2007 South Texas
27 April - 6 May

Trip Report | Participants | Trip List | More Photos and Other Critters

Friday, April 27 – Nine Iowa birders (OK, technically one from Florida but we still claim him!) descended on Corpus Christi on Friday afternoon and, after a few shuttles between the airport and motel,  the group got their first taste of South Texas birding at Tule Lake, a brackish marsh not far from the airport.  Many had their first look at Neotropic Cormorant, Mottled Duck, and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck.  Herons and egrets of nearly every variety were in the flats and were joined by both American White and Brown Pelicans.  Gull-billed, Forster’s, Caspian, and Least Terns put on quite the aerial show.  Among the many shorebirds, it was neat to see Dunlin and Stilt Sandpiper in bright breeding plumage.  A late Swamp Sparrow was a surprise and everyone enjoyed the antics of a pair of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers.  The star of the show, however, had to be this Clapper Rail that circled the deck.  Many enjoyed fresh fish for dinner at the Roadhouse before the first checklist meeting and an early bedtime to prepare for the first big day of birding.

Saturday, April 28 – After a quick breakfast at the motel, it was off to Flour Bluff for a show of herons and “pink birds” – Roseate Spoonbills.   The drive along the Padre Island Causeway was not successful in finding the hoped-for Wilson’s Plover but Least Terns were in the throes of a beginning nesting season.  Good numbers of Reddish Egrets were seen with the contest of red morph versus white morph underway.  Once on the island, we headed to Padre Island National Seashore where terns of every flavor were basking in the parking lot at the Visitor’s Center.  It was nice to be so close and see the yellow tip on the bill of the Sandwich Tern.  The drive along the beach, abnormally full of seaweed, gave everyone great looks at the numerous shorebirds.  Sanderlings were most frequently encountered but they were often joined by Ruddy Turnstones, Willets, and Black-bellied Plovers.  Probably the nicest surprise was a good-sized flock of Red Knots, not an easy bird to find along the Gulf Coast.  Driving back over the coastal plain, we had looks at a few White-tailed Hawks.  A stop at Packery Channel produced a Long-billed Curlew but the mimosa tree that had been loaded with neotropic migrants the previous day was bare.  All those warblers and tanagers must have been anxious to head further north.  Lunch at the Shrimp Stop in Port Aransas was followed by birding Paradise Pond, Port Aransas Birding Center, and the Highway 364 ponds.  At Paradise Pond several warblers were feeding in the area, a late Ruby-crowned Kinglet was surprising, and a bathing Painted Bunting was colorful entertainment.  By late afternoon it was on to Kingsville for dinner at the Grill House and a pleasant short walk at dusk.

Wildflowers at El Canelo Ranch

Sunday, April 29 – An early morning start for El Canelo Ranch left enough time for a brief stop at the Sarita Rest Area.  Here nearly everyone managed to see their first Green Jay of the trip.  Continental breakfast on the patio at El Canelo was delightful as Great Kiskadees, Hooded Orioles, and many other South Texas ranch country birds were seen.  After we had eaten, Monica took us for a ride to her cousin’s San Miguelito Ranch where in short order she found one of the nesting pair of Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls.  This was a real bonus since the El Canelo owls had been driven off by a Cooper’s Hawk last year.  Our first Vermillion Flycatcher was also a special treat.  On the ride over many of us had a short glimpse of the resident pair of White-tailed Hawks.  The wildflowers were spectacular after a year of good rains.  Back at El Canelo we took a short walk on the ranch with the highlight being the pair of Barn Owls nesting in the hunting stand.  One of the hazards of walking back to the stand was numerous patches of burr grass and Sandy thought this shot of the aftermath was pretty humorous.  A bit further down the road a small stream was a real magnet for several species including Black-crested Titmouse and Pyrrhuloxia.

The ranch was so delightful that everyone hated to leave but it was on to Raymondville for a What-A-Burger stop before driving on to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.  Most of the birds at the water features were Bronzed Cowbirds, but they were occasionally joined by Green Jays and Long-billed Thrashers.  A drive around the wildlife loop was very productive.  First it was Wilson’s Phalarope and then Fulvous Whistling-Duck, the rarer cousin of Black-bellied Whistling-Duck.  On one side of the road was Snowy Plover, a big miss from the seashore, and on the other was a small group of Whimbrels.  The wind blew ferociously so although the Botteri’s Sparrow was singing not far from us, it stayed out of sight on the back side of the brush and became our first “heard-only” bird of the trip.

