Tweets,

Its time for the grand finale for my trip, Friday & Saturday, March 5th & 6th.
Friday was supposed to be Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park & the McAllen Sewer
Ponds. I got to Bentsen-Rio Grande but missed the turnoff for the McAllen
Sewer Ponds so headed to the Rudman Tract off highway 186 north of Edinburg.

I arrived at Bentsen-Rio Grande about 7:30. Of course the entrance station was
closed so I drove into the park. One of the trails in The Birder's Guide to
the Rio Grande Valley was closed so I drove to the boat launch where there was
another blind...a wall with viewing holes in it, just like on a construction
site. Lots of birds at the feeders, including some sparrow sized ones with
some blue in them...clearly in the molt...INDIGO BUNTINGS, another lifer. Lots
of GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES (everywhere), GREEN JAYS, and GOLDEN-FRONTED
WOODPECKERS. a woman with a couple of small kids came from the campground and
asked if I had seen the ALTAMIRA ORIOLES. I told her no & she said they were
heading through the campground the other way. Time to hit the road.

I grabbed my scope from the car (never know when you'll need it...'specially
in a strange place) & headed through the campground. Nothing there, so
followed a trail at the far end. After a half mile or so ran out of state park
with nothing exciting. Turned around & headed back when I saw the ALTAMIRA
ORIOLE in a tree by the trail. Got a great view, from 20 feet, through the
scope. Wonders about a bit & returned to the campground. Followed a blacktop
to the right (the car was left, I knew that) and walked forever (at least it
seemed like forever). It was hot. Got passed by a bunch of people on bikes.
They looked at me like I was nuts (good guess, huh). I came to the Rio Grande
Hiking Trail, 1.8 miles. What the hell, I'm fried already so let's go.
Couldn't find the NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET or the GREEN KINGFISHER, but
did find a BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER. On the way back to my car (and food and
water) I cut through a camping loop & found several people in lawn chairs
watching a feeder in the wood line. Seems a female BLUE BUNTING had been
visiting the area and had just left. I waited about 15 minutes and nothing
showed. The regulars said she could be back within an hour or 7 hours, you
just don't know. It was now about 12:30 & I was tired, hungry & thirsty so I
headed back to the car. After a quart of water & a sandwich I went back to
the wall to see if anything new had shown up. Nope, but I did talk to a
couple who asked if I had seen the SCREECH OWL. Told them no, so they said
follow us & we went to one of the campsites (106, I think) where the owl was
roosting in a hollow tree. If you didn't know where to look you would have
never seen him. Saw a total of 5 lifers here: INDIGO BUNTING. ALTAMIRA
ORIOLE, OLIVACEOUS CORMORANT, LONG-BILLED THRASHER, and BLACK AND WHITE
WARBLER.

Missed the turnoff for the McAllen Sewer Ponds so headed up to Rudman Tract.
Not much water in the ponds so not much there, but I did see COMMON GROUND
DOVE on the dirt road, Another lifer. On the drive back 186 to highway 281 I
passed a farm pond that looked full of birds. A quick U-turn & I was back.
This called for the scope. Finally, BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS, lots of
them, maybe 200. Lifer. Also there were SANDHILL CRANES, a couple of SNOW
GEESE, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED and BLUE-WINGED TEAL, and a herd of
cattle that kept everything stirred up by running though the flocks of birds.
As I continued back to highway 281 I caught sight of something white out of
the corner of my eye. Another U-turn and there was a BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE on
a telephone pole. Man, it is hard to drive with one eye on the road, one eye
on the wires, and one eye on the surrounding country side looking for birds.

This has run longer than I thought so I'll leave Saturday at Aransas for
another day. Let's just say Edinburg to Aransas to San Antonio is not a drive
I want to make every day...about 6 hours behind the wheel....at 70 miles per
hour.

Until tomorrow, or Friday.

Phil Kelley
Lacey, WA
scrbjay at aol.com