Concord Birds Project 2013-2015

The advent of 2016 marks the end of the three-year Concord Birds Project, a collaborative inventory of avian life in Concord.  Harking back to the days when birders kept and published town lists, our goal was simply to inspire some competition and see how many birds we could find in Concord.  And we did, logging 225 species that first year and 246 over the course of three years, drawing on a robust collection of over 2,300 eBird reports that represent thousands of contributed field hours.  

The concept was simple:  birders shared their Concord eBird lists and field notes with a virtual birder we called Ludlow G., who was the virtual companion to every party in the field and who gathered all their sightings into a single observer database on eBird.  Since eBird does not yet gather data at the town level, this was my way of doing it; someone with programming skills could streamline this process, but it would be less fun than corresponding with so many great birders and following their discoveries, list by list.

Given the interest generated by the project, it evolved into a longer term effort to assemble a robust, high quality data set of birds sightings on which to base a revision to the existing Concord checklist by Dick Walton, which dates from 1984, and Ludlow Griscom’s from 1949.  I have been collaborating with Cole W., a very talented young birder, on editing a new checklist, and we hope to publish it this year.  

The historical checklist stands at around 360 species, but in just three years some really cool birds were encountered such as a Swainson’s Hawk, Barn Owl, LeConte’s Sparrow, Prothonotary Warbler, and Mississippi Kite.  Nice surprises were breeding ravens, rediscovering territories for Louisiana Waterthrush and discovering a breeding population of Canada Warblers, deep in the swamps of Estabrook Woods. Habitat change and loss have brought losses:  shore-birding at Great Meadows is much diminished, Ruffed Grouse are nearly gone, and Goshawk and Blue-headed Vireo no longer breed in Estabrook Woods.

For now, I want to thank the many birders who answered questions, offered guidance, and contributed lists and field notes.  The list is very long, but among them I want particularly to thank Cherrie Corey, Jason Forbes, Willy Hutcheson, Chuck Johnson, Sam Miller, Simon Perkins, David Sibley, Bob Stymeist, the indefatigable Great Meadows survey crew of Alan Bragg, Kathy Dia, and Will Martens, and of course the dynamic duo of Cole and Jalen Winstanley.  To all named and unnamed, many thanks for the birds, and good birding to you in 2016.  And yes, that shadow might be Ludlow G. so make sure to count every bird, no matter how common.

David Swain

ABA Camp Avocet 2015; Guest Blog #4

Hi birders, its Tim. Once again, I'll be sharing with you my wonderful experiences at Camp Avocet. Check out my first three posts if you haven't already.

Day 4 of camp was our long looked forward to trip to Cape May. Because we were to take the ferry from Lewes to Cape May, we had a late start for birding since the departure time for the ferry was 8:45.

Even if we had a late start, the ferry was nice and cool, compared to the rest of the week, and we saw many flocks of feeding Wilson's Storm-Petrels, Brown Pelicans, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and some of the group saw a Black Tern and a Sandwich Tern (both would have been lifers), neither of which I saw. I was starting to get  worried that I wouldn't see a Black Tern again at camp, but I knew there would be more Sandwiches at Chincoteague tomorrow. Like Gull-billed Terns, Sandwich Terns are rarities in Delaware even though in surrounding states they are regular.

Once we arrived at Cape May, We headed straight to Higbee Beach, a great songbird migration spot during fall, but sadly, it wasn't even near the peak of songbird migration. We split up into two groups, but neither of the groups were too successful. We managed to pick up American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird, and Black-and-White Warbler, but otherwise it was unpleasantly hot and quiet bird wise.

After Higbee, we headed to Cape May Point for lunch where we met Richard Crossley. We birded around after lunch, and all I could think about was how hot it was. We did find some Black Skimmers and a horde of Mute Swans though.

We then headed to the Observatory Giftshop, where Crossley gave us a talk about how to become an experienced birder (in his awesome British accent) and we bought birding books and guides. Little did we know that a Great Shearwater had washed up on a beach a couple months ago, and that we were going to be able to study it. Steve Howell taught us about feather groups, why shearwaters have tube noses, and much more while handling the handsome bird. Because the shearwater was frozen, Steve asked if we could microwave it so that it would be easier to move it's wings. I think we might have been the first people on earth to nuke a tubenose.

After studying the shearwater, we headed to The Meadows for some last minute birding at Cape May. This turned out to be the most productive of the places at Cape May, as there was a continuing American Wigeon there (very rare at this time of year). We also found a pair of Gadwall, two Pectoral Sandpipers, a load of Glossy Ibis, and a Great Egret eating an eel.

As we were scanning the pools, I decided to look on the other side of the dike and look for shorebirds there. Two small terns were heading down the channel, and I checked them to see if they were both Leasts. The one in front had oddly dark wings, but it was the same size as a Least. Then I got a glimpse of the black patch on the back of the head. I yelled; "BLACK TERN," and everyone got on it in the long prior of time that it fed and perched with the other terns on the mudflats. It was a juvenile bird, with very long, dark wings, but with a very short tail and small proportions. That Black Tern was by far the coolest bird I saw at Camp Avocet, even though it wasn't an adult.

On the ferry ride back we got looks at another Black Tern (this time I saw it), a Surf Scoter, and some of the group witnessed 6 Whimbrels fly over the boat in a flock.

After settling into our rooms at the Virden Center, Raymond (one of our instructors) saw an eastern Screech-Owl fly into one of the large trees in front of the dorms, and several people got to see it. I heard it only, along with another responding from the cedars grove.
 
So that was Day 4 of Camp Avocet, I'll also be blogging days 5 and 6. Goodbye until the next post!

ABA Camp Avocet 2015; Guest Blog #3

Hi birders! It's Tim writing, and if you've missed the other posts in my guest series here is the link for the first post and here is the one for the second post.

After writing about Bombay, I realized that I totally forgot to give credit to the awesome instructors that ran the trips. It was great to spend time with local experts and just overall great birders. Our instructors were Bill Stewart (a local and the ABA Young Birder Programs director), George Armistead (ABA Events Coordinator), Holly Merker, Steve Howell (author of many ornithology books), Raymond VanBuskirk (Leica representative), and our intern Mike Hudson. Thanks so much guys and gals for a such a wonderful experience at Camp Avocet!

Anyway, after a good night's sleep, we had breakfast a little later than we did the day before, but we still got birding pretty early. Today's escapade was to Prime Hook, a more coastal place than Bombay Hook, and much closer to the Virden Center.

