South Texas - Estero Llano, Frontera Audubon & Laguna Vista

 

Another beautiful birding day at Estero Llano Grande State Park

Roseate Spoonbill 

Roseate Spoonbill preening along with the Green-winged Teal

Greater Yellowlegs

Black-necked Stilts - teenager and adult

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret which ever way you look at it.

Yellow-crowned Night-heron

Anhinga sun drying after swim

American White Pelicans, Neotropic Cormorants fishing and Great Egret hoping to steal a catch.

Left to right - Snowy Egret, White Ibis, N. Shovelers, Am. Coot, White-faced Ibis & Snowy Egret

Yes, there are Alligators in "Alligator Lake".

"Blue eyed" Neotropic Cormorants

Tricolored Heron, windy sunrise, bad hair day!

Yucca Blossoms

White-winged Dove, Eurasian Collared-Dove and White-tipped Dove

Great Kiskadee displays yellow crest

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are now dispersing for nesting cavities.

Least Grebe

McCall's Eastern Screech Owl

White-tailed Kite

Common Pauraque

Mexican Blue Butterflies, beautiful blue when open, camo brown when closed on left.

Trip over to Frontera Audubon Center - large Vulture Roost, both Black & Turkey.

Watch where you are walking and close your nose!

Plain Chachalaca

One of our favorites - Green Jay

Trip to Laguna Vista Nature Trail - great place for birders and birds.

Gray Catbird

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Long-billed Thrasher

Rufous Hummingbird

Lincoln's Sparrow

Common Yellowthroat and two Orange-crowned Warblers bathing.

You can actually see the orange crown on these warblers.

Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers

Female Cardinal really getting into it!

Long-billed Thrasher enjoying a dip on a hot day!

Red-winged Blackbird tips up to swallow.

Thirsty Cottontail comes to join the birds.

Only two more days before we move to Mission and start the Hawk Count at Bentsen RGV State Park.

Love & Prayers,

Ty & Ida Baumann

Texas - Estero Lllano, Santa Ana & Bentsen SP

Sunrise at Estero Llano Grande State Park

A great place to start the day, we are near here for the month.

Visitor's Center at Estero Llano

The signature bird here is the hudreds of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Large flocks descend to the ponds from the surrounding areas.

Coming straight for the camera!

One in a thousand- the Fulvous Whistling Duck.

Green Jay, for many birders, this South Texas bird is their favorite.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker loves the peanut butter.

So does the Ladder-backed Woodpecker

A special find, female Hooded Oriole

Then the male Hooded Oriole showed up.

Clay-colored Thrush, becoming more numerous in the Rio Grande Valley.

South Texas has one endemic Hummer, the Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Buff-bellied Hummer

A rare treat for the area - Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Common Pauraque - camouflage extraordinaire

A visit to Santa Ana NWR, early morning Bobcat siting along the levee

As he spotted the photographer coming for a close up, he assumed this prone position.

He slid into the long grass to keep watch.

Great Egret surrounded by two White Ibis

White Ibis on lookout!

Least Grebes calling their rapid, buzzy, descending trill.

Hen Ring-necked Duck

Carolina Wrens starting their Spring calls.

Heard throughout the park.

Rare winter bird for South Texas, an immature Dickcissel.

Bronzed Cowbird amidst the Red-winged Blackbirds

Black-tailed Jackrabbit, caught out in the open

Plan B, duck into the short grass

Plan C - Run!  Covers 200 yards in 5 seconds!

Red-shouldered Hawk from our RV site.

White-tailed Hawk perched

Takes Flight!

About a mile from the RV Park in Weslaco is a Parrot Roost.  We observed and heard the hundreds of parrots leaving in the morning and returning at dusk.  We had four species: Red-crowned, Lilac-crowned, Red-lored and Yellow-headed Parrots.

Their deafening, raucous calls are not always appreciated in this residentual area.

A stop at Hidalgo for the resident Monk Parakeets

Are you trying to get my attention?  Pishing worked well.

I can show off a little for the camera!

This tropical species is uncommon over most of it's range and considered a rare resident in the Rio Grande Valley.  The Hook-billed Kite prefers dense riparian woodlands.

Shown here is a black morph male, this plumage is rarely seen in the United States.

Adult female eating a land snail on upper left, and an adult male right.

Bentsen RGV State Park is one of the best opportunites to find this rare bird.

This dark morph juvenile Kite is calling - loud rattling notes.

Observing 5 individual Kites exhibiting their plumage variations, feeding behavior, and hearing them far exceeded our every expectation to witness this unique bird.

A day worth remembering!

Love & Prayers,

Ty & Ida Baumann