We noticed something odd.
It’s a high water mark.
It’s a high water mark. Some birds just don’t want to be found
Like that darned seedeater in Salineno along the Rio Grande. We didn’t want to get there late and miss him, so we got up a little earlier than planned, 5am, and drove the hour and a half to Salineno in the dark. We gave him two hours of daylight, walking up and down the river trail, but he wouldn’t make an appearance. We saw so many cool birds we’ve already seen this year, but no seedeater. The tropical parula at Bentsen State Park however, that could be a different story. Off we went downstream to Bentsen. Two hours of scouring the flocks of little perching birds. We saw hummingbird, white-eyed vireo, house wren, blue-gray gnatcatcher, ruby-crowned kinglet, orange-crowned warbler; all little chirping chipping perching birds, but no parula. But wait! There is still hope! The tropical parula at Estero Llano Grande State Park. Off we went again. And again, two hours of watching trees full of chirping birds, but no parula. We gave up and headed back to the car. When we got out to the parking lot, we ran into John, the ranger who runs all the birding there. He commiserated with us about not being able to get that one last bird. During the conversation, we mentioned that the only two birds we needed that had been seen in South Texas lately were the tropical parula and the barn owl. “Barn Owl?” he said. “We’ve got a barn owl!” “Go back into the tropical zone and find two great big shaggy palm trees next to each other. You’ll have to walk out into the grass and will probably get chiggers, but he will be in one tree or the other. You won’t be able to see him, but when you get right up to the tree, he’ll flush.” So back we went into the park in search of the palm trees and barn owl. We located the trees, tucked our pant legs into our socks in an attempt to thwart the chiggers, and headed out into the grass. Nothing. We took a big stick and pounded on the trunk of each tree. Still nothing. We thought we had three shots at two birds and it turned out to be four shots at three birds, but even that wasn’t enough. We finish the year with 474 birds. Really, seeing that many birds in one year doesn’t totally suck, and it’s by far the most birds we’ve ever recorded in one year before; the best we’ve ever done. So what if we didn’t make our target of 475. A hundred years from now, who’ll care anyway! Happy New Year everybody!
Remember the Rack Monster?
Go on a trip in an RV and the Rack Monster(Sleep Monster) strikes. Fall asleep early and wake up late. I’m here to report that the Rack Monster lives! Eleven hours last night. Home by 1. Got a text from Jon that a blue bunting had been spotted at Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen. The bus was emptied and put away, and we were looking for the bird by 3. A swing and a miss however. CPE remaining: 0Birds remaining: still 1. The year is not over though. One more day remains. The Tropical Parula is still around at Bentsen and Estero. We leave tomorrow morning at 6am to start the day looking for a White-collared Seedeater on the trail along the river at Salineno. If we don’t get that bird in the first couple hours after dawn, we can still make it to the other two places for one more try at the Parula. I added these additional places to the map. December 2017 Trip Map Stay tuned…
CPE remaining: 0
Birds remaining: still 1. We left Houston and headed south. Close to home and warmer weather. We’re in Falfurrias for the night. December 2017 Trip Map It’ll be a short hop tomorrow morning and we’ll get to put everything away in the daylight.
There is a word for missing a bird
It’s called dipping. There was a tropical parula in the Valley before we leftWe went to see it, but missed. We dipped. We came to Houston for better chances at more birds. We looked for the Sabine’s gull at the Kemah Boardwalk, but missed it. Now it hasn’t been seen for five days, so we were just a little late. We went for the red-vented bulbul. Now *it* hasn’t been reported for four days. No greater pewee or rusty blackbird at Bear Creek Park. But wait. A great black-backed gull the other direction on the Dike Road outside Texas City. Dip. December 2017 Trip Map We saw a lot of birds, but no new ones. The weather is cold here. Time to go home. 474 Seems like a pretty good count for the year.