Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Dec 10 (Day 344) - A relaxing day of birding around Brownsville

Today went exactly as planned. I commuted the 20 miles south from Harlingen to Resaca de la Palma State Park where I spent the next 6 hours wandering around the grounds. The place is rather extensive, and, with habitats ranging from riparian to dry mesquite, hosts quite a variety of birds. This place looks like a rarity magnet, and it was into this setting that I ventured this morning. Things were a bit quiet, but I was able to tease out a slow trickle of birds throughout the day. The undisputed highlight was a lone Tropical parula that surfaced in a midday feeding flock of warblers, kinglets, and titmice. It's nice to know that I can find my own rare birds every once in a while! There was a Tropical parula reported at Resaca a month ago; It's completely possible that this bird was that bird. It's also equally possible that this bird is another bird altogether.  It was a really nice surprise irrespective.

 In the late afternoon I swung through Oliveira Park in Brownsville to watch the nightly parrot show. The birds showed up at round 5:15, and I spent the next half an hour chasing them around the area before they settled in for the night. The birds were composed primarily (>98%) of Red-crowned and Red-lored parrots. I did manage to tease out a single Yellow-headed parrot and 2 White-fronted parrots. Red-crowned is the only one of these that is considered countable at this time. Recall that I saw many of these in Harlingen last week. As none of these other birds were countable for my year list, this was just a chance to enjoy the raucous behavior of these comical birds. It was a nice ending to a relaxing day. 
Just 28 mapped + an additional 2 at Resaca for 30 total

Tomorrow I will bird Sabal Palm on the south side of Brownsville. How much time I spend there will depend on how much I accomplish on this job application tonight. So, sorry to cut this short, but the real world calls!

Oh, I did find this today. I might have to venture into butterfly watching next. I think Sonia might kill me if this were ever to come to fruition! I took this from 3" away with my iPhone. An ID in the comments section below would be greatly appreciated!

Unknown but beautiful butterfly!
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 11, 2014 at 5:15 AM

    I just finished a butterfly big year in North Carolina breaking the previous record tallying 138 species. It is the next logical progression for a birder, especially a photographer....finish strong!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 11, 2014 at 5:26 AM

    One of my best birding buddies told me a few years ago that I would eventually get into butterflies. He was right. You will, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mike SlaterDecember 11, 2014 at 7:56 AM

    If you start the slide into butterflies, you will probably be drawn eventually into Odonata (Dragonflies and Damselflies)too!
    Or even worse, you could get sucked into the dark side of Lepidoptera, MOTHS!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousDecember 11, 2014 at 10:41 AM

    A google search turned up myscelia ethusa, Mexican Blue. Occasional in RGV. I agree with previous post about sliding into Odonata chasing. Lots of fun and you get to run around with a net!

    ReplyDelete
  5. chuckcDecember 11, 2014 at 1:20 PM

    Mexican Bluewing http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabast/bluewing.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousDecember 11, 2014 at 2:22 PM

    That's such a beautiful butterfly! If you really want to immerse yourself into the world of small creatures, check out bugguide.net. (Sorry, Sonia! LOL!)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rocky Point Bird ObservatoryDecember 11, 2014 at 6:41 PM

    A belated Happy Birthday. Love your posts and your fabulous commitment to this inspiring journey. Why don't you just come a little bit further up to Vancouver Island, Canada to see our birds?

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownDecember 11, 2014 at 9:34 PM

    All of you encouraging Dorian to add butterfly-ing to his hobbies are BANNED from making any future comments. ;-) XOXO, Sonia

    ReplyDelete

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