Sunset viewed from plane
My Big Year began in earnest in early January with a trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) in Texas. I visited there again in April and decided to make a return trip on my last overnight birding trip of the year. The LRGV birding festival started the day before my arrival. I got to see some old friends and make some new ones in one of the best birding areas in North America.
After a late arrival on Wednesday night November 10, I started birding Thursday morning at San Benito Wetlands. My target was a Fork-tailed Flycatcher. I spent two hours walking through the wetlands and saw some nice birds.
American White Pelican
I gave up on the flycatcher and got in my car to search elsewhere. Just before pulling out of the parking lot I checked my phone. I had an alert that the bird had just been seen about 200 yards from where I was sitting.
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
After walking down the road and rounding a corner I found a small group of people who were all looking in the same direction. Sure enough, there was my bird. Alex Lamoreaux was the leader of the group. He helped me find quite a few new birds in Arizona in August. I also got my life-bird Connecticut Warbler with him in New Jersey in September.
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
While the Fork-tailed Flycatcher is rare in the USA, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are fairly common in Texas.
I joined an afternoon field trip in search of local exotic birds. Our first exotic bird was the Green Parakeet. These are the descendents of escaped or released pets that are now wild and "countable" according to the American Birding Association (ABA). There are many established populations of parrots and parakeets in the USA but only certain specific locations have "countable" populations.
Green Parakeets
Red-crowned Parrot
Red-crowned Parrots roost on telephone wires beginning just before dusk. Our bus navigated the streets of Harlingen until we spotted a flock of parrots flying nearby. We followed them to their roosting spot. In just a few minutes the number of Red-crowned Parrots I had seen in my life went from zero to 400.
Red-crowned Parrots
We also saw one exotic bird that is not countable in Harlingen, per the ABA:
Red-lored Parrot
Day two started with a 6:00 bus ride to Cactus Creek Ranch. While I did not see either of my two targets it was a nice morning and a great spot for birding.
This collection of small bones was directly below a favorite roosting spot of a resident Eastern Screech-owl.
Harris's Hawk
I worked hard to find four other target birds in Texas, but only found one: Hook-billed Kite.
This image is from the internet. Although it is not the bird I saw, this is the view I had - at a considerable distance. The other birdwatchers on the viewing tower were reluctant to put this on their list due to the distant view. However, we were able to observe all the key field marks and also saw it well enough to rule out all of the other possible raptors.
I made a few stops on the way back hoping to add a few more birds and a few more states to my year-list.
The first stop was Houston where I dipped on Nelson's Sparrow and LeConte's Sparrow.
Next stop - my first ever visit to Oklahoma. I had no trouble finding Harris's Sparrow.
Harris's Sparrow
My final stop was Missouri, the 31st state I visited this year. I only saw birds in 29 because two of the states were on layovers where I was unable to spot a European Starling or a House Sparrow, in spite of my best efforts.
Missouri is the best place to see Eurasian Tree Sparrows. They have not spread as far or as as quickly as House Sparrows. The population is slowly spreading up the Mississippi Valley, but does not seem to be displacing native species.
I checked eBird for recent nearby sightings and headed to a park 10 miles from my hotel. - Except I hit the wrong button on my cell phone and accidentally headed to a private residence in the area. This was fortuitous. The homeowner saw me with my binoculars and invited my to see his yard. The house was a typical suburban home in an area with small hills and lots of large trees. The houses were average sized with average sized front yards. I had no idea that the backyard was a few acres of woodland with paths and feeders everywhere. I was even more surprised that this idyllic home was located in Ferguson, Missouri - a city that became notorious when an unarmed black man was shot and killed by the police in 2014.
Eurasian Tree Sparrows (with black spots on cheeks and a brown crowns) along with House Sparrows (gray crown, no spot on cheek.)
It has been a wonderful year and I hope to get a few more birds in Michigan before New Year's Day. I will post a final update in early January.