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It’s been awhile since a birding entry here. But this week I paid a visit to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. Up to 3 Crimson-collared Grosbeaks and a Green-breasted Mango were the target birds. A cheap flight from LA to Houston arrived at midnight Friday and Cin-Ty met me at Houston airport and we drove down together arriving at 7am Saturday at Frontera Audubon in Weslaco (Antshrike’s territory). Birding in Texas is always so well orgainsed. Thanks to friendly local birders, Texbirds always has regular updates on continuing rarities and Frontera opened its gates bang on schedule with a friendly Selena King pointing us in the right direction of the potato tree that the grosbeaks prefer.

We followed a couple from Ohio who were back for their 2nd try for these birds. On the way, a male Summer Tanager and a Blue-headed Vireo were nice distractions for this west coast birder. Within minutes this couple had found a “green” Crimson-collared Grosbeak feeding quietly at the back of a tree. Occasionally Plain Chachalachas would disturb it but over the course of the next hour, a female and juvenile CC Grosbeak performed well but not well enough to digiscope.

Next stop was McAllen where a Green-breasted Mango had been reported sporadically in the backyard at 500 Rose Ellen Blvd. We arrived at 8:30 and dutifully paid our $10 per head “donation”. I hope everybody who sees this bird pays up. Immediately upon arrival, the mango was seen sitting in a bare tree next to the feeders. What a stunner! Occasionally fanning its tail to show off its purple/russet tail feathers and chasing the dimuntive (in comparison) Buff-bellied Hummingbirds off the feeder. Other nice birds here included an Eastern Phoebe.

Below is a photo. I posted another one in the N. American Stop Press gallery.

Anyway, thanks again to Texas birders who are always so friendly and organised. Hopefully I can come back soon.

according to yesterday’s LA Times…
“For instance, to a tiny wren, binocular lenses look like the eyes of an
unspeakable predator, says Tracy Albrecht, interpretive specialist for
the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. So forget
the big-footed hikers. When it comes to spooking wildlife, Albrecht
says: “The bird-watchers are the worst.”

A long weekend hiking in Big Bend National Park, Texas in mid July seemed a little absurd to fellow co-workers but if you’re a keen birder and the targets are Colima Warbler and Black Hawk you have little choice but to make a summer visit.

Flying in to El Paso, the park is a 5 hr drive from there. I stopped in Ft Davis, where I met up with the others who had a staked out Black Hawk nest by the side of the road. Within minutes I had this difficult bird under the belt. It was certainly a nice change to see a lifer so easily but it did make me appreciate the thrill of seeing a lifer after you’ve had to suffer through hours of waiting. It almost seemed a little anti-climactic that it was so easy.

On to Big Bend, where we had rented a cottage right at the trailhead for the Colima Warbler dash in the Basin at Chizos Lodge. That evening we enjoyed some dinner on the porch whilst watching the wildlife go by:

White-winged Dove

The guide books had duly warned us of the strenuous hike and they were spot on. I won’t lie, it was quite hard work. We left at about 6am to give us maximum time on the trail before the searing heat picked up. By 10am we were about halfway and had reached the Laguna Meadows. This was Colima Warbler territory (although still not quite sure why it is called a meadow). After a short while we found a Colima amongst a flock of Bushtits immediately after we had brief views of a Virginia’s Warbler.

We continued onwards and upwards to the famed rarity hotspot of Boot Springs where we also happened upon local guru Mark Lockwood. A well-earned rest at Boot Springs (the non-birding companion was starting to complain bitterly about the lack of lunch) also brought us Blue-throated Hummingbirds, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Canyon Wren, Cordilleran Flycatcher and another Colima for those who went up the trail.
Boot Springs

Reluctantly, we left Boot Springs and headed back on the steeper Pinnacles Trail. This trail is meant to be a shorter route back to the cottage but a lot steeper and not sure I would recommend it for those going up for the Colimas. On this route, we stopped briefy to look at some Broad-tailed Hummingbirds noisily chasing each other around a tree. I focussed on one sitting bird and saw bright white ear coverts, a reddish base to the bill and before I could shout male White-eared Hummingbird, the birds all dashed off. We waited for about 45 mins but no re-appearance of this tantalising sighting. Throughout the walk, we could hear the mewing of a young Zone-tailed Hawk on a nest in the canyon and later on, we saw an adult bird soaring with Turkey Vultures.

Boot Canyon (with the famous boot shaped rock)

The hike down seemed an eternity and little birding was done but at least it was downhill. We ran out of water about 45mins from the end of the trail (I hiked in with 4 liters!) and arrived at our cottage exhausted. We managed to get back in time to make it for a well-earned BBQ dinner at the Lodge.

We were up early on Sunday morning to hike the Window trail. Not wanting to overdo it after yesterday, I only hiked a short way but enough to see Varied Bunting, Bell’s Vireo and some handsome male Scott’s Orioles. Looks like I headed back too soon as the others had a Black Bear!

We headed back towards Alpine from Big Bend and stopped off at Marathon for lunch. Life looked nice and slow here:

While the others headed on to New Mexico, I stayed the night at the Hotel Limpia in Ft Davis to give myself another chance to look for Montezuma Quail. These birds haven’t been seen here for a while and it didn’ t look like they would break from tradition for me.
Hotel Limpia

Skunk whilst waiting for the Quail

The next morning, the drive back to El Paso was punctuated by some roadside stops along prairie to see Lark Bunting, Lark Sparrow and Swainson’s Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk in the prairie

Deserted Gas Station

new favorite site:
Live Stork Cam
if you have real player, watch the “live video” rather than web cam – if you’re feeling stressed, sit back turn the volume up and watch the baby storks play with each other.

