We did it ! ! !
Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Mon, 16 Nov 1998 18:14:55 -0500
WE DID IT ! ! ! !
This is a summary report of Norm & Fran Saunders' 9-day trip to the Lower Rio
Grande Valley, November 7-15, 1998. Fran and I stayed in Harlingen, central to
almost all of the locations we visited and we were registered participants in the
5th Annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. We can't say enough good
things about the Festival and the people behind the Festival, especially Father
Tom Pincelli, who took the time to draw map after map and outline strategy after
strategy for finding the birds on our target list. Thanks, Father Tom!
Target birds for our trip: (27 species, we saw 23)
Least Grebe (got it, Santa Ana NWR)
* Muscovy Duck (wasn't reported by anyone; we missed it)
Hook-billed Kite (got it, Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park)
White-tailed Hawk (got it, Santa Ana NWR)
* Aplomado Falcon (around at Laguna Atascosa NWR, we missed it)
Plain Chachalaca (got it, Santa Ana NWR)
* Red-billed Pigeon (around at Saleneno, we missed it)
White-tipped Dove (got it, it was everywhere)
Red-crowned Parrot (got it, downtown Harlingen)
Green Parakeet (got it, downtown San Benito)
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (got it, King Ranch)
* Elf Owl (wasn't reported by anyone, we missed it)
Pauraque (got it, King Ranch)
Buff-bellied Hummingbird (got it, downtown Harlingen feeder)
Ringed Kingfisher (got it, Santa Ana NWR)
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (got it, it was everywhere)
Great Kiskadee (got it, Santa Ana NWR)
Tropical Kingbird (got it, Harlingen Bird Sanctuary)
Couch's Kingbird (got it, it was everywhere)
Green Jay (got it, it was everywhere)
Brown Jay (got it, Chapeno)
Mexican Crow (got it, Brownsville Dump)
Sedge Wren (got it for Fran, King Ranch)
Long-billed Thrasher (got it, Santa Anna NWR)
Olive Sparrow (got it, all over the place)
Altamira Oriole (got it, Santa Anna NWR)
Audubon's Oriole (got it, Chapeno & King Ranch)
Unanticipated life birds: (2 more)
Sprague's Pipit (got it, King Ranch)
Le Conte's Sparrow (got it, King Ranch)
Now, before Phil Davis can jump in here, we know that the Aplomado Falcon (the
released birds at Laguna Atascosa NWR) and the Green Parakeet are not
currently on the ABA list. Nonetheless we wanted badly to see them to round
things out a bit. We dipped on the falcon but had a great display put on by a
largish flock of the parakeets when they were dive-bombed by a Merlin.
Where we birded the past nine days:
Downtown Harlingen, various locations
Lon C. Hill Park
Hugh Ramsey Nature Park
Santa Ana NWR
Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary
Brownsville Dump
Brownsville Zoo
South Padre Island
Salaneno
Chapeno
Falcon Dam Spillway
Falcon Dam State Park
Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park
Harlingen Bird Sanctuary
King Ranch
Laguna Atascosa NWR
Our Statistics:
Birds for the trip: 177 species
Lifers: 25 for Fran, 24 for Norm
Major Milestone:
Norm & Fran both surpassed 600 species for their N.A. Life List!
Fran and I will be working on a more detailed writeup of the trip. If there are
specific questions, however, don't hesitate to write us off the list.
Glad to be home...
Norm
===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net