Seven other PA birders and I rented a van and took a 10-day, 6300-mile whirlwind trip to south Texas and southeastern Arizona that included a stop at Sandia Crest, New Mexico on the way back home. The other seven were Jason Horn, Rick Wiltraut, Steve and Devich Farbotnik, Bob Scheibner, Dave Wilton, and Ben Coulter. We had planned on leaving around 9 AM, but several inches of snow fell that morning and delayed our departure until almost noon. We headed for south Texas, driving through the night and switching drivers as needed. The “Red-eyed Birding Tour” was under way.
February 8, 2003
It was getting light as we reached Louisiana. Along I-10, we got some ‘highway-speed’ looks at Brown and American White Pelicans, Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egrets, Greater White-fronted and Snow Geese with a few of the smaller Ross’s mixed in, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Loggerhead Shrike, and Great-tailed Grackle.
Our first planned stop in Texas was at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge to look for Whooping Crane. Several miles before we reached the refuge, we saw Sandhill Cranes, a Bald Eagle, Crested Caracaras, and Long-billed Curlews. At the refuge‘s observation tower, we found the 40-degree temperature and 20-mph wind to be way too familiar to what we left at home, but we also found both pelicans, Great and Snowy Egrets, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, Blue-winged Teal, Gadwall, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Crested Caracara, American Avocet, Willet, Caspian and Forster’s Terns, and 2 Whooping Cranes, which were a 'lifer' for several in our group. Another stop north of the tower to check out the bay produced White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Short-billed Dowitcher, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, and a really nice look at a Bobcat that sat for a while in the middle of the road ahead of our parked van before heading off into the brush.
From there, we drove straight through to McAllen where a car threw a stone and cracked the bottom right corner of the van's windshield. We stayed at a Microtel motel in McAllen.
February 9, 2003
Our first stop of the morning was at the University of Texas – Pan American campus to look for the Golden-crowned Warbler that had been there for over three months. After searching for close to an hour, Rick found the bird near the sundial not far from where the van was parked. We all got great looks at it as it methodically went from tree to tree along the walkway.
We also saw Blue-headed Vireo and Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers there.
Next, it was off to Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park. Birds found around the picnic area included Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpecker, a Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, and Black-crested Titmouse. The nearby resaca produced Least and Pied-billed Grebe, Blue-winged Teal, Sora, Common Moorhen, and Purple Martin. An Olive Sparrow was seen at the adjacent bird blind. Our walk around the trailer loop section of the park produced Osprey, Plain Chachalaca, White-tipped and Inca Doves, Great Kiskadee, Green Jay, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush, Long-billed Thrasher, Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Bronzed Cowbird, Altamira Oriole, Lesser and American Goldfinches, and great looks at a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl that Jason found. Also, after missing it on two previous trips, I finally got to see the two Clay-colored Robins that were in the area of the feeding station near Site #19.
Our next stop was at Anzalduas County Park. Over the years, I had read about many good birds found at this park, but this was the first time I had actually visited it. There, we successfully found the Greater Pewee that was a “hotline” bird for south Texas in addition to Ringed Kingfisher, Vermilion Flycatcher, Pine Warbler, and a brief look at a Hook-billed Kite that flew over the river.
We spent the rest of the day at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge where we saw Mottled Duck, Harris’s Hawk, Common Pauraque, Rufous Hummingbird, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Vermilion Flycatcher, Black-crested Titmouse, and a Tropical Parula that was singing near the site of the old manager’s residence. Other birds seen there included Sora, Common Moorhen, Common Snipe, American Pipit, Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo, and Orange-crowned and Black-throated Green Warbler.
Out of daylight, we headed back to the same McAllen motel where we stayed the night before.
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