The Scissor-tailed Flycatchers became almost abundant as we went further into Texas and headed south. They sat up on wires. They were seen flycatching. They sat on fences. They outnumbered signs. They sat on exposed tree branches. Some of them even held up road signs. As my buddies had seen their share of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers from the past, it was still new to me. They did agree that, "it is for sure an awesome bird". As David was taking a turn with the driving, I asked if we could try stopping for a few brief moments so I could try and photograph a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher better for myself than the previous time where we observed them. At one stop, the Flycatcher we stopped for decided to fly away as I got in position to get a good photograph. It went far and out of sight, but we could hear plenty of birds singing and calling in mesquite and grassy habitats. I got excited because I heard the calls of my first ever Northern Bobwhite. The Bobwhite are quail that are common within their range in eastern North America. I went to the edge of the road to try and get visuals on what turned into being at least two birds. One Bobwhite flew across the road and gave me a fly-by view before it joined the others who were calling. After our stationary stop that was productive for eight minutes, we were able to get a cooperative Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, one that I was pleased with.
Despite stopping a few times, we all knew that there would only be a few stops along the way as we were in midst of a five to six hour drive. It was the second half of May 1st after the first half of the day was spent in the Texas Hill Country. This time we were heading to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and none of us could wait any longer to reach it..
It was hard to believe that we were actually heading to the famous Rio Grande Valley. Up until May 1st, it had always been talked and raved about among birders in conversation and birding stories I would read. Because I hadn't been there yet during a long time of being a very serious birder, it almost seemed like a fictitious place. "Tommy, wait till you see your first Green Jay, they are mind-blowing". "Sometimes you can get out of your car and see loads of these special Rio Grande birds in minutes". "The Altamira and Audubon's Orioles are what it's all about". "Every serious birder needs to go to the Rio Grande Valley, it's to die for". "You won't believe what I took away with my first Pauraque". "My first Chacalacas were fun, but I couldn't count them on my ABA list because they were across the river in Mexico while I was standing in the U.S.". "Along with the ABA's first Amazon Kingfisher, birders are also seeing the three usual Kingfishers in the Rio Grande to give some a four kingfisher day". "The Rio Grande in Texas sure has it's share of ABA first records".
What I would hear birders say in conversation and what they would tell me always made me want to go to this fabled place. And on the evening of May 1st, I'd finally step into the birding world of the Rio Grande Valley.
After birding in the Texas Hill Country, we drove through six Texas counties until we reached Starr County, where the home of our first Rio Grande Valley birding stop would be. Once entering the Valley, the most productive birding locations fall close to the Rio Grande River. At all points along the Rio Grande, the line of the United States and Mexico border run straight across the middle of the river. It makes the idea of birding very interesting because one can bird in two countries at once.
The Rio Grande Valley is highly made up of agricultural lands such as citrus groves and different kinds of farm fields as well as subtropical brush that is dominated by mesquite, huisache, and acacia. Most of the native habitat in the past has sadly given way to agriculture, but some of it still remains, only about five percent. Parks and preserves in the Valley have kept sections of the original habitat in tact, and they offer some of North America's most spectacular birding opportunities. Some locations have thick subtropical forests that are dominated by canopy trees that include ebony, elm, retama, landtree, palm, anacua, huisache, ash, and mesquite trees as well as understory trees and shrubs that include Brasil, hackberry, cottonbush, and prickly-ash. In places, Spanish Moss hangs down from the larger canopy trees, and the moss creates an other-worldly effect while getting lost in a different kind of forest in North America.
