BIRDQUEST2004

Our first trip to the Tortugas was in 2008 and we’ve always wanted to return.

In February when Sue suggested we make a return trip in April, I was all for it.   First thing I did was check eBird to find the best week in April for migrants.  All things pointed to the 3rd week, unfortunately this year, the birds had other ideas.

We parked the car at 300 Grinnell St, and walked the short distance to the ferry terminal where we’d board the Yankee Freedom for our trip to the Dry Tortugas.

After a long speech about what we could and couldn’t do on board and at Fort Jefferson, Sue and I boarded at 8:30am.  We were underway within minutes, all 175 people.

After leaving the harbor, there were a few birds on the water but within a few miles we didn’t see another bird until we were within 2 miles of the fort.  After breakfast (supplied), we went out on the deck and saw few dolphins and a sea turtle, not much else was moving.

We began seeing boobies on the channel markers when we were within sight of the fort.

Sooty Terns, Brown Noddy’s and Frigatebirds could be seen flying in every direction.

It was 10:30am by the time we docked at Fort Jefferson, we felt the heat almost immediately and after standing on the bow with the wind in our faces, the temperature was getting up near 34.C (94F).

Sue and I realized how hot it was going to get, lots of water breaks, were going to be the order of the day.

The fort grounds are perfect for photography and there’s a photo opportunity at every turn.

The local birds are easily approachable, most really have nowhere to go and they let people approach within feet, with the migrants things are a little different.  They are here to rest and get a drink before they fly on to the mainland and should be viewed from a distance.  The day we visited it was close to 37.5C (100F), any movement the birds have to make, expends much needed energy they need for migration.

Amazing close up’s are possible but remember I use a 600mm lens, it allows me to get extreme close ups without having to get close to the birds.

Have you ever seen a Barn Swallow at eye level?

Fly-by Sooty Tern

The Brown Noddy’s can be seen from shore, they are perched on branches, and old dock supports a few feet off shore.

 

Back in 2008, I was lucky enough to find a Black Noddy on these supports.

Walking along the beach you can see just about anything during migration, over 300 species of birds have been seen in the area.

A climb to the top of the fort allows for an eye to eye with a Frigatebird or its a great spot to scope for birds on the old dock supports.

Moving back down to ground level you can walk over to an area where access past the sign, is not allowed but from the sign you can easily see birds flying to and from their nesting areas.

The shear numbers of birds flying, makes it tough to find rarities without a scope, but carrying a scope, camera equipment, water in this heat is brutal and ferry rules do not allow leaving things onboard.

Sue and I had a wonderful 4 hours on the island but I won’t lie, I was super happy to get back to the air conditioning on the boat.

As the Yankee Freedom leave’s  Fort Jefferson, the Captain always goes by Hospital  Key so birders on board can get binocular views of Masked Booby Colony.  This is the only nesting site in North America for this species.

From a moving ferry my Tamron 150-600, coupled with my D800E, did its job.

I can’t wait until the next time Sue and I set foot in the Dry Tortugas

Ciao for now

 

Work has been very busy lately and this is the first time I’ve had to update my blog….

I had stalled on going for the Yellowthroat in the hopes that something else would show up in the Rio Grande Valley.

I started to get the Texas itch, when  Chris Feeney emailed photos and Theresa Schwinghammer posted photos of the Yellowthroat on Facebook.  After a brief talk with myself on the pros and cons of going, I chose to chase the Kestrel and Fieldfare on the east coast.

When I returned I should have booked it right away but again I balked.  I had been on way too many trips so far this year.  Sue and I were going to Florida in April,  and I just thought Texas would be too much.

But on March 16th I couldn’t resist any longer and booked a flight into San Antonio on the 20th, returning on the 24th.  I’d blitz for 3 days hitting as many spots as I could but all centered around Westlaco.   This would allow me to go to Estero Grande Llano State Park early, check for the Yellowthroat early in the day, then move on.

