Days of Indecision

By 8am the next morning I was back at Estero Llano State Park, where Huck took about ten birders back to an area closed to the public.  We were particularly looking for a female Rose-throated Becard  (I’d seen a male in Guatemala) and  a White-throated Magpie Jay (http://www.pbase.com/danpolley/image/25773248).  I’d caught the briefest of glimpses of a Magpie Jay in Guatemala but could hardly believe such a bird existed.  Our group was fortunate enough to see both of these exotic birds and get good, long looks at both several times.  The park has a wonderful pond area that attracts many kinds of waterfowl.  The nature center in front of the pond has a large, covered deck; and one can enjoy searching the ponds for birds while being protected from the harsh sun.  Both Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling Ducks  (http://www.pbase.com/dadas115/image/49122777) were on the pond in good numbers.  I saw my first ever Black-chinned Hummingbird at a feeder between the parking lot and the nature center.  A small stream near the parking lot turned up a Green Kingfisher even before I entered the park (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenblumin/2190640279).  The Estero Llano Grande next to the park held a solitary Roseate Spoonbill.  What an unusual-looking bird it is  (http://southeasttexasdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/05/roseate-spoonbill.html).  A complete list of the 68 bird species I saw at Estero Llano follows:  Least Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, American White Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (juvenile), White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Turkey Vulture, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Osprey, Broad-winged Hawk, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Rock Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Inca Dove, Common Ground-Dove, White-tipped Dove, Pauraque, Chimney Swift, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Couch’s Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Rose-throated Becard, White-throated Magpie Jay, Green Jay, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Black-crested Titmouse, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Nashville Warbler, Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, and House Sparrow.  It was my best day of birding since leaving home and I began to wonder if maybe I should just keep birding the Rio Grande Valley and skip Mexico.  The border at Brownsville had been overwhelming, and even the smaller crossing at Progresso had been intimidating with its narrow and crowded streets.

The temperature had climbed to a sunny 90 degrees by 11am.  I left the park and visited the Westlaco library that was blessedly air conditioned.  After emailing the family I found a local park with shadetrees where I could eat lunch.  The heat wasn’t unbearable in the shade with the windows rolled down, and I finished my mandarin salad in confort.  Then I drove to Frontera Audubon (LTC 058) in Westlaco.  After I looked over the binoculars for sale at the nature center (still can’t find a new pair to suit me), I took a map and headed out on the trails.  Although Frontera is right in the city, a small forest habitat has been preserved.  Their small pond yielded a Least Grebe and Black-bellied Whistling Duck—the only two waterfowl.  Additionally, I saw:  Plain Chachalaca, White-winged Dove, Inca Dove, White-tipped Dove, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, White-eyed Vireo, Green Jay, Black-crested Titmouse, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, Summer Tanager, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Great-tailed Grackle, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.  I was delighted to finally find a good number of other birders at Frontera.  They had congregated on a few benches in front of a tiny stream with some feeders.  It was there that I saw most of the warblers.  I sat with the other birders there until dusk.  It was nice to share sightings and find out what rarities were turning up in the valley and where I could find them.

I stopped for a cone at McDonald’s when I left Frontera and then went to the Westlaco Walmart on Texas Blvd. for some fruit before turning in for the night in their parking lot.

Despite the heat of each day, the temperatures always dropped when the sun went down and there was always a brisk wind.  Being outside most of each day and doing a lot of walking also helped me sleep quite comfortably.  I’d gotten used to wearing earplugs; the noise was no worse in the far side of the Walmart parking lot than in many of the campgrounds where I’d stayed.

I slept in until 8am—late for me.  The Valley Nature Center (LTC 057) was about the only place left in the Weslaco area I hadn’t birded on this trip, so off I went.  After paying the entrance fee and getting a trail map I birded for about two hours.  Most of the birds I saw were the same as I’d seen at Frontera, but there weren’t nearly as many of them.  The only additional birds I saw were adult Yellow-crowned Night Herons (three active nests)(http://www.wtophoto.com/gallery/6675847_LetX3#554870865_fWhiv),  and a Chuck-wills-widow (that looked much like the Common Pauraque I’d seen earlier).  By noon the temperature was near 100 degrees.  It would be a good time to drive somewhere farther afield in my air-conditioned van.  My last trip to Texas I had driven westward to Falcon State Park and beyond.  I would travel that way again and stop at a few sites along the way.  I picked up some barbecued chicken from some fundraisers who were grilling outside across from Walmart.  I added a sack of popcorn and ate both while I drove to Roma Bluffs (LTC 077), some 100 miles west.

Roma Bluffs isn’t much of a birding area, in my opinion; but from high up on the bluff one has a wonderful view across the Rio Grande River to Mexico and up and down the river as well.  It’s a great place to take photos.

Salineno (LTC 080) was next.  It had been my favorite place on my first trip.  However, a volunteer at Santa Ana had told me it was now closed.  The couple who had run it for years had moved away.  The volunteer had closed it the end of March when most of the winter birders left.  I still wanted to bird the public area that was adjacent to the Rio Grande River, and I wasn’t disappointed.  It was deserted and so peaceful.  Within a half hour I’d seen an Osprey fishing over the river.  Then a Spotted Sandpiper bobbed along the shore.  A Lark Sparrow (a rare treat) flew down to the sand, and a Green Kingfisher perched on a branch over the river.  A few Green Jays flew in to look me over, as well as some Great-tailed Grackles.  Suddenly three trucks holding a jet ski and about 20 people of all ages arrived.  That was the end of the birding so I left, wishing them well.