Reading the quotes a few paragraphs ago are things that I've had said to me and what I've read from fellow birders. The quotes represent only a sample of what I've heard the birding brings to The Valley. About thirty species who are found in the Rio Grande Valley reach the northern end of their range in southernmost Texas. Like Southeastern Arizona, it brings in thousands of birders from around the world to see a unique cast of birds for the United States. As we got closer to the Valley, the specialties for the region were starting to finally feel like reality. The Green Jay would be common, but unforgettable. Olive Sparrow, Great Kiskadee, Plain Chacalaca, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, White-tipped Dove, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Groove-billed Ani, Long-billed Thrasher, Clay-colored Thrush, and Couch's Kingbird would also be quite regular, and a good group of birds to learn, hear, and see of in quantities. Audubon's and Altamira Orioles were among the most anticipated. Ringed and Green Kingfishers were to be searched for along the river. Rarer birds that we would seek out would be Morelet's Seedeater, Red-billed Pigeon, Hook-billed Kite, and Wild Muscovy. Over the years, birders may find Valley rarities in Brown Jay and Tamaulipas Crow at times, two species who were once regular but have since decreased. Some of the rarest birds for the ABA have been found in the Lower Rio Grand Valley, and it is a place one may never know what they may find. Other key birds include Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, White-tailed Hawk, Red-crowned Parrot, Least Grebe, Green Parakeet, and Tropical Parula.
We entered the Rio Grande Valley close to 5 P.M. that day on May 1st, and we will now enter it here on the Texas Times series.
Crested Caracaras became a common sight as we made our way south towards what is considered the western-most boundary of the Valley by the town of Laredo. From Laredo, we traveled south on State Highway 83 for over an hour before we would reach our first stop of the Rio Grande at a place called Salineno Wildlife Preserve. Along the route we passed by the famous Falcon Lake and Dam before reaching Salineno. Close to Falcon Lake a White-tailed Hawk spied by Caleb soaring near Highway 83 sparked a lot of excitement. I did say the car was overly crowded with supplies on my first post. When I was trying to get out of the car to get looks at the White-tailed Kite, all the supplies everywhere made it difficult to get out of the vehicle quickly. The four of us all lifered on this range-restricted bird for the United States that falls within southern Texas. It's a striking raptor, and after we had good looks at it with our eyes, gusty winds seemed to take the bird elsewhere. Knowing we would see White-tailed Hawks later, we made our way to Salineno Wildlife Preserve, and arrived there at 6:05 P.M. As soon as we would get out of the car, I knew that things were going to get awesomely overwhelming...
We got out of the car knowing we had rarer birds in mind for the Valley, and those were Morelet's Seedeater, Red-billed Pigeon, and two that would require much more luck, the Hook-billed Kite and wild Muscovy. With the Muscovy, it is most likely to be seen on the Rio Grande River adjacent to the Salineno Wildlife Preserve at dawn or dusk. Salineno has a section to it that has incredible trails and bird feeders that are open during times of year, but when we got there we realized that part of it was closed. Without a huge difference, we had trails to hike on the other side of the area that covered up to a half-mile distance wise. Those trails would pass through subtropical brush habitat, and there were taller trees in the mix. Despite the rarities we had in mind, I was just as stoked to get out of the car and see and hear the handful of the more common life birds right along that Rio Grande River that splits the United States and Mexico.
From the start, and a minute into getting out at Salineno, heard only Couch's Kingbirds exclaiming their loud and distinctive, "kt-wwiiierr" call, became my first lifer. That was quickly followed by the confirmation of another lifer when we heard the odd calls from the Plain Chacalaca, who sounds as if they say their name in many different and completely odd pitches, sayings, tones, and voices. The Chacalaca is a weird one, stay tuned for more on them. As we worked our way slowly along the trail, we came upon some tall and thick reeds that were close to the river. We knew it was the right habitat for one of our main and more rare targets, the Morelet's Seedeater. It was past 6 P.M. in the evening at this point, and we knew that the bird activity wouldn't be as good as it would be in the morning. Thankfully, we would stay in a motel near Salineno and would return to the same spot first thing in the morning the next day. Movement from a small bird in the reeds caught my attention and to a great degree of surprise, I was then looking at a Morelet's Seedeater in my binoculars as my buddies had just started to continue down the trail. They came running over and by that time, the bird had gone lower into thicker cover. While that turned out to be a female Morelet's Seedeater who stayed low, it was followed by a male who decided to show up for our group. We were all stoked to add this bird so quickly and just minutes into our Salineno adventure.
