Bit of a lost day as I was meandering around not really
knowing where I was going! I had a
couple of hours walk around the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge in
the morning where the Mesquite scrub was pretty quiet with a couple of singing
BEWICK’S WRENS and a single cracking BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER the highlights
along with a Couch’s Kingbird, a Ladder-backed Woodpecker and several
Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Black-crested Titmouse, White-eyed Vireos and
Ruby-crowned Kinglets.
There
was a good selection of waders on the large salt lake (La Sal del Rey)
including a brilliant flock of 224 WILSON’S PHALAROPES, 3 STILT SANDPIPERS, c35
LEAST SANDPIPERS, good numbers of Lesser Yellowlegs, a Long-billed Curlew and
20+ American Avocets. I could
constantly hear Sandhill Cranes calling somewhere to the east but I couldn’t
see them.
I
then drove around aimlessly for a bit before deciding to head to Laguna Atascosa
National Wildlife Refuge for a couple of hours in the afternoon; it was overcast
and pretty breezy so it wasn’t brilliant although birds round the centre and at
the feeding stations included 4 PLAIN CHACHALACA, a couple of WHITE-TIPPED
DOVES, a GREAT KISKADEE, a few Green Jays, a Blue-headed Vireo, a singing
LONG-BILLED THRASHER and a couple of Orange-crowned Warblers. A look at the lagoon added CANVASBACK, Ruddy
Duck and Shoveler to the trip list but the highlight was brilliant views of a
male VERDIN by the overlook while on the drive back there was the usual
farmland birds on the wires including a nice flock of Lark Sparrows, a couple
of Couch’s Kingbirds and Loggerhead Shrikes, many American Kestrels and a
Red-tailed Hawk.
Bewick's Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Green Jay
Golden-fronted Woodpecker eating Peanut Butter
Plain Chachalaca
Long-billed Thrasher
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