Aplomado Falcon is bird 983

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     The winds were shifting to south Saturday morning, which meant that it would not be great for migrants. However, this is one of the best weeks for migrants since a large number of them peak at around third week of April. I started doing one visit to central Texas coast from two years ago. I mostly go to Port Aransas area. I heard that the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center has been rebuilt after the hurricane (Harvey) damage. That was an option this time. There were few other hotspots around Corpus Christie which I've never been to. I wanted to bird those areas unless I get alerts from other parks about specific birds that I want to see. I had a bad sleep, and started after breakfast a little after 7 am.

Chuck-Will's Widow
   
     I reached my first spot, Rose Hill Cemetery at 10:30 am. It was hot and the skies were clear. There was a nice Baltimore Oriole and a couple of noisy Western Kingbirds. I drove around the cemetery, stopping and walking at a few places. I saw a total of three warblers with only one identifiable - Black-throated Green. A large rufous bird flew like a hawk and then on the second flight I realized it was a nightjar. I stopped and scanned the tree to see a Chuck-will's Widow, which was a first in daylight for me!  I met a few birders and we id'ed whatever there was. Overall I felt happy with the Chuck sighting - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55171531. Next stop was Blucher Park, where I met another birder and we birder together to see a few good birds. The highlight was a good number of Yellow-breasted Chats - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55174955. I headed to Packery Channel Park next and had pongal for lunch. I walked on the boardwalk in the hot sun. Apart from Baltimore and Orchard Orioles and a few Tennessee Warblers it was unbirdy - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55179012.


Baltimore Oriole
     The next stop was Mustang Island - The Willows. On the way I was checking for Aplomado Falcons, and I saw a bird of the right size with a long tail. Going at 60 mph, I had to make a U-turn and come back to the spot. On spotting it again, I stopped and had clear looks to id it for the Aplomado Falcon for bird 983 - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55179940. I never bothered to look for this bird since it was reintroduced. I learnt later that it is ABA countable now on the TX coast.




Aplomado Falcon
Aplomado Falcon
     I continued onto The Willows which I enjoyed during the previous visit. I had good looks at the birds that were there - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55182414. I thought I will drive to Port Aransas when I got an alert for Blackpoll Warbler sighting at another part of Packery Channel! I spoke to a photographer who told me that people walk on the streets and certain spots have potential for good warblers. I headed straight to where I came from, and on the streets I saw more birders than I saw at the Packery Channel Park. I walked the short boardwalk, which produced a few birds. On the roads I met a birder who was calling a lady to view some warblers further down the street. I joined them for a while. Another group of birders who saw the Blackpoll earlier in the day told me where to go for it. I headed to those streets and walked. There was no sign of it. Soon I was joined by a couple of other birders and one of the birders I met earlier. There were a few trees in the streets which are apparently good for migrants. We saw a few warblers but no Backpoll. The other birders who told me about this place arrived after the first set of birders gave up. We could not see it and we all gave up. We did however see a few other warblers. I headed back to Sand Dollar Rd area to see nice Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Blue Buntings in better light. I made a quick walk at Packery Channel Park's boardwalk which was unbirdy now. Packery Channel streets: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55188851. The highlight was a good number of Warbling Vireo sightings that afternoon.

     Holt Paradise Pond at Port Aransas had Blue-winged Warblers, but it was a good drive away. I chose to go to a couple of parks which I had not been to, and also on the way to Austin. After a 30 minute drive, I went to Pollywog Pond. It was not easy to walk on the un-maintained trail which had a lot of shurbs. I quickly gave up - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55191434. In a 5-10 minute drive, I reached Hazel Bazemore Park where the Big Sit was happening. They did not have a good warbler day, but had a lot of species count. I birded from the Hawk-watch platform, drove around the lake, stopped to walk on a short boardwalk - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55193097

     I reached home around 11:20 pm, took bath, ate and had a good sleep!

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