We started at Fowler Beach Rd., which at the start is shrubby, fieldy habitat, where we got Bank Swallow, White-eyed Vireo, and Blue Grosbeak, and near the end is a saltmarsh great for Seaside Sparrow and Clapper Rail. We had mediocre views of over 20 Seaside Sparrows, which were lifers for me, but I guess that's basically the best you can get with an Ammodramus sparrow. The Clapper Rails also were very showy, crossing the road multiple times and skulking where they thought we couldn't see them but really could. We also met David LaPuma and Mike Lanzone, two great birders from the area and they accompanied us until we went to Cape May the next day.

At some point the road became only accessible by foot, and we walked to the beach from there. The really cool birds started there. Soon after, the saltmarsh opened up to show big pools of water, filled with terns (Common, Forster's, Caspian, and Least), Laughing Gulls, Black Skimmers, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, lots of American Oystercatchers, tons of herons and egrets, both yellowlegs and both subspecies of Willet, two Whimbrels, and best of all, a Gull-billed Tern. Even though they breed farther north, Gull-bills are strangely almost absent on the Delmarva peninsula, so this was a great sighting. We also had multiple Bald Eagles and a Red-shouldered Hawk in the distance. American White Pelicans had been reported here recently, but we weren't able to locate them. Here is the Fowler Beach list.

After we had scoured Fowler Beach, we headed to Prime Hook Beach Rd., where we got most of the same species plus some Long-billed Dowitchers and a flyover Cattle Egret. Our Prime Hook Beach sightings can be seen here. Most of us were getting tired of the heat, so we headed back to the Virden Center to eat lunch.

After lunch (and an intense grape fight), Steve Howell and Michael Lanzone did two great presentations, Steve's was about the 12 steps of bird identification, and Mike's was about patch birding. I learned a lot from both of the talks, especially the identification presentation.

Shortly afterwards we had dinner, another great meal, following was another late visit to Cape Henlopen, this time to Gordon's Pond and Herring Point. The Gordon's Pond trail actually goes through a piney forest before actually arriving at Gordon's Pond, and it is a great place to find Brown-headed Nuthatch. We did succeed in finding over 10 Brown-headed Nuthatches, as well as a Brown Thrasher. At Gordon's Pond there was a multitude of roosting terns and egrets, mostly Caspian Terns and Snowy Egrets, and some Black-necked Stilts, but otherwise it wasn't as filled with birds as Prime Hook.

Our second stop was Herring Point, just across the street from the Gordon's Pond Trail trailhead. A complete surprise for me was 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a normally rare bird in most of North America, but somewhat common in some sections of the mid-Atlantic coast. We also had an adult male Surf Scoter, a lifer for most of the inland birders. Here is the list for both Gordon's and Herring. At that point it was after 8, so we retired to the Virden Center for the night.

I hope you guys are enjoying my posts, goodbye for now!

ABA Camp Avocet 2015; Guest Blog #2

Hi birders! It's Tim again, and if you haven't read my first post here, here's the link.

Continuing from my last post, we woke up fairly early at 6 (normal for me) to get breakfast at 6:45 and get on the road at 7:45. Before breakfast, we were allowed to do a little birding around the dorms, so my roommate and I got ready quickly and witnessed the huge flocks of blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds, and starlings dispersing from their roosting sites. The number of starlings even dwarfed the number in Boston! Although considered rare in Delaware, we also witnessed flocks of White Ibis flying from their roosts. Apparently, White Ibis are undergoing a range expansion, which usually starts with a large irruption of birds farther north of their normal range. They were all juveniles, surprisingly.

Breakfast was spectacular, but if you were hoping for real syrup on your waffles, pancakes, or french toast, you're out of luck. We had much conversation, telling each other about cool birding experiences and other random topics.

We started our first full day with a bang by going to Bombay Hook, debatably the best birding hotspot in Delaware, even though it was an hour away from Lewes. We arrived at Bombay around 9, and immediately we stopped the car because someone had heard a bobwhite. We ended up seeing two feeding in someone's driveway with Mourning Doves, and it was a lifer for the majority of the western kids.

The visitor's center at Bombay had many martin boxes, allowing some close views of a species that is very common in Delaware but very local and rare in Massachusetts.

Our first stop was at Raymond Pool, by far the most productive place at Bombay Hook, and it was spectacular. Almost 250 American Avocets dotted the shallow pool, along with a couple Black-necked Stilts, tons of Short-billed Dowitchers, appreciable counts of Stilt Sandpipers, many peeps, huge numbers of Snowy and Great Egrets, 50 Glossy Ibis with a couple White Ibis, 2 Tricolored Herons, Semipalmated Plovers, and probably even more. The humungous numbers allowed for close study of the shorebirds, letting us pick out a Pectoral Sandpiper, some Western Sandpipers, and 12 Long-billed Dowitcher (a lifer for me). Our group split into 3 groups; beginner, intermediate, and advanced shorebird experience, and we learned a lot about shorebirds.

We visited a couple other pools after Raymond, but one of the highlights was hearing and seeing a Grasshopper Sparrow in one of the fields between the pools.

Another very cool stop was Finis Pool, a boggier body of water home to many Little Blue and Green Herons. We ate lunch in the forest around Finis, and were surprised to find an Acadian Flycatcher nest with nestlings and a parent (another lifer). We got brief glimpses of the parent briefly coming to the nest to feed the chicks, along with many calling Eastern Wood-Pewee, a calling Yellow-billed Cuckoo (which I didn't hear) and a calling Barred Owl (which I also didn't hear).

While driving the wildlife loop, our conversations were interrupted by someone screaming "LEAST BITTERN!!" I got a brief glimpse of the bird crossing the road, but some people in our van missed it, and the other van didn't see it at all.

After returning to Raymond Pool and experiencing the cool shorebirds again, we headed out of Bombay and explored some of the local hotspots. Here is our list.

One place we stopped, I believe it was called Stave Landing R., produced some nice marsh birds such as Marsh Wren and the local subspecies of Swamp Sparrow, the Delaware Swamp Sparrow. Delaware Swamp Sparrows have a slightly more musical and slurred song than the nominate race, kind of like a Pine Warbler but slower and more defined. Here is the list for Stave Landing.

