Lower Rio Grande Valley

[Ben Lamb]

Hello All,

I'm glad to see the forums back. After seeing that Betsy was headed to the LRGV, I got jealous and my wife and I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to south Texas. We based ourselves in McAllen and went as far upriver as Salineno and as far downriver as South Padre Island.

In three days of fairly intense effort (Saturday - Monday), we got 117 species. The unquestionable highlight was three Brown Jays at Salineno, including a juvenile with its bright orange eyering and bill. Also at Salineno were four species of orioles (Hooded, Altamira, Audubon's and Bullock's) and a Clay-Colored Robin.

Other highlights were White-tailed Kite (near Laguna Atascosa NWR), Buff-Bellied Hummingbird (Santa Ana NWR), Couch's Kingbird (Santa Ana NWR) and Black Phoebe (Roma Bluffs). We also saw all three kingfishers within an hour at Anzalduas (Green) and Bentsen State Park (Belted and Ringed). We saw Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks at multiple locations.

We tried for, but missed, the Hermit Warbler that has been reported at Anzalduas County Park on Texbirds. We also missed the Groove-Billed Anis reported at Laguna Atascosa (despite two attempts there), which I understand are quite uncommon in winter.

If we had found any native sparrows other than Lincoln's and Olive, or if the weather at Santa Ana on Monday (43 degrees and 30+ MPH wind) had been better, we'd have had a species count to brag about.

Betsy - I'm eager to hear how you did. Good luck getting home.

Good birding,
Ben

[betsy]

Well, Ben, we cut our trip a mite short in order to avoid the possibility of encountering icy roads on our way back to The Woodlands, so we had only 2.5 days of fairly intense birding (Friday through midday Sunday). I didn't bother making a total species count -- it was my first ever trip to the LRGV, so I was focussed on the specialties of the area, most of which which were lifers for me. I didn't bother counting a number of the species that I can see up here. (Wouldn't have known what a braggable species count for the LRGV was in any event.)

We spent the first night on S. Padre, having birded parts of the Katy Prairie on the way down and seen the Couch's Kingbird that's been reported there. I had thought that "Katy Prairie" referred to a preserved bit of land when I read the term in various texbirds reports, but learned that while the Katy Prairie Conservancy does hold some of the land, the term itself is more like saying the Post Oak region -- it encompasses plenty of farms and subdivisions as well as land that's in the process of being restored to what looks like shortgrass prairie (?).

Checked out the boardwalk at the Convention Center on S. Padre in the morning, hoping to see all or some of the six varieties of rail that are reputed to be there, but a local told us that Common Moorhens had moved in and chased all the rails away, so we moved on to Sabal Palm Grove, where I saw my lifer Green Jays (such remarkable faces they have!), White-tipped Doves, Least Grebes, Great Kiskadees, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Long-billed Thrasher, Plain Chachalacas & the black-crested variety of Tufted Titmouse. On the causeway from S Padre there were Brown Pelicans and along the coast road (Hwy 48) I noted American White Pelicans & a couple of plegadis Ibis (presumably White-faced) flying, Roseate Spoonbills & Great Egrets standing on a spit, a Long-billed Curlew and glimpses of other birds that we were going too fast to identify.

Visited Laguna Atascosa in the afternoon, where I picked up lifers White-tailed Hawk & Kite, Harris' Hawk (on the highway just after leaving, actually), the Prairie race of Merlin & Olive Sparrow, along with Brad McKinney's seasonally annotated checklist of LRGV birds, and got to see more of some of the species I'd first seen at Sabal Palm Grove. One of the entertaining sights on the drive into Laguna Atascosa was a group of about eight Crested Caracaras (sorry ABA, but I prefer the old, alliterative name to the new Northern Caracara name) which lifted off from some carcass and circled in the air -- have never seen so many at once before or since.

Spent the next two nights in McAllen. Saturday morning we visited the DeWind's in Salineno, where we got the lifer three Brown Jays, the same four species of Oriole, Clay-colored Robin, Common Ground Dove, and Black Phoebe & Ringed Kingfisher at the riverside. I'm also counting the Lincoln's Sparrow at DeWind's as a lifer because it's the first time I've ever gotten a really good, long look at one, even though some folks find them at the old fish hatchery. The Brown Jays were three different ages. One was clearly a youngster, with yellow feet, legs, bill & eye ring. One was clearly an adult, with dark bill, eye ring and legs & feet. And one was intermediate, with a dark eye ring, but bill, legs and feet that were mottled dark and yellow. Amongst the food items being offered at the DeWind's, I was surprised to see marshmallows, which the orioles were quite fond of.

Tried for a Burrowing Owl twice, once that afternoon and once early the next morning, but it had been frightened away by birders sticking cameras in its face, according to a justifiably annoyed local, so we didn't find it.

