Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A Birdy Place…

Great Kiskadee and a Green Jay

Today 011We have been enjoying the park and its proximity to some excellent biking, hiking and birding at the nearby Bentsen Rio Grande State Park. The header shot today is that of a Great Kiskadee and a Green Jay at a small watering hole. The sounds these two birds makes one feel they are in the tropics…

I finally did get to see a few “Lifer” birds while down here in the Rio Grande Valley. The first lifer I got to see was the Long Billed Thrasher which are fairly common in this part of the USA but found nowhere else. They even have them in our park. The second new lifer I got to see Clay Colored Thrushwas the Clay Colored Thrush and I have only spotted one of these since I have been here. Interestingly it is also the national bird of Costa Rica.

The last lifer was spotted by a small group of people on an organized birding tour at the park. They have these every Tuesday and Sunday mornings. Although this lifer is not endemic to this area like the others as its natural habitat is of the lower elevations of the Rocky Mountains. Rarely spotted in this part of the world but nonetheless we spotted and photographed the Red-naped Sapsucker which  Red-naped Sapsucker turned out to be a possible first sighting here at the state park.

There are lots of other non-lifer birds we have enjoyed watching in the park. We even enjoy watching some very overfed squirrels as they eat at the all you can eat buffet (park bird feeders) a bit too frequently. Although the park is still suffering from a mix of being flooded for an extended period to an extended drought it is still a nice place to visit on a frequent basis. You simply never know what you might see in this part of Texas…

13 comments:

  1. Love the photo of the green jay. Would love to see one of those! Looks like a terrific area for bird watching...

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  2. "The sounds these two birds makes one feel they are in the tropics…"
    That's exactly how I felt the two winters I spent at Laguna Atascosa NWR. :)

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  3. What a great place. I love those Green Jay's and hope to see one some day.

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  4. From what I've read, I think the RGV would make a birder of those who might not have much interest in this pastime otherwise.

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  5. Wonderful. Thanks for the glimpse. You're making me itchy for a binocs upgrade. Oh Santa... ?????

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  6. Replies
    1. still looking for a few in this area... ready willing and able...

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  7. I'd sure love to bring my binocs and come along with you. Sounds like a great place to be. Would the state park be a good place to stay for a bit?

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    1. there is only primitive tent camping in the state park

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  8. We really miss riding our bikes through the state park !!
    The weather is great here in Arizona, but the nights are warmer in the RGV.
    Have fun ... TnT

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  9. I had never heard of a green jay before. Thanks for the great photos.

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