Tweets,

If you have time, you may want to check out the day-by-day listing of sighting
on my visit to the Lower Rio Grande Valley:

Here are the birds of Texas (according to Phil Kelley) for the week of March 1
through 7. I'm not going to list the birds I saw in San Antonio as they were
all seen elsewhere and really don't correlate to the birds of the coast or
Lower Rio Grande Valley.

If you are going to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, or the Texas Coast, get the
ABA guides. If you don't take them with you, buy them at the NWR's there. My
biggest gripe was that the NWR visitor centers don't open till 9 or 10
o'clock. I want to have a couple hours birding under my belt by then
but the
folks are great when they are open. I hit five spots in six days and didn't
do any of them justice. It was like doing all of Nisqually in three hours: It
can't be done. Do the best you can in the time you have and plan to return
when you have more time.


Monday, March 1, 1999, Choke Canyon State Park, outside Three Rivers, Texas.
A wonderful area that I really wish I had had more time to visit. The Callihan
Unit was much more productive than the South Shore Unit, although I did see
the VERMILLION FLYCATCHER at the South Shore Unit:

Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Mottled Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Ruddy Duck
Gadwall
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier
Crested Caracara
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew (seen in Linn, Texas later that day)
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Empidonax sp Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Olive Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow

On Tuesday, March 2nd, I went to Santa Ana NWR. It got up to 98 that day, so
I got sunburned and also had my run-in with the ant hill but it was a great
day! I only saw 44 species, but wished I had had more time to go back another
day.

Pied-billed Grebe
Great Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Green-winger Teal
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Ruddy Duck
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Harris' Hawk
American Kestrel
Plain Chachalaca
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Long-billed Curlew (seen in Linn, Texas later that day and every other day on
the trip)
Long-billed Dowitcher
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Mourning Dove
Groove-billed Ani
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Green Jay
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Olive Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
House Sparrow

On Wednesday. March 3rd I drove over to Laguna Atascosa for the day. It was
about a 2-hour drive from where I stayed 20 miles north of Edinburg. Again I
didn't feel I had nearly enough time to see everything I wanted to. A target
bird here is the Alpomado Falcon. I didn't see it on the 15-mile drive, but I
talked to some folks who made the loop three times before they saw it. There
is a really nice photo blind near the visitor's center where you can get some
great pictures/views of Green Jays, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, and several
sparrow species to name a few.

Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Green-winger Teal
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon
Greater Scaup
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Long-billed Curlew (seen in Linn, Texas later that day and every other day on
the trip)
Dunlin
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Couch's Kingbird
Green Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow

Thursday, March 4th, was a tourist day, where I went to Progresso, Mexico with
the friend I was staying with. Still I managed to see a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK on
the side of the road as well a GREAT-HORNED OWL and a CACTUS WREN at the
campground/resort and a PYRRULOXIA.

Friday, March 5th, I went to Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park, and planned to go
to the McAllen Sewer Ponds. I missed the McAllen Sewer Ponds bit wound up at
the Rudman Tract, north of Edinburg, near where I stayed. I got started
walking at Bentsen-Rio Grande and must have covered 5 miles lugging my scope
in up to 88 degrees. Next time I'll plan better. I also stopped at the inner
camper loop where some birders were watching a feeder where a BLUE BUNTING was
frequenting. I just missed the female and left after about 15 minutes, as I
was really hot and thirsty. If I had to do it over again I'd wait or go back.
This is one of the few spots in the US where you can see a BLUE BUNTING.

Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic cormorant
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (near Rudman Tract)
Snow Goose (near Rudman Tract)
Green-winged Teal
Blue-winged Teal
American Wigeon
Rudy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Harris' Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Plain Chachalaca
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Spotted Sandpiper
Long-billed Curlew
Rock Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground Dove (at Rudman tract)
White-tipped Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Western Screech Owl
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Couch's Kingbird
Green Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Logger-head Shrike
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Olive Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Altamira Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Saturday, March 6th, was by far the best day of the trip (it was also the
longest) and I wanted this day to go on forever. If I can go only one place
before I die I want to spend two days in Aransas NWR. I saw 60+ species here
and didn't even scratch the surface. NOTE: the bugs are terrible, so be
prepared. I got mosquito bites on mosquito bites
.and loved every minute of
it.

Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Greater Scaup
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Harris' Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Prairie Falcon
Plain Chachalaca
Sora
Purple Gallinule
American Coot
Whooping Crane
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
American Woodcock
Laughing Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Phoebe
Couch's Kingbird
American Robin
Grey Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Loggerhead Shrike
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

Well, that's it. The list of about everything I could identify on this trip.


Phil Kelley
Lacey, WA
scrbjay at aol.com

We were few and they were plenty. Now we are plenty and they are few..
Confucius