Looking for Lifers: Rio Grande Valley Day 2

Day 2

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

Santa Ana NWR was our first planned stop for our second day in South Texas, but we noticed our first group of Roseate Spoonbills (lifer) in a small pond behind a neighborhood on our way to Santa Ana. We passed by that small group thinking we'd see lots of them as we moved toward South Padre Island later in the day. Moments later we drove by a little park where a lone spoonbill was foraging near a storm drain so we stopped to observe it. It's not idyllic, but I'm glad I captured the image below because it turned out to be the last opportunity we had to photograph a spoonbill for the rest of our trip.

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

We arrived at Santa Ana just after nine. Eric heard a White-eyed Vireo calling as we got out of the van so we walked across the empty parking lot to locate the bird and capture some images. We rarely get a vagrant White-eyed Vireos in Utah. In fact, they are rare enough that I've yet to see one despite years of birding in Utah.  I enjoyed spending a few minutes photographing this one and observing the cool white eyes. These little guys are about five inches long from head to tip of tail.

White-eyed Vireo Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

White-eyed Vireo Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

A large female Cooper's Hawk was trying to make breakfast of some of the birds near the visitor center.  It attempted to take prey with a couple of dives while we were watching. Each time the hawk came up with empty talons.

These phone images are an attempt to capture the habitat we explored in Santa Ana and to show the Spanish moss that I thought was pretty cool to see hanging from the trees.



That's Eric just about to veer left and approach the pond where we had our first encounter with Least Grebes.



The Least Grebe is the smallest of the grebe family. These aquatic birds are about nine inches long and weigh about 4 ounces. They appeared to me to be buoyant fluff balls that could have fit in the palm of my hand.

Least Grebe Santa Ana NWR

Least Grebe Santa Ana NWR

Other aquatic birds we observed in and around the pond included Blue-winged Teals, Cinnamon Teals, Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, Gadwalls, Nothern Pintails, Coots, Killdeers, and Long-billed Dowitchers. We didn't have a scope with us so I'm sure we overlooked a few shorebirds.

Walking farther around the marsh-encircled pond and into the woods we observed Harris's Hawks, Common Yellowthroats, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Green Jays, and some other common species. In addition to Bewick's Wren we happened upon this cute little Winter Wren. I entered this sighting into eBird on my phone and realized it was considered rare for the area. I always attempt to capture images of rare bird sightings to help document them for others to review.

Vagrant Winter Wren Santa Ana NWR

Although we had heard and seen numerous Olive Sparrows during our first day in Texas this was my first attempt at photographing one. I wanted to make sure the field mark for which it is named appeared in the image, the olive coloring in the wing and tail feathers.

Olive Sparrow Santa Ana NWR

I noticed my first White-tipped Dove (lifer) while photographing some Harris's Hawks in the woods below the levy. Unfortunately, the only photo I managed of a White-tipped Dove was a phone capture of a dead one the day before.

It was a pleasant walk around Santa Ana, but we had some other target birds we wanted to see so we finished our visit by visiting with some park employees on our way back to the van.

Edinburg Scenic Wetlands World Birding Center

Upon leaving Santa Ana we went looking for our second Kingfisher target, the Green Kingfisher. We checked the Birdseye app on our phones for recent sightings and decided to head over to Edinburg Scenic Wetlands. That decision turned out to be little birding jackpot because we found a pair of Green Kingfishers (lifer) and three other life birds for me--Mottled Duck (lifer), Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (lifer), and Blue-headed Vireo (lifer).

The Green Kingfisher is North America's smallest kingfisher at a little less than nine inches long and weighing about 1.3 ounces. The first image shows the front side of the colorful male and the second image shows the topside of the less colorful female.

Male Green Kingfisher Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC

Female Green Kingfisher Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC

I'm glad I stopped and took some time to photograph a rather dull-looking pair of Mottled Ducks because I ended up discovering my lifer Yellow Crowned Night-Heron in the same location.

