Today the primary objective was to find a Hook Billed Kite at Santa Ana NWR. Two birds have been seen there many days recently from the observation tower, so we opened the park, being the second car in the lot, and by far the first to the tower, a half mile hike. We got to the top of the tower, and immediately began identifying Harris’s Hawks, a total of 8, most at long distance. About 9:10 Ken spotted a raptor, not crazy far away, and his words went something ling this. “This is interesting. This could be. Maybe. I’ve got it! …” He had spotted a female Hook-billed Kite perched in a snag at maybe a half mile away. We all got good looks, barely passable photos, and it was an ABA lifer for Bruce, and a lifer for Ken.
We spent maybe 25 minutes congratulating ourselves, and showing the bird on the first step off the tower stairs to the next 6-8 birders to show up. All were pretty excited.
The rest of the day we spent birding Santa Ana, then the Frontera Audubon Society property, and finally the relatively new Quinta Mazatlan WBC, a place very near where we are staying and a pretty cool spot. Yellow-throated Warbler and Black-throated Green Warblers were trip firsts there. Another big day for all. Can’t wait for tomorrow!
Author: birdbanter
Lower Rio Grande Valley Trip Day 3, The Boys are Here
Next off to Estero Llano Grande, where we spent the afternoon puzzling over flitting passerines, watching water birds, and generally getting acquainted with the area.
We finished strong visiting a private residence in McAllen, to see Ruth and Bert Wessling’s back yard sanctuary. It is incredible, with feeders, water elements, brambles for cover, and LOTS of birds. Ken and I quickly got a brief look at the Audubon’s Oriole, but Bruce, the only one of us who needed it for a lifer missed it. Not to fear we all got better looks a few minutes later. Lots of photo ops, comfortable back–porch chairs, and incredible hospitality for unknown vagrant birders who just showed up and got the dogs to bark enough that Ruth came to investigate, and graciously ushered us in to watch.
We ended up at the Green Parakeet roost and Chipotle’s for dinner in McAllen.
A great day with Ken and Bruce each getting 2 ABA lifers.
Tomorrow off to Santa Ana NWR to hope for Hook-billed Kite.
Lower Rio Grande Valley Day 2
Just a quick post about today. This was my solo birding day before picking up Ken and Bruce at the McAllen Airport in the evening.
First stop was Santa Ana to hope for Hook-billed Kite and the Crimson-collared Grosbeak, both without any luck. Great looks at Altamira Oriole, and lots of waterfowl. After there I went to Estero Llano Grande, cool translation Big flat estuary. A great story of rehab of an old cotton plantation into a wetland using mostly Ducks Unlimited dollars.
Also stopped at the nearby granary to see the blackbird spectacle there, and a try at the Audubon Oriole spot, scouting as Bruce needs this for his life list.
Good day and got the guys home after.
Lower RGV Birding Day 1
I flew to McAllen, TX yesterday, got settled into my Airbnb after dark, and this AM headed straight to the Fork-tailed Flycatcher stakeout. This vagrant had been seen for the last 3 days running on some agricultural land near a sugar factory, and I had high hopes. After getting there at the crack of dawn, to find my binos were left behind, taking a quick scope and camera scan, returning for binos, and getting back just as some other birders were getting there, I commenced to look. And look. And look. Just after one Canadian couple gave up and drove away, I spotted a ridiculously long-tailed bird fight across the road into the wind and land on a wire. Sure enough, ABA lifer #722 (old ABA area) in the books.
This species usually lives south of the border, but has a notoriety for vagrancy, showing up really anywhere anytime. It is also often tough to chase, as it can be a one day and done vagrant, but this one stuck. Hoping it stays until Friday when Ken and Bruce get here. I got just brief looks before it was blown/flew back into the reservoir area, to be seen briefly in flight at distance twice more before I left.
Next on to Santa Ana, where a female Crimson-collared Grosbeak was relocated 2 days ago after being absent for a while. It was hot and quiet at the feeders by noon when I got there, and I decided not to spend the afternoon watching the feeders. I hiked the refuge for about 3 hours, seeing some cool birds, but nothing really unusual.
