Today Ken, Bruce and I went exploring. We headed north on Hwy 281 to see what we could find on Brushline Road and at La Sal del Rey (translates The Salt of the King) NWR. We got to Brushline Road about 7:50 AM and the birds were just getting active. It was pretty much as billed, with lots of Sparrows, mostly Lark and Savannah, with a few Vesper, along with Common Ground Dove, and scads of Red-winged Blackbirds, and a nice variety of dry land species.
La Sal Del Rey, a hypersaline pond which has been used for millennia as a source of salt for aboriginal peoples, the Confederate Army, and who knows who else. It was not terribly birdy, with 3 Snowy Plover, about 28 Least Sandpipers, 4 Ring-billed Gulls, and a few birds on the walk in and out.
A stop at Delta Lake was good for all 3 species of Kingfisher, ducks and a soaring flock of vultures. I think, but am not sure, that I picked a Zone-tailed Kite out of the flock, but no one else could get onto is, so it goes unidentified.
Our afternoon was spent at one of my favorites spots of the trip. The Westlaco Scenic Wetlands is one of 9 WBC sites, and was very birdy, with about 50 species, including several warbler species and a very black-backed Lesser Goldfinch.
Northern Parula[/caption]
A great dinner at the Palenque Grill, home to clean up, and I twisted arms into a brief Bird Banter podcast episode recording. Stay tuned to hear from tres amigos about the trip.