Instead of driving straight to Falcon State Park I drove right past and headed to San Ygnacio (LTC 087), the westernmost birding site of my first trip.  The Santa Ana volunteer had told me it had been flooded when the river’s dam had been opened to irrigate the farmers’ fields.  I still wanted to see for myself, and it was still oppressively hot outside the van.  When I arrived at the site I found it just as the volunteer had said.  The paths were completely destroyed.  I saw only a Eurasion-collared Dove and a White-winged Dove there.

I retraced my route and headed to Falcon State Park, signing up for a primitive campsite for $8.  Before going to the campsite I drove around to the several birding blinds where a volunteer had maintained multiple feeders which had attracted many birds.  Alas, the volunteer had departed, along with most of the birders, the feeders were empty, and there were no birds.  I was beginning to think that re-birding the Rio Grande Valley wasn’t a great idea.  It was too late for good weather and winter birds, and it was too early for the migrants.  I was still seeing quite a few birds but no new ones (life-list birds).

Arriving at my campsite, I found it occupied by two families preparing a picnic dinner.  Trash and beer bottles were strewn around and some of the guys held open bottles, despite a ban on alcohol in the park.  Picnic sites were available throughout the park for day visitors, but these families had preferred to picnic at the campsites, although they were not staying the night.  I told them I had reserved the site and one family left soon after—but not happily.  The other large family said they would leave as soon as they took their meat off the grill, but as soon as it was done they kept adding more.  I guessed maybe they were grilling enough for the week to come.  When I mentioned that I’d like to get to bed early (impossible with their several very noisy children), they said they would be gone shortly, as they would eat somewhere else.  At dusk they were still grilling and had begun eating as well.  I went to talk to them again and that made them angry.  I went to find a ranger but just ended up driving around for a while instead.  I knew I hadn’t handled the situation well.

When I returned they were gone.  I was exhausted and went right to bed.  About an hour later I was awakened by a huge truck which pulled right up behind the van with its lights on.  I supposed it was the ranger checking license plates, since all of the day users were to be out of the park by then.  When they backed up and left I couldn’t go back to sleep because I heard music from another campsite too far away to see.  I finally got up and drove to the area with hook-ups.  There were few campers there and I found a remote campsite and went back to bed.  Several times during the night I was awakened by a truck driving around the park with its base speakers booming.  Thinking it was the park ranger making his rounds, I intended to speak to the office in the morning.

After a poor night’s sleep I drove straight to the office, but I met two rangers in a truck on my way.  After relating my story, they assured me that no rangers were in the park after 8pm since they were short handed.  I was glad I hadn’t known that last night!  They also said that once the “winter Texans” left, that the locals came into the park in large numbers, pretty much doing what they wanted since funding didn’t allow adequate rangers to patrol.  Also, this weekend began the two-week vacation around Easter (called Holy Week, although it is really two weeks).  In Mexico this is the biggest holiday of the year.  Children are out of school for the full two weeks and families pack the motels and campgrounds.  Most of the people I’d seen south of Houston appeared to be Mexican, so it seemed they were bringing their traditions to Texas.

I decided against staying another night, but I resolved to enjoy a morning of birding nevertheless.  A Killdeer in the marina parking lot caught my attention.  When I walked toward it, it dropped one wing as though injured and then sped away when I approached.  With its behavior I knew it had a nest nearby.  Sitting in my van patiently, I finally saw the Killdeer return to its nest.  I went to take a photo.  The nest was simply a slight hollow in the gravel and dirt.  The eggs blended in so well I never would have found them if I hadn’t seen the Killdeer return to them.  Other birds I saw at Falcon were Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Crested Caracara, Northern Bobwhite, American Coot, White-winged Dove, Inca Dove, Eurasion-collared Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Common Nighthawk, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Couch’s Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher ( bringing the total seen to date to over fifty), Cactus Wren, House Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia (http://www.flickr.com/photos/32721605@N04/3347966360), Lark Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, and a bright and beautiful Altamira Oriole (http://www.pbase.com/gdewaghe/image/73515637).  I took photos of the Northern Bobwhite, Greater Roadrunner, and Pyrrhuloxia, but now I can’t find them in the photos (except for one).  See if you can pick them out of the scenery in the Falcon State Park photos.

Leaving Falcon, I stopped again at Salineno.  By that time it was noon, very hot, and the birds were quiet.  Next stop, Fronton (LTC 078), was also disappointing.  Fronton is a tiny town on the river, filled with boarded up and falling down houses.  Driving through Roma Bluffs I stopped in the Riverview Family Center for lunch at a grocery’s deli.  I had delicious brisket, bread and butter, and a Coke for $2.14.

Returning to McAllen I saw a sign at La Copa Hotel advertising rooms for with free long-distance calls and internet.  Their rooms are normally about $100, but they had construction going on so were offering a deal ($45 total).  The room was quite nice, with lots of extras.  There was also a large pool and an exercise room, and there was a complimentary deluxe breakfast bar.  I took a swim in the pool and then a hot bath.  Then I went to the church the girl at the front desk recommended:  First Baptist of McAllen.  Afterward I called home from the comfort of my bed.