A great day ended on the UTB campus at Fort Brown watching Green Parakeets and Red-crowned Parrots come in to roost.  While we watched, Mark Brown came in from his San Antonio meeting to join the group for a few days.

Monday, April 30 – After an early breakfast it was off to Sabal Palm Sanctuary, a property of the National Audubon Society.  The sanctuary holds a small stand of Sabal Palms which once were a significant part of the valley habitat.  As we pulled into the parking lot, we heard Plain Chachalacas calling and a couple were out in the open for all to see.  Since it was early the feeders were empty so we walked the trail to the resaca, seeing a few migrants along the way.   A Mottled Duck sat quietly on a log and there were several Red-eared Sliders sunning themselves in the early morning rays.  The most fun, however, was a family of Least Grebes.  Mom caught a frog and the babies took turns trying to work it around to swallow it.  After several attempts, Mom gave up and ate the frog herself.  It was quite the show.

With about fifty school children on the deck watching the feeders, we moved on to the parking lot where Black-crested Titmouse parents were busy bringing grubs to a nest full of hungry kids in the fence post.

A short side trip to the Tacos El Corell fruit stand found a couple of Tamaulipas Crows in the owner’s yard.  He graciously allowed us to walk into his front yard and see the crows in his palm trees.  His mangos and tomatoes were a tasty treat.  One has to wonder if he has any concept of how that dinky little crow has impacted his business as birders stop by.  From there it was on to the Old Port Isabel Road in search of sparrows.  A Cassin’s teed up and most saw the Lark Sparrows.  Only a couple of people got on the Grasshopper and we totally dipped on another shot at Botteri’s.  This was our last good opportunity to see the reintroduced Aplomado Falcon but no joy here either.

As we made our way west toward McAllen, we made a short cruise through the village of Rancho Viejo, a golf course community just north of Brownsville.  This has become one of the most reliable spots for Tropical Kingbird, a look-alike with the more common Couch’s Kingbird.  After a bit of wandering, we found a few birds who posed nicely for the photographers.  The last stop of the day was along Cannon Road where we saw Great Kiskadee, an Altamira Oriole coming to the nest, and several migrants.  Dinner with Josh Rose of the Bentsen World Birding Center at Republic of the Rio Grande in McAllen was excellent.

Tuesday, May 1 – We departed at 7:00 AM for a morning at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, often called the “gem of the refuge system”.  Olive Sparrows and Long-billed Thrashers sang as we ambled down the road and everyone got their first good look at another of the Valley specialties, Brown-crested Flycatcher.  Chachalacas called from all around us.  Along the trail to Pintail Lake a small group of Groove-billed Anis played hide-and-seek but eventually gave everyone nice looks at this prehistoric-looking target species for our trip.  It was a delightful morning of herons and egrets of every flavor and we added White-faced Ibis to the trip list.  A late American Bittern was a surprise.  Mid-morning saw a fair lift-off of raptors and we strained to identify them as they headed to the north.  Most were Broad-wings.

We then strolled along the paths to Willow Lake where a Clay-colored Robin was singing and nearly everyone had superb looks when it briefly came out into the open.  The highlight for some was the very large Indigo snake that swam through the water being shepherded by a concerned pair of Blue-winged Teal.  Somewhat curiously we did not hear a Tropical Parula calling from anywhere in the Spanish moss-laden woods.

Lunch at Willie’s was enjoyed by all, although after all that good BBQ it was tough to not just go nap.  Instead we headed for Estero Llano Grande State Park for a nice mid-afternoon stroll in the heat and humidity.  Although the birding was somewhat slow, we all enjoyed the activity of the large heron/egret rookery.  Buff-bellied and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were active at both the flowers and the feeders.

After a quick snack, it was off to Bentsen State Park for some evening birding and nighttime owling.  Before dark we found the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, a bird seen earlier by all in our group except for Mark.  Seeing two individuals of this rare owl on one trip is pretty remarkable.  As darkness descended Paraques began calling but none were out on the roads to see.  On the south end of the old trailer loop, one Elf Owl called for a brief time and then got quiet.  We heard another call by the resaca and spent quite awhile looking for it.  Although it was only a few feet in front of us, the bird must have been on the back side of the mesquite and we never got so much as a glimpse of a feather.

