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27 Aug Starr County [Mary Beth Stowe ] 26 Aug Quinta Mazatlan & Hidalgo Pumphouse [Mary Beth Stowe ] 25 Aug Laguna Atascoa [Mary Beth Stowe ] 22 Aug Jabiru and Sacahuistale Flats [Mary Beth Stowe ] 14 Aug Monte Cristo/Edinburg [Mary Beth Stowe ] 12 Aug South Padre Island [Mary Beth Stowe ] 8 Aug Anzalduas & NABA [Mary Beth Stowe ] 7 Aug Santa Ana NWR [Mary Beth Stowe ] 6 Aug La Sal del Rey [Mary Beth Stowe ] 5 Aug Estero Llano Grande [Mary Beth Stowe ] 31 Jul Quinta Mazatlan/Hidalgo Pumphouse [Mary Beth Stowe ] 30 Jul Laguna Atascosa [Mary Beth Stowe ] 29 Jul Starr Co. [Mary Beth Stowe ] 28 Jul Cannon Road [Mary Beth Stowe ] 28 Jul Spam message forwarded by mistake [Barbara Passmore ] 28 Jul With best wishes, and in hopes to hear from you back [Fritz Zavala ] 25 Jul Swallow-tailed Kites - Sacahuistale [Mary Beth Stowe ] 21 Jul Anzalduas & NABA [Mary Beth Stowe ] 18 Jul Weslaco [Mary Beth Stowe ] 17 Jul Monte Cristo & Edinburg [Mary Beth Stowe ] 16 Jul La Sal Del Rey [Mary Beth Stowe ] 15 Jul Bentsen State Park [Mary Beth Stowe ] 10 Jul Santa Ana NWR [Mary Beth Stowe ] 4 Jul Santa Monica Wetlands [Mary Beth Stowe ] 3 Jul Estero Llano Grande SP [Mary Beth Stowe ] 27 Jun Sabal Palm & Hwy 48 [Mary Beth Stowe ] 26 Jun Bentsen SP [Mary Beth Stowe ] 25 Jun Laguna Atascosa [Mary Beth Stowe ] 24 Jun Sacahuistale & Port Mansfield [Mary Beth Stowe ] 24 Jun Cannon Road Loop [Mary Beth Stowe ] 23 Jun Sacahuistale & Port Mansfield [Mary Beth Stowe ] 20 Jun Monte Cristo & Edinburg [Mary Beth Stowe ] 19 Jun Santa Ana NWR [Mary Beth Stowe ] 18 Jun Falcon, Salieno, & Roma [Mary Beth Stowe ] 17 Jun Anzalduas & NABA [Mary Beth Stowe ] 13 Jun La Sal del Rey [Mary Beth Stowe ] 12 Jun Estero Llano Grande SP [Mary Beth Stowe ] 11 Jun 11th Hour SB Flycatcher @ Quinta Mazatlan [Mary Beth Stowe ] 30 May Sabal Palm Grove [Mary Beth Stowe ] 29 May Santa Monica Wetlands [Mary Beth Stowe ] 28 May South Padre Island [Mary Beth Stowe ] 27 May River Roads & Roma [Mary Beth Stowe ] 26 May Old Port Isabel Rd, Palo Alto, & Los Ebanos [Mary Beth Stowe ] 23 May Weslaco/McAllen [Mary Beth Stowe ] 22 May Bentsen SP [Mary Beth Stowe ] 21 May Brownsville Fisheries, Dump, & Hwy 48 [Mary Beth Stowe ] 20 May Probable Yellow-green Vireo on Cannon Road [Mary Beth Stowe ] 19 May Laguna Atascosa NWR [Mary Beth Stowe ] 15 May Monte Cristo & Edinburg WBC [Mary Beth Stowe ] 13 May Bell's Vireo @ Santa Ana [Mary Beth Stowe ] 12 May Boca Chica Tract [Mary Beth Stowe ] 9 May Anzalduas & NABA [Mary Beth Stowe ] Subject: Starr County From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:24:47 EDT Hi, all! Birded Falcon State Park and Salieno this morning; highlights include a male Vermilion Flycatcher at the picnic area, a couple of singing Black-throated Sparrows, and a pair of Osprey (one with a fish). Migrant warblers were moving through, but I couldn't get on any of them (the glimpse of one suggested Yellow). A couple of young Harris' Hawks gave great views in the primitive camping area. Salieno added several nice woodland species to the day list, but none of the "upper valley" specialties. Several Ruby-throated Hummers were battling it out at the Roma WBC (if there were any Blackchins there, they were female-types...) The leps really stole the show both at Falcon and Roma; pics for those interested are posted here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox&page=all_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox&page=all) Two bird lists follow: Location: Falcon SP (Starr Co.)(LTC 084) Observation date: 8/27/08 Notes: Osprey pair. Also 2 Archilochus sp. and an additional 15 "Cardipyrrs" Number of species: 40 Northern Bobwhite 8 Neotropic Cormorant 1 Great Egret 6 Turkey Vulture 2 Osprey 2 Harris's Hawk 2 Crested Caracara 1 Killdeer 4 Spotted Sandpiper 2 Upland Sandpiper 2 Laughing Gull 23 White-winged Dove 7 Mourning Dove 5 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Greater Roadrunner 5 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 4 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 9 Vermilion Flycatcher 1 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 4 Couch's Kingbird 1 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2 White-eyed Vireo 3 Green Jay 4 Verdin 4 Cactus Wren 9 Bewick's Wren 4 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 8 Northern Mockingbird 7 Curve-billed Thrasher 6 Olive Sparrow 9 Cassin's Sparrow 3 Black-throated Sparrow 2 Northern Cardinal 7 Pyrrhuloxia 10 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Great-tailed Grackle 50 Bullock's Oriole 8 Location: Salineņo (LTC 080) Observation date: 8/27/08 Number of species: 28 Great Blue Heron 1 Snowy Egret 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Laughing Gull 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 1 White-winged Dove 1 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 2 White-tipped Dove 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Groove-billed Ani 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 2 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 1 Couch's Kingbird 1 Green Jay 1 Cave Swallow 3 Cactus Wren 1 Bewick's Wren 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Northern Mockingbird 2 Olive Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 1 Red-winged Blackbird 4 Bullock's Oriole 1 House Sparrow 20 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)Subject: Quinta Mazatlan & Hidalgo Pumphouse From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:41:17 EDT Hi, all! My main birding focus was Quinta Mazatlan this morning, where the mosquitoes were horrendous but the migrants were definitely coming through! Highlights include a Bell's Vireo, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and several Yellow Warblers. Seven flyover Cattle Egrets and one flyover Upland Sandpiper were new for my list there. At Hidalgo Pumphouse I was primarily looking for leps and didn't keep a bird list, although I probably should have as I had several add-ons for the day, including the resident Black Phoebe, a calling Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and a couple of Groove-billed Anis. A couple of Ruby-throated Hummers were entertaining by battling over one of the butterfly bushes! Pics from yesterday and today (mostly leps, I'm afraid) are posted here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox&page=all_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox&page=all) Bird list for Quinta: Location: Quinta Mazatlan WBC (McAllen) (LTC 063) Observation date: 8/26/08 Number of species: 36 Plain Chachalaca 12 Cattle Egret 7 Killdeer 2 Upland Sandpiper 1 White-winged Dove 96 Mourning Dove 4 Inca Dove 2 White-tipped Dove 5 Green Parakeet 6 Chimney Swift 3 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 7 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2 Olive-sided Flycatcher 2 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 4 Tropical Kingbird 1 Couch's Kingbird 3 White-eyed Vireo 1 Bell's Vireo 1 Green Jay 1 Black-crested Titmouse 1 Carolina Wren 5 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2 Northern Mockingbird 4 Long-billed Thrasher 1 Curve-billed Thrasher 2 European Starling 4 Yellow Warbler 8 Olive Sparrow 7 Northern Cardinal 2 Red-winged Blackbird 1 Great-tailed Grackle 6 Orchard Oriole 5 Lesser Goldfinch 2 House Sparrow 24 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)Subject: Laguna Atascoa From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:43:45 EDT Hi, all! Javier DeLeon joined me this morning scouring the roads around Laguna Atascosa (the Bayside Drive was still closed--Stacy was telling us that there's still quite a bit of standing water and several potholes). Post-breeding flocking is definitely happening, with Redwings in the thousands and grackles almost that high! There were lots of Dickcissels around as well compared to previous trips. Other flyover flocks included White Ibis, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, Snowy Egrets, Black-necked Stilts, and Blue-winged Teal. Javier spotted my FOS Shovelers flying over, as well as the only Long-billed Curlew of the day. The canal bridge along General Brant Road had three Least Bitterns (new for the route), and a possible Solitary Sandpiper, but to my ear they sound identical to Spotted, so I let that one go. Javier thought he had a young night heron, but the thing slunk away before I could see it. Had a pair of Ospreys coming in as well, along with three different White-tailed Kites. Lots of Valley specialties were vocalizing along the forested road, but other things were down: we only had two Botteri's Sparrows coming in (right at The Sign), and another where Laguna Vista Road ends at the private property, where we also had our only Cassin's Sparrow of the day. This area also hosted our only Cactus Wrens, White-tailed Hawk, and Bewick's Wrens. We poked around the Visitor's Center where there was a lot of damage from Dolly so far as the feeding areas and blind went (the structures themselves were fine, but there were a lot of downed trees). Didn't stop curious Green Jays and White-tipped Doves from coming in, though! We also had a waterthrush of some kind come tearing in to the water feature; it didn't stay long enough for a look, but my gut reaction was Louisiana, as it appeared to have a very wide eyestripe. The gold was along the Kiskadee Trail, however: right away Javier spotted a couple of warblers: Canada and Hooded! They seemed to hang around together, but we also found some Yellows, and a loudly peeping empid that sounded just like the Yellow-bellieds wintering in Belize when I was there, so that's what I called it. We continued down to Osprey Overlook; the resaca was rather quiet except for a Green Heron and another possible Solitary Sandpiper yelling, and the Laguna itself was also pretty birdless, although full of water. On the way in an Olive-sided Flycatcher was sitting ram-rod straight right next to the road! From there we poked down Laguna Vista Road until the oncoming storm looked too threatening (picked up a pack of caracaras and vultures), then headed back to the VC where the sun had come out and we were able to pick up a couple of leps. Another first for the route, a hen Turkey, made her way across the parking lot! A Roadrunner rattled from one of the dead trees, but the storm was coming, so we headed back to the car and didn't quite make it before the deluge came! :-) It was a great morning, though, with great company! Earlier Javier had shown me a Spadefoot Toad, one of the many that were suicidally hopping across the road! Bird List: Location: Laguna Atascosa NWR (LTC 024) Observation date: 8/25/08 Notes: Also had a waterthrush sp., and a possible Solitary Sandpiper. Ospreys were together. Route did not include Bayside Drive, as it's still closed. Number of species: 73 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 36 Blue-winged Teal 20 Northern Shoveler 2 Plain Chachalaca 8 Wild Turkey 1 Northern Bobwhite 30 Least Grebe 1 Least Bittern 3 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Snowy Egret 10 Little Blue Heron 10 Tricolored Heron 8 Green Heron 4 White Ibis 29 Turkey Vulture 5 Osprey 2 White-tailed Kite 3 Harris's Hawk 2 White-tailed Hawk 1 Crested Caracara 3 Killdeer 3 Black-necked Stilt 40 Upland Sandpiper 1 Long-billed Curlew 1 Least Sandpiper 2 Laughing Gull 4 Black Tern 4 Forster's Tern 5 White-winged Dove 2 Mourning Dove 63 Common Ground-Dove 11 White-tipped Dove 13 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 4 Greater Roadrunner 9 Groove-billed Ani 5 Common Nighthawk 2 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 3 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 11 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 5 Olive-sided Flycatcher 1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1 Empidonax sp. 2 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 6 Couch's Kingbird 1 Loggerhead Shrike 1 White-eyed Vireo 5 Green Jay 12 Purple Martin 6 Cave Swallow 9 Barn Swallow 23 Verdin 1 Cactus Wren 2 Carolina Wren 1 Bewick's Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 9 Long-billed Thrasher 12 European Starling 7 Yellow Warbler 3 Hooded Warbler 1 Canada Warbler 1 Olive Sparrow 37 Cassin's Sparrow 1 Botteri's Sparrow 3 Northern Cardinal 20 Blue Grosbeak 3 Dickcissel 19 Red-winged Blackbird 1214 Eastern Meadowlark 10 Great-tailed Grackle 551 Orchard Oriole 9 Altamira Oriole 1 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)Subject: Jabiru and Sacahuistale Flats From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:57:29 EDT Hi, all! Headed out to Sacahuistale Flats this morning, and along FM 490 joined about a dozen other happy birders who had the immature Jabiru staked out on the north side of the road, just west of FM 1425, along a dirt road along with several other waders! He was quite a ways out there, so my digiscoped images weren't worthy of the PBase In Box... Headed on to the Flats, where numbers of some species (such as Dickcissels and Olive and Botteri's Sparrows, and particularly Curve-billed Thrashers) were much higher than last month, so I'm presuming these are disbursing families. Purple Martins were out the wazoo as well, with groups of 30 or more birds huddled on the wires at several stops. A hovering White-tailed Kite was new for the route, as well as a flyover White Ibis. Upland Sandpipers were also in good numbers, with two flyovers allowing a look. Other highlights include two Bullock's Orioles (one was a female, the other heard-only), a flock of 30 or so Black Terns batting around a field, and what was probably the same young Red-tailed Hawk as last month. The storms were brewing, and since it was actually raining by the time I got to the Nature Trail at Port Mansfield I canned that walk, but Fred Stone was dry. Some fishermen were braving the storm-damaged dock, but from the safety of shore I added Brown Pelicans, several Great Blue Herons, and a handful