Sounds & sights at Bentsen

 

Birds of Bentsen Palm Village RV Park

Hooded Oriole male

Hooded Oriole female

Great Horned Owlets are growing fast

Great Horned Owlet feathering out and where is owlet #1?

Here's #1.   Flew the coop!

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in daily flight to cattle yard feeding trough.

God's creatures punctuate Ty's daily two and a half mile mile pray/praise hike to the hawk tower.

Common Pauraque

Gulf Coast Toads

Chuck-Wills-Widow

Plain Chachalacas at dawn

From the tower, some of 70+ bird species.

Plain Chachalacas perched high.

Dawn fog in Rio Grande Valley

This Northern Mockingbird is entertaining us with his bird impressions.

We have recognized 8 to 12 different bird songs to date.

Scissors-tailed Flycatchers are in full migration

Scissors-tailed hawking for insects - what a showman!

Olive Sparrow collecting nesting materal below the hawk tower

Verdin is nesting nearby

Two male Cowbirds - Bronzed on top, Brown-headed below

Bronzed Cowbird - all puffed up

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Couch's Kingbird

Hawk migration has been exceptional with over 185,000 raptors so far,  a record high.

Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's comes in low over the tower

Broad-winged Hawk

Broad-wings comprised 43,000 in one morning.

Another one!

Dark morph Broad-winged

After 34 days of no show, the Hook-billed Kites returned

Fun to see them again,

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Mississippi Kites have finally arrived!

A banded Harris's Hawk 

Harris's Hawks are local residents

Great Kiskadee

Kiskadee's basketball sized nest

Altamira Oriole

Altamira Oriole nest hangs two feet down and decorated with red ribbon

10" Cane Toad with engorged wood tick on it's back

Dew laced Spider web anchored on tower

Leaf-footed Bug

Raccoon hunting in recent rain filled depressions below tower.

Another week to go before we start heading north. 

Looking forward to what God has in store for us next.

Love & Prayers,

Ty & Ida Baumann