This is the final instalment of our trip to Texas in the first week of April. On our last day of birding, we went back to the Frontera Audubon Center in hopes of seeing a rare bird that we missed a few days before. First we hung out at one of the feeding stations. We stood behind a guided group for a while, seeing similar species that we had seen before.

We had a good view of a White-tipped Dove. The photo below shows the difference between a White-winged Dove (background) and the White-tipped. The two species are close to the same size. When a White-winged Dove flies, the large white patch on its wings is prominent, while a White-tipped Dove only has a bit of white on the corners of its tail. The conspicuous red legs of the White-tipped Dove help with identification. White-tipped Doves are widespread in Mexico, Central and South America, but are only found in the US in Southern Texas.

Wendy left the group at the feeding station and wandered nearer to the entrance, and met other birders who had heard and briefly seen the rare bird we were looking for. She messaged the others and soon we all were searching the thicket going back and forth and over to another trail and back again. A couple of Canadian birders joined us in the frenzy. Finally, all of us saw the female Crimson-collared Grosbeak. Here’s the best photo that Doug captured. The male of this species has a crimson collar, and the female is a drab greenish with a black hood. The Crimson-collared Grosbeak is native to a limited area of northeastern Mexico so it was nice that this one found the grounds of the Audubon Center so appealing.

Later that day, we drove a short distance to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is huge, but we focused on a smaller area around the Pintail Lakes. The Pintail Lakes are the lakes on the right of the map below, and the winding river is the Rio Grande, so you can see how close we were to Mexico.

We were really happy to see some Little Blue Herons, since we had never seen them in the US.

Here’s another adult Little Blue Heron. Immature Little Blue Herons are all white in their first year, which make them a little harder to identify.

Here’s an adult White Ibis.

And a scruffier looking immature White Ibis.

We also got a good view of a Solitary Sandpiper, a sandpiper that we can see at home during its migration.

This Hooded Oriole was alongside of the road on our way back to the parking lot. It seemed as if it was saying,”I may not be rare, but I’m pretty enough for you to take my photo!”

After a quick dinner at our casita, we walked over to the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. It was just before sunset as we crossed the border wall area.

An Elf Owl had taken up residence in a power pole near the State Park entrance gate. It had a predictable behaviour of looking out of its hole for a few minutes near sunset, then flying off for a night of foraging. Every night there were people there waiting to see it. We all stood a long way from the pole.

Here’s a photo of the power pole and a closer view of the owl, taken in dim light.

As we were walking back in the dark, (there is a very short dusk in the lower latitudes), we heard a bird call unlike any we had ever heard. Wendy recorded it and with the help of the Merlin app, we realized that we had heard a Chuck Will’s Widow, which is a strictly nocturnal bird, and is more often heard than seen. We hadn’t expected it hear it, but it must have migrating. Another lifer!

So finally, our Texas trip has been documented! In our seven day trip, we saw 184 species, and 34 of them were birds we had never seen before (lifer or life bird). But it wasn’t just about “the list.” We also experienced some different and unique environments with good friends.

We spent the next three weeks of April in Arizona, but it already seems like a long time ago. Perhaps we’ll post another blog about that time, or not…

This blog post is all about our day at the Santa Margarita Ranch on the banks of the Rio Grande on April 5. We met the guides and the rest of the group before sunrise right at the border wall. Since we were birding on private ranch, we were required to join a guided group. We actually got a glimpse of two Northern Bobwhites in the dim light. We also heard our first Common Pauraque, which has a distinctive call and is rarely seen.

We walked through an “animal gate,” in the wall.

We set up our scope on a bluff with a view into Mexico. The Rio Grande is on the left and the border wall is visible on the right of the photo. From here we had a distant view of a Hook-billed Kite.

Soon we moved down to a lower bluff that had a better view of the river. Notice the small island in the river,

because that was where we saw these Muscovy Ducks. We have only seen domestic Muscovy Ducks before.

At least five Caspian Terns flew over the river, so they were a little closer.

A Ringed Kingfisher flew by us a couple of times, allowing good views. We have only seen them before in the tropics. The species is larger than a Belted Kingfisher and has a massive bill. We watched it hover over the water looking for prey and dive directly from the air.

We had a very distant view of an Audubon’s Oriole. We were lucky to see it because these birds have a limited range in the US and are usually more secretive than other orioles. It’s also good that it has such distinctive colouring since it was hard to see any details on the bird.

We also saw two more “lifer” birds: a White-tailed Hawk and a Red-shouldered Hawk. (No photos.) We saw 57 species in the three hours we were at the bluff area.

We made our way back to the vehicles and then drove a short distance to the ranch proper for the second part of the tour. Here’s a photo of some of our group of twenty clients and two guides. It was close to 11:00 am. by then.

We followed the guide down a ranch road to an area that was set-up as a feeding station. Here’s a Brown Jay feasting on peanut butter. Brown Jays are much larger than other jays and are rare and very local. The ranch was one of the few places in the US that they are found. Later in the day, we saw a Brown Jay at a nest, which is even rarer.

We had another view (for this trip) of a Green Jay. This photo shows the green back better than the one in a previous post.

And a Long-billed Thrasher also enjoyed the peanut butter.

We headed off the main trail and followed narrow forest trails. We came to a tricky stream crossing that required us to wade into water that was just over our shoes. In the photo below, taken by our friend Mary, we’re waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. It wasn’t the best place to hang around, however, because the “chiggers” like the tall grass and will climb up your pant legs and nibble on your leg. On our other trips in the tropics, we tucked our pants into our socks to help avoid this. Not this time. No bites on Doug, three on Wendy which itched for a couple of weeks.

We took turns having our photos taken in front of the Rio Grande.

Here’s another of Mary’s photos of the group waiting for interesting birds to show up. We did see glimpses of a pair of Rose-throated Becards, and a distant view of a Morelet’s Seedeater; both rare species.

An Olive Sparrow was very cooperative beside the trail on the way back up to the vehicles.

At the truck, we got a good view of this Swainson’s Hawk flying overhead.

In our six and a half hours of birding we saw or heard 80 species, including 6 “lifers.” It was an experience of a lifetime, made better by being able to share it with our friends, Mary, Rich and Carol.

If you are reading this blog post in “real time,” you’ll notice that it’s now June! There’s one more post about our Texas trip to come. Life back in BC is busy!