An interesting song we were hearing turned out to be the Seedeater. A few years ago, Morelet's Seedeater was considered a subspecies and was part of the White-colored Seedeater species. It was a two way split, with Morelet's Seedeater being the White-colored Seedeater that reaches southernmost Texas.
At just over four inches in total length, the Morelet's Seedeater is a tiny bird. It's large head and short, deep-based, thick stubby bill help it stand out from other small birds like goldfinches. These birds like local habitats near the Rio Grande River that include grassy habitats, weedy fields, reeds, and canebrakes. After some waiting, the bird sat out in the open while singing on a reed. Freaking awesome.
We continued walking west along the Rio Grande River while keeping track of birds that we were hearing and seeing in Texas, as well as Mexico. A place where the views of the river were more wide, open, and more extensive was where we decided to stand, scan, and watch along the river for not only Hook-billed Kites and fly-by and rare Muscovy Ducks, but for a variety of different species. Things got crazy as Caleb went back to his car to get a scope. As David, Josh, and I stood and watched along the river, Josh spied a Red-billed Pigeon flying east and past our viewing point. We all had time for binocular looks before it proceeded down the river rapidly to continue heading south. The sight of this scarce species as another quick lifer was exciting, but we felt bad Caleb didn't see it. As the Pigeon flew by, it went from being on the Texas side of the river to the Mexico side of the river. When Caleb came back, he didn't care he missed it. What Caleb did next was get our lifer Altamira Oriole in the scope, on the Mexico side of the river. Hearing a few of the Orioles on the Texas side of the river minutes later proved hard to see visually as there were overcast skies above us.
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| Distant Altamira... |
Overcast conditions really made it difficult to photograph the many birds that we were seeing. As we scanned the river, some of the birds we saw on both sides of the river included Groove-billed Ani, Chimney Swift, Caspian and Forster's Terns, Tricolored Heron, Osprey, Gray Hawk, Crested Caracara, a White-tailed Hawk in Mexico, Purple Martin, Bank and Cave Swallows, and more. As Josh and Caleb stuck to the riverside stakeout, David and I branched off and hiked around on the trails to see what birds we could get. Our lifer Long-billed Thrasher put in a brief visual appearance and at times it could be heard singing. The thrasher was followed by the loud "Kis-ka-dee!" exclamatory calls given by none other than our lifer Great Kiskadees. After trying to get visuals for about ten minutes, the Kiskadees remained hidden and hard to see. David eventually went back to the scan point with Josh and Caleb, but before that, we heard the calls of Green Jays nearby. Once I was off to myself, one of the Green Jays appeared in a mesquite right in front of me as I was going up the trail...
The Green Jay is obviously stunning and it's probably best not to describe it in too many words. I didn't take my eye off of the one that was right in front of me, and out of the corner of my eye I could see a second bird immediately nearby. With it's noisy and harsh calls and a suspicious-seeming behavior in the fading daylight, this Green Jay reminded me of a hidden dark soul with a top-deceiving appearance.
With jokes aside, the Green Jay quickly turned into my biggest highlight at Salineno. Green Jays reach the northernmost limit of their range in southern Texas and their range continues well south into the northern regions of South America from southern Texas. For as colorful of a bird as it is, it can stay surprisingly well-hidden in midst of the thickets and dense riparian growth that it prefers for it's habitat selection. These birds are non-migratory and they rarely wander far from nesting sites. They are usually found in pairs or in small family groups, and they have a highly varied, omnivorous diet.