of shorebirds to the list. I thought I heard a Piping Plover, but seeing as I've never heard one "live" before and couldn't find the bird I let that one go. I was also sure I heard a Dunlin until I saw that it wasn't on the eBird list of expected species, so that cast enough doubt on the "Cheeek!" I heard to allow that it might have been something else... Stopped by the Jabiru spot on the way back (which was around 11:30), where just one visiting couple was holding watch, but the stork had evidently found another feeding area and was nowhere to be seen. The only decent pics for today include a pretty Cloudless Sulphur by the roadside and a nice storm rolling into Port Mansfield, plus some of the water birds: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox) Two bird lists follow: Location: Sacahuistale Flats (LTC 013) Observation date: 8/22/08 Notes: Also had a flyover flock of 20 shorebirds that struck me as yellowlegs sp. Number of species: 53 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 9 Mottled Duck 2 Northern Bobwhite 16 Great Blue Heron 1 Cattle Egret 23 Black-crowned Night-Heron 2 White Ibis 1 Turkey Vulture 6 White-tailed Kite 1 Harris's Hawk 4 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Killdeer 2 Upland Sandpiper 10 Laughing Gull 2 Black Tern 30 Eurasian Collared-Dove 4 Mourning Dove 34 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 8 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 7 Greater Roadrunner 3 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 16 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 5 Brown-crested Flycatcher 6 Great Kiskadee 16 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 4 Loggerhead Shrike 1 White-eyed Vireo 5 Green Jay 2 Purple Martin 144 Cave Swallow 8 Barn Swallow 9 Verdin 2 Cactus Wren 5 Bewick's Wren 9 Northern Mockingbird 8 Long-billed Thrasher 4 Curve-billed Thrasher 12 European Starling 1 Olive Sparrow 21 Cassin's Sparrow 5 Botteri's Sparrow 12 Lark Sparrow 8 Northern Cardinal 9 Pyrrhuloxia 2 Blue Grosbeak 1 Dickcissel 14 Red-winged Blackbird 79 Eastern Meadowlark 3 Great-tailed Grackle 33 Orchard Oriole 4 Bullock's Oriole 2 House Sparrow 11 Location: Port Mansfield Observation date: 8/22/08 Number of species: 17 Brown Pelican 25 Great Blue Heron 12 Snowy Egret 5 Cattle Egret 2 Turkey Vulture 1 Black-bellied Plover 2 Willet 2 Long-billed Curlew 9 Ruddy Turnstone 8 Sanderling 1 Least Sandpiper 6 Laughing Gull 41 Caspian Tern 1 Forster's Tern 2 Royal Tern 1 Barn Swallow 1 Great-tailed Grackle 8 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)Subject: Monte Cristo/Edinburg From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:00:55 EDT Hi, all! Had a very productive morning along the Monte Cristo tract: just north of the hiking trail along Wallace Road was a flooded field with several shorebirds. Those that were close enough to ID included Least and Baird's Sandpipers side by side, Lesser Yellowlegs and Wilson's Phalaropes hanging out together, several Stilt Sandpipers and Long-billed Dowitchers (the latter still in breeding dress), and WAY out there were several BN Stilts and a few Avocets. Several Black Terns also batted by here. Upland Sandpipers were in good numbers, either hiding in the fields (giving themselves away by their warbly call) or flying overhead. A single Solitary Sandpiper also flew overhead calling, and the Dickcissels for the most part had given up their songs for their buzzy call notes. Raptors along this road included a pair of White-tailed Hawks, a single Swainson's, and a couple of Caracaras. (Either the same Swainson's or another individual showed up along Bryan as well...) Sapo Lake was very productive with several Anhingas (of all the places I visit, this seems to be the most reliable place for them), both grebes, and Least Bittern. Got the day's only Cassin's Sparrow along SR 490, plus a buzzy Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Pulling into North Bryan discovered that the "lake" covered a LOT more of the road this time, but what a treasure trove! The flooded fields surrounded a hammock that held several Fulvous Whistling Ducks down by the water's edge, and even more Black-bellied Whistlers in the trees! Also sharing the trees were several Little Blue Herons and the real prize: a Peregrine Falcon! Backtracked and covered as much of the south end of the loop as I could before again being turned back by a flooded road, then headed over to Edinburg Wetlands. The almost 200-strong army of Neotropic Cormorants was still there (I took pains to count every individual bird this time, just to be sure...), along with a lesser mob of Cattle Egrets. My first Tropical Kingbird of the park twittered from the top of a dead twig, and had a pair of entertaining anis as well. Best lep was a beautiful Gulf Frit. Not many pics today, but the flooded road, the digiscoped Peregrine, another mystery toad, and the Gulfie can be seen here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox) Two bird lists follow: Location: Monte Cristo Tract (LTC 062) Observation date: 8/14/08 Number of species: 75 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 105 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 25 Mottled Duck 13 Blue-winged Teal 2 Northern Bobwhite 32 Least Grebe 2 Pied-billed Grebe 3 Neotropic Cormorant 10 Anhinga 8 Least Bittern 1 Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 8 Snowy Egret 12 Little Blue Heron 9 Cattle Egret 2 Green Heron 3 Turkey Vulture 4 Swainson's Hawk 1 White-tailed Hawk 2 Crested Caracara 4 Peregrine Falcon 1 Common Moorhen 4 American Coot 6 Killdeer 5 Black-necked Stilt 10 American Avocet 3 Spotted Sandpiper 2 Solitary Sandpiper 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 10 Upland Sandpiper 26 Least Sandpiper 10 Baird's Sandpiper 2 Stilt Sandpiper 14 Long-billed Dowitcher 18 Wilson's Phalarope 3 Black Tern 8 Mourning Dove 86 Inca Dove 2 Common Ground-Dove 10 White-tipped Dove 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 4 Groove-billed Ani 5 Common Nighthawk 3 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1 Great Kiskadee 6 Tropical Kingbird 1 Couch's Kingbird 8 Loggerhead Shrike 1 White-eyed Vireo 5 Green Jay 5 Purple Martin 2 Cliff Swallow 2 Cave Swallow 39 Black-crested Titmouse 2 Verdin 2 Bewick's Wren 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Northern Mockingbird 1 Long-billed Thrasher 3 Common Yellowthroat 1 Olive Sparrow 14 Cassin's Sparrow 1 Lark Sparrow 29 Northern Cardinal 15 Pyrrhuloxia 2 Blue Grosbeak 3 Painted Bunting 3 Dickcissel 38 Red-winged Blackbird 62 Eastern Meadowlark 1 Great-tailed Grackle 145 Brown-headed Cowbird 5 Orchard Oriole 7 House Sparrow 6 Location: Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC (LTC 061) Observation date: 8/14/08 Number of species: 24 Neotropic Cormorant 184 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 3 Snowy Egret 6 Tricolored Heron 2 Cattle Egret 80 Green Heron 2 Common Moorhen 2 Killdeer 2 Rock Pigeon 2 Mourning Dove 9 Inca Dove 1 Groove-billed Ani 2 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 1 Great Kiskadee 2 Tropical Kingbird 1 Couch's Kingbird 2 White-eyed Vireo 2 Northern Mockingbird 1 Curve-billed Thrasher 1 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Lesser Goldfinch 1 House Sparrow 18 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-Volkswagen-Jetta-2009/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00030000000007 )Subject: South Padre Island From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:37:18 EDT Hi, all! Headed over to SPI today; somewhere along the line I got the impression that the Laguna Madre Trail was open, but it's not (part of the railing had collapsed, but overall it looked to be in good shape). But at least the restrooms were open! :-) The Clapper Rails were loudly calling, however, and the mudflats out back had a nice assortment of birds, including three Oystercatchers, both Wilson's and Piping Plover, Marbled Godwits, a Long-billed Curlew, and some "standard peeps" that were you to hold a gun to my head I'd call Westerns, but they were really too far away for me to tell. A good assortment of larids was there as well, including the Skimmers. A large group of Black-crowned Night Herons lifted off as I headed back to the parking lot, and a couple of migrant Yellow Warblers was nice; the "warbler rest stop" suffered some treetop damage (as most vegetation does during a hurricane), but from what I could tell the Convention Center seems to have weathered the storm pretty well. Headed up to the end of Ocean Blvd. and checked the beach, where I had a family of Least Terns and another Piping Plover, in addition to some Sanderlings. Stopping along the road added several Common Nighthawks and a couple of singing Meadowlarks, but it was pretty quiet. Picked up a few "suburb birds" by cruising along Laguna, then hiked the footpath around the causeway; the south side had another good batch of larids and shorebirds, the latter mostly Willets, but also another trio of Oystercatchers and a single Whimbrel (another Long-billed Curlew was on the other side). Had the day's only Caspian Tern here, an Osprey hung in the wind overhead with a very small fish, and coming out from under the causeway a still black Black Tern batted by. Made a brief stop at Los Ebanos (which is technically closed right now--Martha said the trails really got hammered, but the house is okay), the highlight being a White Angled Sulphur in their garden! That was my one and only pic of the day (the last one on the Miscellaneous page): _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/misc_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/misc) Bird List: Location: South Padre I.- WBC/Conv Ctr. (LTC 035) Observation date: 8/12/08 Notes: Route ran from the north end of Ocean Blvd to the causeway Number of species: 40 Mottled Duck 1 Brown Pelican 9 Great Blue Heron 7 Great Egret 1 Snowy Egret 2 Little Blue Heron 3 Tricolored Heron 3 Reddish Egret 1 Black-crowned Night-Heron 7 Osprey 1 Clapper Rail 3 Wilson's Plover 1 Piping Plover 2 Killdeer 1 American Oystercatcher 6 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Willet 66 Whimbrel 1 Long-billed Curlew 2 Marbled Godwit 5 Sanderling 10 Western Sandpiper 5 Least Sandpiper 12 Short-billed Dowitcher 8 Laughing Gull 195 Least Tern 4 Caspian Tern 1 Black Tern 1 Royal Tern 27 Sandwich Tern 20 Black Skimmer 10 Mourning Dove 9 Inca Dove 1 Common Nighthawk 7 Barn Swallow 4 Northern Mockingbird 4 Yellow Warbler 2 Eastern Meadowlark 2 Great-tailed Grackle 51 House Sparrow 5 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )Subject: Anzalduas & NABA From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2008 15:29:43 EDT Hi, all! Made the loops around Anzalduas this morning, highlights being a single Fulvous Whistling Duck calling from the river, four Beardless Tyannulets, a couple of Black Phoebes, and the Clay-colored Thrush calling at the 11th hour in the main part of the park near the far restrooms. The river was rather quiet with one each of "Greg & Sneg", a couple of Neotrop Corms, and a Spotted Sandpiper (I heard a flyover Upland in the back area as well). Along the back side had two female Orchard Orioles and a "whitting" Least Flycatcher. Swallows were out the wazoo, mostly Caves but with a few samples of the other species as well. They've started work on The Wall here, and interestingly when I was chatting with the ranger and I asked about that, he said, "There IS no Wall in Hidalgo County!" In answer to my befuddled look he clarified, "There are levee supports that LOOK like a wall, but there's no wall!" So I guess that's the official word, but in answer to my concerns about the back part of the park, he said that would still be open, so that's a bit of good news! Didn't find any of the rare leps reported over at NABA, but logged the usual anis, Altamira Oriole, Clay-colored Thrush, and Long-billed Thrashers. Only got part-way down the Walking Trail due to an overturned tree, but that was okay as I had a mosquito escort the whole way... Had some cooperative Tawny Emperors and a single Giant White that posed for pics, tho... _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox) Two bird lists follow: Location: Anzalduas County Pk (LTC 068) Observation date: 8/8/08 Number of species: 47 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 1 Northern Bobwhite 3 Neotropic Cormorant 2 Great Egret 2 Snowy Egret 2 Turkey Vulture 2 Gray Hawk 2 Killdeer 2 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Upland Sandpiper 1 Laughing Gull 1 Rock Pigeon 39 White-winged Dove 4 Mourning Dove 8 Common Ground-Dove 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Groove-billed Ani 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 15 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 4 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 4 Least Flycatcher 1 Black Phoebe 2 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 12 Tropical Kingbird 2 Couch's Kingbird 11 White-eyed Vireo 2 Green Jay 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4 Bank Swallow 7 Cliff Swallow 10 Cave Swallow 250 Barn Swallow 3 Black-crested Titmouse 1 Verdin 2 Clay-colored Robin 1 Northern Mockingbird 4 European Starling 1 Olive Sparrow 5 Northern Cardinal 2 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Eastern Meadowlark 2 Great-tailed Grackle 14 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Orchard Oriole 2 Lesser Goldfinch 1 House Sparrow 6 Location: NABA International Butterfly Park Observation date: 8/8/08 Number of species: 23 Mourning Dove 7 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 3 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Groove-billed Ani 5 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 1 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1 Great Kiskadee 2 Couch's Kingbird 2 White-eyed Vireo 1 Green Jay 2 Black-crested Titmouse 1 Clay-colored Robin 1 Northern Mockingbird 1 Long-billed Thrasher 4 