheaper than to Boise,ID and I booked tickets to start on Aug 17th and be back on 20th night. My first task was to research about Cassia Crossbill and the following link was very useful: https://idahobirds.net/birding-idaho/cassia-cr...
Read more

Chase 4: Bachman's Sparrow is bird 980

-
Image
East Texas Piney Woods      Bachman's Sparrow is a specialty bird of the Pineywoods. It is a 'Nearly Threatened' species due to loss of it's habitat. The bird is best found when it is singing. It starts singing from March mid, and it would be better for me to chase it in March rather than in April so that I can look at passage migrants in April. I had put off finding the bird until now as it is out of the way from anywhere. There is no reliable spot near Houston.  The best spot in Texas is Angelina National Forest which is 4.5 hrs away from Austin. Bachman's Sparrow       I took tea in a flask, some energy bars and started the drive Sat morning from ATX. I reached at 1:30 pm and slowly drove around Boykin Springs. I heard one singing around 3:30 pm but could not locate it. I heard another one around 4:10 pm, and I was joined by another birder visiting from out of the country. None of us could spot it, and we decided to play a tape. Out ...
Read more

Jungle Prinia brings me to 914

-
Image
     When I visited Vandalur zoo sometime in 1997/98, I had just started birding seriously. I was not impressed with seeing wildlife in cages. Though the good thing was they started giving plenty of space for wildlife to roam around instead of smaller cages. A couple of Red-whiskered Bul-buls outside excited me more. I could see green hills in Perungalathur/Vandalur area. A few years later I wanted to bird the hills, but had no idea where to go. Twenty years from my first sighting of Red-whiskered Bul-buls, I found the best spot to bird around that area - Repeater road, which went through a forest. I wanted to see my favourite Bul-bul species which I hadn't seen for a while. I got up early and took multiple buses and walked to the Repeater road entrance. People were taking walks, and sadly they were loud! Also, they stare at you when you bird in Chennai, but I got used to it just like the ladies in the city. I saw birds which I did not see in my previous trips to India -...
Read more