March Madness - Searching for Spring - Part 4

After getting a new set of tires the morning of Tuesday, March 24 we were on our way by 8 a.m., with our first stop the rest area south of Falfurrias, where a Painted Redstart had been seen for the previous few weeks. After walking all around the area for a good half hour, the bird finally made an appearance with a small flock of Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warblers and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet...right near the car! It was singing some very short phrases, sounding more like a vireo than a warbler. But once found it was fairly cooperative for photos.

Painted Redstart. Falfurrias, Texas.

Painted Redstart. Falfurrias, Texas.

Painted Redstart. Falfurrias, Texas.

From there we headed north to Corpus Christi, and saw the first gulls and terns of the trip. Unlike those we saw in Florida in January, they were in nice breeding plumage now.

Laughing Gull. Corpus Christi, Texas.

Royal Tern. Corpus Christi, Texas.

A Brown Booby that had been photographed on some rocks there did not appear for us, so we continued north to the Lamar area which has in recent years become a fairly reliable area for Whooping Cranes, as it is adjacent to the Aransas NWR. As we'd hoped, two were still lingering there although they stayed at the back of a large open field so even the 1200mm reach of my spotting scope adapter didn't bring them in very close.

Whooping Cranes. Lamar area, Texas.

A little closer, but not much more cooperative for the camera, was a small group of Gull-billed Terns in a wet spot in the field...the same wet spot where a bunch of dowitchers had been in 2012.

Gull-billed Tern. Lamar area, Texas.

A couple of Turkey Vultures were walking around in the field fairly close by.

Turkey Vulture. Lamar area, Texas.

And along the shoreline, a Black Vulture appeared very close, and tame.

Black Vulture. Lamar area, Texas.

Black Vulture. Lamar area, Texas.

A fairly long drive later, we arrived farther up the coast at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, where we hoped that an afternoon drive around through the marshes would turn up a calling Black Rail, a continuing nemesis bird for us. Along the road to the entrance, we saw a smallish (12 inches or so) snake in the road, and as we often do, went back to investigate. Often, they are road kills, and the straight body position and head tilted up of this one certainly suggested that was the case. But a closer look showed no injuries.

Western Cottonmouth. Near San Bernard NWR, Texas.

Western Cottonmouth. Near San Bernard NWR, Texas.

I suspected what the species was, but it took a while apparently for it to wake up while I tried to move it off the road, using my walking stick. But eventually, it did prove that it was a Western Cottonmouth.

Western Cottonmouth. Near San Bernard NWR, Texas.

And after more prodding than I wanted, eventually it was moved off the road and into the grass. Even with all this, the snake made only a single strike at the walking stick. Docile, or still sleepy?

Western Cottonmouth. Near San Bernard NWR, Texas.

There were many waterbirds around the refuge (see eBird checklist here), although photography was not very easy for many of them. We had gotten far enough up the coast to encounter Boat-tailed Grackles which were fairly numerous in the marshes.

Female Boat-tailed Grackle. San Bernard NWR, Texas.

Overhead there was a very pale hawk, which turned out to be a White-tailed Hawk.

White-tailed Hawk. San Bernard NWR, Texas.

And another was on a utility pole just at the exit to the auto tour route.

White-tailed Hawk. San Bernard NWR, Texas.

Unfortunately, we did not hear any Black Rails vocalizing. So we headed for the Freeport area for the night. Our plan for the next morning was to get to Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge as early as possible to make one more attempt to hear a Black Rail. Once again, there were lots of birds (see eBird checklist here), including lots of dabbling ducks.

Blue-winged Teal. Brazoria NWR, Texas.

Northern Shoveler. Brazoria NWR, Texas.

And a good number of Pied-billed Grebes.

Pied-billed Grebe. Brazoria NWR, Texas.

Since it was early morning, many birds were out and conspicuous including lots of Common Gallinules and, surprisingly, quite a few American Bitterns.

American Bittern. Brazoria NWR, Texas.

We dipped once again on Black Rail, so headed for Galveston where there were lots of cormorants and pelicans around the ferry docks.

American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, and
Double-crested Cormorant. Galveston, Texas

Brown Pelicans. Galveston, Texas.

Double-crested Cormorant. Galveston, Texas.

After the ferry crossing, we went to the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary and walked down the beach where there were thousands of birds (eBird checklist here).

Western Sandpiper. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Reddish Egret. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Reddish Egret. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Near the southernmost point where we walked, there was a large flock of American Avocets, though nowhere near the 9000 we'd seen here in April 1989 (before the sanctuary was created). There was a nice bunch of Sandwich Terns that were strutting around obviously displaying to each other. They seemed fairly used to people, although my slow approach (and 1200mm scope attachment) surely helped me get my best ever photos of this species.

Sandwich Terns. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Sandwich Terns. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Sandwich Terns. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Sandwich Terns. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Sandwich Terns. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Closer to the north end of the beach, there was a good flock of Least Terns, which was a little unexpected as the bar graphs in the references suggest they might not arrive here until the first week of April. I stalked these birds slowly as well, and got my best ever photos of them too.

Least Tern. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Least Tern. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Least Tern. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Least Tern. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

Least Tern. Bolivar Flats, Texas.

A little farther north, at Rollover Pass, there were more shorebirds including a larger flock of American Avocets, part of which is shown in my photo below.

American Avocets and dowitchers. Rollover Pass, Texas.

There were also shorebirds running around in the sandy parking areas, among the cars, including Willets and some plovers.

Willet. Rollover Pass, Texas.

It was nice to see and photograph a Wilson's Plover in breeding plumage.

Wilson's Plover. Rollover Pass, Texas.

And a bit of a surprise was a couple of basic plumaged American Golden-Plovers, which I don't usually expect in a parking lot.