Olive Sparrow 2 Northern Cardinal 2 Red-winged Blackbird 130 Great-tailed Grackle 50 Orchard Oriole 1 Altamira Oriole 1 House Sparrow 3 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )Subject: Santa Ana NWR From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 15:34:11 EDT Hi, all! Birded Santa Ana this morning, and the first thing to strike me was how the greenery along the Willow Trail had sprung up high since Dolly! A singing Cactus Wren was new for my Santa Ana list, and the Clay-colored Thrushes were singing away. There were also several downed trees, most of which I could negotiate, but finally turned back just past the bench that overlooks the Willow Lake area. Willow Lake itself didn't have much water, but I did flush a Red-shouldered Hawk from some debris in the middle of the field. Trying the Willow Lake Trail going the other direction from the Chachalaca cutoff, had another tree blocking the way, but also had a Beardless Tyrannulet in here, a Least Flycatcher actually doing a little bit of its song, and along the paved road a flock of at least 400 Cave Swallows lining the power lines! Backtracked to the Pintail Lakes Trail, taking it "backwards" from the way I usually do it; Pintail Lake was quite low as well, but had about 20 Stilt Sandpipers and several Least Sandpipers and Killdeer, plus an unidentified yellowlegs and probably some other shorebirds that were too far away to ID. Four BN Stilts flew in just as I left, and in the "kingfisher marsh" had a Yellow-crowned Night and Tricolored Heron, a Least Bittern calling, a pair of PB Grebes, and a Moorhen. Another Tyrannulet was along the trail next to the Rio Grande, but the skeeters were pretty annoying, so I just kept moving. Actually had some interesting leps with at least three Black Witches, a Texas Wasp Moth, and a Pale-banded Crescent among other things. Had a frog early on that I'm tentatively IDing as a Rio Grande Leopard Frog, but I'll welcome feedback! Also had another little guy that looked like another wasp mimic (about half the size of the Texas WM), but I'm not sure on that one; pics of all these guys (plus some tiny little frogs seen covering Brushline Road yesterday) are posted here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox) Bird List: Location: Santa Ana NWR (LTC 059) Observation date: 8/7/08 Number of species: 52 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 6 Plain Chachalaca 10 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Least Bittern 1 Tricolored Heron 1 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Common Moorhen 1 Killdeer 8 Black-necked Stilt 4 Least Sandpiper 10 Stilt Sandpiper 20 White-winged Dove 70 Mourning Dove 15 Inca Dove 2 Common Ground-Dove 5 White-tipped Dove 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 7 Groove-billed Ani 6 Common Nighthawk 1 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 3 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 19 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 10 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 2 Least Flycatcher 2 Empidonax sp. 3 Brown-crested Flycatcher 6 Great Kiskadee 20 Couch's Kingbird 7 White-eyed Vireo 7 Green Jay 10 Bank Swallow 1 Cave Swallow 400 Barn Swallow 1 Black-crested Titmouse 9 Cactus Wren 2 Carolina Wren 14 Bewick's Wren 2 Clay-colored Robin 3 Northern Mockingbird 1 Long-billed Thrasher 11 Common Yellowthroat 6 Olive Sparrow 16 Northern Cardinal 8 Blue Grosbeak 1 Red-winged Blackbird 15 Great-tailed Grackle 7 Bronzed Cowbird 6 Brown-headed Cowbird 5 Orchard Oriole 3 Altamira Oriole 3 Lesser Goldfinch 2 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )Subject: La Sal del Rey From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 15:59:26 EDT Hi, all! Birded the LRGV NWR this morning around La Sal del Rey, and was struck by the fact that so many things that were quite numerous in previous months were practically non-existent today (Great-tailed Grackle and Brown-crested Flycatcher come to mind)! In fact, I had more Anis than I did grackles! Families certainly added to the numbers, however, Painted Buntings being the most obvious: there were several singing at various stops, but the birds I actually saw were mostly young or female-types. Young Bewick's Wrens trying to sing were quite amusing, and a couple of Chachalacas was new for the route, as were four Black Terns flying overhead early on. The raptor highlight was a young White-tailed Hawk along GI Road chasing its parent clear down to the ground! In general, the roads were in good shape (soft in spots, but dry), with lots of "rain pools" around, but with the exception of a large flock of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, no water-loving birds were taking advantage of them. The hike to the lake didn't yield any Snowy Plovers or Black-throated Sparrows, but DID kick up the Lesser Nighthawk, and ran into an older gentlemen with a pair of trekking poles who said, "Who's crazy enough to be hiking and bird-watching in this heat?!" ;-) Bird list: Location: LRGV NWR Driving Route Observation date: 8/6/08 Notes: Also had an additional 39 "Cardipyrrs" that could not be ID'd to species. Lots of Painted Bunting families around! Number of species: 55 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 30 Mottled Duck 8 Plain Chachalaca 2 Northern Bobwhite 17 Great Egret 1 Black Vulture 3 Turkey Vulture 14 Harris's Hawk 4 White-tailed Hawk 2 Crested Caracara 3 Killdeer 1 Upland Sandpiper 1 Laughing Gull 22 Black Tern 4 Forster's Tern 1 Mourning Dove 145 Inca Dove 7 Common Ground-Dove 18 White-tipped Dove 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 8 Greater Roadrunner 2 Groove-billed Ani 8 Lesser Nighthawk 1 Common Nighthawk 8 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 21 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 8 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 9 Couch's Kingbird 15 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 8 Loggerhead Shrike 1 White-eyed Vireo 8 Green Jay 5 Black-crested Titmouse 5 Verdin 8 Cactus Wren 6 Bewick's Wren 18 Northern Mockingbird 27 Long-billed Thrasher 5 Curve-billed Thrasher 4 Olive Sparrow 27 Cassin's Sparrow 5 Lark Sparrow 20 Northern Cardinal 27 Pyrrhuloxia 8 Blue Grosbeak 5 Painted Bunting 26 Red-winged Blackbird 45 Eastern Meadowlark 6 Great-tailed Grackle 5 Bronzed Cowbird 3 Brown-headed Cowbird 6 Orchard Oriole 9 Lesser Goldfinch 1 House Sparrow 18 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )Subject: Estero Llano Grande From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 16:52:25 EDT Hi, all! Birding the dirt road and levee south of the state park, had a mom Black-bellied Whistling Duck yelling at me at the estero as her fully-grown brood slowly made their way around the corner and into the reeds! Also had a Roseate Spoonbill in here and a distant flock of White Pelicans. Icterid numbers are definitely down, and was surprised to not even hear a single nighthawk! There were a few waders and more whistling ducks in the south wetland along the levee, but other than a flyover Fulvous WD, a Green Kingfisher at the locked gate, and several fly-by swallows, it was pretty quiet up there. The Green Jay Trail sustained a lot of mess from Dolly, so since that was impassable I headed straight into the main park. Ibis Pond was rather low with a group of Least Sandpipers and a single Spotted, plus a Lesser Yellowlegs and some Killdeer. A Least Bittern called unseen from the reeds. Jim Booker came out and we chatted a bit, debating about whether the strange sound we were intermittently hearing was a parrot or a chachalaca, but after I headed onto the main trail I discovered the culprit: the fugitive Black-throated Magpie Jay! A couple of Upland Sandpipers called from the gazebo area, and up on the levee a couple of male Orchard Orioles flew fly (Huck saw a flock of about a dozen later). I wandered down to where the Purple Gallinules had been seen, but apparently didn't go far enough (Huck went there later and didn't see them, anyway...), but on the way back picked up a nice White-tailed Kite. A small group of Wood Storks was at Dowitcher Pond, and I was amazed at how the cormorants had cleared out of Alligator Pond since previous months! That's where I ran into Huck and chatted, picking up Blue Grosbeak for the day (and my first for the park I found out later) and Green Heron. Heading out of the area I took the little side trail where the owl box is, and thought I heard a water drop; next thing I knew a Pauraque exploded from the woods and landed on the path, staying put for a picture! Headed around Camino de Aves, logging the "desert" birds back there in addition to a couple of Anis. Way back on the maintenance road by the orchard was an empid that I really couldn't figure out: the "whit" call note, strong eyering, strong wingbars, and dark-tipped pale lower mandible all seemed to point towards Least, but the "jizz" reminded me more of Willow, not nearly as "dumpy" as I would expect a Least to be (although it WAS hot back there...). I got a few pictures, but they may not be good enough to clinch the ID. The other interesting find back there was somebody's license plate... Discovered too late that the trail south of the little bridge was flooded, so hiked ALL the way back (needed the exercise...) and headed back to headquarters, where Huck had a Semipalmated Sandpiper (in the lousy light I really couldn't tell), and a different bird in the mix looked like a good Western to me, although with more coloring on the breast than I'm used to. Just as I was leaving a Stilt Sandpiper wheeled in! Pictures from today can be seen here, along with some cool bugs at Shawn Patterson's place from yesterday (don't know if I can count the caterpillar as my life Red-bordered Pixie, though!): _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox) Bird List: Location: Estero Llano Grande SP WBC (Weslaco)(LTC 054) Observation date: 8/5/08 Number of species: 65 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 45 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 1 Plain Chachalaca 3 Northern Bobwhite 14 American White Pelican 10 Neotropic Cormorant 1 Least Bittern 1 Great Egret 7 Snowy Egret 11 Little Blue Heron 2 Tricolored Heron 2 Green Heron 4 Roseate Spoonbill 2 Wood Stork 5 Turkey Vulture 1 White-tailed Kite 1 Harris's Hawk 1 Common Moorhen 5 American Coot 11 Killdeer 7 Black-necked Stilt 6 Spotted Sandpiper 2 Lesser Yellowlegs 1 Upland Sandpiper 3 Western Sandpiper 1 Least Sandpiper 12 Stilt Sandpiper 1 Laughing Gull 1 Forster's Tern 2 White-winged Dove 40 Mourning Dove 43 Inca Dove 7 Common Ground-Dove 17 White-tipped Dove 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Groove-billed Ani 3 Common Pauraque 1 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 4 Green Kingfisher 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 18 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3 Empidonax sp. (leaning towards Least) 1 Great Kiskadee 19 Tropical Kingbird 1 Couch's Kingbird 1 White-eyed Vireo 6 Purple Martin 1 Bank Swallow 4 Barn Swallow 11 Black-crested Titmouse 2 Carolina Wren 2 Bewick's Wren 5 Northern Mockingbird 11 Long-billed Thrasher 4 Curve-billed Thrasher 4 Olive Sparrow 8 Northern Cardinal 6 Blue Grosbeak 1 Red-winged Blackbird 19 Eastern Meadowlark 5 Great-tailed Grackle 104 Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Orchard Oriole 3 Lesser Goldfinch 7 House Sparrow 48 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )Subject: Quinta Mazatlan/Hidalgo Pumphouse From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:43:57 EDT Hi, all! Visited Quinta Maztlan this morning; highlights included three Green Parakeets, a pair of Red-crowned Parrots, some Tropical Kingbirds, and some entertaining Chachalacas! White-winged Doves were all over. Had what was probably a Mazan's Scallopwing, but it didn't stay still long enough for me to be sure. Hidalgo Pumphouse had a nice variety of leps, including a female Common Mellana. Pics are posted here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/quinta_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/quinta) Bird List: Location: Quinta Mazatlan WBC (McAllen) (LTC 063) Observation date: 7/31/08 Number of species: 32 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2 Plain Chachalaca 13 Rock Pigeon 10 White-winged Dove 111 Mourning Dove 2 Inca Dove 4 Common Ground-Dove 1 White-tipped Dove 3 Green Parakeet 3 Red-crowned Parrot 2 Chimney Swift 2 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 10 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2 Great Kiskadee 9 Tropical Kingbird 3 Couch's Kingbird 1 White-eyed Vireo 2 Green Jay 2 Black-crested Titmouse 3 Carolina Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 4 Long-billed Thrasher 3 Curve-billed Thrasher 1 European Starling 9 Olive Sparrow 4 Northern Cardinal 2 Great-tailed Grackle 11 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Orchard Oriole 3 Lesser Goldfinch 2 House Sparrow 26 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)Subject: Laguna Atascosa From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:11:51 EDT Hi, all! With the refuge still closed, I birded the surrounding public roads as I needed some data for July. (I also set aside trying to get to "The Sign" by dawn, as I didn't want to be driving there in the dark in case of potential road hazards, and I'm glad I did!) When I got out at the starting point I was immediately assaulted by gazillions of mosquitoes!! No kidding--it sounded like an angry bee swarm, and they literally drowned out any birdsong! Thankfully the Off kept them off, but that didn't keep them from trying to get into every nook and cranny! :-P Inside the car, one even was trying to draw blood from my stuffed kookaburra!! The area around the canal a couple of miles down General Brant was totally flooded, but that area also had some of the best birds of the day: a flock of about 50 Least Terns and eight Blacks hung out