While we were in the vans, we went over a bridge famous for it's Cliff Swallows, which have declined on the East Coast recently, and many people got to see them (except for me). We also stopped at Fort DuPont State Park, where we witnessed many herons coming and going from their roosting place on Fort DuPont Island. Strangely, around Delaware City Cattle Egret and Little Blue Heron are much more common than the other species because Fort DuPont Island is a huge breeding colony for those species. Here is the Fort DuPont list.

That afternoon, we had dinner at ABA Headquarters in Delaware City where we ordered pizza. We took a tour around the HQ and then just hung out in a large room and told stories about birds. At this point, we had an idea of what everybody's names were, but we still went around the room and told our name, our favorite bird, and where we live. There were kids from all over at this Camp, and a surprising amount were from the west. One of the boys lives in Gunnison, Colorado, and Gunnison Sage-Grouse are common there! I still can't believe it!

After dinner, we headed back to the Virden Center. Curfew was at 9:30 every night, and although some kids chatted for a little after that, we basically stuck to the rules. The early curfew was helpful though, considering how early we had to wake up each morning.

The quote of the day (from Steve Howell) was "If Long-billed Dowitchers were poisonous, and Short-billed Dowitchers were delicious, we would surely know how to tell them apart."

ABA Camp Avocet 2015; Guest Blog #1

Now for something completely different! Last week Tim was in Delaware with ABA's Camp Avocet, and since my blog is so lame, I have begged him to spice it up to bring in more readers.  Take it away!

Hi, I’m Tim, David’s son, and I’d like to share my experience at Camp Avocet, an ABA Young Birder’s camp. These posts will be mainly for people going to Camp Avocet next summer so that they’ll know what to expect. I had an absolutely spectacular time with experienced young birders like me, and would be a great opportunity for any birder between ages 13 and 18 to become part of the young birding community. 
Camp Avocet is based at the Virden Retreat Center in Lewes, Delaware (pronounced Lewis) and we go on many field trips to local and famous hotspots around there. Delaware is a major staging place for migrating shorebirds and a great place to find breeding terns, so the camp is focused on those families. Delaware also is the northern reach of some southeastern songbirds, so we get many opportunities to see these specialties.

Campers arriving at the Philadelphia Airport have to first survive the treacherous 2-3 hour drive to Lewes, still a short drive compared to campers driving from Massachusetts (that’s me!). After a long day of traveling, some campers arriving before dinner are treated to a walk around the Virden Center, producing large numbers of Blue Grosbeak (a lifer for me) and a couple White-eyed Vireos. Oh, did I forget to mention the heat? Delaware might have no forest whatsoever, and incredibly humid days, but I felt none of it because I was having so much fun!

After dinner (the food at the center is excellent), we took the vans to Cape Henlopen State Park for a view of the sunset at “The Point.” We were lucky to find many Royal Terns (another lifer), a Common Loon (rare at this time), Spotted Sandpipers, a Black Scoter on the beach, Ruddy Turnstones, Common Nighthawks “beenz”-ing, and surprising numbers of Orchard Orioles. Here's our eBird list.

Our dorms were arranged into two buildings separate from the Virden Center and you would be paired with one or two other campers that are around your age. My roommate and I happened to both be from Massachusetts, so we shared stories about the birds we had seen before.

I believe I’ll be doing a post for the next 6 days for every day I was at Camp Avocet. So until Day 2, adios!

Carolina Wrens and the Winter of 2015

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that Carolina Wrens took a big hit this winter in Massachusetts, but I haven't seen anyone offer some hard numbers.  Here is a local perspective drawing on my eBird data from January through May.

On a very local patch level, this winter's effect on Carolina Wrens in my neighborhood was not at all subtle: they were decimated, with none remaining at the end of the storm cycle in March and not a single singing bird through April. Looking through my yard and neighborhood patch records in eBird between January 1 and end of May, I can illustrate what happened with some numbers.

With a sample total of  92 lists recorded between January and the end of May, I can show this break- down by lists per month/lists reporting CAWR/High Counts:

Jan: 15/13/4

Feb: 14/7/3

Mar: 21/4/1

Apr: 17/0/0

May: 24/12/3

Over this period the Concord Birds Project gathered 204 lists which show virtually the same picture town-wide. These are the recorded high counts by month:

Jan: 4

Feb: 3

Mar: 2

Apr: 1

May: 3

June: 3

The weather, of course, introduced a lot of sampling error, but birders essentially did what the birds did, concentrated at feeders!

In an average winter my neighborhood has 4-5 singing birds, and this January was not different, with nearly all surveys recording numerous birds. This changed markedly in February, with only the surveys through mid-month turning up the usual birds. The beginning of the snow cycle concentrated the birds at feeders, notably ours and one other that usually sustains a couple birds. Going into the storm cycle we had our usual two birds which over-winter and breed in our yard. Then one disappeared, then one was found in our garage (that -12F morning) in visible distress, then a frozen bird turned up at our basement door (gifted to MCZ).

Now at the MCZ, Harvard

It was all over by about the third week of March. April was cruelly silent.

Our Carolinas were eating suet regularly and munching on a large nut block (which also sustained a Pine Warbler through the winter), but apparently Carolina's also seek shelter and supplies of arthropods under porches, in crawl-spaces, in garages, and in brush piles.  The deep snow effectively sealed off virtually all of those food supplies. I realized too late that our brush pile had become completely covered.  Carolina Wrens not so much froze as simply starved, I believe, as did a great many other birds, such as Canada Geese, whose food sources were buried or frozen.

May saw a very slow appearance of a few birds, but in unusual areas. I typically hear only two birds in the neighborhood these days. Only one singing bird is, I believe, a survivor, very likely one of the two birds which a local couple (with a huge feeding station) reported had pulled through, so my numbers might be an over-sampling of my very local experience.  House Wrens, on the other hand, have been plentiful.  While this might be because I am paying more attention to wrens, but it could be that they have been able to use good habitats formerly taken by "yard bosses."

Drawing on a wider data set for the eastern counties of Massachusetts, eBird generates this line chart for the frequency with which lists over this period reported Caroline Wren.  Essentially, the species fell off a statistical cliff.

Your comments welcome.

A Year in Numbers: 2014

"How'd you do?"

