Rio Grande Valley RBA
November 13, 2008
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:20:41 -0500
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From: Mary Gustafson <live4birds@AOL.COM>
Subject: RBA: Texas Lower RIo Grande Valley Hotline, November 13, 2008
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RBA
.
* Texas
* Lower Rio Grande Valley
* November 13, 2008
- Birds Mentioned
+ (Details requested by TBRC - Mark.Lockwood AT tpwd.state.tx.us)
.
Our rare bird alert includes recent reports of…
.
Hook-billed Kite
Allen’s Hummingbird
+Dusky-capped Flycatcher
+Rose-throated Becard
Mangrove Warbler
Pine Siskin
.
hotline: Texas Parks and Wildlife - Lower Rio Grande Valley Birding
Hotline number: (956) 584-2731
to report: rgvbirds AT hotmail.com (preferred) or (956) 584-2731 option 3
compilers: Mary Gustafson (Rio Grande Joint Venture) and Jennifer Owen
(Estero Llano Grande State Park).
.
- Transcript
.
Thank you for calling the Lower Rio Grande Valley Birding Hotline sponsored by
Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the World Birding
Center. This hotline is normally updated Thursdays by 5 PM. Please send
observations to Texbirds or to the hotline email address. Thank you to those
who sent reports!
.
Winter flocks are becoming established with several Black-throated Gray Warblers
in addition to more widely distributed species. Tropical Parula at Estero
Llano Grande State Park and Quinta Mazatlan! Late Wood Storks remain near the
coast in small numbers. Pine Siskin are appearing as fly-overs at several sites
over the past weekend, and House Finch are in small numbers as well.
.
At Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco, an immature male Rose-throated
Becard was found on November 6 and continues t
o be seen through the 12th. The bird is in a CLOSED area of the park, you MUST
check in at the park headquarters and request permission to look for the Becard
each time you visit the park and remain on roads and trails. The Becard hit a
window (probably while evading a hawk) on the afternoon of the 12th but
recovered quickly and flew away strongly. A Tropical Parula is in the area as
well as an exotic Black-throated Magpie-Jay. The Magpie-Jay is a huge
long-tailed and crested Jay from west Mexico. This is an escaped cage bird and
is *not* a wild bird. Numbers of shorebirds and large wintering warbler flocks
are in the area as well.
.
A Dusky-capped Flycatcher was found at Sabal Palm Sanctuary east of Brownsville
on November 5. This is a TBRC Review Species. This bird has been detected
nearly every day but is more often heard calling than seen. Also present at
Sabal Palm are Groove-billed Ani and several Least Flycatcher.
.
Another Dusky-capped Flycatcher was heard at Santa Ana NWR near the old managers
residence on November 8. [Dusky-capped Flycatchers have a distinctive
mournful “pweer” call. You can hear this call online at
http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/IHIOGGZVQA/cp0505a_Myiarchus_tuberculifer_06jul2007_CaveCreek.mp3 or go to http://www.xeno-canto.org and search on the species.]
.
The adult male Allen’s Hummingbird continues for its second winter at
Bentsen-RGV State Park where it is becoming more regular at the feeders near
the20Headquarters. An adult male Rufous Hummingbird is also present!
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl has been heard infrequently in the morning. An
unidentified Parula and a Black-headed Grosbeak were present on Nov. 7. The
usual Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet and Gray Hawk are being detected regularly.
.
At Anzalduas County Park, at least two individual Hook-billed Kites have been
seen since Nov. 1, and Zone-tailed Hawk was reported more than once during the
week. Two probably different Hook-billed Kites were seen on the pontoon boat
trip over this past weekend, but on the Mexican side of the river.
.
Quinta Mazatlan has TWO Tropical Parulas! A Northern was also seen in the past
week, so check all Parulas carefully. Quinta is on 10th Street south of US
83.
.
Groove-billed Anis become rare or hard to find in the LRGV in winter. They
continue along the Rio Grande and at Santa Ana NWR, Bentsen RGV State Park, and
Sabal Palm Sanctuary.
.
Red-crowned Parrots seem to be roosting in the area of the Valley Nature Center,
and Green Parakeets are staging before going to roost on 10th street between
Violet and Zinnia at about 5:30 PM. Both species are seen at Quinta Mazatlan
on South 10th street in McAllen, and in Harlingen, Pharr, and Brownsville.
Red-crowned Parrots are also seen flying over Estero Llano Grande State Park’s
Visitor Center.
.
Mangrove Warblers are a well-marked subspecies Yellow Warbler that may be
distinct enough to
warrant full species status. For more information on seeing Mangrove (Yellow)
Warbler contact the South Padre Island Nature Center at (956) 299-1957.
.
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls are present at three fee sites. These include the San
Miguelito Ranch (Prior arrangements are required, contact Leticia Tijerina, at
956-369-3118 or buny55ATaol.com), King Ranch, and El Canelo. They are also
seen rarely at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in the pre-dawn hours.
Remember, the use of tapes is not allowed at Bentsen or many LRGV sites.
Always ask before using tapes.
.
The feeders at Salineno are open 7:30 AM to 4 PM, and the birds are starting to
come in.
Red-billed Pigeons were reported from Salineno on November 6. They usually
become more difficult to find in the winter and can disappear entirely some
years.
The bird sanctuary at San Ygnacio has been flooded by the Rio Grande.
Alternate sites for White-collared Seedeaters are at Zapata near the pond at the
south end of 9th Street and Laredo.
.
The Wikibird guide provides birding site information for the Rio Grande Valley
at http://wikibird.org/wiki/Rio_Grande_Valley_birding_guide . Thanks to Tim
Whitehouse for this great service! Many RGV specialties like Clay-colored
Thrush are covered in the RGV recent sightings information in greater detail
than we can cover in the hotline.
.
Please report sightings to rgvbirdsAThotmail.com (Replace AT with @) or (956)
584-2731 option 3. Thanks to everyone20who reported their sightings to Texbirds
or the compilers.
.
Mary Gustafson
Mission, Texas