on the road, and at the bridge even more Black Terns batted around with a handful of Forster's. Had a good selection of waders along here as well, but shorebirds were limited to some Least Sandpipers, a few Killdeer, and a flyover flock of Lesser Yellowlegs. All the typical songbirds were around: lots of Olive Sparrows (at least two at almost every stop), plus a few Cassin's and Botteri's. Some large raptors took off from the road, but looking into the sun all I could make out was a white tail band, so that could have been either Harris' or Caracara. A cooperative Roadrunner posed near the refuge office area, and a White-tailed Kite was along the road to Laguna Vista. Dragonflies were everywhere, but I couldn't ID any. Pics of the Roadrunner, the flooding, and the skeeter attack are posted here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/atascosa_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/atascosa) Bird List: Location: Laguna Atascosa NWR (LTC 024) Observation date: 7/30/08 Notes: The main refuge was closed, so this driving route included the public roads adjacent to the refuge only. There was substantial flooding along General Brant Road Number of species: 51 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 5 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 4 Mottled Duck 2 Northern Bobwhite 17 Great Blue Heron 4 Great Egret 12 Snowy Egret 28 Tricolored Heron 1 White Ibis 5 Turkey Vulture 2 White-tailed Kite 2 Killdeer 2 Lesser Yellowlegs 4 Least Sandpiper 11 Laughing Gull 98 Least Tern 50 Gull-billed Tern 2 Caspian Tern 1 Black Tern 13 Forster's Tern 8 Mourning Dove 40 Common Ground-Dove 13 White-tipped Dove 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3 Greater Roadrunner 2 Groove-billed Ani 4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 10 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3 Great Kiskadee 2 White-eyed Vireo 11 Green Jay 4 Purple Martin 2 Cave Swallow 15 Verdin 1 Bewick's Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 10 Long-billed Thrasher 5 Curve-billed Thrasher 2 Olive Sparrow 29 Cassin's Sparrow 3 Botteri's Sparrow 6 Lark Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 21 Pyrrhuloxia 1 Blue Grosbeak 2 Red-winged Blackbird 140 Eastern Meadowlark 28 Great-tailed Grackle 116 Bronzed Cowbird 3 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 House Sparrow 3 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)Subject: Starr Co. From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:08:39 EDT Hi, all! Susan from Michigan joined me again today at Falcon Heights, where we went straight to Chapeno for 15 minutes where we enjoyed a flyover Osprey, chorusing Chachalacas, and various water birds making their way downriver, including a Black Skimmer! Susan spotted a pair of Green Kingfishers, and while we were enjoying them a Ringed rattled and flew overhead! From there we headed around the corner to Salieno, where a Clay-colored Robin was singing. I watched the river while Susan tried to spot the robin (no such luck) and had a Yellow-crowned Night Heron standing ram-rod straight. Before long the star of the show came powering down the river: an immature Muscovy! What was probably the same osprey made an appearance, and a Hooded Oriole showed up where we were scoping for pigeons. Susan also managed to find a Gray Hawk in her scope, being mobbed by a Mocker! A flock of goats and their dog kept us company the whole time! :-) From there we headed over to Fronton, where instead of stopping along the road we went straight to the river access for times' sake. We enjoyed a Roadrunner on the start of River Road, but sadly someone's dead Rottweiler was semi-blocking the road further down, so we crept carefully around that (the bugs and vultures had discovered it). Down at the end a pair of Groove-billed Anis frolicked across the river, and a Red-shouldered Hawk yelled unseen. The place was stuffed with Smoky Rubyspots! On one of these roads we had a family of Harris' Hawks which delighted Susan! I quickly showed her the Roma Bluffs site for reference (only picked up a Lesser Goldfinch and the requisite Collared Doves there), then headed back to Falcon State Park. Since time was limited we did a whiz-bang run through here, but enjoyed more Roadrunners and the usual party of vultures and caracaras down by the lakeshore. Also had a handful of Laughing Gulls and a couple of Forster's Terns, but the lake was pretty quiet. We actually had a good selection of "western" birds over at the butterfly garden: Cactus Wrens fighting with a Cardinal, Black-throated Sparrows singing, a young Western Kingbird, and the real prize, a cotton-topped Scaled Quail making a mad dash from the rec center to the bushes just before we pulled out! Unfortunately the butterfly show wasn't as impressive as last month, but there were still lots of Queens, Phaon Crescents, and the three common sulphurs around. Heading back to Berry Nall's church to pick up Susan's van, we made a quick run through his garden, and Susan spotted the Marius Hairstreak right away! We also found what might be another record (at least the dragonfly book doesn't show them here): a Common Whitetail! (At least I'm assuming Common rather than Desert based on what's closest...) We then raided the Roma Dairy Queen and solved the problems of the world... ;-) Some of today's pics are posted here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/starr_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/starr) Two bird lists follow: Location: River Roads Driving Route Observation date: 7/29/08 Notes: Counting was concentrated on the river accesses Number of species: 54 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2 Muscovy Duck 1 Plain Chachalaca 6 Northern Bobwhite 1 Neotropic Cormorant 3 Snowy Egret 15 Little Blue Heron 2 Green Heron 1 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Osprey 1 Harris's Hawk 4 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Gray Hawk 1 Crested Caracara 3 Killdeer 1 Spotted Sandpiper 3 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Laughing Gull 3 Gull-billed Tern 1 Black Skimmer 1 Rock Pigeon 6 Eurasian Collared-Dove 3 White-winged Dove 7 Mourning Dove 3 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 2 White-tipped Dove 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Greater Roadrunner 1 Groove-billed Ani 3 Ringed Kingfisher 2 Green Kingfisher 2 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 7 Couch's Kingbird 5 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1 Black-crested Titmouse 1 Verdin 1 Bewick's Wren 1 Clay-colored Robin 2 Northern Mockingbird 3 Long-billed Thrasher 1 Olive Sparrow 5 Northern Cardinal 3 Red-winged Blackbird 11 Great-tailed Grackle 1 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Hooded Oriole 2 Altamira Oriole 3 Lesser Goldfinch 1 House Sparrow 15 Location: Falcon SP (Starr Co.)(LTC 084) Observation date: 7/29/08 Number of species: 32 Scaled Quail 1 Northern Bobwhite 2 Neotropic Cormorant 2 Great Egret 3 Green Heron 1 Black Vulture 1 Turkey Vulture 25 Crested Caracara 13 Killdeer 1 Laughing Gull 8 Forster's Tern 2 Mourning Dove 2 Inca Dove 1 Greater Roadrunner 4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 2 Great Kiskadee 2 Western Kingbird 1 White-eyed Vireo 1 Verdin 5 Cactus Wren 2 Bewick's Wren 2 Northern Mockingbird 8 Curve-billed Thrasher 1 Olive Sparrow 3 Black-throated Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 6 Pyrrhuloxia 2 Red-winged Blackbird 1 Great-tailed Grackle 17 Hooded Oriole 1 Bullock's Oriole 1 House Sparrow 3 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)Subject: Cannon Road From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:08:02 EDT Hi, all! Met up with visiting birder Susan from Michigan in Weslaco, then headed down to do the Cannon Loop. Not surprisingly, the entrance road was a mess (I was hoping that maybe it had dried out), so we started the route along paved Rangerville Road, which was quite productive: the fields near the sewer ponds were flooded and were stuffed with shorebirds, mostly Lesser Yellowlegs and Black-necked Stilts, with a token Avocet. There were also a couple of Fulvous Whistling Ducks and a few waders in there, including some White Ibis. A family of Tropical Kingbirds was nearby as well. "Ebony Pond" was now filled on both sides of the road but was low on birds, the highlights being a pair of Least Bitterns (one even cackled very nicely for us). Jimenez Road was in good shape, so we poked down there, getting more Tropical Kingbirds and a White-tailed Kite on the wire. Cave Swallows were at the canal, of course, but there were large numbers of Purple Martins and Bank Swallows all along the route. In the refuge section a Bobwhite posed nicely in the middle of the road, and picked up Long-billed Thrasher and White-tipped Dove in here. We ALMOST made it to the reservoir, but the road was awful--even though it was dry, it was rutted so badly that only a high-clearance vehicle could have negotiated it. So we backtracked and went up Weaver Road to the sod farms, where we found another large flock of Lesser Yellowlegs calling, flying, and poking around in the grass. Susan spotted a Roseate Spoonbill, and further down where there was more flooding was a large group of larids, which included skimmers and Black Terns! Thankfully someone had tried the road b efore we did, as a pair of tracks suddenly stopped dead, and upon closer inspection, we saw that that's where the road got gooey! So we backed outta there and poked into the Weaver Road portion of the NWR, but that road also looked dicey, so we headed back out Jimenez to see about hiking the Ebony Unit Trail. A couple of cars coming out of there said the road was "closed", but I think they were trying to communicate that the road stopped at private property back there (which I knew), but the road DID look bad, so we gave up that idea. Susan was delighted with the Dickcissel that decided to sing on the wire right above us, though! We still had time to kill so we stopped at the Zacatal resaca, where we picked up Least Grebe and Moorhen for the day, plus several Neotropic Cormorants and a couple of flyover Anhingas. I was back in the car when Susan announced that she had a kingfisher, and sure enough, a nice female Ringed was sitting on a dead tree, shortly joined by her mate flying overhead! We checked out another part of the resaca that had several Mottled Ducks, but nothing else out of the ordinary. We made a quick stop at Estero Llano Grande on the way back to Weslaco, where we tried to poke down the Green Jay Trail, but rapidly lost the trail past the bench! The park is indeed closed; you can't even go to the deck, so we tried peeking through the slats! :-) Couldn't see anything out there, but a Lesser Goldfinch flew over for the day. Two bird lists follow: Location: Cannon Loop Observation date: 7/28/08 Notes: Half of the route (including Adams Garden Reservoir) was impassable, but other parts had flooded fields with large numbers of shorebirds, mostly Lesser Yellowlegs. This route has also consistently had good numbers of Tropical Kingbirds (I had an additional 7 silent birds that were either Couch's or Tropical). Number of species: 63 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 5 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 5 Northern Bobwhite 8 Pied-billed Grebe 3 Neotropic Cormorant 1 Least Bittern 2 Great Egret 1 Snowy Egret 6 Little Blue Heron 4 Tricolored Heron 1 Green Heron 2 White Ibis 5 Roseate Spoonbill 1 White-tailed Kite 2 American Coot 1 Killdeer 5 Black-necked Stilt 88 American Avocet 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 105 Least Sandpiper 4 Laughing Gull 6 Least Tern 1 Black Tern 3 Forster's Tern 1 Black Skimmer 25 White-winged Dove 58 Mourning Dove 29 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 2 White-tipped Dove 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3 Common Nighthawk 5 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 9 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 6 Tropical Kingbird 7 Couch's Kingbird 2 White-eyed Vireo 2 Green Jay 2 Horned Lark 1 Purple Martin 34 Bank Swallow 29 Cave Swallow 20 Barn Swallow 6 Black-crested Titmouse 1 Carolina Wren 3 Bewick's Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 3 Long-billed Thrasher 2 Common Yellowthroat 5 Olive Sparrow 11 Lark Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 1 Dickcissel 7 Red-winged Blackbird 120 Eastern Meadowlark 4 Great-tailed Grackle 90 Bronzed Cowbird 6 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Altamira Oriole 2 House Sparrow 12 Location: El Zacatal (LTC-052) Observation date: 7/28/08 Number of species: 23 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 7 Mottled Duck 7 Least Grebe 3 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Neotropic Cormorant 17 Anhinga 2 Great Egret 4 Snowy Egret 1 Tricolored Heron 2 Green Heron 2 Common Moorhen 2 American Coot 30 Killdeer 1 White-winged Dove 1 Ringed Kingfisher 2 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 2 Great Kiskadee 2 Tropical Kingbird 2 Northern Mockingbird 1 Olive Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird 2 Great-tailed Grackle 6 House Sparrow 3 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)Subject: Spam message forwarded by mistake From: Barbara Passmore <bkpass AT BELLSOUTH.NET> Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:46:31 -0400 isuorb AT BOBANDROBYN.COM has been put on the filtered list. The message was forwarded by mistake. Barbara Passmore, ListownerSubject: With best wishes, and in hopes to hear from you back From: Fritz Zavala <isuorb AT BOBANDROBYN.COM> Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:34:56 +0300 Hello! My name is Marina I live in city saint peterburg, i am 27 years old, and i am not married and haven't children, i am alone now. I am search for a man for serious relationships in your country, and plan to create a family in your country. I am in moscow now and i am waiting reception of the visa. 