See what going on in my new blog.

http://antshrike.blogspot.com/

Saw this cool American Bittern at the Llano Grande flood channel south of Estera Llano Grande State Park. Check out my new blog for a complete list.

http://antshrike.blogspot.com

Check out this Red-necked Phalarope I saw at Sal del Rey this morning.

Then there was this guy on the way home.

Check out my new bog for details. http://antshrike.blogspot.com/

With the recent troubles on Surfbirds (which I still love!) I’ve started a new birding blog.

http://antshrike.blogspot.com/

Check it out.

Here’s a poor pic of the Rufous Backed Robin at Santa Ana NWR.

Check out my new blog at http://antshrike.blogspot.com/

With Surfbirds recent server problems I started a new blog. Check out

http://antshrike.blogspot.com/

Location: Frontera Audubon Center
Observation date: 1/27/07
Number of species: 31

Plain Chachalaca 8
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Green Parakeet 10
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Great Kiskadee 4
White-eyed Vireo 3
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Black-crested Titmouse 1
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 8
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 15
Northern Mockingbird 5
Long-billed Thrasher 2
Curve-billed Thrasher 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Wilson’s Warbler 3
Summer Tanager 1
Olive Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 3
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
Altamira Oriole 1
Lesser Goldfinch 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://www.ebird.org/tx)

Winter in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas is usually know for the time to look for Mexican vagrants. This year is knd of slow for rarities from south of the Border. However wintering warblers that are usually few in numbers seem to be everywhere. Here’s a list of 25 species that have been found in Cameron and Hidalgo Counties this winter.

Blue-winged Warbler One at Sable Palm
Orange-crowned Warbler Commonest Valey Warbler
Nashville Warbler Uncommon but annual
Northern Parula Singles at Anzalduas and Sal del Rey
Tropical Parula Two at Bentsen, one at Canon Road
Yellow Warbler Five at Delta Lake
Mangrove Warbler Scarlet’s flock in the mangroves at Port Isabel
Black-throated Blue Warbler One wintering in Harlingen
Yellow-rumped Warbler Common in Winter
Black-throated Gray Warbler Singles at Anzalduas and Bentsen
Black-throated Green Warbler Frontera. Anzalduas, Sabal Palm
Townsend’s Warbler Two at Anzalduas and one at Santa Ana NWR
Hermit Warbler Brilliant male at Anzalduas
Yellow-throated Warbler Delta Lake. Anzalduas, Frontera, Sabal Palms
Pine Warbler Anzalduas, Delta Lake
Black-and-white Warbler uncommon throughout Valley
American Redstart One at Frontera
Ovenbird Two at Frontera
Northern Waterthrush Two at Frontera, uncommon in mangroves
Mourning/MacGillivray’s Warbler One on Rio Grande near Progreso Lakes
Common Yellowthroat
Gray-crowned Yellowthroat One or two pairs at Sabal Palms
Hooded Warbler one at Sabal Palm
Wilson’s Warbler Sabal Palms, Frontera, Delta Lake
Yellow-breasted Chat Estero Llano Grande and near Progreso Lakes

After six days of cold wet weather, we finally got a nice day so I headed uo to Sal del Rey about 35 miles north west of Weslaco. Sal del Rey is a natural salt pan that drains the surrounding brush country. A source of salt to Native Americans and the Spanish during colonial times, it’s now a part of the Lower Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. And when it has water it serves at a great place to look for coastal waterbirds here in Hidalgo County.

For at least the fourth consecutive winter Sal del Rey has been the home of the only wintering population of Wilsons Phalaropes in the USA. Also noteworthy on this trip were 20 Sanderlings and 35 Snowy Plovers. Pretty good for being about 50 miles from the coast.

95 Greater White-fronted Goose
160 Snow Goose
150 Northern Shoveler
15 Northern Bobwhite
350 Eared Grebe
2 Black Vulture
6 Turkey Vulture
3 Harris’s Hawk
3 Red-tailed Hawk
35 Snowy Plover
4 Killdeer
50 Black-necked Stlt
5 American Avocet
12 Greater Yellowlegs
200 Lesser Yellowlegs
20 Sanderling
70 Western Sandpiper
100 Least Sandpiper
4 Stilt Sandpiper
97 Wilson’s Phalarope
5 Laughing Gull
40 Ring-billed Gull
15 Mourning Dove
20 Inca Dove
1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker
2 Ladder-backed Woodpecker
8 Eastern Phoebe
1 Great Kiskadee
1 Couch’s Kingbird
1 White-eyed Vireo
3 Verdin
4 Cactus Wren
4 Bewick’s Wren
6 House Wren
12 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
3 Northern Mockingbird
1 Curve-billed Thrasher
40 American Pipit
4 Orange-crowned Warbler
20 Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
2 Olive Sparrow
3 Cassin’s Sparrow
1 Lark Sparrow
10 Savannah Sparrow
1 Grasshopper Sparrow
20 Lincoln’s Sparrow
4 Northern Cardinal
5 Pyrrhuloxia
20 Red-winged Blackbird
30 Western Meadowlark
1 Great-tailed Grackle

After a couple of years away from my blog I decided to get it going again. It was a cool, wet muddy morning at Frontera. Nothing of note . Eight species of warblers were nice but seems to be pretty normal this winter.

Location: Frontera Audubon Center
Observation date: 1/20/07
Number of species: 34

Plain Chachalaca 10
Cooper’s Hawk 1
White-winged Dove 1
Inca Dove 18
White-tipped Dove 12
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2
Great Kiskadee 4
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Green Jay 2
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 2
House Wren 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
American Robin 2
Northern Mockingbird 6
Curve-billed Thrasher 1
Cedar Waxwing 20
Orange-crowned Warbler 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Yellow-throated Warbler 3
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Wilson’s Warbler 2
Summer Tanager 1
Olive Sparrow 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Great-tailed Grackle 1
Altamira Oriole 2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://www.ebird.org/tx)