Texas 17 - Day 17

The WCS was personal now.  Twas to be my final attempt as we were leaving the RGV at noon. I awoke just before my alarm at 5.20am. After a nice cinnamon and raisin bagel and a few swigs of ice cold milk I headed North to Salineno. I arrived as planned at 7 just as the sun was peeping over the horizon. I knew where to go by now! I checked every viewpoint along the river from the boat ramp. A nice early surprise was a couple of Ringed Kingfishers clicking noisily, high over the Rio Grande…

 Came out well considering the distance and time...7.20am!

I reached the farthest accessible point around 7.40. Nothing! Around 7.50 I noticed a movement low in the reeds. A tiny bird was hopping around but it was very hard to get a decent view of it. I “thought” it was a WCS but frustratingly I couldn’t be sure. I then saw a Verdin (which  I wasn’t expecting in this habitat) further along the strip of reeds?

I could now hear voices in the distance.

Another movement. This time the bird perched high on top of the reeds. Bingo…
 

This bird is only found at a few sites along the Rio Grande in Texas in the whole of the United States. These were my best ever views by far…

 

 

Success at last...

 

I could now see what turned out to be a group of birders (surprise, surprise). I waved to one of them and beckoned him over. Of course the bird had disappeared. He said he would go and tell the others. They all returned a few minutes later…rather quickly! Again no sign! We all waited. It didn’t take long (c10 minutes) before we were all looking at a WCS. The bird was only in view briefly before flying off over the river to the island. 

I had a good chat with one of the group. He told me they were from Indiana and they’d been coming to the Valley for a winter break since 2003. He said they were more into butterflies these days. I told him I was strictly for the birds! They left the site and I waited for another view…hopefully.

I didn't get one as I started to think about one last shot at the Audubon's Oriole at the National Butterfly Centre. The chap from Indiana had told me he'd had great views at the feeding station...but at 8am. Cheating I know but with only a couple of hours left I couldn't be choosy!

I arrived at 10 which gave me 90 minutes. the first person  saw was the guy I'd been speaking to at Salineno!!!

Small world this Birding one. Then I got the cruncher. He told me that just after he left me his group had seen an Audubon's Oriole by the river. Oh dear!

That's Birding.

Needless to say I didn't see one here. I had a nice relaxing hour or so before returning to help Louise pack.

The Altamira did show briefly. It was into the sun but it's such a beautiful bird I thought it was worth another showing...

I counted a minimum 15 Green Jays...

I also had a brief view of a juvenile Indigo Bunting. My first sighting of the trip...

It's "only" a Great-tailed Grackle...

We set off North at 1.30.

Obviously not much to report on the journey. As you know though, there's always "something" to see. As we passed the Oil Refinery at Three Rivers I noticed a decent number of Vultures circling the plant. I pulled over and had a quick scan. A conservative estimate would be 1000...

The sun was setting fast when I noticed a "different" shape on a telegraph pole. One I had definitely been hoping for...

Great Horned Owl

I manoeuvred the car closer...

It was 5.40pm now. I was hoping it would spin it's head around. It did...

Wowser...as they say over here!

Definitely up there for sighting of the trip! I also saw a silhouetted Barred Owl around 6.

This morning (Sunday) I searched in vain for McCown's Longspur in the farmland around Granger Lake east of Austin.

Off to Galveston now.

Trip list 161

Stay tuned...