My last morning in the valley offered me one opportunity to get some birds that I missed. I shockingly missed Ringed Kingfisher and Lesser Goldfinch, and this seemed like a good place to get them.
The park itself is pretty cool, it reminds me of the Dallas Arboretum but with better birds. There's a massive pond that is teeming with kingfishers. Within just a few minutes I had all 3 kingfishers, including a lifer Ringed Kingfisher!
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| Green Kingfisher's are one of my favorite birds to see. I wish I had gotten a picture of the Ringed Kingfisher. |
I continued along the trail, and a second small pond brought in more birds. Both night herons were present, and there was a mixed flock of migrants that looked enticing to both me and a Cooper's Hawk. Pine Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Black-and-White Warbler, and Orange-crowned Warbler were all usual suspects, but there a few pleasant surprises. Rose-breasted Grosbeak was nice find, but I was hyped about a Warbling Vireo. Those are hard for me to identify and I thought I missed them for the year. To round it out I got a Pine Warbler, which was flagged as rare by eBird.
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| Yellow-crowned Night Heron taken at Estero Llano Grande |
On the way out I got the last bird I had really been missing, Lesser Goldfinch! I closed out the trip at over 103 birds, 100 alone in Hidalgo County. I got pretty much every bird I hoped for, with the only miss being Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet and Hooded Oriole, although the latter is primarily a summer visitor so the chances were already slim to none I'd see one.
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| Belted Kingfisher taken at White Rock Lake |
An obvious highlight was the Morelet's Seedeater and Audubon's Oriole, but I was also pumped to get lifer Golden-winged Warbler and an unexpected Warbling Vireo. What. A. Trip. I cannot wait to come back and uncover some more surprises from the RGV.
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