February 9 - Bird Feeding Frenzy

I woke up at 3 a.m. and figured that since the alarm was set for 3:30, I might as well just get up & made a cup of ‘motel room coffee’.  At 5:30, I met trip leaders Bob Friedrichs and Carlos Escamilla for the “Bird Feeding Frenzy” trip to Salineño and Falcon State Park.  The Festival website touted the trip:

Heading south from Laredo and into neighboring Zapata and Starr counties, we will arrive at a breathtaking expanse of the river at Salineño, where the arid Tamaulipan brush country meets the lush riparian habitat of the Rio Grande river system. Just a few yards from the river, there is a feeding station where you will encounter close quarters with colorful avian gems under a vegetated canopy - Audubon's, Altamira & Hooded orioles, Great Kiskadee, Plain Chachalaca, Green Jay, and warblers, just to name a few.  Another stop will be Falcon State Park which will provide you with unparalleled views of shorebirds, sparrows, Rock Wrens, and Meadow Larks. Falcon State Park is situated on one of the largest and best bass fishing reservoirs in Texas.

It was a little over an hour’s drive out from Laredo, and we stopped at Zapatas for a rest break.  I bought a cup of better coffee, and a couple of egg & chorizo tortilla wraps for $2.75.  Then, we drove out to the Salineño Wildlife Preserve, arriving at 7:25.

As soon as we got out of the van, we were greeted by the calls of Chachalacas, and the sight of the Great-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds.

Plain Chachalaca - Ortalis vetula

The gate does not open until 8 a.m., so we walked down to the river to scan for kingfishers and ducks, then walked along the banks still searching for the elusive Seedeaters.

Bob Friedrichs giving the group a view of birds along the Rio Grande

We were treated to flyovers from a pair of Gray Hawks, and Ringed Kingfishers flew up the river.

Dark gray ha

After walking along the river, we entered the preserve.

Salineño is owned and operated by the Valley Land Fund – a very worthy organization.

We met hosts Lois Hughes and Merle Ihne who volunteer each winter between November and March, as well as members of a group from Massachusetts Audubon, watching hundreds of birds come in to the feeding station.  Even this early in the season, the avian diversity is amazing.

Altamira Oriole

Black-crested Titmouse

Green Jay

Great Kiskadee

The Green Jays trade places with the Altamira Orioles,

and a Hooded Oriole waits her turn to sip from the sugar water feeder.

Sadly, Herr Trump’s damned proposed Border Wall and the habitat destruction that comes with it would destroy this world-renowned oasis.  READ THIS ARTICLE, and then contact your U.S. Representative and Senators to let them know how inane The Wall is!  Please, do your part to stop this Madness!

We left the Preserve to bird our way toward the Falcon State Park, arriving about 10:15.

The Falcon Dam was built in 1954

We checked the reservoir area, hoping to find some diving birds - Carlos was especially looking for his Lifer Common Loon - but saw little besides cormorants and pelicans.  We came up to the Recreation Center, where there was a photo blind.

Obviously, this site is not maintained, as it was quite overgrown with brush, and there were but few birds there.

No access, no maintenance, no feeder . . .

We drove the loop around the cabins, which was devoid of people and of birds, so went to the campground with the electrical hookups, and found that a nice couple from Wisconsin spend a couple months every winter in the area, and while here at the Park have maintained several bird feeders.  As we got out of the van, we were greeted by a Curve-billed Thrasher, and were welcomed in by Liz.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Their campsite was chock-full of birds.

We don't have Red Birds in the Pacific Northwest

You can't have enough photos of Green Jays, can you?

Common Ground Dov

The most fun was watching the flock of Orange-crowned Warblers feeding on the marshmallows!

Sweets for the Sweet!

After lunch at the Rec Center, it was time to head back toward Laredo, and we pretty much moved quickly along.  We did stop at the Zapata County landfill, where there were over 100 Crested Caracaras!  These magnificent-looking birds will hunt their own prey, but are quite the scavenger, and the landfill draws hordes of the so-called “Mexican Eagle”.

Only Birders appreciate a good Landfill . .

We made our final drive-by at Los Corralitos, where the ranch has a couple ponds that have had recent sightings of the native Muscovy Ducks, but there were none when we stopped, and we were back at La Posada by 2:30, and I had a bit of time before the Banquet at 7 p.m.

Bob sent the following trip summary:

Thank you for joining the Laredo Birding Festival and the Bird Feeding Frenzy Tour. Here is a summary of our sightings today. 