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After the drive back and dinner I went to the long-standing Green Parakeet Roost here in McAllen. It was as remembered, innumerable Great-tailed Grackles and a nice flock of Green Parakeets on the wires.
Tomorrow I’m off to Estero Llano Grande SP, Frotera Audubon Center and The National Butterfly Center. Hope these bring great birds and more fun. Until then, good birding and good day!
Notes on The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #45 with Annie Meyer
I’m posting the blog post early because I’ll be traveling when Episode #45 drops, so it should be available on Jan 16th.
As I mention on the episode I first met Annie when Kay and I took she and her Dad Dane on a birdathon trip when she was about 10 years old. It was so much fun talking with and doing the recording. We talk about her birding story, her travels and work in South and Central America, and hear some really cool adventure stories. Enjoy.
You can reach out to Annie Meyer @anniemeyer on Facebook on Instagram @Annie_Meyer
Click on this link for website for Third Millennium Alliance in Ecuador, preserving corridors for wildlife is
Here is a link to the Science article we talked about tht documents the dramatic decline in bird numbers in the Americas over the last 30 years.
We also discussed Land Trusts. Here is a link to the Washington Association of Land Trusts
Here is a link to a photo of and info the Hoatzin, the bird we discussed, the Hoatzin. It really is a cool bird.
Stay tuned to see if I can find one or more guests for the show during my upcoming Lower Rio Grande Valley visit.
Until next time, Good birding. Good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #44 with Clarice Clark and Jerry Broadus Notes
I am impressed and inspired by people I meet and know who expend their resources, the Time-Treasure-Talents triad of the things we have to offer, to support their passion and causes> My guests on this episode are a couple who have spent much of their resources working on bird habitat conservation and research. Here are some links to things we discussed on the episode. Leave comments if you want additional information.
First here is a link to our ABC Birding Club website and the article on the presentation by Jerry and Clarice.
This is information about the Duck Stamp program and a way to buy yours online.
This is the website of the Friends of Willipa Bay who run the festival we talked about on the episode.
This is the site of the Nisqually NWR https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Billy_Frank_Jr_Nisqually/
This is more information about the issues Jerry and Clarice faced in their recent work in Hawaii.
Last this is the site of Duck’s Unlimited. You know an old and powerful organization when they have a great url like this.
Until next time. Good birding. Good day.
Day 2 of My 2-CBC Weekend
I gave myself a break today. Ken and Heather Voboril went out owling early, in the cold, wind and rain, and in 3 hours heard one Great-horned Owl. One more than I had predicted when last night after getting home from the Gray’s Harbor CBC I called Ken and bailed on owling on his Vashon CBC. I met Them and Jacob Miller, a young and new-to-birding birder at the Purdy Park & Ride at 7:50. I tried scoping in the barely light for the Black Scoter on Henderson Inlet, but with the weather there was not enough light to see anything that early.
We did our usual routes for the CBC, and it was fun to get to know Jacob a bit, a home-schooled and very sharp 14 year old from Mason County who has been birding for about a year. The birding in general was slow in the AM with far fewer finches, sparrows and the like in the Burley area, and then the rain came in ernest. We spent much of the AM driving neighborhoods looking out the car windows for feeders and flocks. Nothing really notable was found.
In the afternoon we went to Long Lake, a segment of a different section of the count area, where Ken had found some good birds scouting the day prior. Heather spotted the Canvasback, very distant but identifiable. Hundreds of Ringed-neck Ducks dominated, but big numbers of PBGR and AMCO were seen, and in the boat launch area Jacob spotted Hariy Woodpecker and Red-breasted Sapsucker, usual for the area, but good FOY birds for me.
We wrapped up at Blackjack Creek area where Heather and I heard the Virginia Rail we had missed in the AM, and Ken and Jacob scanned the fields for raptors, largely without success.
As usual a good day of friendship and birding, lots of new FOY species (easy in early Jan) and cold hands and ears.
Say goodbye to the CBC season.
CBC #1 of a 2-CBC Weekend
Bruce LaBar led our area of the Gray’s Harbor Christmas Bird Count today, and everything worked out better than expected. The weather report called for rain all day, getting worse as the day progressed, along with high winds. The winds came, though maybe less strong than predicted, but we had only maybe 2 minutes of light rain.