Once it got darker out, I joined my buddies before heading back to the car. Caleb spied our lifer Clay-colored Thrush in the waning minutes of being able to see any sort of light. We all had quick scope views before the thrush would slip off out of sight. After it left, we didn't pursue it in the dark any further as we knew we'd have more opportunities with the species. With two hours of Rio Grande Valley birding under our belt, it was a great start for us. After eating pizza at Domino's and crashing at a motel near Salineno, we would come right back to Salineno at the crack of dawn the next day on May 2nd. In two hours of birding at Salineno, the Rio Grande Valley treated us well and gave us each an assortment of lifers in the short time spent: David had 9, Josh had 11, Caleb had 9, and I had 9. The group lifer ticks reached an astonishing 38 in that 2 hours! We also tallied over 50 species on the Texas side of the Rio Grande River, and just over 40 species on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande River.
When we got to Salineno at first light we heard the songs of a few Audubon's Orioles slowly singing. I mean, it was singing really, really slow. One was on one side of river, and one was on the other. I'm sure you all know what that means by now, right? The Audubon's Oriole was a lifer for us, and one that I really wanted to see on the trip. Despite wanting to see the bird, it wouldn't give us a visual for the entire time and the area that we were currently in is the main area to see the Audubon's Oriole. Perhaps it knew that earlier in our trip that Caleb was asked to describe the song of the Audubon's Oriole and he said, "Oh, it sounds like a retarded Altamira Oriole". The Altamira does sound similar, but it's obviously faster...
The four of us walked back to the same spot where we would bird from a stationary standpoint and look out for Muscovy Ducks. Shortly after we got set up to scan and bird both Texas and Mexico from one spot, things got more fun when Ryan O'Donnell and his friend Leah Waldner joined us. Ryan is a fellow Maricopa County birder with Caleb and I and Leah is from Utah. We now had a team of six people from three different states, and it was a fun group of friends. While we scanned and waited, my first ever (as well as everyone else in the group I think) Ringed Kingfisher flew in. It was epic how it came in, and it reminded me of a king. It sat it's bad ass on an overhanging snag on the Mexico side of the river after flying past us on the Texas side of the river. Here's a digiscoped video I took of the Ringed Kingfisher, which is one of the birds I was wanting to see most in the Rio Grande Valley:
I could hear the Ringed Kingfisher calling a few times throughout the morning when I would venture off to myself. At one point I could tell that it crossed back over to the Texas side of the river and it wasn't too far away. When I came across a cottonwood tree, I scanned a dense part of the tree only to see the Kingfisher sitting there and in great view! Unfortunately, the bird was skittish and wanted no part of me being around. It flew towards where the others were stationed out and when I came to ask if they saw the Kingfisher fly by, they said, "yeah, it came from your direction and flew right past us". They all laughed when I said, "I flushed it towards you, I looked up in the cottonwood and it was right in freaking front of me".
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| L-R: Me, Josh, Caleb, Ryan, David scanning the Rio Grande River. Photo by Leah Waldner |
Josh had a knack of spying some awesome birds on the trip. As we got to the scanning spot, he looked down the river on an empty snag to see another Red-billed Pigeon perched on top of it. This time, all of us were able to get on the bird, including Caleb for his life looks. As the six of us would often stand at our lookout spot along the river, we had an incredible variety of birds. The early morning hours at Salineno would triumph the results of the previous night as we went from 52 species recorded in two evening hours to 74 species recorded in the first two morning hours. Looking into Mexico while standing in Texas gave us effective results too and a slightly smaller sample of 57 species on the other side.
I made the choice of going off to myself several times, and during those times I had fun enjoying some of the common Rio Grande birds further. Something that was exciting was when we had our first views of a Great Kiskadee, who appeared in some trees close to us as we scanned the river.
As I mentioned earlier in the post, this bird gets it's name from it's loud exclamatory, "Kis-ka-dee!!!" call. Every note in the call seems to be emphasized, and it is one of south Texas's most familiar sounds. Something that I recently learned is that these flycatchers will dive into the water to prey on aquatic insects and small fish on the surface of the water.
