Statewide (Houston Audubon Society) RBA
August 17, 2007
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:53:04 -0400
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From: Mary Gustafson <live4birds@AOL.COM>
Subject: RBA Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley Birding Hotline
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l7HDrWV0010206
Hi all,
Here's the hotline, sorry for the delay with the email version, I had
difficulties getting home from Denver with the tropical storm.
Mary Gustafson, Mission, Texas.
______________________________________________________________
- RBA
* Texas
* Lower Rio Grande Valley
* August 16, 2007
- Birds Mentioned
+ (Details requested by TBRC - Mark.Lockwood AT tpwd.state.tx.us)
.
Our rare bird alert includes recent reports of…
.
Hook-billed Kite
+ Short-tailed Hawk
+ Tamaulipas Crow
+ Brown Jay
Yellow-green Vireo
Mangrove Warbler
.
hotline: Texas Parks and Wildlife – Lower Rio Grande Valley Birding Hotline
number: (956) 584-2731
to report: rgvbirds AT hotmail.com (preferred) or (956) 584-2731 option 3
compilers: Mary Gustafson (Rio Grande Joint Venture) and Jennifer Owen.
.
- Transcript
Thank you for calling the Lower Rio Grande Valley Birding Hotline sponsored by
Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the World Birding
Center. This hotline is updated Thursdays by 5 PM. Please send observations to
Texbirds or to the hotline email address. Thank you to those who sent
reports!
.
We’ll start this week at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission where
three Hook-billed Kites (a pair and a male) flew by the Hawk Tower on August
10. On August 7 a dark morph adult Short-tailed Hawk flew by. Short-tailed
Hawk is a TBRC Review Species. Hawk migration is underway with Swainson’s
Hawk and Swallow-tailed Kites, early morning is better than the heat of the day
for Swallow-tailed Kite. Other species seen from or near the tower include
migrant Upland Sandpipers and resident Verdin and Northern Beardless
Tyrannulet. Owls remain relatively silent.
.
Brown Jays were reported Friday August 3 after being missed for at least two
months. This is now a TBRC Review Species. Access to the river at Chapeno is by
prior arrangement only, contact the owner at 956-237-2033 or fax him after hours
at 956-765-6089. Efforts to see Red-billed Pigeon are hit and miss. Early
morning is best, and the Roma Bluffs, Salineno, or Chapeno are the best areas to
try, success was had at Roma on Friday August 3. We have no recent reports of
White-collared Seedeater.
.
At Santa Ana NWR a Yellow-green Vireo was between the levee and the trail head
on Saturday August 4, another was near the Pintail Lakes on July 20. Fall
migration was evident on August 4, with many Empidonax flycatchers including
Least, Yellow-bellied, and Alder. An unseasonal Northern Pintail remains on
(where else) Pintail Lakes through August 3.
.
Mangrove Yellow Warblers are resident in mangroves accessible by boat. This is
a distinctive bird currently classified as a subspecies of Yellow Warbler.
The plumage, song, and call notes are quite different. For more information on
seeing the Mangrove (Yellow) Warblers contact the South Padre Island Nature
Center at (956) 299-0629.
.
Yellow-green Vireos are singing less frequently and getting harder to find as a
result, with birds at Sabal Palm Sanctuary and near the intersection of East
Cowan Terrace and Heather Lane missed during the week but singing on Sunday
August 5. To reach this intersection, from Boca Chica Blvd. (Rte 4) between
Billy Mitchell Blvd. and Clubhouse Rd. take E. Cowan Terrace north to Heather
Lane. Please, be considerate when birding in residential neighborhoods.
.
In the Brownsville area, Tamaulipas Crows have fledged their young and have been
missed this week after being readily found for several months. Start your
search for them at Boca Chica Blvd. (Rte 4) and Dakota Streets on the north side
of the Brownsville airport. This is a TBRC Review Species.
.
Red-crowned Parrots and Green Parakeets can be seen or heard in many valley
cities, especially early and late in the day. In Weslaco try Oklahoma and 11th
street, a few blocks west of Frontera Audubon Sanctuary. Fort Brown in
Brownsville has both Red-crowned Parrots and Green Parakeets. Another site in
Brownsville allowing close views of Green Parakeets is the Rockwell Manor
Apartments at 2735 Rockwell Circle. In Harlingen, Pendleton Park at the
intersection of Grimes and Morgan is a good place to watch Red-crowned Parrots
in the evening.
.
This hotline covers birds and birding in Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron, and Willacy
counties. Directions to sites mentioned in this tape can be found in A
Birder’s Guide to the Rio Grande Valley by McKinney et. al, or the Birding and
Butterfly map of the Rio Grande Valley that is available free of charge at
Estero Llano Grande State Park.
.
Please report sightings to rgvbirds AT hotmail.com (Replace AT with @) or (956)
584-2731 option 3. Thanks to everyone who reported their sightings to Texbirds
or the compilers.
.
If you would like to replay this message, please press *. For a menu of other
options, please press #. To end this call, please hang up.
Thank you for calling the Lower Rio Grande Valley Birding Hotline, this is
Jennifer Owen for Estero Llano Grande State Park wishing you good birding!
________________________________________________________________________
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