You know the question.  It's both sincerely curious and not-so-subtly competitive.  I haven't been birding many years (barely seven, I think, and I entered my first eBird list fall of 2009, for what it's worth), but I have a pretty good idea now of what is a "normal" year for me in numbers:  about 220-30 birds in Massachusetts, but about 180 of them in my town alone.  I am a local birder.  In 2012 I chased a bit and saw 249 in my state, but full time work and a family just don't go together with state-wide listing.  Local is where it is at.

Which is why 2014 was so different.  We traveled.  The kids are old enough to appreciate longer trips, and I had a sabbatical from teaching, so it was a great year for seeing new places and finding new birds.

Early July:  my son and I took a "boreal" trip to northern New Hampshire and Vermont.  Yes, it was a bit late for good activity, but we had a great time exploring bogs and spruce forests.  Perhaps the highlights were Cannon Mountain, where we heard both Bicknell's and Swainson's Thrushes; Pondicherry NWR, where we had goshawk, Philadelphia Vireo, nesting Sharp-shinned Hawks, Bay-breasted and Canada Warblers, and Lincoln's Sparrow; and Moose Bog near Island Lake, VT, where we had Ring-necked ducks and Pied-billed Grebes on territory.  The bugs were ferocious and rain drove us home a day soon, but what a great trip.

Late July/Early August:  Yellowstone NP and Grand Teton NP, plus Bozeman, MT and the Gallatin Valley.  The kids adored Yellowstone, particularly Hayden Valley, where we saw many bison, wolves, grizzlies, white pelicans, delightful Japanese tourists, and open skies.  Yellowstone netted me 14 lifers Overall, we were less enamored with Grand Teton, but the birding was good, too, with 5 more lifers.  Back in Bozeman, where we were staying on either end of our trip, we lucked into a local guide who showed us some local hotspots in the Missouri Headwaters Area, and we picked up a few more new birds.

Texas:  my marvelous wife sent me to Texas for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in November.  It is a cliche that first-timers really load up on lifers in Texas, but the cliche is true.  It got 49 lifers in 5 days of birding, and saw 167 birds, more than we saw in Montana and Wyoming combined.  Man, it was fun!

Florida:  Finally, a family trip at Christmas to the Orlando area netted my son and I some good birding time.  We missed most of the birds we had targeted, such as red-cockaded woodpecker and Bachman's sparrow, but saw around 90 birds on sporadic trips near where my parent's live.

Overall, I picked up 95 lifers and saw 362 birds in 2014 to get me to a grand total of 419 (300 of which are in Mass.).

Next post will be a year in record shots (some resembling actual photography!).

Back from the (sub) Tropics

My family and I had an enjoyable trip to central Florida, and my son and I got out quite a bit locally around the Kissimmee area, seeing around 110 species over the week.  During winter the retention ponds around my parent's condo complex host Lesser Scaup and Ring-necked Ducks, along with many locals: White Ibis, Anhinga, Blue, Tri-colored, and Great Blue Herons, Snowy, Cattle, and Great Egrets, and the ubiquitous feral Muscovy Ducks.  Florida Sandhill Cranes walk the lawns, flocks of Fish Crow fly over, and the trees are full of Palm, Yellow-rumped, and Orange Crowned Warblers.  Sub-tropical birding at its easiest!

Anhinga

However, we had a few goals, one being to try and see Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman's Sparrow, and Brown-headed Nuthatch at the Hal Scott Preserve.  We succeeded only in hearing several of the nuthatches; Bachman's were unresponsive to all means of persuasion, and we lacked time to get deep into the best older growth Long-leaf Pine sections of Hal Scott.  Our consolation was good looks at White-eyed Vireo and four Yellow-throated Warblers (both lifers for Tim).  Hal Scott is really lovely, but it is big, so allow half a day of walking (or take a bike).

Other highlights included a Snail Kite at Riverside Park in St. Cloud (very reliable there), numerous Loggerhead Shrikes (lifer for Tim), Sedge Wren at Twin Oaks Conservation Area in Kissimmee (an excellent new area with great potential), and locally rare wintering ducks, Canvasback and Redhead, also at Twin Oaks.  Finally, after another visiting birder put up an erroneous eBird report for a locals-only communal roosting area (for 240 Fulvous Whistling Ducks, no less!), we visited to find 49 Black-bellied (another lifer for Tim).

Alas, we never got to the Lake Apopka North Shore Restoration Area, where some Groove-billed Ani continued through the holidays.  Nor were we able to get down to Joe Overstreet Rd. to look for Whooping Cranes (introduced locally and now countable).  But all in all, a lovely, warm, and productive trip.

Back to the (sub) Tropics

The holidays bring an opportunity to go south again, this time to the Orlando area to visit family.  I won't be posting long blogs, but perhaps a few pictures.  Here is one for today, a Loggerhead Shrike in a stiff breeze.

Happy Holidays!

A Red-tailed Conundrum

Today while doing some early scouting for CBC in Concord I spotted a brilliant white raptor perched above a field with some pretty active edges.  My first hope, of course, was a Snowy, but instead it proved to be a buteo, and a very pale one.  I am no raptor expert, but I am aware that Red Tails have a Western pale morph, the nearly white high plains Krider's, and an uncommon light morph in the Eastern population.  I don't think this is a western or plains bird, but in my experience it was so unusual—and pretty—I thought I would post my highly-cropped record shots for some comment.

It was 17F, overcast, with snow flakes and a light north breeze, so this bird was really puffed up, with feathers down over its legs.  You can just make out a hint of a "belly band" and some buffiness in the un-banded tail, but overall this is a very pale bird from the throat (typical of eastern birds) through the undertail.  I did not see it fly, so I can't offer dorsal details, but the shoulder suggests light brown wings.  Not a leucistic bird but maybe a light morph Eastern bird.  Comments and corrections welcome.

I have gotten a few comments suggesting that, while pale, this bird is within range for a normal male juvenal bird.  I did not know males tended to be paler. Also, because of the cold, the bird is very puffed up, likely blurring the belly band; additionally, the flat lighting suggested the bird is whiter than it actually is,

Another instance of the great variety and variation in birds.

Birding Along the Border: Some Reflections

The border wall at Southmost Nature Preserve, Brownsville, where the preserve is entirely behind the wall.