We started the day at the Brown’s Point Jetty in Ocean Shores, after Bruce met me here in Tacoma at 5:45 AM, then Gene Revelas in Olympia and Laurel Parshall in 
At the jetty it was high tide and really crazy high seas. The expected rock-loving sandpipers put on a good show at the base of the jetty, with 5 Rock Sandpipers, 50 Black Turnstones, and 20 Surfbirds. Otherwise not a lot to see there. At the Game Range we added loons, gulls, ducks and sandpipers, including a single Long-billed Dowicher, and our best bird of the day IMHO a Black-legged Kittiwake sitting on the backwaters there.
Later we hiked to the end of Damon Point, where Short-eared Owl and a Wilson’s Snipe flushed, and a single Long-tailed Duck floated off the end of the spit.
Overall a much more pleasant day than expected due to good weather, and good birds. I like doing this CBC in part because it gets my WA state list off to a fast start. This brings me to 93 species for WA in 2020, and puts my Gray’s Harbor list ahead of my Pierce County (where I live but have not birded much since the new year).
Tomorrow the Vashon Island CBC with Ken Brown and others.
Good Birding.
A Couple Hours of Birding After Working this Morning
I like to take advantage of being done with precepting at the Puyallup based EPFM Residency when I finish at noon, and even better was finishing by 11AM today. I headed for the recent swan fields at Von Ogel’s Ford Rd, but as Bruce told me they just are not there this winter. Fortunately I saw my Pierce FOY Trumpeter Swan (5) alongside Hwy 162 getting there, and again (23) on the Orting Farm Loop soon after. Also on the loop was a full feeder just after turning off Calistoga onto the loop, were at least 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds were with lots of Red-winged and Brewer’s Blackbirds. The expected American Kestrel was also on a wire on the loop, but nothing else notable.
A stop at the barn on Levee Rd. yielded the roosting pair of Barn Owls, one flushed before I got the camera up, but the LEGO and CORE seen late last year by others did not show near the river and the bridge. A stop at 56th St Stormwater Ponds showed much “progress” on the big housing development where we used to get birds in the field, and the usual wintering Ruddy Ducks with other waterfowl.
A nice diversion on the way back to end yet another short day of light in the Pacific NW.
New Years Day Birding with Friends
This year for New Years Eve Marian and I went to a dance in Seattle, but before the event stopped at a parking lot in Bothell near the well known crow roost there, and for my first time watched the spectacle of my estimated 15,000 crows coming to roost. Pretty cool. On the morning of Jan 1 we headed north to visit Ron and Linda Bahr, and to visit some of the North Puget Sound areas where it is easier to get a few species tougher to find near Tacoma and in the south sound area. On the drive up we drove across Fir Island, with a very quick stop at Wiley Slough NWR, with a distant Rough-legged Hawk the best bird there, though the many thousands of Snow Geese flying around were great too.
Our first stop with Ron and Linda after a really good pizza for lunch in Bellingham was at Birch Bay SP, where lots of Black Brant, sea ducks including a few Long-tailed Ducks were found, but missed Black Scoter which is fairly regular there in winter. It was a beautiful sunny day all day long, despite rain in the forecast, so I took this as a good omen for 2020.
We drove through the town of Birch Bay, then over to the Semiahmoo Spit. There Ron found a pair of distant Black Oystercatchers, we saw Harlequin Duck, Sanderling, and a really nice sunset from the bar at the resort.
After a really good visit, and catching up on family, work, and our lives, Ron dropped us back in Bellingham. He has a new F-150 all decked out with spacious back seats, and we were amazed at the comfort of a pickup truck. We spent the night in LaConnor at the Heron Inn and Day Spa B&B, and they made us a customized vegan breakfast, very nicely done.
By last night the slight cold I seemed to be catching on NY Eve blossomed into a full blown head old, so today instead of birding the Samish Flats we just headed south. I caught a good nap, and birded Ruston Way from the car in late afternoon, adding the usual birds, plus a 5 each Western Meadowlark and Black Turnstones , bood Pierce County birds at Dune Peninsula.
Happy New Years and Good birding.