Apologies for the long wait for this post, I got caught up doing some other things. Mainly yard stuff and work stuff.
My last full day in Texas was the day of the eclipse. I already knew that all the state parks around San Antonio were booked in advance so I searched eBird for hotspots that didn't look like state parks and found Friedrich Wilderness Park. I lucked out as this park was great and there were plenty of spots when I showed up first thing. My target was the Edwards Plateau speciality of Golden-cheeked Warbler and I was also hoping for Black-capped Vireo.
I started out with a butterfly lifer:
Little Wood Satyr!
Question Mark Butterfly dorsal surface.
It took a while but I finally started hearing my target....
Golden-cheeked Warbler lifer!
I think this was a Black-chinned Hummingbird but I was not able to get a phot in good light.
Although this park was beautiful, the birds were not too plentiful but I always find this is true of heavily wooded areas.
Another Little Wood Satyr
I was worried the eclipse was going to be a huge dud because it was cloudy but in the end I did get some of the effect.
The eclipse through the clouds. It did get totally dark and it was cool seeing it in the Texas Hill Country.
After the eclipse, I had to start heading back to the valley as I had a flight the next day from Brownsville. I decided to head straight down to Bentsen State Park to see if I could find a nesting Elf Owl that had been showing in the cavity hole around sunset. I was not disappointed!
Elf Owl - Next time I will bring a tripod because shooting in low light (it was past 8pm) is hard when shooting from the hip. The guy standing next to me had a tripod and got amazing photos.
My flight was not until slightly after lunch so I had time in the morning to try for more rarities. I picked the Frontera Audubon center in Hidalgo to try for the continuing Crimson-collared Grosbeak. I knew it would be tough as many people go and get skunked. After an hour of so of walking the trails, a couple other birders joined me and we looked together for a couple more hours. We did hear the bird, but I don't usually count birds unless I see them unless they are owls or something definitive.
Plain Chachalaca
Javelina!
Inca Dove
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
White-tipped Dove
I knew when I left I would check eBird and find out someone saw the bird and they did, about 30 minutes after I left. Oh well..
It was a nice little trip but I definitely would do things differently in hindsight. For example, I should have stayed in the valley when I found out the eclipse was going to be obscured by clouds. That would have given me a day more to look for the rarities. That being said, then I would never have found Choke Canyon which was a huge bonus.
Next time I will jump to book tickets sooner when all the rarities show up.
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