Birds have wings, not passports, but birders play by the rules of our society and of our pastime.  Which means, by the listing rules of the American Birding Association, that Mexican birds are not countable unless they are on "our side."  This is the parochial part of our particular game, of course, but it also echoes entrenched political debates on immigration.  Rivers are not arbitrary boundaries, particularly in south Texas, where both sides of the river depend on the Rio Grande/Bravo for irrigation and drinking water, and are bound by a shared history.  Like people, birds depend on the long riparian corridor defined by this river, and so it is that in late fall every year over 800 birders descend on Harlingen, TX to look at birds along the border as part of the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival (which is only one of the local nature festivals throughout the year).

The resources of time and money that enable these festivals are no small reason for the economic growth of this region that is fueling strong migration (and the drug trade) across the river.  Across the entire US/Mexico border clandestine immigration is at an all-time low, except for the counties in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, especially Hidalgo County, where the number of people crossing has put huge strains on border enforcement.  One particular pressure point is a horse-shoe bend in the river below Mission, TX where two parks face each other across the riverine border: on the US side is Anzalduas Park, and on the Mexican side is La Playita, a small beach and picnicking area.

Anzalduas Park.  On the peninsula within the bend of the river is La Playita, nearly wiped out by Hurricane Alex in 2010.  All that remains of the original outline of the peninsula is a small island on the inside of the bend.  Every time the banks recede the international line is redrawn.  My eBird point for a observations during a boat ride above and below the park is apparently in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Anzalduas Park is a lovely grove of live oak and ash trees, and is renowned as a reliable place to see both Zone-Tailed Hawk and Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, our smallest flycatcher.  On the sunny afternoon I visited and found both birds, families on both sides of the river were cooking, playing with their kids, playing the same music, and enjoying the warmth after two cold days of rain. Kinglets and warblers zipped through the trees and all manner of flycatchers perched on snags and wires.

Vermilion Flycatcher, Anzalduas Park

As I was strolling by a family preparing a picnic, all speaking Spanish, the man called me over and asked (in excellent English) where I was from and whether I kept track of all the birds I see.  He had read a number of news articles about rare birds, had heard of the Festival, and was really interested in the protection of ocelots.  He offered me a beer and we chatted about the park and the change in weather.  I forgot for awhile that the the only things different about these parks from any others were the river, of course, and the two Border Patrol SUVs patrolling the perimeter road; the Sheriff's Department SUV criss-crossing the park; a Border Patrol boat tethered up river; the huge surveillance installation at the bend in the river; and this permanent line of State Police cruisers at the ready.

Anzalduas Park, Mission TX

Surveillance unit, Rio Grande River, Mission TX

Depending on your politics, these images are reassuring or not, but as always nothing is so simplistic as political ideology where real people and local context are taken into account.  While enjoying the sunshine (and the smell of carnitas wafting across the river from Mexico), I heard loud music and a DJ floating around the bend.

The Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) tour boat is a fixture here (I've seen photos and videos sprinkled across the web), and was rather nicer than the tour boat I took a few days earlier to see birds.  I show this for its poignant mixture of national pride—with a stirring soundtrack celebrating Mexico—and recognition of this place and its many layers of importance.  The DJ is talking about how the recent floods had reshaped this bend in the river, and as the boat turns the bend, he says "and here, for those of you who believe in our saints, is our Patron Saint of Immigrants and Floods, which we placed in the middle of the river to remember them."  More stirring music follows as the boat makes a crisp turn around the small floating statue, and then the DJ turns to Anzalduas Park, "in the great state of Texas, United States," and specifically notes that it is famous as a preserve for birds.  As the boat trails by, we see the flags of both Mexico and the United States.  The saint remains, rocking on her little platform, facing the US boat ramp where, a few minutes later, a massive, black Texas Highway Patrol boat is pulled out of the water.

For various perspectives on Anzalduas and the migrant wave of 2014, see articles in The LA Times,  Texas Monthly, Huffington Post, and The New Republic. On birding the park, see the excellent photo tour by David and Jan Dauphin.

Texas, Day 7: How Ani lost her Groove

Cacti, Hugh Ramsey Park, Harlingen

With a mid-afternoon flight, I had another morning to play with so I managed to get to the SPI Convention Center by 7, expecting to see a number of birders looking for the continuing Groove-Billed Ani.  There was no one. Not another birder until 8:30, but by then it seemed pretty clear that either the Ani had vacated over night or they were lying low until the raucous band of Red-Winged Blackbirds finally left.  But after they did, still nothing.  So, we walked the boardwalk, scoped the Roseate Spoonbills and many shorebirds (including 21 Marbled Godwits) on the mudflats before calling it.

There is a lesson in the fact that I dedicated two afternoons and part of a morning to just a few species, and my readers can draw their own conclusions about the wisdom of chasing rarities when you have limited time on a birding holiday.

Leaving SPI my goal was an inlet and boat ramp on TX-48 between Port Isabel and Brownsville, just off the shipping channel with the mellifluous hotspot name of Shrimp Basin Bridge / Zapata Memorial Boat Ramp / San Martín Lake Outlet. I had spotted an astonishing eBird report from there before the festival and vowed to visit it if I could.  I will let my report speak for itself:

TX48- Shrimp Basin Bridge / Zapata Memorial Boat Ramp/ San Martin Lake outlet, Cameron, US-TX
Nov 10, 2014 10:45 AM - 11:20 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments:     Massive roost of gulls, terns, and shorebirds all hunkered down in a stiff wind. Edited to add: Reviewed photo evidence and added several species not noticed in scoping and corrected some tern numbers.
32 species (+1 other taxa)

Neotropic Cormorant  2
Double-crested Cormorant  2
American White Pelican  X
Brown Pelican  20
Great Egret  2
Snowy Egret  1
Tricolored Heron  1
Osprey  1
Black-necked Stilt  30     counted, and likely more tucked into other wind breaks in the marsh
American Avocet  8
American Oystercatcher  1
Black-bellied Plover  20
Snowy Plover  2
Semipalmated Plover  2
Willet (Western)  66
Ruddy Turnstone  2
Sanderling  2
Semipalmated Sandpiper  6
Long-billed Dowitcher  5
Laughing Gull  150
Franklin's Gull  1     picked out among roosting gulls and terns in photos
Ring-billed Gull  100
Herring Gull  20
Caspian Tern  12
Forster's Tern  4
Royal Tern  8
Sandwich Tern  1     picked out among roosting gulls and terns in photos
Black Skimmer  99     counted, give or take a few
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  X
Barn Swallow  X
American Pipit  1
Western/Eastern Meadowlark  4     singing
House Sparrow  X

Black-Necked Stilts with American Avocets. Everything tall was hunkered down behind wind breaks or lined up bills to the wind.