There’s been a lot of waiting around this past weekend. It started with a last minute impulsive internet ticket purchase on Friday morning for a flight that evening to Houston where I would meet a friend at 2am and drive through the night to Pharr in the Rio Grande Valley for a first for USA Black-headed Nightingale Thrush (see photos) . The bird had been discovered 2 weeks ago in a backyard. What’s remarkable about this yard is that it is also hosting a Blue Mockingbird (less than 5 US records) (see photos) and has also hosted other megas such as Slate-throated Redstart.

What’s perhaps even more remarkable are the owners (the Williams) who not only tolerate the constant stream of birders but even welcome them providing lawn chairs and free bottles of water for the weary (sometimes it is hard work relaxing on the recliners whilst watching Kiskadees come to the bird bath a few feet away Never has there been such a pampered set of birders waiting for a US first. Remember that next time you can’t feel your toes as you stand in a drenched Gambell boneyard.

Birders waiting for the Black-headed Nightingale Thrush. As you can see, conditions were quite tough:

The Williams bought the property when it consisted of a few trees and a dried out lawn and through a lot of hard work turned it in to a wild birding oasis. Even if there were no vagrants, you could still spend a very pleasant few hours enjoying the Kiskadees, thrashers, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers , Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Clay-colored Robin and Plain Chachalacas and much more feeding on the fruit and visiting the drip every few minutes. Photo ops are very good. There is a donation box at the front for $10 and it’s worth every penny. I hope all who come give generously and tip too.

Anyway, after a flight that was delayed by 45mins and then a 6 hour drive, we arrive at 8am only to find the bird was last seen at 7:15am. If only my flight wasn’t 45mins late! At least the bird was still around and so we felt confident it would pay one of its regular visits within then next 2 hours…14 hours later and not a sign! Boredom and a sense of failure was setting in. Even the team captain John Odgers who has been great at updating Texbirds every day on the thrush’s movements and was making encouraging noises about it making an appearance any moment had a sense of resignation on his face. He looked like Phil Jackson waiting for the inevitable final whistle in the Lakers/Pistons final. Still, on paper, it was a great day on the chairs with Blue Mockingbird making regular appearances along with White-eyed Vireo and Great Kiskadees. We went to bed that night mentally preparing ourselves that perhaps the thrush had moved on.

Sunday at 5:30am, we were back on site, trying to find our seats in the dark. We only had a few hours before the drive back to Houston so if this bird was going to show, it had to be soon. Almost immediately, we heard a tantalising vireo-like song from the thicket next to us. After a short while it stopped, its identity unresolved. 8am saw us napping and still no sign of said thrush. By this point, I had resigned myself to failure and a long drive back and at least wanted to be awake for the drive. Suddenly, the vireo-like songster started up again and immediately woke us. We jumped up and joined some birders by the fence who were watching the thrush. What a relief and what a great bird. We watched it for almost an hour singing and feeding on the thickets on both sides of the bird bath. An attractive thrush with orange orbitals and bright legs and bill.

Now back to Houston but on the way a stop off to see some Aplomado Falcons by the side of the highway. Heat haze was pretty bad so photos even poorer than my usual standard but you get the idea.

A stop off at Jesse Jones in Houston to look for Swainson’s Warbler was derailed by a massive thunderstorm. We witnessed a thundering bolt of lightning explosively crash down on a freeway sign ahead of us. The sign exploded in a shower of sparks. This truly looked like the hand of god! This storm meant more waiting – another 4 hours at Houston airport coupled with missing my connection in Phoenix and a night there. I arrived at work on Monday morning a little exhausted but at least it wasn’t a run of the mill weekend.

More experimenting with the Coolpix and the results seem to be getting better. Despite the wind adding some shake to the tripod, Western Sandpipers were close enough to get some decent shots. Camera set on “Manual” mode and shutter speed was 1/125. The Western Sands were very territorial, always fighting with each other over patches of mud. Other highlights were 3 Red-necked Phalaropes, 5 Sanderling and about 30 Red Knots (some birds in breeding plumage)

Here’s a Short-billed Dowitcher

and Western Sandpipers

Went out for a few hours at lunchtime to Rancho Sierra Vista in the Santa Monica Mountains (101 north and exit Lynn and head south for 6miles). Didn’t see any Grasshopper Sparrows in a brief search but did see good flocks of Vaux’s Swifts, 2 or 3 Blue Grosbeaks and a nice singing Lazuli Bunting and brief looks at a female Bullock’s Oriole. It was quite windy and most birds I saw were dashing from one bush to the next so photography was limited. The only obliging birds were some California Quails. Here’s a male and a female. Click on pics for bigger pictures:

So I finally managed to see the condors in the San Gabriels. After a 1/2 hr wait during which time I seriously doubted that I was in the right place, 2 birds appeared above the ridge and sailed around one of the radio towers before landing. Pretty huge! They were far off and there was a heat haze and I was unable to read their tags. I took some record shots. A little while later further down the road, I stopped to take some scenic pics and the same pair (presumably) sailed over me. This is a good site to see these birds – perhaps only 1.5 hrs (or less) from LAX?

Land of the Condors

Los Angeles in the background

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