Estero Llano part 2 plus field trips

 

We are enjoying Estero Llano Grande State Park many times each week and seeing  the many wonderful unique birds of South Texas.  This Green Jay greets us somewhere along the way.

This female Hooded Oriole coming to jelly feeder

Female Ladder-backed Woodpecker comes for peanut butter

The elusive Olive Sparrow sneaks out for some seed.

Great Kiskadee quenches thirst

Black-crested Titmouse

Long-billed Thrasher

Coyote makes mid-day appearance

Wintering Am. White Pelicans will be migrating north soon

Large Indigo Snake takes drink then searches for Cotton Rats

This Cotton Rat is very wary of predators

There is a Red-crowned Parrot roost in the residential Weslaco area with over 250 birds.

When leaving it sounds like many more.

White-tailed Kites active on territory

Kite carrying branches for it's nest

White-tailed Kite hunting

Male Kite passing mouse to female 

Orange-crowned Warbler  - Who's in the bird blind?

Crested Caracaras fly through the park daily

Green-winged Teal stand out among the hundreds of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Nine inch long DeKay's Brown Snake on the path

McCall's Eastern Screech Owl in tree cavity

Prickly Poppy 

Black Phoebe on Rio Grande at Chapeno

Vermilion Flycatcher

Pine Warbler

Red-shouldered Hawk

Black Vulture eggs on the floor of the shed

Mama looks on as Ty checks out the shed below

Back at Estero water feature is a wintering Wilson's Warbler

Up high in a large oak are nesting Great Horned Owl  - Mom and owlet check us out.

Pair of Northern Bobwhite at Falcon State Park

Thousands of Blackbirds at the Grain elevators



Among them were a few Bronzed Cowbirds and a few
distant Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

We searched through hundreds of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks for one target bird.
We finally found one Fulvous Whistling Duck at Moon Lake

We are headed over to Bentsen Palm at Mission TX for the next two months.
Meaning Spring Migration on the Hawk Tower will begin.
I'm sure everyone is looking forward to Spring.
Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann

Estero Llano Grande at Weslaco TX

 

For February we are staying at 1015 RV Park which is one mile north of Estero Llano Grande State Park which is one of our favorite birding spots of the Rio Grande Valley.

We were greeted by this Eastern Screech Owl which is the McCall's race and could soon be seperated into it's own species.

Common Pauraque hidden in the branches by the tree trunk

Common Pauraque - how about a close up view showing the vibrissae (whiskers for collecting insects)?

Clay-colored Thrush 

Curve-billed Thrasher

Northern Shoveler pair

White-tipped Dove -South Texas specialty

Here's the lineup - Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

You go first!

Hundreds of Whistling Ducks fly in daily

Looking for their place on the log

This is my log - get off.

Least Grebe gets a big catch

Another Valley specialty - Least Grebe

White-tailed Kite - insect hunting

Altamira Oriole loves the citrus

Altamira are the largest of North American orioles

Blue-winged Teal are joined by a Cinnamon Teal

Olive Sparrow

Wintering Wilson's Snipe blends into the reeds

Buff-bellied Hummingbird - My! What a long tongue you have!

Buff-bellied sits nearby guarding the feeder

Buff-bellied's wings make loud noise when zipping by

White-winged Dove has beautiful blue facial skin

Black-crested Titmouse

Red-tailed Hawk 

Red-tailed Hawk - stalls before landing

Allen's Hummingbird 

Bronzed Cowbirds

Carolina Wren

Long-billed Thrasher

Note the large strange looking duck right of center - Hybrid Pintail/Gadwall

A trip back to Santa Ana NRW for the extremely rare Bat Falcon
Note Dragonfly in right talon.

Bat Falcon watches for more dragonflies.
This bird is the first confirmed siting in North America.

Hey!  What are all these photographers here for?

Great Kiskadees offer a splash of color....

As well as calling out their name - Kis-ka-dee!

❤️ Love & 🙏 Prayers
Ty & Ida Baumann