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I am sorry if my letter have disturbed you, but anyway hope to hear from you write me please on my mailbox: marinka_0 AT bk.ru Hope to hear from you MarinaSubject: Swallow-tailed Kites - Sacahuistale From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:09:48 EDT Hi, all! Birded Sacahuistale Flats and Port Mansfield this morning, and I'm glad I waited until daylight to go out there: there was a pretty substantial lake across FM 498 west of FM 88 that we had to ford! Got there too late to pick up any nighthawks for the route, but the kites were definitely the highlight: they were four miles down SR 186 eastbound from the intersection with FM 1420, on the north side of the road, sailing around with a couple of TVs. Another highlight was a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that I would have missed completely had I not heard him squealing! Had a family of Loggerhead Shrikes early on, and Cassin's and Botteri's Sparrows were still out there in good numbers, as usual. The canal was quite flooded, as was the surrounding fields. A couple of flyover Fulvous Whistling Ducks was new for the route, and while there were several Hooded Orioles around the palm trees particularly, a single Altamira made an appearance in the thorn scrub. At one stop a Texas Tortoise was making pretty good time along the shoulder! Port Mansfield was cleaning up after Dolly; lots of debris around and a couple of roofs that got blown off, but it looked as though most of the buildings actually came through unscathed. Quite a few power poles were leaning precariously, and while hiking the nature trail I had to negotiate a couple of downed power lines. The highlight along here was a female Black-and-white Warbler, and a couple of dung beetles pushing a ball of doo-doo (actually, one was doing all the pushing and the other one was just rolling along with the ball!) The dock at the county park looked too treacherous to walk out onto, so I enjoyed the Least and Western Sandpipers feeding in the seaweed (at least they looked too long-billed to me to be Semipals--although one did appear to have some webbing on his toes--you guys can take a look at the pics and judge for yourselves!). This huge blue crab was defending himself against some Laughing Gulls (I'm assuming it truly was a Blue Crab), and a Black Skimmer lounged with the other larids. Pics from today's trip (including an owlet moth at the apartment I haven't been able to figure out, and some good-for-documentation-only shots of the warbler) can be seen here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/sacahuistale_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/sacahuistale) Two bird lists follow: Location: Sacahuistale Flats (LTC 013) Observation date: 7/25/08 Notes: The kites were 4 miles east of the intersection of FM 1420 along SR 186, north of the road Number of species: 56 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 21 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 2 Northern Bobwhite 7 Great Egret 4 Black Vulture 3 Turkey Vulture 6 Swallow-tailed Kite 2 Harris's Hawk 2 White-tailed Hawk 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Crested Caracara 1 Greater Yellowlegs 12 Long-billed Curlew 1 Laughing Gull 19 Gull-billed Tern 2 Forster's Tern 1 Eurasian Collared-Dove 1 Mourning Dove 32 Common Ground-Dove 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Greater Roadrunner 2 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 17 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 9 Brown-crested Flycatcher 1 Great Kiskadee 7 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1 Loggerhead Shrike 3 White-eyed Vireo 3 Horned Lark 13 Purple Martin 9 Barn Swallow 1 Verdin 2 Cactus Wren 1 Bewick's Wren 4 Northern Mockingbird 29 Long-billed Thrasher 3 Curve-billed Thrasher 6 European Starling 3 Olive Sparrow 12 Cassin's Sparrow 9 Botteri's Sparrow 6 Lark Sparrow 6 Northern Cardinal 8 Pyrrhuloxia 6 Blue Grosbeak 2 Painted Bunting 2 Dickcissel 1 Red-winged Blackbird 102 Eastern Meadowlark 13 Great-tailed Grackle 77 Bronzed Cowbird 12 Brown-headed Cowbird 6 Hooded Oriole 5 Altamira Oriole 1 Lesser Goldfinch 1 House Sparrow 29 Location: Port Mansfield Observation date: 7/25/08 Number of species: 26 Brown Pelican 1 Black Vulture 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Willet 1 Ruddy Turnstone 1 Western Sandpiper 10 Least Sandpiper 15 Laughing Gull 27 Least Tern 3 Caspian Tern 2 Royal Tern 3 Sandwich Tern 2 Black Skimmer 1 Rock Pigeon 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 2 Mourning Dove 7 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1 Purple Martin 1 Bewick's Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 2 Black-and-white Warbler 1 Northern Cardinal 2 Blue Grosbeak 1 Great-tailed Grackle 7 House Sparrow 2 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)Subject: Anzalduas & NABA From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:14:31 EDT Hi, all! After Javier's great find of the White Scrub Hairstreak at NABA yesterday, I decided to switch gears and do the Anzalduas/NABA route, until I discovered that NABA was closed on Mondays for the summer! (Actually, one of the staff HAD told me awhile back, but I conveniently forgot... :-P) But it wasn't a total loss: I hiked around the perimeter of the park and then along the strip of woodland that hides the Walking Trail and still picked up most of the birds I probably would have gotten anyway (including Clay-colored Robin and White-tipped Dove), and birding Military Highway added a few more species, including flyover Great Egrets. Dipped on the Black Phoebe at Anzalduas, but DID pick up my first Scissor-tailed Flycatcher for the park. There was also a singing Clay-colored Robin in the main part of the park, as well as the resident Tyrannulets. The back side had a pair of Anis and squealing Gray Hawks along with the usual; the river was quiet except for lingering Cliff Swallows, a couple of Neotrops, and a couple of Snowy Egrets. Had a Swainson's Hawk sailing over the levee by the marsh, which was nice. Had the most fun at the big restroom along the center road where several tiny moths were hanging out; most of them were the Two-lined Petrophilas (Petrophila bifascialis), and I think one was another variation on the Dot-lined Angle (Macaria punctolineata), but I'm not sure. The rest I have no clue about, so if anyone wants to take a crack, they're posted here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/anzalduas_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/anzalduas) And apologies to all those who helped with previous moth IDs and are wondering why the web page hasn't been updated--my computer crashed before I could do that, and somewhere between San Diego and here my FrontPage disc vanished... :-( Two bird lists follow: Location: Anzalduas County Pk (LTC 068) Observation date: 7/21/08 Number of species: 39 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 8 Northern Bobwhite 1 Neotropic Cormorant 2 Snowy Egret 2 Gray Hawk 2 Swainson's Hawk 1 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Rock Pigeon 6 White-winged Dove 2 Mourning Dove 6 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Groove-billed Ani 4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 13 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 5 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 2 Great Kiskadee 10 Couch's Kingbird 10 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1 White-eyed Vireo 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 15 Cliff Swallow 30 Cave Swallow 20 Black-crested Titmouse 1 Verdin 2 Clay-colored Robin 1 Northern Mockingbird 9 Long-billed Thrasher 1 Common Yellowthroat 2 Olive Sparrow 4 Lark Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 1 Red-winged Blackbird 25 Eastern Meadowlark 3 Great-tailed Grackle 35 Bronzed Cowbird 1 Lesser Goldfinch 4 House Sparrow 14 Location: NABA International Butterfly Park Observation date: 7/21/08 Notes: This route included Old Military Highway from Bentsen to the intersection with "New" Military Highway, plus a hike around the perimeter of the park, which was closed. Number of species: 29 Northern Bobwhite 2 Great Egret 6 Turkey Vulture 1 White-winged Dove 16 Mourning Dove 5 Common Ground-Dove 2 White-tipped Dove 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3 Groove-billed Ani 2 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2 Great Kiskadee 2 Couch's Kingbird 3 White-eyed Vireo 3 Green Jay 1 Clay-colored Robin 1 Northern Mockingbird 3 Long-billed Thrasher 3 Olive Sparrow 3 Northern Cardinal 3 Blue Grosbeak 2 Painted Bunting 1 Dickcissel 9 Red-winged Blackbird 80 Great-tailed Grackle 7 Bronzed Cowbird 6 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 Altamira Oriole 1 House Sparrow 6 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)Subject: Weslaco From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:55:12 EDT Hi, all! Visited Frontera and Valley Nature Center this morning; sitting at the pool I thought I heard a Clay-colored Robin singing but it turned out to be the maintenance guy whistling... ;-) Highlights included a Green Heron at the boardwalk which again showed up at the palm grove, an Ani also by the boardwalk, and several Chimney Swifts circling and chittering. There were also lots of leps: mainly Texan Crescents but also a couple of Pale-banded in the "driveway garden", and what I feel confident (this time) was a Rounded Metalmark in the citrus garden. VNC was a little quieter due to the time of day and trail construction, but a family of Carolina Wrens was very cooperative, plus a curious White-eyed Vireo at one of the benches. The main entertainment at the big feeding area was a contest of wills between a Chachalaca and a grackle (would have made a great video as first the grackle would chase the cracid into the bushes, then the cracid would come crashing out and chase off the grackle!) The lep highlight was my life Guava Skipper that landed on my walking stick just long enough for me to gasp, then it was gone--what a teaser! :-P Pics from this morning's outing can be seen here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/weslaco_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/weslaco) Two bird lists follow: Location: Frontera Audubon Ctr (LTC 058) Observation date: 7/18/08 Number of species: 32 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 10 Plain Chachalaca 20 Green Heron 2 White-winged Dove 55 Mourning Dove 6 Inca Dove 12 White-tipped Dove 18 Green Parakeet 3 Groove-billed Ani 1 Chimney Swift 7 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 5 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 12 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 4 Brown-crested Flycatcher 5 Great Kiskadee 6 Couch's Kingbird 3 White-eyed Vireo 1 Purple Martin 2 Black-crested Titmouse 3 Carolina Wren 3 Northern Mockingbird 6 Long-billed Thrasher 2 European Starling 1 Olive Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 4 Pyrrhuloxia 2 Red-winged Blackbird 42 Great-tailed Grackle 9 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 Orchard Oriole 3 Lesser Goldfinch 5 House Sparrow 6 Location: Valley Nature Ctr. (LTC 057) Observation date: 7/18/08 Number of species: 18 Plain Chachalaca 17 White-winged Dove 26 Inca Dove 6 White-tipped Dove 9 Green Parakeet 1 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 6 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1 Brown-crested Flycatcher 2 Great Kiskadee 9 White-eyed Vireo 3 Purple Martin 4 Black-crested Titmouse 1 Carolina Wren 5 Northern Mockingbird 3 Northern Cardinal 2 Great-tailed Grackle 8 House Sparrow 32 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)Subject: Monte Cristo & Edinburg From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:08:45 EDT Hi, all! Dodged the semis along Wallace Road this morning; highlights included a parent Horned Lark feeding its scaly youngsters, several Anhingas and an adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron (among other things) at Sapo Lake, and a lovely Pyrrhuloxia that decided to come in close just as I was pulling out my scope! The Swainson's Hawk was still hanging around FM 490, and entering North Bryan Road I was pleasantly surprised by a rain-caused wetland in the field on either side of the road that had Spoonbills, Fulvous Whistling Ducks, Stilts, Lesser Yellowlegs, and a single Solitary Sandpiper! Was UNpleasantly surprised to discover that, around the corner, the road had a wetland of its own :-P so I literally backed out all the way to FM 490 and headed back down Wallace to check out the bottom end of Bryan. Managed to bird about three miles worth of that before the road got too dicey for my taste, but sure couldn't complain about the quality for the morning! Edinburg Wetlands had a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the parking lot, and so many cormorants that eBird flagged the number! (They add up when you find all those clusters hiding in the bushes...) A baby titmouse came in to pishing near the west end of the north lake, followed closely by Mom/Dad who was having fun with a larva... The Egret Convention was still holding forth in the south pond, along with a Tricolored Heron, and a Painted Bunting sat on the top of a dead tree singing away! He was shortly replaced by a Loggerhead Shrike and a large flock of Bronzed Cowbirds when I started pishing! Startled a family of Hooded Orioles as I entered the overlook as well. I've added pics of the titmice and a couple of odes to the Edinburg gallery: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/edinburg&page=2_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/edinburg&page=2) Two bird lists follow: Location: Monte Cristo Tract (LTC 062) Observation date: 7/17/08 Notes: Three miles of the route were not covered due to impassable road conditions. Number of species: 61 