We traveled over to Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. In the "trailer loop" area, we found that most of the campers had left for the summer. There were only about three sites actually feeding the birds. Even so, we easily found Inca Dove, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Couch's Kingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Greater Roadrunner, and my first views of White-tipped Dove and the strikingly-colored Green Jay.
It was there that we first met Kim Eckert, leader of the Victor Emmanuel tour group. He asked us what we had seen. He then told us that they were headed up to the levee to see the Hooked-billed Kite that usually came by between 9:00 and 10:00. We decided to go there and try our luck, and sure enough, an adult male Hook-billed Kite soared by at eye level! It was here that we met three Canadian birders from British Columbia who we would run into several times later on the trip. We went with them to the resaca to check for Green Kingfisher, but to no avail.
We left the park and visited Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.
We took the trail to Willow Lake where we saw Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Black-necked Stilt, Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's Phalarope, and my 'life' Great Kiskadee perched on a snag.
While there, other birders told us that they had seen Buff-bellied Hummingbirds in front of the visitor center. Once again, the information paid off as we got great looks at three Buff-bellied Hummingbirds feeding on the flowers by the parking lot. We then walked down to the levee west of the visitor center, hoping to find Green Kingfisher. Although we didn't find one, we did see a brightly-colored Altamira Oriole in a tree along the levee and got much better looks at Olive Sparrow. Returning a second time to Willow Lake, we finally spotted a Green Kingfisher at the far side of the lake. It was a female just above the water on an overhanging branch. We also had a Chachalaca walk up to within eight feet of us.
Leaving Santa Ana, we headed east to Brownsville, hoping to see the Mexican Crow. When we arrived at the gate of the Brownsville Dump, we were told it was closing and we couldn't go in. After some map reading, we worked our way around to the back side of the dump where, after some searching, we saw some Mexican Crows among the Great-tailed Grackles and the larger Chihuahuan Ravens.
Farther east, we came to the Port Isabel area where we saw American Oystercatcher, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Laughing and Franklin's Gull, Black Skimmer, Caspian, Sandwich, and Least Tern, and the "white phase" of the Reddish Egret with its powder blue legs and lores and its pink bill with a black tip.
Reversing direction, we drove back into Brownsville and stopped at the wooded area by the railroad tracks next to the intersection of Los Ebanos Boulevard and Camino del Rey. As dusk approached, we watched the flocks of
Red-crowned Parrots coming in to roost.
We buzzed back to the motel and then headed back to Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Along the outermost loop road in the park, we got to hear and see Common Pauraques hunting for insects. We conservatively estimated that we actually saw six or seven and heard probably a dozen more. Other observations included a calling Elf Owl, Javelinas, and a light-colored snake that crossed the road in front of the car. We finally got back to our McAllen motel around 11:00 PM.
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