more Weslaco Texas birds

I am still amazed by all the birds we saw on this last trip - here are a few more that were taken 2 weeks ago on our last day with the guides. This first one is a Couch's kingbird. This is not the greatest photo of a Vermillion flycatcher...

The American Coot is really quite interesting up close!

Here is JOE COOL i.e. the Blacked-necked-Stilt surfing on a Gadwall.... :)

My guess is a Stilt Sandpiper. WRONG - it is a spotted Sandpiper. :)

I think this is a female Gadwall.

This is a fascinating Common Pauraque, snoozing in the grass so well camouflaged it doesn't have to worry!

My first lark sparrow!

Whoever named this the "Plain Chachalaca" was out of their mind... it is anything but plain!

Ever felt that you had bit off more than you could chew? This Anhinga was confidently preparing his lunch.

Click to watch!

Showing off for the turtle?

I believe this is an American Pipet.

Talk about inflicting damage to self esteem, how would you like to be named a "Lesser Yellowlegs?"

Ok, here is where it gets VERY difficult to identify... I think it is a Least Sandpiper. Never knew there were so many sandpipers, but they really are an intricate piece of work!!!

This was just awesome to see - the tiny TROPICAL PARULA dining on oranges along with a couple orange-crowned warblers! It is only about 4 1/2" long but with amazing color!

I guess this is the southern version of the Blue-gray gnatcatcher - he is also about 4 1/2" long!

Ugh, you do see javelinas in south Texas .... at least this time we were not surrounded by a pack of them.

Is this exquisite or what? A Buff-Bellied Hummingbird resting.

Ok, I think this bird is wondering who in their right mind could name this tiny 4 1/2" creature a "Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet?"

Here is the Northern Beardless Tyrannulet :)

We saw lots of Orange Crowned Warblers!

Here we were, trudging through tropical rainforests searching for Parakeets ...NOT! This was in a Walgreen's parking lot in Mission, Tx! Probably 300-500 Green Parakeets!

This was incredible!

Henrey noticed that the one on the right here was different than the others - it turned out to be an Aztec (Olive-throated ) Parakeet!

Click here to hear what 500 Green Parakeets sound like!

Goodnight to the Great tailed Grackles - it had been an unbelievable day!

Exploring Southmost preserve, TX

You know it will be a good birding day when one of the first birds of the day is a peregrine falcon, having his breakfast. This is an inca dove, looks like it is wearing scale armor.

Isn't this one beautiful? This is a Solitary Sandpiper. True to his name, it was alone in the marsh.

The beautiful butterflies of the Rio Grande area were a pleasant surprise. This is a Mexican Blue Wing, it looks like stained glass!

I liked this cross stich hanging in the Resaca de la Palma State Park gift shop :)

This was a nice pair of Altimira Orioles. Wow, amazing color.

This was such a peaceful spot.

The only reptile we saw (Ok, except for the alligators, THANK YOU LORD!) was this tree lizard sunning. There is nothing like a leisurely walk through the woods!!

Birds on the drive down to the Rio Grande

The Rio Grande adventure starting by driving over to the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Reserve, about an hour west of Houston. We saw these Northern Pintails along the road. I learned many things on the trip - first is that birds seldom look too much like the ones in the field guides. This is a 2nd year white-tailed hawk, here its wings are covering the tail.

Unfortunately in the winter the predators prey on the seriously endangered prairie chickens, so the chickens were hiding!

They try to put spikes in the fence posts to prevent the hawks from hunting there, but this white-tailed hawk found a perch anyway.

This is tricky to id, but I think it is a Vesper Sparrow because of the white on the tail.

I am sure this one is a Savannah Sparrow with the yellow eyebrow.

Suzy took this one for me out the window - a glossy ibis!

We saw the bisons and decided to stay in the car :) Here are some cattle egrets doing their thing!

Just in case you were wondering why it is called a White-Tailed Hawk....

This is also a young White-tailed hawk!

American Kestrels really are a brightly colored bird, this one was scoping out a city park.

I remember being tired of driving at this point, wondering what the next day would bring, and if we would find any of the birds we were hoping for....

wonderful birding in south Texas

I cannot really describe the beauty of these birds, it was a delight to see each one. This first one is an Altamira Oriole.

This yellow one is a Great Kiskadee

This is the Green Jay, maybe the one we most wanted to find.

The Audubon's Oriole!

Common ground doves

Black crested titmouse

I never got tired of seeing Orange-Crowned Warblers, which were numerous!

This is a male Pyrrhuloxia

A view of the mountains of northern Mexico from Falcon State Park, TX

4 happy people after seeing so many wonderful birds in one day!

Stunning buff-bellied hummingbird

This was so funny, a male cardinal attacking his reflection in a hub cap!! (Sometimes we are our own worst enemy)... click to watch!

I will post more tomorrow...