The bold black and white head pattern gives the Great Kiskadee a striking appearance and a distinctive one among the regularly occurring flycatchers in North America. It's bright yellow belly and chest add to it's bold features, and at times a yellow crown patch may show on this bird in the middle of what is mainly a black crown. If seen well and at close range, it adds even more to this bird's visual appeal. But before most sightings, the namesake call's of the Kiskadee are usually heard from distance before the bird is actually seen.
Working along the thick subtropical brush habitat along and near the river, I encountered and got to study plenty of Long-billed Thrashers. The thrashers couldn't have been more excited to see me watching them...
The Long-billed Thrasher can be detected by hearing it's songs and calls throughout the Rio Grande Valley. It looks very similar in appearance to the widespread Brown Thrasher of the east. While the Brown Thrasher is more uniform reddish brown, the Long-billed Thrasher is a darker cold brown, and it has more grayish tones than it's cousin, especially in the facial area. Long-billed Thrashers have denser and darker streaking on the breast. Unlike the Brown Thrasher, the Long-billed Thrasher's northernmost range is South Texas and it has a longer bill than Brown, giving it an appropriate title.
Long-billed Thrashers are most often found on or near the ground, and they are often wary and shy of birders. They feed mostly on insects, and at times fruit and small amphibians. In winter, they share their habitat with snowbird Brown Thrashers, which would make interesting identification lessons.
David joined me for some of the time when I walked off from the group's main scanning point. Like me, David likes to walk around and bird a lot. A fun bird that we sighted was a Clay-colored Thrush in good lighting after seeing one in poor lighting in the previous visit to Salineno. The Clay-colored Thrush has a range that extends from southern Texas from the north to Central America on the south. It behaves somewhat similar to the well-known American Robin, but it is much shyer and stays in denser cover more often than American. Throughout it's range, the Clay-colored Thrush can be found in a variety of habitats, but in North America, the Rio Grande Valley's riparian areas are it's main choice of habitat.
More encounters with the Morelet's Seedeater added to the fun of the morning.
A bird that we heard a lot of and saw some of was the Olive Sparrow. This species is limited in it's United States range to southern Texas.
Olive Sparrows are shy and elusive birds, and behave in similar ways to towhees. It's song is one that is commonly heard, and it sounds reminiscent to a bouncing ball. After hearing them singing at Lost Maples in the Hill Country, our first views of them came at Salineno. Olve Sparrows eat insects and seeds while foraging and "scratching" on the ground. When males do sing, they tend to stay lower to the ground than most other birds.
Like the previous night at Salineno, the skies were overcast in the morning too. While we observed many different species of birds, it was challenging to photograph them. The morning was pleasant, and among the 74 species we observed on the Texas side of the river were: Plain Chacalaca, Red-billed Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, Groove-billed Ani (flyby views-awesome bird), Lesser Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Laughing Gull, Caspian and Forster's Terns, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, Black Vulture, Mississippi Kite (24 of them), Gray Hawk, Ringed Kingfisher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Green Jay, Purple Martin, Bank Swallow, Black-crested Titmouse, Clay-colored Thrush (4 of them), Long-billed Thrasher, Cedar Waxwing, Olive Sparrow, Hooded, Bullock's, Altamira, and Audubon's Orioles; Dickcissel, and Morelet's Seedeater.
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| Josh, Caleb, Ryan, and Leah scanning the Rio Grande |
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| young White-eyed Vireo |
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| Crested Caracara silhouette |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| Laughing Gull |
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| Mississippi Kite silhouette |
♮♮♮YO SALINENO!
YOUR SO BUENO!♯♯♯
The feeding station at Salineno is active during the winter period in the mornings. I returned back one February morning and got to see Audubon's Oriole really close. You could sit at a spot and see most RGV specialties.
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