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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jos Stratford" data-source="post: 3347179" data-attributes="member: 12449">20 December. Anzalduas Country Park.The lower Rio Grande valley is brimming with simply dozens of top rate birding localities - amongst the best that I didn't visit being Sabal Palm and Bentson-Rio Grande. I did however visit Anzalduas Country Park, a small recreational park in a loop of the Rio Grande that at first glance might seem a shadow of some of these other localities. Prime reasons for me visiting were that the site was holding a Greater Pewee at the time of my visit, a Texas rarity, and that Zone-tailed Hawks were being reported with some regularity.So it was, a little before dawn, I departed South Padre for the 90 mile cruise along Highway 100 and Interstate 2 to reach the site, one abrupt stop on the former producing a Ringed Kingfisher on wires peering down into a roadside pool. A site that sometimes attracts Short-eared Owls, I began the morning by exploring a levee along the Rio Grande about half a mile before Anzalduas. No owls on this day, but quite splendid all the same - sprawling across a small field and adjacent hedge, no less than 50 Black Vultures and 25 Crested Caracaras at roost, most simply sitting on the ground. Also one Northern Harrier, a couple of White-tailed Kites, a half dozen American Kestrels and, powering across the sky, one adult Peregrine. Also a Coyote here.Moving across to Anzalduas itself, flocks of Western Meadowlarks were immediately apparent in a riverside field and a mixed bunch of Lark Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows fed on lawns dedicated to picnic areas, 14 Eastern Bluebirds also in the same area. Parking at the main boat quay, Mexico a mere stone's throw across the water, my second Ringed Kingfisher of the day sat on a tree stump mid-channel, while Spotted Sandpiper, Osprey and Caspian Tern were also noted. A Canvasback, one of very few during the whole trip, associated with about 80 Lesser Scaup.My main target for the day, the Greater Pewee, should have been an easy enough bird to find I thought - a large flycatcher that tends to perch on open exposed snags, it had to be simple to find, especially as the bird was favoring a relatively limited area of the picnic grounds. Hmm, perhaps it was asleep, I zigzagged around the relevant area, and most of the rest of Anzalduas, for a good couple of hours without a slightest glimpse of the bird! Several Green Jays present, three Eastern Phoebes, even a couple of Black Phoebes near the river, but not a Greater Pewee anywhere. American White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants flew up the valley, a few Tree Swallows skimmed over the river, one Couch's Kingbird and one Great Kiskadee added to the day list. Then, after a pause for coffee and now mid-morning, I took another walk around the favored area ...and there, as prominent as could be, the Greater Pewee atop a dead branch poking up from one of the big trees! And there it stayed for the duration of my visit, flying sorties to catch flies, returning to the same or other equally obvious vantage points. I really couldn't imagine where the bird had been earlier - perhaps a quick trip over to Mexico or maybe Greater Pewees really are late risers!Anyhow, with success on the main bird, I then turned my attention to the rising thermals just to the west ...huge kettles of Turkey Vultures were rising out of riverside woodland, perhaps a few things in their midst? Settling down on a sunny bank, I began to scan ...some hundreds of Turkey Vultures - almost too many, virtually every bird, distant dot or close thing lumbering, turned out to be one. But not quite all ...quickly picked up a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, then considerably later, first an immature Grey Hawk, then an adult Zone-tailed Hawk. Success!On route back, a small detour to the Hidalgo pumphouse successfully added the third member of Psittacidae family to the trip list - Monk Parakeets at the junctions of East Gardenia and 5th Street, several pairs actively nest-building on electricity posts. Also saw several House Finches here, my first of the trip.With that, I returned to the coast for a change of scene, deciding to spend the rest of the day on the beaches and mudflats of South Padre Island. Took me a few tries to find a really good area, randomly turning towards Laguna Madre at various points. Osprey, Roseate Spoonbill, Reddish Egret and Black Skimmer along the way, then I stumbled across what I was looking for - a couple of small bays, the low tide exposing flats of mud quite full of roosting waders.  A couple of hundred waders in the first, Snowy Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Least Sandpipers, Dunlins and Sanderling making up the bulk, but in the second bay, though total wader numbers were lower, the prize was awaiting ...one most quaint Piping Plover, a sparse breeder along this coast. Also in these bays, a few Western Sandpipers, a bunch of Black-bellied Plovers, both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, a whole load of Ruddy Turnstones and several Long-billed Curlews.</blockquote>

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