Birding at Estero Llano Grande State Park

When I arrived in Harlingen, Texas for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, I was overwhelmed with the many possibilities for birding in South Texas. I was delighted when a Twitter and Facebook friend, Marsha Kraus Fulton, contacted me and offered to take me birding at Estero Llano Grande State Park the next morning. Estero Llano Grande is located in Weslaco, Texas and is part of the World Birding Center network, which consists of nine locations in the Rio Grande Valley.

I was only a little late to meet Marsha in the parking lot. Fortunately, Marsha was familiar with the area, and she led the way through the birding center. As we walked across a stream into a wooded area, a Great Kiskadee greeted us with a series of loud calls.

Great Kiskadee

I heard the call of the Great Kiskadee very frequently throughout my visit to the Rio Grande Valley. You can hear it here.

Next we walked to an area where Common Pauraques had been seen, and we were fortunate enough to see two of them. I would never have found them on my own, but Marsha knew where they had been seen. They blend so well with their surroundings that it is very difficult to see them, even when you know you are looking right at them.

Common Pauraque

After quietly oohing and aahing over the beautiful plumage of the Common Pauraque we walked over to the alligator pond. Although we did not see any alligators, we did see a White Ibis standing sentry over the pond.

White Ibis

We continued up onto the levee and stopped to watch American White Pelicans circling overhead. Their flight patterns reminded me of the Sandhill Cranes that we see in New Mexico.

American White Pelicans

A White-tailed Kite hunted along the levee …

White-tailed Kite

… and a Turkey Vulture flew overhead.

Turkey Vulture

We continued into another wooded area where feeders had been set up. I loved the large Bougainvillea that were growing in this area.

Bougainvillea

In the feeder area we saw a beautiful Golden-fronted Woodpecker feeding on citrus.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Plain Chachalaca announced themselves noisily.

Plain Chachalaca

You can hear the raucous call of these noisy birds here.

I saw a flash of color in the trees, and I saw my first Green Jay, one of the birds that I had really hoped to see during my visit.

Green Jay

On the way to the hummingbird area, we paused to look at a few butterflies. We saw this lovely Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes).

Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes )

Perhaps the highlight of our day was seeing the very rare Blomfild’s Beauty (Smyrna blomfildia), a lovely and rare butterfly, who was sitting on a feeder along with a very worn and tattered Mexican Bluewing female.

Blomfild's Beauty (Smyrna blomfildia) and tattered Mexican Bluewing female.

After looking at the butterflies, we went over to the hummingbird area where we saw this pretty female Black-chinned Hummingbird …

Female Black-chinned Hummingbird

… and this lovely Buff-bellied Hummingbird.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Marsha was a wonderful guide, and I am very grateful for her kindness in showing me a beautiful birding area.

At the end of the day I began to dream of more lovely birds to see in the following days.

Moonrise at Estero Llano Grande

If you enlarge the photo, you will see that the black dot above and to the right of the rising moon is a Great Blue Heron flying overhead.

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A New Mexican in Florida-Part VII, Miscellany

Inevitably as I come to the end of my Florida photos I have some that did not exactly fit into previous posts. Some did not fit into a particular category, some were marginal photos, some were overlooked. Like a stew made out of leftovers scrounged from the refrigerator, here is my final Florida post.

From Daytona Beach Shores:

A US Army Bi-Plane.

Pontoon plane.

Sailboat

And a video of the gulls at Daytona Beach Shores:

From the Lowe’s parking lot in Titusville, Florida:

Sandhill Crane

From Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville, Florida:

A Great Egret in golden afternoon light.

White Ibis feeding in shallow water.

White Ibis fly at sunset.

From Christmas, Florida: Swampy, the World’s Largest Gator.

Swampy

This claim is true, I believe.

Donna in Swampy's Jaws.

Now Swampy has Melanie.

From Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge: A view of the Space Shuttle Launch Complex.

Space Shuttle Launch Complex at Merritt Island.

And finally, from a roadside in Titusville, Florida:

Armadillo

Which, of course, brings me to the end of my Florida adventures . . . until next time.

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A New Mexican in Florida-Part VI

Faithful readers may recall my unhappiness at driving by a small neighborhood lake without stopping one morning at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. (See A New Mexican in Florida-Part III.) I had made a note of the location in a Titusville, Florida neighborhood where the lake was located, and I returned one morning with Donna and Melanie. Dawn and Jeff joined us there. There were over 100 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks at the lake.

Raft of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

One of the neighbors saw us and came over to chat with us. He said that a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks first appeared at the pond several years ago. He started feeding the ducks, and more ducks joined the first pair. He estimated that there were now over 100 ducks staying at the pond. There were occasional Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibis, Wood Storks and Anhinga.

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and friends.

A Juvenile White Ibis bathes in the lake.

A friendly retired minister and his lovely wife strolled up and told us that they had lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years. The ducks often slept in their backyard under a large tree.

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks sleeping under a tree in a neighborhood yard.

Because this was a small lake in a neighborhood, we were able to get quite close to the Roseate Spoonbills.

Roseate Spoonbills

Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibis, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.

Roseate Spoonbill prepares for flight.

It was a lovely morning, and we sat on the bank of the lake, enjoying the sun and watching the birds.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck flies toward the island in the middle of the lake.

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks march up onto the island in the middle of the lake.

The Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are named for the whistling noise that they make, and I made a video of them whistling. Unfortunately the lake is right next to I-95 so you can hear a great deal of traffic noise, but you can still hear the ducks.

If you are wondering what happened to Part V of this Florida series, you will find it over at my Photo Flurries blog.

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A New Mexican in Florida-Part IV

After my initial too-brief tour of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which I discussed in Part III of my Florida adventure, I was determined to return and enjoy the birds and scenery at a more leisurely pace. Dawn, Donna, Melanie and I decided to make the trip together. There were so many beautiful birds!

Great Egret

Great Egret, another view.

We saw a trio of lovely birds, which scattered as we pulled over to photograph them.

White Ibis, Great Egret and Great Blue Heron.

On the other side of the road we saw an Anhinga high in the trees.

Anhinga

This handsome Wood Stork looked as if he was only one step removed from a pterodactyl.

Wood Stork

He seemed mildly offended by our presence, and he stalked away.

Wood Stork stalking away.

We saw Roseate Spoonbills with their beautiful colors and prehistoric faces …

Roseate Spoonbills

Roseate Spoonbill at rest.

… and we were delighted to see Tricolored Herons.

Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron

We watched a young Osprey catch a fish and come to rest in a tree, where the fish became entangled in the branches.

Osprey with fish.

We watched the Osprey struggle with the fish for quite awhile.

The bird was finally able to free the fish from the tree and it flew away with the fish in one claw, presumably to consume it atop a power pole as the rest of the Ospreys do.

Be sure to look for A New Mexican in Florida-Part V over in my Photo Flurries blog.

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