The only way to get into the ranch is through them and a few other guides that have been granted authorized access by the ranch owners. The ranch held two possible 'lifers' rarely seen in the United States, plus both birds were tough to get a look at. Eleven of us walked out to the bluffs overlooking the Rio Grande River.
Soon after we set up on the bluff, Red-billed Pigeons flew by. I got some underexposed photos of them.
There was a nice view of the river towards Salineno with Falcon Dam visible in the distance. There was an island in the river that had a good number of birds on and around it. Two Muscovy Ducks were on that island.
A Limpkin, which was only one of two records for the Lower Rio Grande, was present near the American shore. A very distant, crappy photo was taken of it.
Other birds around the island included Great Blue Heron, Great and Snowy Egret, White Ibis, and Roseate Spoonbill.
One of the Roseate Spoonbills flew in and landed right below us.
Other 'fly-by' birds included American White Pelican, both Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorant, and Caspian Tern.
There were some very distant Brown Jays perched in a tree west of the bluff. Other birds seen from there included Greater White-fronted Goose, Wood Duck, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Sora, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Anhinga, Green Heron, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered and Gray Hawk, Ringed, Belted, and Green Kingfisher, Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Eastern and Black Phoebe, and Altamira Oriole.
We walked back out to our cars and drove over to another section of the ranch. We birded the area around the ranch houses and corrals and found Curve-billed Thrasher, Black-throated Sparrow, and Golden-fronted Woodpecker.
Zach Johnson, our other guide, turned over a sheet of corrugated metal and found a scorpion that we all got to see up close.
We walked down to the Rio Grande River and continued east on a road paralleling the river. We walked down a wash and worked our way to a cove along the American side. Simon, the one guide, saw one of our target birds fly down this cove. After some searching, the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron was found perched on a branch along the edge of the cove! It was tough to get a clear view of the bird through all of the branches, but I was happy to get some fairly good photos of this 3rd United States record! It was my third life bird of the trip.
A Dusky-capped Flycatcher was another notable bird found in that area. Other birds seen on this walk included White-winged Dove, Osprey, Harris's Hawk, Crested Caracara, Least Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Green Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, Black-crested Titmouse, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Olive Sparrow, and Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warbler. On the way back out, a Blue Spiny Lizard clung to the trunk of a tree.
We left the ranch in the mid-afternoon and made the short drive to the Salineno Wildlife Preserve. The feeders were pretty quiet. I took a photo of a Great-tailed Grackle showing off its irridescent colors.
Down at the river, a Least Grebe was diving nearby. We walked the trail west along the river and came to a spot where an island was in view, which held Black Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, and Great Kiskadee. Right next to the vantage point, I spotted a Morelet's Seedeater and got some backlit photos of it.
We drove into the town of Roma, grabbed something to eat at the Dairy Queen, and then drove back out to the ranch to hopefully see the 2nd United States record of Mottled Owl. The only other United States record of Mottled Owl was one that was found dead near Bentsen Rio Grande State Park back in 1983. We walked all the way back in to the wash near where we had earlier seen the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and stood silently in the dark. A few calls of smaller owls were played and I saw the silhouette of an owl fly into a nearby tree. I was waiting for the guides to put a spotlight on it, but when the light came on, there was no owl there. It flew off a short distance and called a couple times. Eventually, it came back in. Jason saw where it went and put his light on it. Almost immediately, it took off again. I saw it fly off in his light, never getting to see its face. There was no doubt that it was the Mottled Owl! I just wish I would have gotten a better look at it. We walked backed out, slightly disappointed with the quick, poor look we got at it, but that's the way it goes with birding sometimes.
We did the 1.5 hour drive back to the same Harlingen motel we had stayed at the first two nights of the trip.
Nice report Dave!
ReplyDelete