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 27 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 5 Mottled Duck 4 Northern Bobwhite 19 Least Grebe 1 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Neotropic Cormorant 49 Anhinga 8 Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 13 Snowy Egret 13 Green Heron 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1 White Ibis 1 Roseate Spoonbill 4 Swainson's Hawk 1 Crested Caracara 4 Common Moorhen 3 American Coot 2 Killdeer 2 Black-necked Stilt 6 Solitary Sandpiper 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 4 Gull-billed Tern 2 White-winged Dove 41 Mourning Dove 62 Common Ground-Dove 11 White-tipped Dove 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3 Groove-billed Ani 7 Common Nighthawk 8 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 7 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2 Brown-crested Flycatcher 2 Great Kiskadee 5 Couch's Kingbird 4 Western Kingbird 2 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1 White-eyed Vireo 5 Horned Lark 19 Black-crested Titmouse 1 Verdin 1 Bewick's Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 18 Long-billed Thrasher 2 Curve-billed Thrasher 1 Olive Sparrow 16 Cassin's Sparrow 3 Lark Sparrow 7 Northern Cardinal 10 Pyrrhuloxia 1 Blue Grosbeak 2 Painted Bunting 8 Dickcissel 11 Red-winged Blackbird 190 Great-tailed Grackle 249 Bronzed Cowbird 22 Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Orchard Oriole 4 Lesser Goldfinch 2 House Sparrow 29 Location: Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC (LTC 061) Observation date: 7/17/08 Number of species: 28 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Neotropic Cormorant 220 Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 10 Snowy Egret 80 Tricolored Heron 1 Green Heron 1 Common Moorhen 3 Killdeer 1 Least Tern 2 Gull-billed Tern 1 Mourning Dove 11 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 5 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5 Great Kiskadee 3 Western Kingbird 5 Loggerhead Shrike 1 Black-crested Titmouse 2 Verdin 1 Northern Mockingbird 6 Northern Cardinal 4 Painted Bunting 1 Great-tailed Grackle 11 Bronzed Cowbird 30 Hooded Oriole 3 Lesser Goldfinch 3 House Sparrow 13 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112)Subject: La Sal Del Rey From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:44:15 EDT Hi, all! Had a lovely morning poking around Brushline Road and environs; the most interesting bird was an Empid of some kind that my gut reaction to was Least, due to its rather dumpy appearance overall, plus a good, bold eyering and wingbars. The call note was a sharp "whit", consistent with the description in Sibley, but I confess that eastern Empids are my weakest group. Other highlights include a pair of White-tailed Hawks along GI Road along with a singing Botteri's Sparrow (there were several Cassin's around), a single adult Swainson's Hawk, curious young Bewick's Wrens in my face (shot one in "mid-hop" which was kinda cute), and mating Anis. One of the unmarked northbound roads (might be CR 5706 according to Mapquest, but I'm not sure) has a pond on private property that's hard to see into, but this time had two Neotropic Cormorants, a Great Blue, and a Roseate Spoonbill! The hike to the lake from SR 186 was quite productive with a Black-throated Sparrow, both Orchard and Bullock's Oriole (a cowbird was following the latter around), and three Snowy Plovers at the lake. Lep highlights include a shiny Common Sootywing and a pretty Bordered Patch. I've organized the pBase galleries into locations, so today's pics are in the La Sal Del Ray gallery: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/la_sal_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/la_sal) Bird List: Location: LRGV NWR Driving Route Observation date: 7/16/08 Notes: My gut reaction on the Empid was Least, due to its big-headed, short-tailed overall look, bold wingbars, plus a good, solid eyering and sharp "whit" call. Number of species: 59 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2 Mottled Duck 4 Northern Bobwhite 13 Neotropic Cormorant 2 Great Blue Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Cattle Egret 7 Roseate Spoonbill 1 Black Vulture 2 Turkey Vulture 10 Harris's Hawk 7 Swainson's Hawk 1 White-tailed Hawk 2 Crested Caracara 5 Snowy Plover 3 Mourning Dove 132 Inca Dove 3 Common Ground-Dove 31 White-tipped Dove 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 9 Greater Roadrunner 3 Groove-billed Ani 7 Common Nighthawk 12 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 27 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 11 Empidonax sp. 1 Brown-crested Flycatcher 13 Great Kiskadee 16 Couch's Kingbird 14 Western Kingbird 1 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 12 White-eyed Vireo 3 Green Jay 2 Horned Lark 2 Black-crested Titmouse 4 Verdin 14 Cactus Wren 4 Bewick's Wren 21 Northern Mockingbird 63 Long-billed Thrasher 4 Curve-billed Thrasher 3 Olive Sparrow 22 Cassin's Sparrow 9 Botteri's Sparrow 1 Lark Sparrow 11 Black-throated Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 33 Pyrrhuloxia 12 Blue Grosbeak 2 Painted Bunting 14 Red-winged Blackbird 21 Eastern Meadowlark 5 Great-tailed Grackle 33 Bronzed Cowbird 24 Brown-headed Cowbird 18 Orchard Oriole 8 Bullock's Oriole 1 Lesser Goldfinch 1 House Sparrow 21 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112)Subject: Bentsen State Park From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:49:59 EDT Hi, all! Made the rounds at Bentsen today; Josh's Fritzgaertner's Flat was long gone, but then this morning he had what he was pretty sure was a Dark Kite Swallowtail (I missed that one, too, of course)! Bird-wise there wasn't anything nearly as exciting: Cave Swallows guarded the levee, and two Clay-colored Robins were song-battling again near Kingfisher Overlook. A family of Kiskadees in the same area appeared to be trying to get into an Altamira nest that was near their own (I'm assuming that that rag-tag pile of sticks on the telephone pole is the kiskadee nest), and a baby Tyrannulet was chasing Mom around at the western end of Acacia Loop. Several Groove-billed Ani pairs made an appearance, and along the "cutoff" road I heard an odd, throaty "cuck cuck cuck" that almost made me think Collared Forest Falcon (wouldn't THAT have been a hoot), but as I tried to see the perpetrator I heard a Roadrunner doing his "rattle coo" at me, and suddenly remembered that the Roadrunner has an alarm call that sounds a lot like a repeated tenor raven croak! A Collared Dove at the east end of Acacia Loop was new for my Bentsen list, as were the migrating Orchard Orioles. Ran into local couple Nancy and Mike at the hawk tower, who helped me see why one of the two "brown" ducks we had there was actually a Mexican and not another Mottled! (The tail was much whiter than the Mottled, in addition to it being just a paler, more uniform-looking bird...) The water was very low, and most of the birds were directly in the sun, but there was a small group of ibis that turned out to be White-faced once they got into better light (and Nancy and Mike had left by then--he was leaning towards White...). Gray Hawks bookended Acacia Loop, and the Kiskadee Blind was quite active despite no edible goodies: two young Orchards came in, as well as White-tipped Doves and Green Jays. Some young Altamiras near the tent campground were completely yellow-headed, which I've never seen before. On the way out ran into Josh showing a lady from Houston around when another tyrannulet called, so I left them to try and track that down. While I was quickly checking the butterfly garden, a Painted Bunting sang by the canal and a Hooded Oriole flushed near one of the buildings. Leps were quite active, the best one being my first Valley Desert Checkered Skipper! Again, if I did it right, some of the pics of today's romp can be viewed here: _http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox_ (http://www.pbase.com/miriameaglemon/inbox) Bird List: Location: Bentsen-Rio Grande Val. SP WBC (Mission)(LTC 069) Observation date: 7/15/08 Number of species: 51 Mallard (Mexican) 1 Mottled Duck 1 Plain Chachalaca 15 Northern Bobwhite 3 Neotropic Cormorant 4 Great Egret 2 Cattle Egret 2 Green Heron 2 White-faced Ibis 6 Turkey Vulture 1 Gray Hawk 2 Crested Caracara 1 Black-necked Stilt 6 Eurasian Collared-Dove 1 White-winged Dove 134 Mourning Dove 13 Inca Dove 3 Common Ground-Dove 2 White-tipped Dove 19 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 9 Greater Roadrunner 3 Groove-billed Ani 7 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 42 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 10 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 5 Brown-crested Flycatcher 10 Great Kiskadee 11 Couch's Kingbird 8 White-eyed Vireo 3 Green Jay 13 Purple Martin 2 Cave Swallow 30 Black-crested Titmouse 3 Verdin 4 Bewick's Wren 1 Clay-colored Robin 3 Northern Mockingbird 7 Long-billed Thrasher 7 Olive Sparrow 13 Northern Cardinal 18 Blue Grosbeak 1 Painted Bunting 1 Red-winged Blackbird 6 Great-tailed Grackle 81 Bronzed Cowbird 7 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 Orchard Oriole 6 Hooded Oriole 1 Altamira Oriole 10 House Sparrow 3 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112)Subject: Santa Ana NWR From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:48:41 EDT Hi, all! Spent the morning at a very muddy Santa Ana; lots of trees had fallen over, including one that had toppled into the levee canal and had been discovered by a Green Kingfisher! Had my highest count yet of Clay-colored Robins, and Anis were also in good numbers and very visible. The highlight was a small flock of Orchard Orioles by the "open boardwalk"; the first one I saw looked awfully buffy for my taste, but I'm not willing to call it a Fuertes' unless someone else confirms it! Had at least two "normal" adult males, an immature, and a female. Heard a handful of Beardless Tyrannulets at various places, and the Ringed Kingfisher came through at the regular hangout at Pintail Lakes, but waterbirds in general were pretty scarce. What I'm assuming were the Giant Cicadas that make so much noise were quiet, yet fleeing as I approached; one stayed put for pictures (see below). Saw two Black Witches batting around plus a couple of moths that I wasn't sure about, even after consulting the Knudson & Bordelon book; I've posted pics here: _http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/TX%20Butterflies%20Santa%20Ana.htm_ (http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/TX%20Butterflies%20Santa%20Ana.htm) Bird List: Location: Santa Ana NWR (LTC 059) Observation date: 7/10/08 Number of species: 50 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 10 Mottled Duck 1 Plain Chachalaca 19 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Neotropic Cormorant 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Snowy Egret 1 White Ibis 1 Harris's Hawk 1 Common Moorhen 2 Killdeer 1 Black-necked Stilt 9 White-winged Dove 79 Mourning Dove 19 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 4 White-tipped Dove 17 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 8 Groove-billed Ani 11 Common Nighthawk 2 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1 Ringed Kingfisher 1 Green Kingfisher 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 32 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 13 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 3 Brown-crested Flycatcher 13 Great Kiskadee 18 Tropical Kingbird 1 Couch's Kingbird 19 White-eyed Vireo 9 Green Jay 9 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 Black-crested Titmouse 6 Carolina Wren 17 Clay-colored Robin 7 Northern Mockingbird 8 Long-billed Thrasher 13 Common Yellowthroat 5 Olive Sparrow 24 Northern Cardinal 3 Blue Grosbeak 2 Red-winged Blackbird 18 Great-tailed Grackle 9 Bronzed Cowbird 11 Brown-headed Cowbird 4 Orchard Oriole 6 Altamira Oriole 4 Lesser Goldfinch 4 House Sparrow 5 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112)Subject: Santa Monica Wetlands From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 16:00:21 EDT Hi, all! Wanted to do Santa Monica Wetlands today but wasn't sure about the weather, so I headed out anyway, come what may. When I got to the starting point it was actually dry (I had driven through two rain showers to get there), and had some nice woodland birds to start the list with, including Long-billed Thrasher and Groove-billed Ani. It started spitting again, though, by the time I got to the canal, so on subsequent stops along the paved road I just sat in the car and listened; still picked up a large flock of Cave Swallows (there may have been a few Cliffs in with them, but it was hard to tell). When I pulled onto Zinnia it was coming down pretty good, so I decided to just sit and wait out the storm (I ended up going on about a half mile or so beyond the paved road), and was there for at least a couple of hours, being entertained by the soggy Lark Sparrows and Mockingbirds going after these swarming bugs that reminded me of the termites they showed various African birds flycatching on the "Life of Birds" series (maybe that's what they were)! I was surprised at the large flock of Common Nighthawks that went batting by in the rain (Laughing Gulls were a little more expected...)