Black Skimmers with assorted Caspian and Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls, and one Franklin's tucked in.

Terns and Black Skimmers

Prickly Pear, Hugh Ramsey Park, Harlingen

After that extravaganza I happily headed home to Massachusetts.  This was a very memorable trip, and I can see why many birders come year after year (whether they are festival junkies or not) for the sheer pleasure of seeing so many birds so easily, and the hope of finally seeing the hard ones, some day.

Hasta Luego, Texas!

Texas, Day 6: Chasing Cinnamon Teal (and Zone-Tailed Hawk)

The sun is still a novelty.  Today's field trip was to Estero Llano Grando State Park, which I visited a few evenings ago (in the rain) to see the Common Pauraque (and much else).  Estero features some stunning wetland impoundments which are controlled for shorebird or fall/winter duck migration.  Additionally (as our guide explained to us) they cut back the reeds in sections to promote new growth and provide birders with an opportunity to see rails dart across these openings.  Now, why don't we do that that Great Meadows NWR?

The group on the bus today was tired, and perhaps because this trip was labeled as appropriate for beginners, there were many birders who had not seen the basic species.  So, the going was a little slow, but our guide knew what was where, and we saw some juvenile Least Grebe, a single Cinammon Teal (which took some time to find and show everyone), Yellow Crowned Night Heron, White-Faced Ibis, and many, many ducks (including some Ring-Necks!).  Once we got the the "Tropical Zone" in the former trailer park, the passerine birding was a little slow.  Nonetheless, this is one of my favorite destinations this week.  Now, birds get all the attention here, but the valley is a pre-emiment butterly destination, and a major Code 5 butterly was being seen in the parking lot.  Two of our guides were in fact primarily butterfliers, and there was some excitement about getting back to the parking lot to see this very rare creature.  Tropical Duskywing has apparently only been recorded in the US about 5 times (remind you of ABA Rare reports?).

Tropical Duskywing (aka Common Blue-vent)

 With a total of nearly 80 species, Estero was much as I had imagined most of the Valley locations in terms of species variety, but what makes this park extraordinary are the wetlands, and this should be your main reason to go there.

After the rain-soaked debacle that was Wednesdays trip to Anzalduas Park, I vowed to return, so I dedicated the afternoon to driving there and trying for its specialties, Northern-Beardless Tyrannulet and Zone-Tailed Hawk.  Now bear in mind that there is a certain psychology to looking for specific species; that is, if you desire them, you will tend to find them, despite evidence to the contrary.  Which is why my two readers will be skeptical when they hear that in fact I succeeded.  After chasing groups of Ruby-Crowned Kinglets and Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers and Orange-Crowned Warblers, I suddenly heard a very distinctive, high-pitched, plaintive "teeee ..... teeee."  I chased this bird for 30 minutes between four ebony trees before it stopped calling, but although I was never able to spot it, I will have to call it my "life" Tyrannulet.  The whole thing about life sightings/hearings is that you have to get them right the second time; that is the deal you make to list it the first time.

As for hawks, I picked through numerous kettles of mixed Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Red-Shoulder (two of them), and Grey Hawk (one, looking very out of place kettling with big black birds).  After an hour and a half of searching I gave up and went to the back of the park to look at warblers (some Black-Throated Greys had been reported in this area).  Suddently, a dark raptor cruised over the park from the south, alone, and I looked up and saw this.

Zone-Tailed Hawk, Anzalduas Park, Mission, TX

Zone-Tailed typically uses the cover of flying with Turkey Vultures, as it shares the distinctive contrast of light light flight feathers and dark coverts.  Except for a distinct white band on its tail and more pointed wings.

Now that sighting was nice, but you know what was nicest?  When searching for warblers I spotted two birds foraging side-by-side.  One was obviously a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, but the larger bird by it was largely yellow with a black back and hood.  Lesser Goldfinch, a bird I had despaired of ever seeing and having to assume I had "seen" in fly-over flocks of finches.

 I left Anzalduas in time to get back to Harlingen in time for a presumably reliable roost of Red-Crowned Parrots.  Except that this evening they did not roost on the lines by Calvary Baptist Church of Harlingen, and a drive through all the surrounding blocks did not turn them up.  Ah, well.

Tomorrow I leave Harlingen on a 2:30 flight, which means I have a full morning, so I am going to return to South Padre Island to try again at the Convention center for the rare birds showing there, among them some Groove-Billed Ani.

For those counting, my trip to Texas has netted 48 new birds and 162 species encountered.  Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Texas, Days 4 and 5: Beyond the Wall

I apologize to my two faithful readers for not posting a report yesterday.  After two days of nearly constant rain, I was exhausted and demoralized, but the sunrise today was greeted with hurrahs on the bus as we headed toward a preserve just beyond the (in)famous border fence.

But first, a recap of yesterday's trips.  The morning trip to Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park is generally one of the highlights of the festival, as this destination is perhaps the most storied of the birding hotspots in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.  A big park with a system of roads, it is sprinkled with small parks with feeding stations, plentiful bathrooms, bird blinds, and the famous two story hawk platform, from which you can see well into Mexico.

The fabulous hawk platform at Bentsen-Rio Grande, from which I saw my lifer White-Tailed Kite

We were greeting at Bentsen by Javier, the terrific Park Ranger, with this doubly memorable line: "bathrooms are on the left, Black Phoebe is on the right of the drain pipe."  As it was pouring, we walked around the covered walkways looking at a few hummingbirds, then ventured out into the drizzle for a short walk, during which it actually stopped raining for much of rest of our time there.

Highlights were the White-Tailed Kite, a Black-Chinned hummer, a White Eyed Vireo, and four lovely Altamira Orioles.  The slight improvement in the weather put up some raptors, and we had some Crested Cara-Caras and a White-Tailed Hawk.  Not a good day by which to judge this great park.

On our return, I headed to the small Frontera Audubon property in nearby Weslaco to chase a reported Tropical Parula.  Over two hours of chasing a mixed migrant flock did not turn up the Parula.  Did I mention it was raining again?  In any case, Frontera Audubon is a gem; not as glamorous as Quinta Mazatlan, which I visited today, but deserving its reputation as a hotspot for good birds.

