Visited the Salineño birding site near Falcon State Park that I always make a point to visit while I’m here. All kinds of bird food is put out for the birds, including peanut butter (mixed with lard to make it easier to swallow). There were so many blackbirds at the site this year, however, other birds often had to fight to get some of the peanut butter.

Golden-fronted woodpecker

Black-crested titmouse

Curved-billed thrasher

Male and female northern cardinals

The altamira oriole, above, was chasing a lot of birds away from the peanut butter.

Below, one bird not with peanut butter, an Audubon’s oriole.

Falcon State Park is located near Falcon Dam at the southern end of a 60-mile lake created by a dam on the Rio Grande River. The park sustained damage from flooding secondary to Hurricane Alex, but some brushland areas seem to have benefited from the flooding. There are more birds here than I have ever seen before.

The murder of a man on a jet ski here last October has not affected visitation, at least by winter Texans. The park is nearly full and there are lots of boaters.

Berry war: There is a large flock of great kiskadees enjoying the berries on some bushes (top picture). They are continually being attacked by territorial mockingbirds. Usually one mockingbird will chase one shrieking kiskadee. Kiskadees are a little larger than mockingbirds, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference. While I was taking pictures a hawk tried to chase down a kiskadee, but was unsuccessful. Maybe the practice of running from the mockingbirds helps keep them in shape to run from predators.

Berry update: Went back to the bush with the berries where I took the above pictures. All but a few of the berries are gone!

I’ve had three bobcat sightings, but just one picture. The above guy came to the edge of the brush near my rv, but quickly escaped back into the brush when it saw me.

A male (foreground) and female bobwhite.

A pyrrhuloxia. Falcon State Park is the main place I see them.

I put out grapefruit for the birds. Orange-crowned warblers are the main takers as well as being one of the more numerous birds here.

A deer surprised me by eating one half-grapefruit whole. When she returned later in the evening she didn’t want another one, but the young one ate part of one.

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park is the best known of the birding sites in the Rio Grande Valley. It is on the western edge of the developed valley, with it’s expressway and all it’s well known stores. If you continue westward on US 83 you quickly loose the expressway and the stores. I stayed in the central part of the valley, close to all the birding sites. Have not had to refill the gas tank of my truck during my 3 weeks here. There are a lot of nice rv parks near the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Most look to be full now, as this is their prime season. The rv parks here must have a good association, as they all charge about the same price. It is hard to find a nice, low cost rv park.

In the late afternoon at the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park the chachalacas go into hiding, giving access to the feeding sites to more of the smaller birds. The chachalacas are not aggressive, but their size gives them priority at the feeding sites. In the picture above, some green jays take advantage of this non-chachalaca time period.

At the entrance to the park, there is a large feeding section with lots of benches to sit and watch the birds. The chachalacas retreat at around 5 p.m. when the volunteers leave for the day. Bobcats come through the area hunting them, which is probably a prime reason for their retreat.

Above, a great kiskadee and a clay-colored thrush go after some peanut butter at the feeding site near the entrance to the park.

Below, a ruby crowned kinglet.

I’m again parked along the Arroyo Colorado in southernmost Texas. The weather continues to be a lot better than last year, albeit quite windy. A lot of homes still have their windows boarded up.

It has been a very Dickens’ December for me. Listened to Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Bleak House.

The belted kingfisher above gave me a present in landing right by my rv for a few minutes. Bet nature gave it the white dots near it’s eyes just to confuse both predators and prey.

Flycatcher

Great kiskadee

Tri-colored heron in the background,  little blue heron in the foreground.

Below, tri-colored heron. In the first one has a tiny fish in it’s beak.

Returned to Choke Canyon State Park that I enjoyed so much last year. The el nino weather pattern does not appear to be present this year and the nicer weather probably accounts for more visitors here this time. There is still plenty of breathing room though.

Photos above: the oak trees in the park are full of green jays this year, much more so than last year. They are busy burying acorns and doing their part to plant more oak trees.

Great kiskadee. It’s so great hearing green jays and great kiskadees again. This is the northern edge of their habitat.

Scissor-tailed flycatcher. The only one I’ve seen so far. Also have not seen many vermiion flycatcher’s this year. Last year there was a resident one at my campsite.There are lots of raptors around: red-tailed hawks, caracara, osprey, and an amazing number of great-horned owls. There have to be 20-30 of them in the brush around the campground.

I drove the backroads through southern Texas hill country to get to the park. Started seeing creasted caracara (Mexican eagles) where the hill country and southern plains meet.

Golden-fronted woodpecker

Happened to see this curve-billed thrasher while watching green jays in an oak tree.

Armadillos are doing their part to aerate the soil. There have been groups of white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and armadillos grazing in the area around the campground.