! As the rain let up a little various things started tuning up, including Blue Grosbeaks, a Painted Bunting, a musical Cassin's Sparrow, and a Botteri's that sat on the wire! The rain didn't stop a male Bronzed Cowbird from displaying to a female on the road, nor did it keep a rather dilapidated Scissor-tailed Flycatcher from sitting proudly on the wire! A Caracara made two passes, each time being "greeted" by the Couch's Kingbird pair. Two Altamira Orioles popped up and briefly sky-pointed at each other, but the highlight wa a female/young Bullock's Oriole that made the rounds! When the rain finally let up enough to where I was comfortable trying the road, I went on another half mile but decided that they were going to be too adventurous for my taste ;-), so I turned around at the next drive and headed for the relative safety of the pavement! Road-birded from there down to the levee, where the usual ag birds like Horned Larks and Mourning Doves (and oodles more nighthawks, plus a few distant Black-bellied Whistling Ducks) were in abundance despite the wet. I turned around at the levee (where I picked up Western Kingbird and Collared Dove for the day) and was tempted to cover it seeing as it looked pretty stable, but even a little distance put a nice thick layer of slippery mud on Jip's tires, so that stopped that idea cold! All told, I was pleasantly surprised with the morning's list! Bird List: Location: Santa Monica Wetlands (LTC 012) Observation date: 7/4/08 Notes: Rainy conditions precluded birding the dirt roads of this route. Number of species: 42 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 6 Northern Bobwhite 10 Snowy Egret 1 Crested Caracara 1 Killdeer 2 Laughing Gull 27 Eurasian Collared-Dove 3 Mourning Dove 24 Common Ground-Dove 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3 Groove-billed Ani 1 Common Nighthawk 36 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2 Brown-crested Flycatcher 2 Great Kiskadee 2 Couch's Kingbird 3 Western Kingbird 1 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2 White-eyed Vireo 2 Horned Lark 11 Cliff Swallow 2 Cave Swallow 61 Black-crested Titmouse 2 Northern Mockingbird 6 Long-billed Thrasher 1 European Starling 1 Olive Sparrow 4 Cassin's Sparrow 2 Botteri's Sparrow 1 Lark Sparrow 12 Northern Cardinal 2 Blue Grosbeak 2 Painted Bunting 1 Red-winged Blackbird 59 Eastern Meadowlark 2 Great-tailed Grackle 52 Bronzed Cowbird 5 Brown-headed Cowbird 4 Bullock's Oriole 1 Altamira Oriole 2 House Sparrow 40 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)Subject: Estero Llano Grande SP From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 15:27:47 EDT Hi, all! Hope some of you got to see the absolutely spectacular sunrise this morning! The storms were coming, but held off until about 9:30 or so. Thankfully the dirt road and levee south of the llano was dry; highlights along this stretch included both night herons and whistling ducks, a single Horned Lark and Dickcissel, and a trumpeting Least Grebe in one of the little wetlands, along with a family of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and other herons. Grackles have definitely taken over the ag fields where last month Redwings seemed to be the dominant icterid. A pair of Red-crowned Parrots went squawking overhead in the parking lot, and the day's only Curve-billed Thrasher sat cooperatively on a wire, along with the White-winged and Inca Doves. Green Jay Trail had the usual White-tipped Doves as well as its namesake (I was concerned that what I heard might have been one of the talented Mockers, but Huck said the jays were coming to his feeder in the RV park there, so I was presumptuous...). A gorgeous Giant Swallowtail posed as he tried to warm up; pics are posted here: _http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/TX%20Butterflies%20Estero%20Llano.htm_ (http://miriameagl emon.com/photogallery/TX%20Butterflies%20Estero%20Llano.htm) Enjoyed a Black-chinned Hummer on one of the feeders just as Hector opened up the shop, and logged the Killdeer, Stilts, and single Snowy Egret at Ibis Pond. Heading over to the gazebo another pair of Red-crowned Parrots claimed one of the trees across the way, and a Lesser Nighthawk batted around in the open area. Up on the levee a young White-tailed Kite hunted for breakfast, and more Fulvous Whistling Ducks flew over. Down by Dowitcher Pond I ran into Jim, Kyle, Huck, and crew cleaning out the cattails, and they said the whole kite family had been looping and playing earlier! They had also seen a Willet earlier, which they thought was rather unusual inland this time of year. The Stilt family was hanging by the bridge; the youngsters reminded me a little of those pale-headed races (or species, depending on which taxonomy you prefer) that occur in the Old World! Alligator Lake was mostly grackles this time, but also had more Green Herons than I've ever seen in my life (even eBird flagged it)! I stared at the owl box on the way out, wondering if a Screech Owl was gonna dart out again, when a Golden-fronted Woodpecker popped out! I started on the Camino de las Aves Trail long enough to get a Bewick's Wren, but the downpour was definitely on its way, so I headed back to the center and got there just in time! (Huck et al weren't as fortunate...) So I hung out on deck for awhile and yapped with Jim and Hector, and in the meantime a small group of summer camp boys showed up; Huck entertained them with the park's Indigo Snake (he admonished them to wash their hands after handling the animal as there could be germs--the stampede to the bathroom was worth a video...), and later with their Giant Cane Toad (I don't think any of them were brave enough to handle that one)! After the kids left I hung out at the feeders and yapped with Huck for awhile, enjoying a brilliant Buff-breasted Hummingbird! The sun came out and I took a swing around the parking lot for leps; best was a pair of Southern Broken Dashes. Bird list: Location: Estero Llano Grande SP WBC (Weslaco)(LTC 054) Observation date: 7/3/08 Number of species: 59 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 36 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 20 Plain Chachalaca 3 Northern Bobwhite 4 Least Grebe 3 Neotropic Cormorant 9 Great Blue Heron 6 Great Egret 1 Snowy Egret 6 Little Blue Heron 4 Tricolored Heron 1 Green Heron 11 Black-crowned Night-Heron 1 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 2 White-tailed Kite 1 Common Moorhen 8 American Coot 40 Killdeer 6 Black-necked Stilt 15 Gull-billed Tern 1 Rock Pigeon 5 White-winged Dove 17 Mourning Dove 13 Inca Dove 7 Common Ground-Dove 5 White-tipped Dove 3 Red-crowned Parrot 5 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Lesser Nighthawk 1 Common Nighthawk 5 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 4 Black-chinned Hummingbird 4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 15 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3 Brown-crested Flycatcher 2 Great Kiskadee 10 Couch's Kingbird 6 White-eyed Vireo 4 Green Jay 1 Horned Lark 1 Purple Martin 3 Cave Swallow 6 Black-crested Titmouse 2 Carolina Wren 1 Bewick's Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 10 Long-billed Thrasher 1 Curve-billed Thrasher 1 European Starling 1 Common Yellowthroat 2 Olive Sparrow 6 Northern Cardinal 4 Dickcissel 1 Red-winged Blackbird 78 Eastern Meadowlark 3 Great-tailed Grackle 232 Brown-headed Cowbird 4 Lesser Goldfinch 3 House Sparrow 13 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)Subject: Sabal Palm & Hwy 48 From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:49:06 EDT Hi, all! Had a delightful morning at Sabal Palm today; met Chris Butler who was down from Oklahoma banding birds, and we had a nice time chatting. Two Yellow-green Vireos song-battled behind us in the meantime (one had a mate), and he informed me that they had been taken off the review list several years ago, so that was good to know. An ani was hanging around the same area, and he evidently got caught in the net later, as I ran into Jimmy Paz back in the parking lot, who was getting ready to zoom down there to take some pictures! The other main attraction was the big resaca, that, while lower since I was there last, was hopping with birds! Chris had told me about a Wood Stork and Roseate Spoonbill that were there; thankfully I saw the stork fly over while crossing over on the Vireo Trail, but in addition to the spoonbill, there were tons of Snowy and Great Egrets, some Stilts, several Black-crowned Night Herons, a handful of Least Grebes (staying well out of reach of the herons, I noticed), and a couple of White-faced Ibis (new for my list there), Great Blues, Greens, and a Little Blue. To top it all off (literally), a Ringed Kingfisher sat on an exposed branch near the top of one of the "heron trees"! My ring around the Del Rio and Native Trails got cut short by a developing thunderstorm that was making noise (but never materialized), but did manage to flush several Common Nighthawks and a Bobwhite out of the dead trees! Spent several minutes back at the feeders where the main customers were Black-crested Titmice, but a baby Carolina Wren kept coming around and posing cutely; his pic is here: _http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/Rio%20Grande%20Valley%20Birds.htm_ (http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/Rio%20Grande%20Valley%20Birds.htm) Since I got done relatively early I decided to visit one of the "quick stop" Brownsville areas that I didn't have time to do earlier in the month, so headed up Highway 48 and stopped first at the boat ramp, where the biggest surprise was a large flock of Wilson's Plovers! Second place went to the stunning American Oystercatcher acroos the canal. Even the Chihuahuan Raven raiding the trash barrel was nice to see! Had some nice birds at the Wildlife Viewing Area north of there, including another Oystercatcher, Skimmers skimming almost at touching distance, both flavors of Reddish Egret (including a white morph bird that fluffed his feathers at somebody), and many terns and pelicans. Two bird lists follow: Location: Sabal Palm Sanctuary (LTC 042) Observation date: 6/27/08 Number of species: 48 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 1 Plain Chachalaca 11 Northern Bobwhite 1 Least Grebe 4 Neotropic Cormorant 1 Great Blue Heron 2 Snowy Egret 19 Little Blue Heron 1 Green Heron 2 Black-crowned Night-Heron 7 White-faced Ibis 2 Roseate Spoonbill 1 Wood Stork 1 Killdeer 2 Black-necked Stilt 7 Laughing Gull 3 White-winged Dove 3 Mourning Dove 12 Common Ground-Dove 2 White-tipped Dove 12 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 4 Groove-billed Ani 1 Common Nighthawk 3 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 6 Ringed Kingfisher 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 19 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 5 Brown-crested Flycatcher 5 Great Kiskadee 7 Couch's Kingbird 10 White-eyed Vireo 2 Yellow-green Vireo 5 Green Jay 5 Purple Martin 3 Black-crested Titmouse 10 Carolina Wren 15 Northern Mockingbird 6 Long-billed Thrasher 7 Common Yellowthroat 4 Olive Sparrow 12 Northern Cardinal 5 Blue Grosbeak 1 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Great-tailed Grackle 27 Bronzed Cowbird 1 Brown-headed Cowbird 13 Hooded Oriole 1 Lesser Goldfinch 3 Location: Hwy 48 (Brownsville- So. Padre I.)(LTC 039) Observation date: 6/27/08 Number of species: 21 Brown Pelican 22 Neotropic Cormorant 9 Great Blue Heron 4 Great Egret 6 Snowy Egret 13 Tricolored Heron 3 Reddish Egret 6 Wilson's Plover 23 American Oystercatcher 2 Willet 9 Laughing Gull 12 Least Tern 9 Gull-billed Tern 1 Caspian Tern 17 Forster's Tern 10 Royal Tern 2 Black Skimmer 5 Chihuahuan Raven 2 Red-winged Blackbird 1 Eastern Meadowlark 2 Great-tailed Grackle 1 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)Subject: Bentsen SP From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:42:36 EDT Hi, all! Had a lovely morning at Bentsen today; highlights include both nighthawk species flying and calling on the way in, a tree-top Clay-colored Robin just singing away near Kingfisher Overlook, and a juvenile bird at Kiskadee Blind. The most exciting thing at Green Jay Blind was a Bobcat I apparently never saw lying there until it decided to up and move! Several Beardless Tyrannulets and Groove-billed Anis were about, and heard a Gray Hawk whine (unless it was a jay...). The Kiskadee Blind was actually quite active: in addition to the robin, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo came in for a drink, giving great views, and was soon being chased off by a Long-billed Thrasher! Baby grackles that are twice the size of Mom (it seems) are still begging to be fed, hobbling after her on these long, gangly legs, making them look almost like miniature chachalacas! A "Smudgy" Oriole sang like an Altamira at the east end of the Acacia Loop, and the Hawk Tower resaca, while lower than the last time I was there, was stuffed with birds: many Black-necked Stilts, White Ibis, and Mottled Ducks, and lesser numbers of Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, and Coots (plus many other things that were directly in the glare of the sun), as well as a calling Greater Yellowlegs that flew in just before I left. On the way to the butterfly garden I ran into Josh Rose, John Yochum, Tom Pendelton, and the Dauphins doing a dragonfly walk, so I joined them for the rest of the morning, enjoying cracking looks at Narrow-lined Forceptails and Caribbean Yellowfaces, to name a couple! After combing the canal John drove us to a marsh that's normally closed to the public, but on the way showed us their nesting Lesser Nighthawk! Her pic can be seen here: _http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/Rio%20Grande%20Valley%20Birds.htm_ (http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/Rio%20Grande%20Valley%20Birds.htm) Josh and John showed us many more odes, a Rio Grande Leopard Frog, and several fascinating cicada casings while we were back there (we teased him about collecting chiggers), and just had a great time with good company! Pics of many of the odes both on the dragonfly walk and during my bird walk, plus pics of one of several giant grasshoppers I encountered, are posted here: _http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/TX%20Butterflies%20Bentsen.htm_ (http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/TX%20Butterflies%20Bentsen.htm) Bird List: Location: Bentsen-Rio Grande Val. SP WBC (Mission)(LTC 069) Observation date: 6/26/08 Notes: Also had one (1) Altamira x Audubon's hybrid. Number of species: 47 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 8 Mottled Duck 10 Plain Chachalaca 8 Northern Bobwhite 1 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Great Egret 4 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 7 White Ibis 9 Turkey Vulture 2 Gray Hawk 1 American Coot 14 Killdeer 3 Black-necked Stilt 23 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Forster's Tern 3 White-winged Dove 76 Mourning Dove 18 White-tipped Dove 13 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 13 Greater Roadrunner 1 Groove-billed Ani 8 Lesser Nighthawk 2 Common Nighthawk 2 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 28 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 10 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 4 Brown-crested Flycatcher 5 Great Kiskadee 8 Couch's Kingbird 10 White-eyed Vireo 2 Green Jay 13 Cave Swallow 5 Black-crested Titmouse 5 Verdin 6 Bewick's Wren 1 Clay-colored Robin 4 Northern Mockingbird 16 Long-billed Thrasher 5 Olive Sparrow 13 Northern Cardinal 14 Blue Grosbeak 1 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Great-tailed Grackle 65 Bronzed Cowbird 11 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 Altamira Oriole 5 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)Subject: Laguna Atascosa From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:43:41 EDT Hi, all! Visited Laguna Atascosa NWR this morning, and the biggest surprise (pleasantly so) was that they apparently resurfaced the road from Rio Hondo! (I was dreading slip-sliding through the mud after the rain yesterday...) Highlights include three close-up White-tailed Hawks (two adults and one immature), a pair of Wilson's Plovers at Plover Point (along with a large group of waders WAY out there that were un-ID-able except for the spoonbills), several terns (including my first Sandwich for the route), a Hooded Oriole along the bayside portion that I at first wrote off as a meadowlark (it was doing its "wheep" call and didn't realize it really WAS an oriole until it flew...), Chachalacas on the telephone wires outside the visitor's center, an Altamira Oriole doing acrobatics going after a bug, and a Botteri's Sparrow that paced the car and then landed right outside the window! Pics are posted here: _http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/Rio%20Grande%20Valley%20Birds.htm_ (http://miriameaglemon.com/photogallery/Rio%20Grande%20Valley%20Birds.htm) I had two Osprey along Laguna Madre as well, which got flagged, along with the high number of Mockers and Olive Sparrows, but again, that takes into account that I was stopping every half mile and there were often at least three Mockers going at most stops! They were still putting out some seed at the feeding stations, so enjoyed White-tipped Doves, Green Jays (still missed the "blue" one), and fighting Javelina along with the icterids. Bird List: Location: Laguna Atascosa NWR (LTC 024) Observation date: 6/25/08 Number of species: 65 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 16 Mottled Duck 4 Plain Chachalaca 6 Northern Bobwhite 19 Great Blue Heron 11 Great Egret 12 Snowy Egret 6 Tricolored Heron 18 Reddish Egret 5 Green Heron 1 White Ibis 6 Roseate Spoonbill 15 Turkey Vulture 4 Osprey 2 White-tailed Hawk 3 Crested Caracara 1 Black-bellied Plover 2 Wilson's Plover 2 Black-necked Stilt 11 Willet 15 Long-billed Curlew 2 Laughing Gull 46 Gull-billed Tern 2 Caspian Tern 9 Royal Tern 7 Sandwich Tern 1 Mourning Dove 105 Common Ground-Dove 23 White-tipped Dove 14 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 7 Greater Roadrunner 4 Groove-billed Ani 2 Common Nighthawk 11 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 26 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 8 Brown-crested Flycatcher 4 Great Kiskadee 3 Couch's Kingbird 8 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 3 White-eyed Vireo 18 Green Jay 19 Horned Lark 6 Cave Swallow 100 Black-crested Titmouse 3 Verdin 15 Cactus Wren 1 Bewick's Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 75 Long-billed Thrasher 20 European Starling 1 Olive Sparrow 27 Cassin's Sparrow 5 Botteri's Sparrow 6 Lark Sparrow 8 Northern Cardinal 25 Blue Grosbeak 4 Dickcissel 1 Red-winged Blackbird 62 Eastern Meadowlark 37 Great-tailed Grackle 153 Bronzed Cowbird 68 Brown-headed Cowbird 8 Hooded Oriole 1 Altamira Oriole 1 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)Subject: Sacahuistale & Port Mansfield From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:20:58 EDT Hi, all! Had a pleasant, windless day along Sacahuistale and then Port Mansfield; highlights include almost running off the road tracking a Wood Stork and Roseate Spoonbill flying over :-P, a couple of Long-billed Curlews, and plenty of both Botteri's and Cassin's Sparrows scattered long the route. Turkeys gobbled in the distance early on, and at a hidden pond/rescaca heard a pair of Least Grebes chattering and trumpeting! Cave Swallows were nesting under the bridge that passes over a small canal/wetland. Startled more White-tailed Deer at the Nature Trail, and a Wilson's Plover was at the county park close to the shoreline, along with a dancing Reddish Egret. I felt a little like Tom Hanks at the end of the dock when the breeze knocked my walking stick into the drink and I could do nothing but watch it sadly bob out with the current (I stopped short of wailing, "Wilson!!", though... ;-)) Two bird lists follow... Location: Sacahuistale Flats (LTC 013) Observation date: 6/23/08 Number of species: 58 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 14 Wild Turkey 2 Northern Bobwhite 9 Least Grebe 2 Cattle Egret 2 Roseate Spoonbill 1 Wood Stork 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Harris's Hawk 3 Crested Caracara 2 Killdeer 1 Long-billed Curlew 2 Laughing Gull 1 Gull-billed Tern 2 Caspian Tern 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 2 Mourning Dove 42 Inca Dove 2 Common Ground-Dove 8 White-tipped Dove 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Greater Roadrunner 2 Common Nighthawk 35 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 16 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 8 Brown-crested Flycatcher 14 Great Kiskadee 11 Couch's Kingbird 2 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 18 White-eyed Vireo 4 Green Jay 3 Horned Lark 7 Purple Martin 1 Cave Swallow 30 Black-crested Titmouse 3 Verdin 4 Cactus Wren 3 Bewick's Wren 6 Northern Mockingbird 51 Long-billed Thrasher 4 Curve-billed Thrasher 7 European Starling 6 Olive Sparrow 18 Cassin's Sparrow 10 Botteri's Sparrow 9 Lark Sparrow 6 Northern Cardinal 6 Blue Grosbeak 4 Painted Bunting 2 Dickcissel 2 Red-winged Blackbird 85 Eastern Meadowlark 19 Great-tailed Grackle 45 Bronzed Cowbird 11 Brown-headed Cowbird 12 Hooded Oriole 4 Bullock's Oriole 1 House Sparrow 29 Location: Port Mansfield Observation date: 6/23/08 Number of species: 37 Brown Pelican 2 Great Blue Heron 2 Reddish Egret 1 Black Vulture 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Wilson's Plover 1 Willet 3 Long-billed Curlew 1 Laughing Gull 32 Least Tern 1 Royal Tern 4 Rock Pigeon 1 Eurasian Collared-Dove 3 Mourning Dove 7 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Common Nighthawk 2 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 1 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 1 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2 Brown-crested Flycatcher 2 Great Kiskadee 1 Couch's Kingbird 1 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1 White-eyed Vireo 1 Horned Lark 1 Purple Martin 2 Bewick's Wren 4 Northern Mockingbird 6 Olive Sparrow 1 Botteri's Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 4 Painted Bunting 2 Great-tailed Grackle 27 Bronzed Cowbird 2 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Hooded Oriole 3 House Sparrow 6 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)Subject: Cannon Road Loop From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:05:58 EDT Hi, all! Cannon Loop was very productive this morning, although it appears that both the Yellow-green Vireo and Lesser Scaup have moved on. This still remains a great route to get Tropical Kingbirds (along with Couch's), and at Adams Reservoir added both species of night heron to the route list. Neotropic Cormorant was the dominant bird there, but at least one of the Ospreys I had last month was still hanging around the south side. A single Black-necked Stilt was at the sod farms, but for now the place was occupied by Killdeer and Horned Larks (plus the ubiquitous grackles and redwings). Had two Swainsons' Hawks along Rangerville Road (and was surprised that eBird flagged it!), and the pond opposite the Ebony Unit sign was jus hopping: Least Bitterns were flying back and forth constantly (I think there were only three), and a Pied-billed Grebe had a little confrontation when a Least Grebe got too close to one of its babies! To round out the "leasts", a Least Tern paid a visit and caught a little fish! A mob of swallows lined the wires near the canal along Jimenez Road; most were Caves but about a dozen Banks were scattered among them. Another one of those odd-sounding Bullock's Orioles sang further down the road, and about then ran into Ranger Howard with the FWS, who encouraged me to check out the tract north of FM 3067, which I plan to do sometime! (Actually had my first Chachalacas of the route chorusing from that area on a stop along 3067...) The hike to "Ebony Pond" got cut short when it started to thunder, but at least got Blue Grosbeak and Painted Bunting for the day along the entrance road. Did some unplanned "storm-chasing" on the way home! :-) (There's a terrific cell over the ranch right now, complete with mammotus clouds!) Bird List: Location: Cannon Loop Observation date: 6/24/08 Number of species: 64 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 25 Fulvous Whistling-Duck 1 Plain Chachalaca 2 Northern Bobwhite 13 Least Grebe 7 Pied-billed Grebe 3 Neotropic Cormorant 51 Least Bittern 3 Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 6 Snowy Egret 4 Green Heron 7 Black-crowned Night-Heron 3 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1 Turkey Vulture 3 Osprey 1 White-tailed Kite 1 Harris's Hawk 3 Swainson's Hawk 2 Crested Caracara 1 Common Moorhen 3 American Coot 1 Killdeer 21 Black-necked Stilt 1 Least Tern 1 White-winged Dove 50 Mourning Dove 54 Inca Dove 1 Common Ground-Dove 8 White-tipped Dove 5 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 5 Common Nighthawk 10 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 14 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 6 Brown-crested Flycatcher 4 Great Kiskadee 8 Tropical Kingbird 9 Couch's Kingbird 10 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1 White-eyed Vireo 7 Green Jay 1 Horned Lark 10 Purple Martin 6 Bank Swallow 17 Cliff Swallow 3 Cave Swallow 67 Black-crested Titmouse 4 Carolina Wren 5 Northern Mockingbird 27 Long-billed Thrasher 6 Common Yellowthroat 6 Olive Sparrow 14 Lark Sparrow 3 Northern Cardinal 4 Blue Grosbeak 1 Painted Bunting 1 Dickcissel 27 Red-winged Blackbird 270 Eastern Meadowlark 3 Great-tailed Grackle 238 Bronzed Cowbird 9 Brown-headed Cowbird 6 Bullock's Oriole 1 House Sparrow 38 Mary Beth Stowe McAllen, TX _www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/) **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)Subject: Sacahuistale & Port Mansfield From: Mary Beth Stowe <MiriamEagl AT AOL.COM> Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:47:10 EDT Hi, all! Had a pleasant, windless day along Sacahuistale and then Port Mansfield; highlights include almost running off the road tracking a Wood Stork and Roseate Spoonbill flying over :-P, a couple of Long-billed Curlews, and plenty of both Botteri's and Cassin's Sparrows scattered long the route. Turkeys gobbled in the distance early on, and at a hidden pond/rescaca heard a pair of Least Grebes chattering and trumpeting! Cave Swallows were nesting under the bridge that passes over a small canal/wetland. Startled more White-tailed Deer at the Nature Trail, and a Wilson's Plover was at the county park close to the shoreline, along with a dancing Reddish Egret. I felt a little like Tom Hanks at the end of the dock when the breeze knocked my walking stick into the drink and I could do nothing but watch it sadly bob out with the current (I stopped short of wailing, "Wilson!!", though... ;-)) Two bird lists follow... Location: Sacahuistale Flats (LTC 013) Observation date: 6/23/08 Number of species: 58 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 14 Wild Turkey 2 Northern Bobwhite 9 Least Grebe 2 Cattle Egret 2 Roseate Spoonbill 1 Wood Stork 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Harris's Hawk 3 Crested Caracara 2 Killdeer 1 Long-billed Curlew 2 Laughing Gull 1 Gull-billed Tern 2 Caspian Tern 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 2 Mourning Dove 42 Inca Dove 2 Common Ground-Dove 8 White-tipped Dove 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Greater Roadrunner 2 Common Nighthawk 35 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 16 Ladder-backed Woodpecker 8 Brown-crested Flycatcher 14 Great Kiskadee 11 Couch's Kingbird 2 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 18 White-eyed Vireo 4 Green Jay 3 Horned Lark 7 Purple Martin 1 Cave Swallow 30 Black-crested Titmouse 3 Verdin 4 Cactus Wren 3 Bewick's Wren 6 Northern Mockingbird 51 Long-billed Thrasher 4 Curve-billed Thrasher 7 European Starling 6 Olive Sparrow 18 Cassin's Sparrow 10 Botteri's Sparrow 9 Lark Sparrow 6 Northern Cardinal 6 Blue Grosbeak 4 Painted Bunting 2 Dickcissel 2 Red-winged Blackbird 85 Eastern Meadowlark 19 Great-tailed Grackle 45 Bronzed Cowbird 11 Brown-headed Cowbird 12 Hooded Oriole 4 Bullock's Oriole 1 House Sparrow 29 Location: Port Mansfield Observation date: 6/23/08 Number of species: 37 Brown Pelican 2 Great Blue Heron 2 Reddish Egret 1 Black Vulture 1 Turkey Vulture 1 W |