The male Mottled Duck has an all-yellow bill while the bill of a female is typically a mix of olive and orange coloring. There is a distinct transition in plumage between the mottled body and the pale and rather unmarked neck of these birds when compared with similar looking, and more common, female mallards.

Male Mottled Duck Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC

Female Mottled Duck Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC

I was delighted to have this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron calmly pose for me once I managed to find a direct view through the tangle of branches surrounding the bird.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC

After pointing Eric to the heron I walked down a nearby path where I discovered a Black-and-white Warbler and a Blue-headed Vireo. Once again both birds proved difficult to photograph because of their hyperactive movements while foraging deep inside a branch-riddled tree. Other than a nice shot of the vent and undertail area, the Black-and-white Warbler evaded my attempts to photograph it. The Blue-headed Vireo did cooperate as long as I was willing to accept lots of branch clutter in the images. Cassin's Vireos are very similar in appearance to the Blue-headed and we see the Cassin's in Utah during migration. However, the Blue-headed shows a stronger contrast between the white throat and the so-called blue head or cap that wraps down to the sides of the neck. Blue-headed Vireos also show an olive color on the back as well as brighter and fuller yellowing on the sides. The Blue-headed actually winters in south Texas while the Cassin's does not. So, I used the range maps to help identify this one as well.

Blue-headed Vireo Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC

Blue-headed Vireo Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC

It seemed that you couldn't put on a blindfold and swing a stick without hitting a Whataburger in South Texas so we decided to give it a try for lunch. It's another tradition for Eric and me is to try something local when we visit places. Friends from Texas asked if I went to Whataburger so here's an image for proof, less the actual burger. I'm not sure why I forgot that part, but I promise we did not simply plant the bag and cups in the vehicle for the image. The burger was good.

Sabal Palm Sanctuary

I had looked forward to birding Sabal Palm based on my research and the possibility of seeing a number of life birds. I had also heard good things about Sabal Palm from a herping perspective. However, the birds were quiet, mud was everywhere, and no reptiles were observed in the cooler-than-usual weather.  The image below shows numerous sabal palms for which the sanctuary is named.

One of the blinds we checked out as we walked around the park was extremely quiet. However, we did locate a Least Flycatcher in the trees next to this blind.

The mud would build up on the soles of our shoes and then eventually fall off under its own weight along the way.

This overlook at Sabal Palm gave us a view to Mexico on the other side of the Rio Grande.

We did have some success photographing another Buff-bellied Hummingbird near the visitor center as we were leaving the sanctuary. The lighting was tough again so most of the images turned out pretty grainy as a result of high ISO.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird Sabal Palm Sancturary Texas

I captured this image on the way out of the sanctuary. Sabal Palm, where we birded, was positioned between this man-made border wall and the actual border, the Rio Grande River. A Border Patrol agent was manning the vehicle seen behind the left side of this image.

Border Wall at Entrance to Sabal Palm Sanctuary Texas

Our list of birds from the sanctuary turned out to be very short during our brief visit. We ended up with twelve species. I guess the conditions and timing were poor, because my initial research of birds seen in the sanctuary, prior to our visit, essentially promised about 15 life birds. I'm sure it could have been quite productive on a better day weather-wise.

We left Sabal Palm and began our drive toward South Padre Island, our final destination for the day. The island was covered in fog so we decided to locate and check into a hotel and find some dinner. We chose to follow a tip from one of Eric's friends and went to dinner at Dirty Al's.

There were lots of options for seafood, but I decided to try some fish tacos after sharing a shrimp appetizer. I'm always curious to see how fish tacos differ from one restaurant to another.

The tacos ended up on tortillas much larger than expected. I probably would have been satisfied with a single taco after enjoying the appetizer. The food was good and the hosts and servers were pleasant and friendly.

We were looking forward to our third day because we were going to start at the South Padre Island Convention Center and then search for an Aplomado Falcon, one of the few raptors of North America neither one of us had ever observed.