Three Brothers One Love - LRGV - Day 3 Part 2 (23Oct2017)

After the Butterfly Garden we headed over to original destination of Bentsen but by then it was blazing hot and so it was a bit anticlimactic which is a shame because I have heard it is one of the best of the LRGV spots.

American Snout

Empress Leilia

Altamira Oriole

Texas Spotted Whiptail

Gray Hawk

Blue Spiny Lizard

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

So what to do when it's hot?  Try a spot with waterbirds.  Edinburg Scenic Wetlands had some reports of Fulvous Whistling-ducks so off we went.

Ringed Kingfisher!  My brother spotted this while I was taking care of business in the visitor's center bathroom and I nearly peed myself when my other brother stuck his head in and told me Raf was on a Ringed Kingfisher.

The Ringed Kingfisher is freakishly huge.

Roseate Skimmer

Eastern Amberwing

Great Kiskadee

Roseate Skimmer

Hmmm.  Its an albino but not sure what species.  Maybe White-winged Dove or Mourning.

Neotropic Cormorants

Snow Goose

Vermillion Flycatcher

For the last session of the day we headed to Santa Ana NWR which was probably our favorite park of the trip.  The trees are old and covered in Spanish Moss which gives it a spooky feel.

Clay-colored Thrush

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

We stayed until dusk hoping for Lesser Nighthawk but probably didn't stay long enough.

Love it down there.... Just wish it wasn't so hot.

Three Brothers One Love - LRGV Day 3 - National Butterfly Garden (23Oct2017)

Day 3 dawned in Mission, TX and we headed out to nearby Bentsen Rio Grande State Park.  As we approached I couldn't help but notice the sign for the National Butterfly Center so we pulled over and I was gad we did because it ended up being pretty much the only place we went to that had fruit and feeders.  There is some mind boggling policy lately for the parks to not put out bird food.

Green Jay

Queen

Gulf Fritillary

Green Jays are hard to process.  The colors are mind boggling.

White-tipped Dove

This Oriole was hanging out with Altamira Orioles so I just assumed....

Altamira Oriole - easier to ID when adult male.

White-tipped Dove

Plain Chachalaca - like there is anything plain about a bird called Chachalaca.  I bet they taste good.

BOOM Chachalaca!

!!!!!!

These berries are actually delicious.  A park ranger instructed us to try them.

 Next post will be Bentsen.

Caves and Broad-bill (31Oct - 01Nov2017)

On Tuesday evening after work I headed down to Wrightsville Beach to blow some steam and see if the Cave Swallows were still around.  They were....

I am posting a bunch of pics here because I think it is interesting how variable these birds are.

This one almost had me going for Cliff Swallow it was so dark and rich colored.  I wonder if a Caribbean Cave had mixed in with the Mexican race?

Sibley's mentions that some Caves will get a bit of a necklace like Cliffs have.  I see it in this one.

Very interesting....

On Wednesday I had insomnia so I decided why not put my energy to good use and get me a Broad-billed.  I had a ton of Teleconferences scheduled for the day but I reasoned I could take them while driving on my Bluetooth.  Last time I do that for a while...  But I got my bird!  Thanks Joan and Jeff!

I didn't see any evidence of a gorget and seeing that juveniles would start getting some gorget by this time of the year I would think she is female.

It was early morning and I never got a good opportunity to shoot her in good light without being obscured by a twig or sitting on a feeder which is never ideal.  But I had limited time and so had to content myself with these substandard shots.

A very vocal bird and very lost!  Good thing that Jeff and Joan are taking care of her.