Have been at Falcon State Park for a week. This is where you start seeing pyrrhuloxia (above). They are one of the calmer birds who don’t fly away the minute they see you. An online article said they should have been named desert cardinals rather than pyrrhuloxia.

My first sighting of a northern bobwhite (above). Grackles imitate bobwhite sounds and search through the brush for nests with eggs.

Orange-crowned warblers are very common here.

Yellow-rumped warbler

Ladder-backed woodpecker with peanut butter.

Swamp sparrow

A hispid cotton rat. Looks like a hamster. There is lots of brush for them to hide in. Bobcats have been seen in the area and these rats are something they’d hunt for.

Birds seen in the area, but not pictured: one white-tailed kite, a pair of caracaras, cactus wrens, roadrunners, and several loggerhead shrikes. The shrikes were always perched on barbed wire surrounding private property. They are known for impaling their prey on barbed wire.

Below, a Harris’ hawk and a great kiskadee. I’ll miss seeing the kiskadees as I head north.

The Salineño Bird Refuge (aka USFWS Kepler Tract) is next to the Rio Grande River a few miles from Falcon Dam. There is a caretaker on site who puts out food for the birds. It is a place where you can see three different orioles at the same site.

Above, an male altamira oriole on the left, and a female hooded oriole on the right. The altamira orioles are the largest of the orioles.

Male hooded oriole

Male, juvenile hooded oriole.

Audubon’s oriole with a mealworm.

The altamira oriole on the left kept hissing at the great kiskadee on the right, until the kiskadee responded.

One green jay try’s a mealworm, while the other one sticks to peanuts. Mealworms have to be a rare treat. The kiskadees were really going after them. They have never seemed interested in the regular bird food I put out.

Random musings: The central Rio Grande Valley between the towns of Weslaco and Mission seems like a unique mix of people. You have a large population of winter Texans, mostly older and white, and a large population of young hispanics. A lot of the winter Texans come from midwest farming states. Many of the rv parks offer a lot of social activities. I talked to a man when I took my truck in for an oil change who has been coming here for 20 years. He and his wife love to dance, and there are lots of dances here. He also has a mobile home in Maine. They spend summers in Maine and winters in Texas and fly between the two sites.

The rv park I stayed at in Alamo charges around $2,000 for 6 months occupancy and 6 months storage. If you put a mobile home on the site, you are kind of stuck, as it is not easy to move a mobile home. The man I talked to said he owned the land his home is on, but that is probably rare.

Heard a lot of sirens this visit, at least one every 2 or 3 hours. All I saw were ambulances, no police cars. This may reflect on the large number of older people here and some large hospitals in the area.

Below, an orange-crowned warbler and a singing black-crested titmouse at the Frontera Audubon site.

The bird above is a common poorwill. It may be common, but it’s the first one I’ve seen. A volunteer at Estero Llano Grande State Park pointed it out to me and several other people. It was not more than 5 feet away with 4 or 5 people standing around it, but it didn’t even open it’s eyes! Someone had tried to point one out to me last year, but it was 15 or 20 feet away and I couldn’t see it.

A little closer look.

I was afraid I was going to have to leave the area without getting a picture of a great kiskadee. They, and the green jays, are my two favorite birds in the area. The kiskadee isn’t great at posing, but finally got a picture on an overcast, rainy day at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge.

Red cardinal at the Santa Ana Refuge on a sunny day.

Northern shovelers at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Above, either a broad-tailed or a buff-bellied hummingbird. It, and the chachalacas below were seen at the Frontera Audubon site.

Below, chachalacas. There seem to be more of them this year. Not sure what predators they have.

The Salineño Bird Refuge (aka USFWS Kepler Tract) is some land next to the Rio Grande River a few miles from Falcon Dam and Falcon State Park. It belonged to some birders and was left to the government to be kept as a birding refuge that birders could visit. It is a place you can go to see three different orioles in one place.

Above, a great kiskadee and green jay enjoy some peanut butter.

Altamira oriole

Male hooded oriole (top) and female hooded oriole (lower).

Audubon’s oriole

Ladderbacked woodpecker

Thrasher

Ladderbacked woodpecker

Unfortunately inner Falcon State Park, away from the water, is overrun with mockingbirds that chase away a lot of the other birds. There are flocks of pyrrhuloxia. Have seen some roadrunners and quail, but they are pretty elusive.

Below, view towards Mexico at sunset.

Queen butterfly, Mexican blue-wing butterfly and a green kingfisher seen at Estero Llano Grande State Park. Finally got a half decent picture of a kingfisher, and a green one at that. Lots of beautiful butterflys here as well as butterfly enthusiasts.

Great kiskadee, altamira oriole, and two chachalacas seen at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Really enjoyed riding my bike through the park. It is a easy ride with no hills.