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Friday 12th June 2009, 22:18
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#1 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Boardman, OH/Boston, MA
Posts: 139
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Lower Rio Grande Valley, TX - May 2009
From May 11th to the 19th I embarked on my first dedicated birding expedition. Location: the Lower Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas.
Despite being a little late migration-wise, the diversity was amazing. We encountered nearly 200 species, including 53 lifers for myself. I thought I'd share an assortment of photos from the trip. Scenic view at Laguna Atascosa, the largest refuge in the lower RGV http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/6175/img0180x.jpg Black-bellied whistling ducks http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9255/img0277m.jpg Black vulture http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2984/img0208n.jpg Olive sparrow - these guys are common, but camera shy... http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3081/img0268o.jpg Scissor-tailed flycatcher http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6849/img0234j.jpg American white pelican http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6656/img0231b.jpg Roseate spoonbill feeding http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5081/img0228n.jpg Green jays http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7779/img0224s.jpg Crested caracara http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6374/img0168n.jpg Masked duck - review species in TX, vegetation made photography difficult http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7093/img0155z.jpg 1st year White-tailed hawk http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5381/img0459z.jpg Northern bobwhite http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8871/img0454t.jpg Harris's Hawk http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7827/img0446q.jpg White phase Reddish egret - stunning bird http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5835/img0419k.jpg Common nighthawk roosting at Bentsen SP http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1074/img0152o.jpg Plain chachalacas - crowing roosters have nothing on these birds. LOUD. http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5559/img0144e.jpg Least bittern - one of two openly hunting on S Padre Island http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3298/img0121z.jpg Purple gallinule http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8132/img0117x.jpg Tricolored heron http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/1120/img0108b.jpg Clapper rail http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/5958/img0100uxh.jpg Long-billed curlew http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6206/img0364u.jpg Black-necked stilt http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/983/img0319f.jpg American avocet - tons of stilts on the trip but just this one lingering avocet http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9233/img0349i.jpg Least grebes http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/5760/img0322.jpg Common Pauraque - amazing! http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/1227/pauraque.jpg Painted Bunting http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9817/img0332j.jpg Altamira oriole http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4403/img0461y.jpg Bullock's oriole http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/5833/img0477l.jpg Pyrrhuloxia http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/1006/img0464u.jpg Cactus wren http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/7958/img0466x.jpg Greater roadrunner http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4047/img0475h.jpg White-winged dove http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1240/img0316r.jpg Green parakeet http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9159/img0313k.jpg Of course this is only what I was able to capture on camera. Other interesting birds included: Neotropic cormorant Common ground dove Fulvous whistling duck Mottled duck Magnificent frigatebird White-faced ibis Little blue heron Black/Yellow crowned night-heron Wilson's Phalarope American oystercatcher Black skimmer White-tailed kite Grey hawk Red-crowned parrot Cave swallow Groove-billed ani White-tipped dove Inca dove Great kiskadee Couch's kingbird Buff-bellied hummingbird Black-chinned hummingbird Ladder-backed woodpecker Golden-fronted woodpecker Ringed kingfisher Green kingfisher Long-billed thrasher Curve-billed thrasher Black-headed grosbeak Verdin Black-throated sparrow Cassin's sparrow Botteri's sparrow Lark sparrow Loggerhead shrike Clay-colored thrush Brown-crested flycatcher Bronzed cowbird Hooded oriole Lesser goldfinch Great-tailed grackle Chihuahuan raven There's more but those are most of the highlights. Our worst misses included Hook-billed kite, Ferruginous pygmy-owl, Audubon's oriole, Tropical parula, and white-collared seedeater...but these just give me more reason to return someday. We also searched for hours at the Brownsville dump for Tamaulipas crow despite the species having not been documented in a couple years. Just had to try 
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Life List:370 Latest: Cackling Goose
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Friday 12th June 2009, 22:20
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#2 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Boardman, OH/Boston, MA
Posts: 139
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Also encountered were many interesting non-avian fauna
Laguna Atascosa is home to nearly 75% of all the ocelots in the US (we never saw one) http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7649/img0178t.jpg Texas tortoises are an endangered species in TX http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7551/img0261y.jpg Collared peccaries were numerous http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2339/img0149z.jpg The Nilghai is an large member of the antelope family introduced from India http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1350/img0265x.jpg Western diamondback rattlesnake http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/5879/img0424m.jpg Tarantula sp. http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/3262/img0450l.jpg Also saw a couple huge indigo snakes along with beautiful speckled racers, an otherwise central American species. This is an amazing and dynamic region of our country. My visit was an experience I'll never forget, and probably won't soon top. I'd highly recommend a trip to the RGV, it really is a birding paradise. JG
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Life List:370 Latest: Cackling Goose
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Sunday 14th June 2009, 13:36
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#3 |
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Registered User
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Outstanding stuff ! Congrats on the Green Jays and Least Bittern!
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-Stephen , New Jersey, USA Lifelist: #644 Piping Plover #645 Dunlin #646 Blue-winged Warbler |
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Tuesday 23rd June 2009, 10:55
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#4 |
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Costa Rica
Posts: 2,130
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Sounds like a great trip! Nice photos too!
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Patrick O'Donnell my blog about living and birding in Costa Rica: http://birdingcraft.com/wordpress |
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Thursday 2nd July 2009, 02:32
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#5 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 13
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Nice pictures. Laguna Atascosa NWR is a great birding experience. It is even better when the salt grass flats contain shallow water. Green Jays are so abundant at the Visitors Center as to almost be a nuisance. Despite several visits we have not been able to positively view an Aplomado Falcon which has been re-introduced there. During a visit to Boise, Idaho in April, we visited the World Birding Center (?) and saw an Aplomado Falcon at a distance of 3 feet displayed by one of their trainer/handlers. It is a BEAUTIFUL bird and I am more determined than ever to see one in the wild.
LB Last edited by LHB1 : Thursday 2nd July 2009 at 02:35. |
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Thursday 2nd July 2009, 22:02
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#6 |
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Registered User
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John
Great list, we got 132 in two days in November with a local guide. They'd had a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl earlier in the year, but it was long gone. We saw the Aplomado Falcons on a country road near the local Police firing range, stunning bird. Matt
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Last Life bird (851) Common Poorwill Last Year bird (427) Band-tailed Pigeon |
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Sunday 5th July 2009, 15:37
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#7 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Boardman, OH/Boston, MA
Posts: 139
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Quote:
Atascosa is indeed an amazing place. I'll never forget the vastness of the scenery. And you're right about the green jays. They were everywhere, but I could never tire of such a beautiful species. My group probably drove the 15 mile driving loop about 7-8 times over the week I spent in South Texas, and we never did get our Aplomado falcon! Maybe by the time I return someday they will be ABA countable
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Life List:370 Latest: Cackling Goose
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