American Golden-Plover. Rollover Pass, Texas.

Continuing north, we stopped at High Island in the hopes that there might have been an early fallout of trans-Gulf migrants. But sadly, that was not the case so we moved along quickly after getting a photo of a Cloudless Sulphur butterfly.

Cloudless Sulphur. High Island, Texas.

From there we headed into southwestern Louisiana, and made one last-ditch effort for a Black Rail in the late afternoon at Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge (eBird checklist here). That effort, once again, failed but there were a lot of birds there including calling King Rails, and we wished we'd had more time to explore this area as it was close to sunset and we didn't want to get locked in.

We spent the night in southwestern Louisiana and spent the following two days driving back home to Michigan, through a lot of rain!

So the net gain for this trip was one confirmed ABA species (Aplomado Falcon0, raising the list to 693, and one additional species awaiting acceptance by state and national records committees (Striped Sparrow). Where to next? Stay tuned.

March Madness - Searching for Spring - Part 3

This blog posting only covers one day, Monday, March 23, because of the excellent Rio Grande Valley sites visited and the number of good photos obtained. We started at sunrise at Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park, and as usual we were greeted by the friendly Plain Chachalacas along the entrance road.

Plain Chachalaca. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas

A visit to the photo blinds is always highly recommended here, as views of many species are much better than along the roads, though there are many feeder stations scattered around the park as well. This is especially true for the shy White-tipped Dove.

White-tipped Dove. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas

A flash is almost essential for a decent photo in the dim lighting conditions that this species prefers, which presents a challenge to avoid "red-eye". After many years of trying, I think I've finally gotten close to the quality of photo I've wanted of this South Texas specialty.

White-tipped Dove. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas

White-tipped Dove. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas

White-tipped Dove. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas

In many areas of Texas, even the abundant Great-tailed Grackle is a bit skittish around cameras. The photo blinds allow you to get closer to them too.

Male Great-tailed Grackle. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas

Female Great-tailed Grackle.

We probably saw, and heard, more Golden-fronted Woodpeckers in this park than anywhere in South Texas on this trip.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas

The female Blue Bunting that had been photographed in the park about a week prior, had unfortunately not been seen since. We had planned to go to the hawk observation tower at the southern end of the park to see if any migration was going on, but it was quite foggy so we decided to leave the park. On the way out, there were two Green Jays displaying to each other right in front of the visitor's center. It involved various vocalizations, bowing, head bobbing, body bobbing, and passing food back and forth.

Green Jays. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas.

Green Jays. Bentsen-Rio Grande SP, Texas.

From Bentsen, we headed next to the National Butterfly Center, only about a mile away. But first we went to lunch; not an easy task since there isn't really much around the park, nor back at the freeway - a real business opportunity for someone. When we returned to the Butterfly Center the fog was lifting and the clouds were breaking up. A good afternoon for butterfly watching, although only perhaps a dozen species were in evidence. Easiest to see was the large, orange relative of the Monarch, the Queen.

Queen. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

Queen. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

There were several Red Admirals around, as well as several Checkered Skippers, but they did not sit still. A wonderful Giant Swallowtail, one of several flying around, came into a small tree and stayed a while. It was oddly small; much smaller than the ones we see in Michigan, which is typical of the South Texas form, which is said to be indistinguishable from the rare Thoas Swallowtail.

Giant Swallowtail. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

Among the smaller butterflies that could be identified was one skipper that seemed to be most common that I'm pretty sure was the Sachem.

Sachem. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

Sachem. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

And one small hairstreak at the edge of the woods seemed to be the Dusky-blue Groundstreak.

Dusky-blue Groundstreak. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

Walking around in the small patch of woods at the southern end of the property, we were surprised to find two Clay-colored Thrushes, which did not really cooperate very well for photos.

Clay-colored Thrush. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

And we stumbled across a nesting box occupied by an Eastern Screech-Owl. The ones in South Texas are of the subspecies mccallii, which is a bit different in appearance from Eastern (more like Western) with somewhat different vocalizations.

Eastern (Mexican) Screech-Owl.
National Butterfly Center, Texas.

At the feeders, we saw less than we did in 2012. There was another Hispid Cotton Rat.

Hispid Cotton Rat. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

And we had a very close encounter with a Golden-fronted Woodpecker.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

The sky had cleared off considerably, and there was some migration right over the National Butterfly Center. My attention was drawn to the call of a Gray Hawk circling overhead, and when I got binoculars on it, a Cooper's Hawk started diving at it. Then, in the background of the same binocular view, 44 Sandhill Cranes passed by! As we were departing the Center, another hawk was seen overhead, a nice pale morph Swainson's Hawk.

Swainson's Hawk. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

Swainson's Hawk. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

Swainson's Hawk. National Butterfly Center, Texas.

From here, our original plan was to head west to Salineno to see some other South Texas specialties, including another attempt to photograph Audubon's Oriole. But since it was after 2 p.m., and the round-trip drive would have been 4 hours, we decided to go to another excellent site that was closer; Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. An attempt to find the reported Tropical Parula was not successful, and there weren't many butterflies around, though surprisingly one truly common species here was very scarce at the National Butterfly Center - the Phaon Crescent.

Phaon Crescent. Santa Ana NWR, Texas.

The only other photo opportunity was of a cooperative, though obscurely marked,  Greater Earless Lizard along the trail.

Greater Earless Lizard. Santa Ana NWR, Texas.

From here, we had to stop at a place to get new tires for the car, as we were unsure about driving the 1500 miles home on the retread and the other worn tires. We were too late to get them done today, so had to schedule for the first thing tomorrow morning. The next installment of this blog will pick up after that mundane task, and will take us up through coastal Texas and home.