I birded in many tough places but the Brownsville Dump is one of my least most memorable. Spending 4 hours a day waiting for a Crow to show up that you’ve missed the previous 20 times you’ve tried for it can be a little discouraging but since its the only place to find this bird, we must do what we must do…..Ha Ha
That morning I’d tried unsuccessfully for the Hook Billed Kite at Santa Ana and at 10 am moved over to the dump.
The first two hours went by slowly but then things began to pick up Chihuahuan Raven, Caracaras, Vultures, Grackles and Gulls began showing up, sensing the arrival of new garbage trucks.
Because of the wind I parked my car near the area where the crows usually were seen and was able to open my window without getting blasted with dust and garbage debris.
With hundreds of Grackles in the garbage it was not an easy task to pick out a smallish crow unless you could see the tail or check each birds eye. I saw a bird fly in that looked like a Raven but when it came near, it was nowhere near as big.
It landed behind a post and I lost the bird, I wanted to get out of the car but was fearful of flushing the bird away. It took a few minutes but out it came giving me a brief view and enough time to get a few photos before it left and never returned while I was there.
The inset shows just how small these crows are in comparison to a Great-tailed Grackle.
This was my 730th ABA bird – TamaulipasCrow
Migration was on and while I went to either Bentsen Rio or Santa Ana daily, I never got the Kite I needed.
Most afternoons I spent at South Padre Island searching for warblers and it did not disappoint. I’ve never had such a great day in my life with warblers, the wind brought the birds down all day.
Golden-winged
Kentucky
Nashville
Parula
Worm-eating
Chat
Yellow-throated
One good bird after another, warbler weren’t the only things showing up…
Scarlet Tanager
Summer Tanager
A few days later I met up with good friend Huck Hutchens and asked what he was planning for the afternoon and he thought about going up to Falcon Park for Red-billed Pigeons and I decided to tag along.
The area did not disappoint.
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Bobwhite Quail
The surprises weren’t over yet On the way home we stopped at Bentsen to see the Elf Owl.
It was time to get back to the airport and head home but Texas had one more surprise for me on this trip…an adult Jacana was being seen and it was on the way to San Antonio, so off I went…
Good trip, 1 life bird and numerous better photos.
Ciao for now Texas.
BIRDQUEST2004 