Other lifers (for me): Green Kingfisher & Buff-bellied Hummingbird at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Lesser Goldfinch at Frontera Audubon Center (which also boasted an occasional-for-the-season Ovenbird, a rare for the season female Summer Tanager and a Buff-bellied that we got an uncountable fleeting glimpse of as it zipped by), Townsend's Warbler at Anzalduas (only accidental for the season) and a pair of Tropical Kingbirds on wires above a parking area in front of a bank on 10th Street in McAllen, north of US 83. Tracy & her son Justin, two of my companions, had an Ipod with birdsongs on it, so we were able to test both the Couch's and Tropical Kingbirds we found for responses/non-responses to songs of both species.


Did not encounter any Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, btw. Isn't that odd, since you saw them at multiple locations Ben? We did find an assortment of warblers and some American Pipits at Anzalduas.

We didn't bird Bentsen because we got there too late and we left hardly any time at all for Santa Ana, so I still have two of the biggies to look forward to birding on another trip someday. And plenty of valley specialties left to get.

Spent three nights in The Woodlands waiting for icy road conditions on I-45 to clear before braving the drive back to Dallas. Flo's backyard is popular with the local birds, so I got to watch my lifer Pine Warblers, as well as a Red-headed Woodpecker, a species I seldom see, along with 18 other species during the wait.

It was great to finally get to see and hear some of those species that have been tantalizing me from the pages of my field guides. I do have a nagging feeling that some of those sightings were too easy since they occurred at various feeders, but given the distances involved in Texas, I daresay I should be glad that several lifers were concentrated in a few places. Gave me a chance to see some of them again and again at different feeders.

Speaking of weather, it was awfully darned windy out there -- is it always like that?

Good company, good birds, good trip. Glad I went. Want to go again -- I can see why you had an attack of envy and had to dash out there yourselves, Ben. :) I certainly am glad that the icy weather held off long enough to let us get there and do some birding!

More good birding....
Betsy

1/26/07 -- added the Summer Tanager and Townsend's Warbler that I'd forgotten to mention earlier.

[Ben Lamb]

Betsy, it sounds like you saw some great birds! For me, the disappointment was not seeing more raptors, like the white-tailed hawk and harris's hawk you mentioned. Honestly I don't know what a good species number there is, but my 'stretch' goal was to surpass the count we got there last spring at the height of migration (122). Since we're beginners, I figured that would mean we'd made progress at finding the birds.

We also went to the SPI convention center for rails, and like you saw none (though we saw plenty of moorhens.... I didn't know that they don't get along with rails). Last time we saw clapper rails there. This trip the only rails we saw were soras at Santa Ana. By the way, last spring the convention center was an amazing spot for birds other than rails - the 'warbler rest stop' at the foot of the boardwalk lived up to it's name, and had a golden-winged and a MacGillivary's (IDed by someone better than me) among others.

I wish that we had time to make it to Sabal Palm. It's a great spot. Last year we had a moment of comedy when we found a gray-crowned yellowthroat. We were about 5 months into birding at the time. We watched it for several minutes, and were going through the field guides trying to find it (we had Kaufman with us, and it's not in there). About that time, a group came up behind us and I walked back a little way to ask if they knew what it was. About that time they heard it, and nearly trampled us getting to it. It turned out that they were a team competing in the Texas Birding Classic. I guess that's the way beginner's luck works. They were very nice in explaining what the fuss was about - in fact, we kept running into them all weekend and they helped us see and identify birds several times.

I agree with your observation about how easy some of the birds are at feeders, particularly at the DeWinds. They are remarkably generous people to invite the public to their land.

I also agree about the green jays - I especially like the little tuft of blue right above each eye. We'll probably go back for spring migration. I'm sure that High Island is better for warblers and such, but we really enjoy the green jays and kiskadees.

Ben

[betsy]

I did see some great birds. Just edited in a couple that were rare or accidental for the season that I'd forgotten to mention (see note at bottom of earlier post).

Actually, the Harris' Hawks weren't in Laguna Atascosa -- we saw six or eight of them perched on the utility poles lining Hwy 83 right after we left there (mid-afternoon). But the species mix at any one place is apt to change from day to day, judging by the reports I see on texbirds. Some of the birds we hoped to see on our trip (but didn't see, unfortunately) showed up at the Laguna feeders several days after we left. Wouldn'tcha know!

I like the white X on the front of the Green Jay faces, too. Not to mention the entire combination of colors they have.

You're right about the generosity of the DeWinds. It's pretty obvious that they enjoy the company of both the birds and the visiting birders. Doesn't hurt that the birders bring offerings of birdseed, oranges, sugar, peanut butter, etc., to help attract the birds.

Those Green Jays and Great Kiskadees are definitely engaging, but I have to pay a spring migration visit to High Island at least once in my life!

[lei]

Any more info on Sabal Palm Grove? Such as park hours and lodging info? It looks like a nice place to photo birds.:)

Thanks.

