After not hearing the bird for a long while after that, Jason suggested that we go out the tram road to the dry resaca and look for my other possible 'lifer', which was a Roadside Hawk, a species that has only been seen about a dozen times in the United States, all in Texas. As we approached the area where it was often seen, another birder motioned to us that he had the bird. There, on a large tree stump between the two viewing platforms at the end of the Ebony Trail was the Roadside Hawk, my second 'life bird' for the trip! The lighting and distance were not good for photos, but I took a few for documentation purposes.
Thanks to Jason's "injured rabbit squeaking", the hawk flew in and landed directly behind us, revealing its vertical barring on the throat and horizontal barring on the chest!
It made a short flight to the other side of the road where I got these nice photos of it.
We walked back to the area around the visitor center. An Altamira Oriole perched at the top of a tree in the parking area.
A report was floating around that two birders had seen the Gray-collared Becard near the bus parking area around 8:00. By now, the winds were around 25 miles per hour with higher gusts. We methodically searched the area around there and the rest of the parking lot but couldn't find it. We did come across a warbler flock that contained Nashville, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, and Black-throated Green, plus Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a nearby Least Flycatcher.
A Harris's Hawk flew low over the lot and landed in a tree. It was interesting that it had a band on its left leg.
Jason spotted a bird flying overhead. The cinnamon-colored wings and long bill that had some mud on it identified it as a Long-billed Curlew.
Two days before, the Gray-collared Becard had spent a good part of the afternoon at the bird blind area located behind the visitor center. We occasionally checked that area out, too, but were not having any luck. The birds coming to the water feature at the blind provided some nice photo possibilities while I was there. I couldn't resist taking photos of the brilliantly-colored Green Jays. Also there were Plain Chachalacas, an Olive Sparrow, and an Orange-crowned and a Wilson's Warbler.
We stayed until dusk without seeing the other target bird. Other birds noted there included White-tipped and Inca Dove, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk, Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Black-crested Titmouse, and 'flyovers' of Sandhill Crane, American White Pelican, White-tailed Hawk, and Crested Caracara. We went to a Golden Corral and made up for the lack of food during the day. We once again spent the night at the same motel in Harlingen.
No comments:
Post a Comment