Wingless, Featherless, Clawless Birds

I promise a birding update soon, but we have been busy all week, birding as much as possible and squeezing in barely enough sleep in between! We head out tomorrow for our long trek back home to Ohio. 

After birding most of the day today, we stopped by the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival headquarters and ran into some friends at the Leica booth. We mentioned wanting to find a Green Kingfisher before leaving and they offered several good locations. Then, to seal the deal, they said that one particular park, Sabal Palms Sanctuary was also a decent spot to find Speckled Racers... an incredibly beautiful snake that has a pretty small range in the US. That was all they had to say! We were off to find some snakes... oh yeah, and maybe some birds too. 

We headed to the recommended trails and within minutes I looked to my right and saw possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was like a scene from a movie where the lights are shining around a floating object, singling it out from everything else. There it was. A Speckled Racer, glowing blue, right there in the leaves! I tried to alert Ben, who was slightly ahead of me and I couldn't even speak for a few seconds... then I just kept repeating "Here it is! Here it is!" We watched through our binoculars in awe and tried to snap a few cellphone shots as it hunted a lizard. I was shaking and didn't get a decent picture, but here's one Ben took through his binoculars:

I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I had previously seen photos of Speckled Racers from Honduras but I had no idea anything like it existed in the United States until recently. As soon as I found out they were a possibility down here in Texas I wanted to see one. I never thought it would happen though. I was shaking and nearly crying and as soon as it was out of sight, I was jumping and cheering! I couldn't stop smiling, when moments later Ben spots a second Speckled Racer!! This one was a little closer, but as their name indicates, they are FAST and we couldn't catch it. I can't imagine actually holding one of these mystical snakes in my hands. 

Nearly forgetting we were there to see a bird, we continued down the path, watching only the ground. 

We made it to a bird blind and as we watched Least Grebes, Great Kiskadees and Mottled Ducks, in flew the Green Kingfisher! A new ABA bird for both of us! A Western Ribbonsnake swam by as we watched, and then we continued our journey. A bit down the path, Ben spotted another snake! This time it was the third and largest Texas Indigo Snake we've seen this week!! They are impressive shiny black snakes! Here we are after seeing the four snakes: 

We didn't have a lot of time left before the park closed, so we hiked around some more and decided we should check that initial trail we hiked one last time, just to see if we could catch another glimpse or possibly catch a Speckled Racer. We talked and joked about all the other snakes we'd like to see down here like rattlesnakes or bull snakes and decided it would be the coolest if we could see a Coral Snake before we left. Once we arrived at the fork in the trail that started the "good part" we decided that I would look left and Ben would look right so we could quickly and efficiently cover the ground. When we got to nearly the same spot as the first racer, I looked over and there it was. Not the racer... a Coral Snake!! I couldn't believe it! I already knew, but I squealed, "Ben! What is this!?!!!" 

These two snakes are possibly more exciting than any bird I saw here in Texas, and I saw some pretty amazing birds!! The next time you find yourself down in the Rio Grande Valley, and you need something to do, I highly recommend Sabal Palm for the birds, habitat and gorgeous snakes! 

 

 

 

 

AMAZON KINGFISHER!!!

Our first full day in Texas today has been incredible!! It started out with a Texas-shaped waffle and ended with a Great-horned Owl perched in front of a beautiful sunset. Here's the story:

After breakfast in San Marcos, we drove straight to the location of the super rare Amazon Kingfisher in Laredo. Along the way we saw DOZENS of Crested Caracaras and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers! Both are very cool birds that I was excited to see. Although they weren't life birds, both were new ABA birds and more numerous than I had previously seen. 

We arrived at Zacate Creek in Laredo around 11:20am. All earlier reports of the bird were negative until we were just 10 minutes away and I received a text message from a friend who was currently seeing the bird. We grabbed our binoculars and jumped out of the car. As we headed toward where we saw the crowd, we were above and could already see the bird sitting on the rocks! 

We got into place and set up the scope. What an amazing bird!!! I can't get over the bill! 

We watched her until she flew. Also foraging in the creek, we saw Black Phoebes (another Lifer!) and Belted and Ringed-Kingkishers! Then we explored the rest of the park located just across the river from Mexico! 

The paths were dusty and rocky and surrounded by grasses, cacti and succulents. Along the way, we found Verdin, Green Jays, a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, lots of squawking Great Kiskadees and Great-tailed Grakles! None of which reside in Ohio! The Verdin and Ladder-backed Woodpecker were also Life Birds! 

Once we left the park in Laredo, we went to Falcon Lake State Park for more birding. We visited an amazing butterfly garden with the most butterflies I have ever seen that weren't contained! There were Queen Butterflies, White Peacock Butterflies, Southern Dog Face Butterflies, Gulf Frittilaries, Tropical Leafwings (maybe my favorite!), Bordered Patch, American Snout, and many others! Within the garden, we found Inca Doves and a Pyrrhuloxia! 

As we left the garden, we saw a Couch's Kingbird and then a Greater Roadrunner foraging along the edge of some scrubby habitat! 

As we continued to hike around the park, a raptor flew overhead. As we got a look at it, we realized it was a Harris's Hawk. I almost cried! Not only was this a Life Bird for me, but I used to work with one at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, and I have dreamed of seeing one in the wild for a VERY long time! It was such an experience to have this one soaring right over us!! 

As the sun started to set, Ben saw an owl move. We found where it landed and then an American Kestrel was screaming and trying to chase it away! Here's a terrible picture taken through my binoculars with the owl in the center and the kestrel on a higher perch to the left: 

A list of Life Birds from the day...

Amazon Kingfisher

Black Phoebe

Verdin

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Pyrrhuloxia 

Couch's Kingbird

Greater Roadrunner

Harris's Hawk

Vermillion Flycatcher

 

Pine City Natural Area

Yesterday we stopped in Pine City, Arkansas to bird in a beautiful loblolly forest. We hiked through the pines and found my first life bird of the trip!! Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, a small breeding population a ways from any other populations. We could see several of their nest sites too. Also in the area were a Wilson's Snipe, Red-shouldered Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, and lots of migrating Turkey Vultures!

In several marshy areas we passed, there were beautiful yellow flowers everywhere! I don't think it is Marsh Marigold, but if you know what it is, I'd be interested to know! 

On our way out of the area, Ben spotted this turtle in the road and stopped to save it! He said this is a male, and you can tell because of its long claws that it uses during courtship.