Attention was quickly diverted to a small group of javelinas wandering through the old campground.  While the photographers worked on capturing them in pixels, an Eastern Screech-Owl, the Rio Grande sub-species, began calling.  Everyone managed to get superb looks at this bird in the beam of the flashlight.

Since Mark would be leaving us before our next attempt to see Paraque, a few of us stayed a bit later to cruise along the levee looking for one.  We managed to see one bird fly off from the parking lot and another in the headlight beams sat along the levee road, sallying out to catch a bug and returning.

Wednesday, May 2 – This morning was spent looking for diurnal birds in Bentsen State Park.  As we walked to the Visitor’s Center, a migrating Dickcissel sounded off and we all thought for a moment we were in Iowa!  In the park we bumped into fellow Midwesterners from Council Bluffs/Omaha who were doing much of our route backwards so we exchanged information.  Birding at Bentsen was pretty slow and the park was peppered with school outings, but we did manage to find a Northern Beardless Tyrannulet at the nest as well as several of the more common species of the Valley.  Javelinas were rooting around beneath the feeders at the blind and the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl was tooting at the picnic area.  On the way to lunch at Pepe’s On The River, we stopped at Capella de la Lomita, an old mission, for some history and culture of the area.  We even managed to add a trip bird here – Cedar Waxwing.  After lunch it was on to Anzalduas County Park which was also pretty slow in the heat of the day.  Here we did see our first Black Phoebe.  Along the river we saw a small but colorful damselfly, Amelia’s Threadtail.  With twelve people in our group seeing this small damsel, we may well have doubled the number of people in the United States who have seen it!  Dinner at the Palenque Grill was very good.

Thursday, May 3 – It was off at oh-dark-hundred (5:20 AM) to head up river for more Valley specialties.  After overwhelming the What-A-Burger staff for breakfast in Rio Grande City, we arrived at El Rio de los Pajaros at Chapeño for a delightful morning.  This is the former RV park where birders are still welcome.  As we were still gathering our belongings to walk down to the river, Brown Jays flew in and posed.  These birds have become very difficult to find in the United States and we felt fortunate to have such good looks.

Intermittent showers did not dampen the birding along the river.  Colorful Altamira Orioles, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, and Green Jays peppered the feeders.  Neotropic Cormorants flew up and down the river.  Soon our first Ringed Kingfisher rattled and flew past.  The river was very high and parts of El Rio were slightly flooded.  It was in some of this backwater, however, that a Green Kingfisher put on quite a show by diving into the shallow water and catching minnows.  We saw her mate shortly thereafter down by the boat ramp.

Most of the time was spent patiently watching the river for ducks and pigeons.  There was a constant stream of herons and egrets and gulls and terns.  It always seems strange to see Royal Terns, a bird usually associated with salt water, so far up river.  “Mexican” Mallards caused frequent stirs and the white wing patches of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks created even more excitement.  Alas, no Muscovy that morning but a few small groups of Red-billed Pigeons flew by.  After Mark saw the pigeons, he bid us farewell and was off to catch his flight home in San Antonio.  Another Starr County specialty, Audubon’s Oriole, teed up for everyone to get nice scope views.  A five-oriole day is good anytime!

We met Smoky Cranfill of the Roma Bluffs World Birding Center for lunch at Taco Rico (great enchiladas!) where he and John exchanged stories about jumping out of airplanes to fight fires.  After leaving some cash at the center for new t-shirts, we went to the observation point at Roma Bluffs where most were entertained by the yellow rubber raft ferrying people across the river.  There were a few birds visible as well and we found a few Cliff Swallows mixed in with the ubiquitous Cave Swallows seen most everywhere.  Lesser Goldfinch was new for the trip.

It was pretty warm so a nice ride in air-conditioned comfort through the scrub of the San Margarita Ranch Loop seemed like a good plan.  The first stop along a small stream produced singing Painted Bunting that didn’t want to come in very close.  A Blue Grosbeak, however, was much more obliging.  Shortly after turning onto the rock road, we piled out of the vehicles to have nice looks at Cactus Wrens.  A Black-throated Sparrow came in close and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo flew by.  As Jim pointed out, mesquite scrub is perfect habitat for a cuckoo!  There were Lark Sparrows along the road and a Scaled Quail ran across the road in front of us.  This is a bird that has been in serious trouble in this area but must be making a bit of a comeback since we saw a pair a bit further on.  Everyone got to hear the Greater Roadrunner calling and periodically someone would get a look at it flying across the road.  We also added Western Kingbird for the fourth kingbird of the trip.