Yesterday was saved by a bird I decided to try for in my remaining time.  Frontera Audubon is very near Estero Llano Grande (where I am going with a group on Sunday), and Common Pauraque were apparently staked out.  So, after a muddy slog, I found all the photographers, and three of these:

No, not Jabba the Hutt but a Common Pauraque

Today (the 8th of November) dawned ... almost dry!  The goal was the Nature Conservancy's Southmost Preserve, which as its name suggests, is literally the south-most  point in Texas.  The Preserve contains a small stand of the nearly eradicated Sabal Palm, but features a grapefruit grove and a large marsh, hedge-rows, and riparian habitat.  After two solid days of rain, and the tromping of the group the day before, the trails were sodden and goopy, and we got very muddy.  But it was birdy indeed, with a Franklin's Gull seen from the bus, a fly-over Wood Stork, Vermilion Flycatchers, a rare Blue Grosbeak, a juvvie Gray Hawk, my life Loggerhead Shrike, and a Groove-Billed Ani seen only by the other half of the group.  You see, the leaders typically split the group into two and follow separate routes, and the leaders were not in communication, so our group found out about the Ani only when we all met back at the bus.  Now, many of us spent a great deal of money to see rare birds like the Ani, so the "sorry" we got on the bus rankled a bit.  There is nice little feature on smart phones called texting, folks:  use it, and give participants the option to chase a bird or stick with the main group.

Our trip continued down the famous Boca Chica road, lined with excellent raptor habitat and power lines.  Many Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers, Kestrels, shrikes, meadowlarks.  Boca Chica Beach itself was a little underwhelming, with a few Forster's Terns and a Royal Tern, Sanderlings, and one Ruddy Turnstone looking a little out of place.  The surprise (for me at least) was a long string of Surf Scoters which only I and one of the leaders saw.

This afternoon I chased another Tropical Parula report, along with many other people, and also came up empty.  As I mentioned earlier, I went to the lovely Quinta Mazatlan property in McAllen, surrounded by stately palms and manicured carefully for events like the wedding photos being staged in one photogenic area.  Suffice to say, no Parula seen, but a couple of really nice photo opportunities with which I will leave you (including the Curve-Billed Thrasher I have put on the masthead today).

Plain Chachalaca reaching up for berries.  Just after this shot it leapt for some high berries and fell off its perch. Wierd, but oddly amusing birds.

Great Kiskadee.  Loud and flamboyant.

White-winged Dove.

Texas, Day 3: Rio Bravo and Anzalduas Park

Over the past week Anzalduas Park has been the site of repeated Zone-Tailed Hawk and Hook-Billed Kite sightings, so expectations were high.  But the weather had other things in mind, and it rained all day.

The Border Wall/Levee at Anzalduas.  The weather did not improve from this.

Fortunately for us, the first part of today's Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival Trip was a pelagic of sorts: a tour of the riverine borderland that is the Rio Bravo/Grande.  And our pontoon boat had a roof, so we remained fairly dry the first 2 hours as we drove slowly up and down to Anzalduas Dam.

As a constant reminder of where we were and the politics at stake, we saw plenty of border control presence.

Highlights were a Gray Hawk flying across the river in front of the boat (where I was), numerous Green Kingfishers, and several Black Phoebes hanging out at docks and railings.

Folks, this is what is called a record shot, not photography.  Black Phoebe on a boat ramp railing.

Once we got to Azalduas Park after the boat ride, it became clear that we were going to get very wet. Hope of a Northern Beardless Tyrannulet waned as we got wetter and wandered around between heavy downpours.  Aside from a pocket of Orange-Crowned Warblers, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, Ruby-Crowned Kinglets and Black Crested Titmice, we found no Tyrannulet.  Our consolation was the cacophony of twenty of these:

Great Kiskadee

The rare bird of the day was actually—hold onto your hats—House Finch.  Rare everywhere in the Valley, for some reason they are regular here at Anzalduas.  I even took pictures.

Tomorrow the forecast is for continuing, but perhaps gradually tapering rain.  The weekend, mercifully, looks promising.

Texas, Day 2: Laguna Atascosa and South Padre Island

My goals for today were to get to Laguna Atascosa NWR at dawn and spend half the day there before working my way down the coast to South Padre Island.  Perhaps it was the impending front, and its sticky, gloomy leading edge, but Atascosa was not quite what I had hoped for.   The Visitor's Center (which I knew would be closed today) seems very overgrown and featured (at least today) primarily Green Jays (not that I am complaining!), Chachalacas, Long-Billed Thrashers, and the ubiquitous Great-Tailed Grackles, which are simply everywhere. I worked the area, including doing the Kiskadee Trail twice, but didn't come up with much except a nice sight of my lifer flyover Scissor-Tailed.  But I am growing fond of these thrashers, which have proven quite photogenic.

The Osprey Overlook is, I am sure, fabulous in winter, but even now the number of Coots and especially Redheads was amazing: perhaps 400 of the former, at least 2000 of the latter.  With the Bayside Trail continuing closed to protect Ocelots, and Alligator Pond also closed, there wasn't much more to do than drive back down Buena Vista slowly looking for goodies on the wires.  And there were!  Twenty Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers all lined up.

Count 'em: 20 Scissor-Tails

Leaving the Refuge, I continued south on Buena Vista Road into prime Aplomado Falcon territory, hoping perhaps I might get lucky.  Then BOOOM!  A medium-sized falcon explodes across the road chasing something I never saw.  I stopped and got onto it, long enough to see its long, narrow wings and uniform grayish color.  Hardly the lifer look I hope for, but I'll take it.  A few hundred yards later I finally saw a White-Tailed Hawk.

After a very productive stop in Laguna Vista at a lagoon by a waste-water treatment plant (hundreds of Coots, two Black-Necked Stilts, two Avocets, and much more), I headed across Laguna Madre to South Padre Island.  After a quick bite of excellent Mexican at The Big Donkey, I first toured the boardwalk at The Birding and Nature Center, which is adjacent to the Convention Center.  The boardwalk crosses salt pannes and marsh and then the beach and into the bay, with photo blinds everywhere you want them.  It was especially fun shooting terns as they flew upwind.

Caspian Tern

Forster's Tern

Sandwich Tern

 But the highlight of this stop was finally seeing one of these:

Long-billed Curlew

Astonishingly, the thickets around the SPI Convention Center, which have been hosting a Blue Grosbeak and several rare warblers this week, were empty, leaving only hundred of terns and shorebirds to pick through, although I can't complain about seeing 20 Marbled Godwits!

