March 22 - Corpus Christi area, TX, USA
The first day birding with my local "guide"
Hit a lot of local site on one day, from Port Aransas all the way up past Rockport, and the number of year ticks reflect how productive the visits were!
First stop: Pollywog pond in the outskirts of Corpus, where I got to tick off the second of my Big Five:
245.
* Loggerhead Shrike
246. * Bronzed Cowbird
247.
* American White Ibis
248.
* Long-Billed Curlew
249.
* Purple Finch
250.
* Couch's Kingbird
251.
* Black-Bellied Whistling Duck
252.
* Northern Crested Caracara
253. Blue-Winged Teal
254.
* Least Grebe
*The purple finch remains a little controversial; there was quite a discussion about this bird over in the Q&A forum over whether it was Purple Finch or Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. Consensus was mostly in favour of purple finch. Note that south Texas is outside the range of Purple Finch and my sighting, if accepted, would be the second-most southerly in the state...
Then a quick stop at Labontie park to look for Anhinga, which we did find (eventually), followed by another one! Additionally the underside of a concrete bridge carrying Route 77 (where we found the cliff swallows) may have become the least glamorous place I've ever picked up a lifer...
255.
* American Cliff Swallow
256. Western Cattle Egret
257. Common Grackle
258.
* Anhinga
Next Stop: Hazel-Bazemore Park in Calallen:
259. Carolina Wren
260.
* Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher
Then onwards towards Holiday Beach north of the city. Enroute, picked up two more lifers, including number 3 of my Big Five!
261.
* Roseate Spoonbill
262.
* Reddish Egret
Got a few more in and around Holiday Beach. I believe whooping crane becomes the rarest and largest bird on my life list (although I believe Great Bustard is heavier). Also got Glossy Ibis: a bird I have tried for and failed many times back in the UK!
263.
* Whooping Crane
264.
* Glossy Ibis
265. Pectoral Sandpiper
266. Lesser Yellowlegs
267. * Black Vulture
268. * Little Blue Heron
Then onto a couple of sites in Port Aransas, which unfortunately still showed some fairly heavy hurricane damage from Harvey. Still picked up a couple of year ticks at Leona Turnbulle Wetlands:
269.
* Common Gallinule
270. American Avocet
All in all, not a bad day's birding
Beat my personal record for most lifers in a day, set last year in Playa del Rey, CA.