Well as luck would have it the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat was not seen again after I booked my flight and I walked out to the spot 3 mornings without luck, disappointment because I need this bird for both my ABA list and my Golden Guide Quest.  I know there will be others in the future, just have to wait.

On the 21st I had booked a trip into the legendary King Ranch, its hard to believe that this is just a section of the ranch.  The area we were in was 240,000 acres and held 90% of the US population of Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls.  The weather did not help it poured rain and according to our guide, he hadn’t seen rain like this in the 14 years he’d been guiding.  We did manage to scare up a few birds but the first bird we saw was the Owl.

ABA Life Bird #689 – Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

We also saw a lovely group of Impala and a first for me a Nilgai but he didn’t stick around for photos.

A cute little Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet but the rain made photo taking impossible.

Leaving the King Ranch, I figured I’d drive to Highway 100 and Old Port Isabel Road where a pair of Applomado Falcon’s have been hanging out.  As luck would have it the sun came out and I got a few distant views and photos of this bird I’d seen before but never had been able to photograph.  All of the 600 mm of reach I had came in handy that day.

He even came by for a closer look at me later on the trip, I wish the fog had lifted a bit sooner.

The male was protecting his nest, even attacking a Turkey Vulture that got a little to close to his nest.

I figured my last stop this day would be Brownsville for Parrots.  I drove to the area of Oliveira Park (Los Ebanos Road/El Paso Road across from Pace High School), arriving with about 45 minutes of available light.  The are did not disappoint, there were parrots flying every which way.   It took me a few minutes to locate the type I wanted.

ABA Life Bird # 690 – Red-crowned Parrot

This was a long day, I didn’t even eat supper just back to my room and crashed.

On my way down to the Valley from San Antonio I always stop at the feeders and boat launch in Salineno.  On the 20th when I drove down from the airport (my plane was delayed) and I arrived after they closed.  So  on the 22nd, after a morning at Estero Grand Llano I left and drove to Salineno.   I knew that 3 Audubon’s Orioles had been visiting the feeders and I needed this oriole.  It was my last regularly occurring Oriole in the ABA.

ABA Life Bird #691 – Audubon’s Oriole

I had heard from Roy Rodriguez, a local guide for the area that Cassin’s Sparrows had bee seen in the Salineno area on Dump Road but recent rains made this road impassable.  Texas mud is nothing to play with, plugs up your tires and your stuck.  I also heard via a birding report that a small RV Park nearby had produced a few Cassin’s Sparrow’s.  It took a while to find one but I finally had seen my last ABA sparrow.  I had tried for this bird 8 times before without luck always hearing how common they were.

ABA Life Bird #692 – Cassin’s Sparrow

A few more from the day…

Great Kiskadee

Immature Altimira Oriole

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Grasshopper Sparrow

Now I just had enough daylight left to race to 5700 North 10th Street, McAllen.  This mall has a large water fountain and birds come in to bath.  I was told that an hour before sunset Green Parakeets can be found.  Just like clockwork in they came.

ABA Life Bird #693 – Green Parakeet

Now I thought there would only a few but as the picture below shows, there were well over 300 birds.

I left early the next morning for Gardner, Texas via South Padre Island.  South Padre is a little out of the way but I had to see what birds were around.  Warbler weren’t many but Northern Parula’s,  Black and Whites,  Orange Crowned and Yellow-rumps could easily be found.

I drove most of that day and arrived at the spot for the Striped Sparrow a 2am.  Had a wonderful sleep in the car and was up at daybreak.  That gave me 2 hours and 15 minutes to hope the sparrow would show up.  I left somewhat disappointed but hey, I gave it my best shot.   That Birding!

Below are some of my better images from the trip….

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Plain Chachalaca

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Green Kingfisher

Great-tailed Grackle

Cinnamon Teal – a Real Beauty

Clapper Rail

No Idea, still researching

Same as above

Eastern Screech Owl

Harris Sparrow

Shoveler

Orange-crowned Warbler

 

Northern Parula

Sandwich Tern

Sora

No Idea Researching

No Idea Researching

No Idea Researching

No Idea Researching

Ciao for now…