One more stop at the Valley Land Fund Lots turned up an Inca Dove and my first legitimate Tropical Kingbird.

Tomorrow: a pontoon boat ride on the Rio Grande and a tour of Anzalduas State Park.  Zone-Tailed Hawk!

Texas, Day 1

I arrived in Texas 12:30 local time, got my rental, and headed immediately to Harlingen's premiere birding destination, Hugh Ramsey Park, one of the World Birding Center sites, and one of a series of birding sites along the Arroyo Colorado in Harlingen.

There is a good reason this park has earned a reputation as a reliable, and easily accessible destination for newbies like me.  It was 85* and humid and the middle of the afternoon; what could be going on? A lot, actually (certainly by New England birder standards).  Several Belted, two Green, and one huge, loud Ringed Kingfisher; numerous Harris Hawks; migrant warblers (including a Nashville along with many Orange-Crowned); a Curve-Billed Thrasher; and many, loud Green Jays, Plain Chachalacas; a showy Couch's Kingbird, and several Buff-Bellied Hummers.  I was hoping this would be a good introduction to some of the local specialties, and it did not disappoint.  Here is my list for the afternoon:

Hugh Ramsey Park eBird List 11/4 1:25-4:10

I took a few pictures, but wish I'd taken the Canon.

Buff-Bellied Hummingbird, Hugh Ramsey Park/Arroyo Colorado

Buff-Bellied Hummingbird, Hugh Ramsey Park/Arroyo Colorado

You know what it is. Hugh Ramsey Park/Arroyo Colorado

Plain Chachalaca. Hugh Ramsey Park/Arroyo Colorado

Tomorrow is an early start for Laguna Atascosa NWR and then several stops along the way to South Padre Island.  Stay tuned.

Going to Texas!

A week from today I will be in Texas at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival.  What follows should be some purple prose about the utter awesomeness of sub-tropical birds, or the intimidation of birding in large groups with driven listers, or just the whole surreal wierdness of the many resources dedicated to seeing ABA-countable birds along our southern border.  But first a HUGE thanks to my family, who is letting me do this as a birthday/anniversary/sabbatical gift!

As perhaps some people besides my son might be reading this, some details about the trip are in order.  First, the festival itself is perhaps the mother of all birding festivals, now in its 21st year and renowned for its good organization and top-notch field trips.

Based in Harlingen, Texas, the festival accesses the "lower Valley" stretching from Falcon Dam all the way to the Gulf of Mexico east of Brownsville, focusing on unique habitats stretched along the Rio Grande (also known as the Rio Bravo).  If you look at the map below you will see the serpentine path of the Rio Grande and a remarkable pattern of protected green spaces on the north banks of the river.  These green spaces, the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, and the World Birding Center of nine prime birding areas dotting the valley, are evidence of the growing role of conservation and birding in complex socio-economic and cultural history of this region.  But it was not always so, and the south bank of the Rio Grande illustrates the quite different fate of unprotected habitats. Suffice to say that we should be grateful for the local, state, and national resources necessary to protect vanishing habitats, such as Sabal Palm Sanctuary or the coastal shrubland at Laguna Atascosa NWR or the riparian woods at Bentsen-Rio Grande and Anzalduas Park.

The lower Rio Grande Valley. Up to the West are Salineno and Falcon Dam. Arrows point to several
areas I will be visiting during the festival.

Another map that tells the story of the success of this festival is the eBird Hotspot map for Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties.  The red pins are all World Birding Center locations.

Rio Grande Valley eBird Hotspots (snapshot; this is not a live map!)

As primarily a Massachusetts birder, and a very local birder at that, the maps above are a foreign country, and I suspect this is the case for many people going to this festival for the first time.  There is the lure of the "Valley specialties," some 45 birds difficult, if not impossible, to find anywhere else, but there is also the uneasy attraction of the border itself, a watershed boundary that demarcates two countries (and the divergence of their shared history) but also separates birds that can be counted from those that cannot.  I confess I am troubled by a national boundary also being an arbitrary birding boundary, but birds tend to vote with their wings and birding has been good for this region. The fence runs right through both the Sabal Palm Sanctuary and the Nature Conservancy Southmost Sanctuary, which I will be visiting, passport in hand.

Here is my itinerary for the six-day trip:

Day 1:  Early departure from Boston, arriving in Harlingen just after noon.  Register, and spend the afternoon at Hugh Ramsey Nature Park in Harlingen getting a first (un-guided) look at the local specialties. In the evening there is some sort of cocktail hour/mixer, which will be fun, as birders are kind of like academics: socially awkward but more comfortably dressed.

Day 2: early start to get to Laguna Atascosa NWR at dawn.  Spend the whole day there learning birds and calls (I hate studying tapes).  A Northern Beardless Tyrannulet has been hanging around the visitor's center this week.  Depending on whether I see Aplomado Falcon, I might leave earlier and head to Old Road to Port Isabel and try for the falcon there.

Day 3:  Field trip to Bentsen-Rio Grande.  First experience with birding by bus; eeek! I'll probably just hang back and form a small group.  Afternoon talk on Olive Sparrow followed by evening keynote by Steve Howell on vagrancy patterns: "Shift Happens." Heh, heh.

Day 4: Some kind of pontoon boat trip on the Rio Grande ("is that Ringed countable?") followed by a tour of Anzalduas Park, which I am looking forward to (friends have recommended it).  Afternoon may offer a chance to chase a rarity or visit another local park such as Frontera Audubon.

Day 5:  Southmost Sanctuary.  The option was the nearby Sabal Palm sanctuary, which everyone raves about, but this place is much harder to get into and shares the last other patch of this unique habitat.  And as the name suggests, it is the southern-most birdable spot in the US. Afternoon chase?  At some point I need to at least look for Mountain Plover in the fields north of Harlingen.

Day 6: Estero Llano-Grande SP.  Wetlands! Some of my favorite habitat.  This place is rapidly surpassing nearby Santa Ana NWR as a premier location, but all this is hearsay. By this point I will be weary of trying to chase birds in the afternoon.

Day 7:  Tentative plan is to head out early to the nearest real desert locale, the "sparrow road" north of La Joya (out past Mission) to look for desert specialties like Black-Throated Sparrow and Cactus Wren.  Return to Harlingen at noon and catch my plane.

I'm hoping to do some blogging each evening, so stay tuned. There might even be photos.