[betsy]

Lei, please don’t take away the impression that Sabal Palm had more valley specialties than anywhere else – it was simply the first place I saw them. They kept cropping up in other places as well. Nevertheless, it would be a good place to go photographing since it’s relatively small. Here’s their website with the info you want: http://www.audubon.org/chapter/tx/tx/Sabal.html

We stayed at a La Quinta on South Padre, but Brownsville would be closer. Here are some good resources for finding lodgings:

http://www.traveltex.com/search/LodgingSearch.aspx (http://www.traveltex.com/search/LodgingSearch.aspx)

http://www.go-texas.net/Rio-Grande-Valley (http://www.go-texas.net/Rio-Grande-Valley)

http://www.allgetaways.com/hotels/hotel-state.asp?state=TX (http://www.allgetaways.com/hotels/hotel-state.asp?state=TX)


Some other resources for planning a trip to the LRGV:

http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/

The Lower Texas Coast Birding Trail map: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildlife_trails/coastal/lower/ (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildlife_trails/coastal/lower/)

There’s also a good LRGV Bird & Butterfly map we picked up for free and saw at several locations down there (state parks, Audubon centers, motels) which gives info about numbers of sites to visit on the back. It’s published jointly by the Rio Grande Valley Chamber of Commerce and Topp Direct Marketing. I don’t know if you can get them to mail you one in advance, but here’s how to reach them, just I case:

http://www.valleychamber.com/visitor-guide/index.shtml (http://www.valleychamber.com/visitor-guide/index.shtml)

The RGV C of C website has transportation & lodging info:

http://www.valleychamber.com/visitor-guide/transportation.shtml (http://www.valleychamber.com/visitor-guide/transportation.shtml)

…birding info: http://www.valleychamber.com/visitor-guide/birding.shtml (http://www.valleychamber.com/visitor-guide/birding.shtml)

and more at the various links on the website.

A Birder's Guide to the Rio Grande Valley -- slightly out-of-date already (Estero Llano Grande apparently wasn't yet a State Park when it was published) but nevertheless has good info not all of which is found elsewhere, including an annotated list of birds of the region with where and when to find them:
http://www.globecorner.com/t/t18/9079.php (http://www.globecorner.com/t/t18/9079.php)

http://www.southtexasnature.com/pdf/Layout.pdf (http://www.southtexasnature.com/pdf/Layout.pdf)

Other resources and links here: http://www.naturallycurious.net/tx/txlrgvgds.htm

http://www.thedauphins.net/birdinglinks.html (http://www.thedauphins.net/birdinglinks.html)

I hope you do go there and return to post lots of your grand photos, Lei!

[lei]

Betsy: thanks a lot for the links and info. I'll digest the info and do some plannings. I'm not sure when I'll have time to go there.

[betsy]

My birding companions finally posted some photos of birds we saw on our trip, along with a link to more photos:

http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4310

The link to Tracy's additional photos (see the sub albums): http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/PrincessMarilyn/New%20Cam%2030D/RGVJanuary%202007/

[lei]

I have tried to order "A Birder's Guide to the Rio Grande Valley" for a few weeks now. It seems to me that this book is out of stock in most places. :(

[betsy]

Hmm. I was going to direct you to ABA Sales, since the ABA publishes the book, but I notice on their listing at the bottom of the page below that it's sold out (probably because of the upcoming birding festival(s)in the valley) and no longer available -- they say there's a revision due out late this year so I don't imagine they'll republish the 2003 edition.

http://www.abasales.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=19_20

Well, I'm pretty sure that the Wild Birds Unlimited on Lover's Lane in Dallas has a copy, although I think it's the 1999 edition. If you want to call them: 214-891-9793. You might also try a Half-Price Books store -- I think I saw a copy in the Northwest Hwy store last time I was there.

Here's the Amazon entry for it, but since they don't have any used copies listed any more, they may not have new copies in stock either:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1878788183/thecheapestbo-20

You can go there without having a copy of this book, though -- the Great Coastal Birding Trail map for the Lower Texas Coast gives you enough info to find all the places you might want to go. It even has directions to the USFWS Kepler Tract in Salineño which you can use to find the DeWind's -- just keep going on that river road until you get to the river. The last property on the left is the DeWind's -- you'll see a low sign welcoming birders next to a dirt drive. Park on the side of the river road and walk up the drive until you see their RV. On the far side of the RV, near its closest end, they'll have two rows of folding chairs set out for visiting birders to sit in, facing their several feeding stations. You're quite likely to find them sitting in the chairs closest to the RV. They love to have photographers -- especially if the photographers eventually send them a few prints -- they have a binder full of them on a low table in front of the chairs, along with guest books arranged by state and country for visitors to sign in. (It's a matter of some pride to them, how many visiting birders they manage to attract each winter, so feel free to watch the birds there even if they're not there.)

But if you're going to be there for any length of time, the book is a definite help because it tells you about all the extra spots you might look for birds along the roads and tells you which species you might expect to see at any of those spots -- it's far more detailed than any other resource for the area.

Were you planning on going there in the near future?