After checking into the Roma Inn, a very basic motel but convenient for one night, it was a stop at the DQ before heading to Salineño.  Because the river was exceptionally high, it was difficult to see very far in either direction.  The prize, however, was a lone Muscovy that flew past us very quickly.  Dick became the first group member to have a close encounter of the personal kind with Fire Ants.  Then it was on to Falcon State Park for some evening birding with numerous orioles and flycatchers.  Shortly after dark we finally enticed a Paraque out to buzz us briefly.

Friday, May 4 – The original intent was to spend the morning at Salineño, but with the river so high we headed back to Chapeño for another pleasant couple of hours.  Although the birds were essentially what we had seen the day before, it was nice to once again see Brown Jays and Audubon’s Orioles.  For the second day in a row, we had a clean sweep of the doves found in the Valley.  Then it was back for breakfast at Rancho Café, home of the world’s best Huevos Rancheros.  Back at Falcon State Park we finally got Linda D. her lifer look at Verdin.  A Painted Bunting gave folks some nice looks in bright sunlight and we even got to see a Western Diamondback on the road.  A search for Black-tailed Gnatcatcher on the Salineño Dump Road was unsuccessful but other scrubland birds like Pyrrhuloxia were in evidence.

It was on to Zapata for the night.  Since we got into town too early to check in, we headed to the Zapata library on the chance that White-collared Seedeaters might be seen in the heat of the day.  It was too easy!  While watching a female Painted Bunting, we heard him calling and then up he pops for some killer looks.  Before long the female flew across in the same area.  We had found all the upriver specialties and it wasn’t yet 2:00 PM.  After dinner at El Paraiso, we spent a pleasant evening on the Zapata airport road.  A few folks saw a mongo feral hog, a critter that has been causing significant ecological damage in parts of the country.  Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Harris’ Hawks entertained us and a few heard the Great Horned Owl calling in the distance.  A group of three late migrant Lark Buntings flew by and as darkness descended Paraques began calling.

Saturday, May 5 – This was our last day of birding South Texas.  Since we had already found the White-collared Seedeater, we decided to head back to Corpus Christi by way of Santa Ana NWR in hopes of finding a few of the birds we had missed this week.  After a two hour ride we were greeted with the calls of Chachalacas.  A number of hawks, mostly young Broad-wings, lifted off from the river valley and most of us got a look at a Gray Hawk among the rest.  The resident Red-shouldered Hawk also put in a brief appearance.  The skies never did produce our hoped-for Hook-billed Kite and the paths were once again devoid of singing Tropical Parulas.  These two birds became our big misses for this trip but give everyone a reason to return.  Regardless of the misses, Santa Ana was a delightful place to spend our last morning together.  Lister Linda finally got quality views of the Clay-colored Robin and a pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks cooperated nicely for the photographers.  It was back to Willie’s for BBQ lunch, with music by the legendary Tejano singer-guitarist Snowball.

Heading north out of the Valley, we made a pleasant stop at the Brooks County Rest Area on Highway 281 where we actually added some trip birds.  Perhaps the most pleasing for most was the pair (or more?) of Summer Tanagers.  Loren’s later description of his small mystery bird sounded tantalizingly close to Tropical Parula.  Did we miss it?  If so, they have obviously quit singing already which may explain our lack of success elsewhere.  From here it was on to Corpus for our last meal together at the Roadhouse and the final checklist meeting by the pool, back where it all began eight days earlier.

Sunday, May 6 – Other than in the motel parking lot where White-winged, Inca, Eurasian Collared, and Common Ground Doves were calling, there was not a lot of birding this morning since most flights left fairly early.  By 9:30 all were on their way to San Antonio, Florida, or Iowa and another successful IOU trip had concluded.

Bird photos courtesy of the Canon® brigade - Loren Hansen, John Donelson, Richard Lynch, and Mark Brown.

Jim Bangma & Ann Johnson, Leaders