Bob Friedrichs and Carlos Escamilla

eBird Checklist Summary for: Feb 9, 2019

Number of Checklists: 5
Number of Taxa: 77

Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Salineño Wildlife Preserve (LTC 080)
Date: Feb 9, 2019 at 7:26 AM
(2): 246–254 FM 2098, Roma US-TX (26.5437,-99.1049)
Date: Feb 9, 2019 at 10:00 AM
(3): Falcon State Park (LTC 084)
Date: Feb 9, 2019 at 10:19 AM
(4): Zapata County Landfill
Date: Feb 9, 2019 at 1:20 PM
(5): N US Highway 83, San Ygnacio US-TX (27.1209,-99.4241)
Date: Feb 9, 2019 at 1:35 PM

3 Mexican Duck -- (1)
7 Plain Chachalaca -- (1)
3 Pied-billed Grebe -- (3),(5)
5 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (2)
2 Eurasian Collared-Dove -- (1)
2 Inca Dove -- (3)
4 Common Ground-Dove -- (1),(3)
40 White-winged Dove -- (1)
10 Mourning Dove -- (2)
20 American Coot -- (3)
1 Spotted Sandpiper -- (1)
5 Caspian Tern -- (1)
2 Anhinga -- (5)
8 Neotropic Cormorant -- (5)
18 Double-crested Cormorant -- (1),(3)
2 American White Pelican -- (3)
2 Great Blue Heron -- (1),(3)
5 Great Egret -- (1),(3),(5)
2 Cattle Egret -- (3)
2 Black-crowned Night-Heron -- (5)
17 Black Vulture -- (1),(4)
3 Turkey Vulture -- (4)
1 Osprey -- (3)
4 Osprey (carolinensis) -- (1)
2 Harris's Hawk -- (2),(4)
1 Red-shouldered Hawk -- (5)
2 Red-tailed Hawk -- (2),(4)
2 Ringed Kingfisher -- (1)
2 Belted Kingfisher -- (1),(3)
4 Golden-fronted Woodpecker -- (1),(3)
7 Ladder-backed Woodpecker -- (1),(3)
112 Crested Caracara -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5)
2 American Kestrel -- (2),(5)
1 Black Phoebe -- (5)
2 Eastern Phoebe -- (3),(5)
1 Say's Phoebe -- (2)
3 Vermilion Flycatcher -- (1),(3),(5)
13 Great Kiskadee -- (1),(5)
6 Couch's Kingbird -- (1),(5)
1 Loggerhead Shrike -- (4)
2 White-eyed Vireo -- (3)
1 Blue-headed Vireo -- (3)
4 Green Jay -- (3)
10 Green Jay (Green) -- (1)
15 Chihuahuan Raven -- (4)
3 Black-crested Titmouse -- (1)
1 Verdin -- (3)
1 House Wren -- (3)
1 Marsh Wren -- (1)
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -- (3)
5 Ruby-crowned Kinglet -- (1),(3)
1 Curve-billed Thrasher -- (3)
8 Northern Mockingbird -- (2),(3)
9 European Starling -- (2)
1 American Pipit -- (1)
7 American Goldfinch -- (1)
5 Olive Sparrow -- (1),(3)
3 Lark Sparrow -- (1)
2 White-crowned Sparrow -- (3)
5 Vesper Sparrow -- (4)
5 Savannah Sparrow -- (5)
9 Lincoln's Sparrow -- (1),(3)
20 Western/Eastern Meadowlark -- (2),(4)
1 Hooded Oriole -- (1)
10 Altamira Oriole -- (1)
1 Audubon's Oriole -- (1)
91 Red-winged Blackbird -- (1),(3),(4),(5)
35 Brown-headed Cowbird -- (1),(3),(4)
234 Great-tailed Grackle -- (1),(2),(3),(4)
2 Black-and-white Warbler -- (1)
10 Orange-crowned Warbler -- (1),(3)
1 Common Yellowthroat -- (1)
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler -- (3)
9 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) -- (1),(5)
4 Northern Cardinal -- (3),(5)
8 Pyrrhuloxia -- (3)
7 House Sparrow -- (1)

I sat at the table a little down from the Langfords, and across from Mary Gustafson, who was biologist at the USFWS Bird Banding Laboratory when I was actively banding back in the 1980s.  She quit and moved to the Lower Rio Grande to become the birdwatching queen.  The supper was a buffet, and was quite good and filling.  I’d bought $20 worth of raffle tickets, but Sam Roberts from Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas won the pair of 8x32 Zeiss Conquests.  All-in-all, the Festival folks and their sponsors and supporters did a great job at the banquet and on the Festival in general.  After the supper, I went back to my room and went to bed around 11 p.m.

Salineño Wildlife Preserve eBird Checklist is Here

Roma eBird Checklist is Here

Falcon State Park eBird Checklist is Here

Zapata County Landfill eBird Checklist is Here

Los Corralitos eBird Checklist is Here