Nothing to complain about this time #birdporn

Dear Multitudes,

The last two days have been a Birdie Extravaganza. South Texas rules.

We arrived at Estero Llano State Park early on Wednesday. After buying our Texas State Park Annual Pass and scanning the lake, we trudged the muddy trails to find this cutie:

The grass-loving Gray-Crowned Yellowthroat, if you know what I mean

This little guy is usually found only in Central America, but for some reason decided to come north, maybe to enjoy the cold weather? Fortunately for us, this migrant had not yet been picked up by the seemingly ubiquitous Border Patrol, despite several recent reports of his presence. So, with the help of a Snowbird who had seen him recently, we were able to refind the bird and track him for about 20 minutes. Our friend Laura, a Yellowthroat fan, will undoubtably be jealous!

The rest of Wednesday and Thursday has been one interesting sighting after another. We found this Eastern Screech Owl in the same box he/she was in last April:

This night owl needs to take lessons on how to sleep during the day. Tip #1: For a solid rest, do not stick your face
out the window.

The Least Grebe, rarely-seen outside of south Texas and occasionally south Arizona, came out to visit for a while:

Eyes glowing yellow, slightly demonically

We had a long encounter with a Green Kingfisher:

That's an absurdly large bill. And, you know what they say about large bills...

 And tracked down this White-eyed Vireo:

Like small lemons with wings and pointy bills, this vireo has a sour attitude. 

Thanks to a friendly, matronly birder, we got to see the Common Paraque during the day, normally found only in the gloaming or the witching hour:

This idiot was sitting right next to the side of the road in broad daylight. Of course, we did walk by him multiple times without seeing him, until we were physically pointed in the right direction, so I guess his camo works fairly well.

And, today we found a young female Prairie Warbler, far from her normal habitat:

Young lady, if you're hanging out in Texas waiting for Spring Break, you know you have two more months to wait, right?

Net, we've added nearly 60 birds to our year count in the past two days.

Tomorrow, we leave Pharr/McAllen and head east to Brownsville. We'll spend a few days around there, then move to South Padre Island for our last night in TX.

Love,
Me

p.s. the best road sign recently has been: "HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPING INMATES". Run, hikers, run!!!

Texas is freezing and wet, could be worse

Dear Peeps,

Day broke forcefully in Round Rock as the sun elbowed its way over the horizon, the promise of another fantastic Bird See'd filling the air. Or, possibly that was just the Mr. Coffee pumping out some weak-ass hotel room brew.

We were in Texas, on the second leg of our trip, and anything was possible. Texas is notable in Bird See'd Circles for hosting an amazing number of species of birds, due in part to a unique confluence of ecosystems (everything from desert and semi-arid grasslands to subtropical palm forest and ocean shore in a relatively small area) plus its location next to the Mexican border and on the migration pathway, and amazing barbeque (true fact--birds love BBQ, bird watchers eat it to make us more attractive to birds).

Unfortunately for us, the weather has been making being outside less than pleasant. In the past three days, we've had periods of sub-freezing temperatures, strong winds, and steady rainfall, fortunately not all at the same time. We staked out two places where rare birds had recently been reported--the Striped Sparrow outside Austin and the White-collared Seed Eaters in San Ygnacio--and spent hours at each place, but to no avail.

On the other hand, we have picked up a few very interesting species, and our count for the year is now well over 200. The Surprise Bird of the Trip occurred when we stopped at a random restaurant on our way outside of Austin, having given up on finding anything new there, and found 5 Monk Parakeets perched on the electrical wires above the road. This shows that you can plan all you want, but finding birds is really up to the birds.

The weather is expected to clear and warm up for the next few days, and we're planning to visit some amazing places here in the Rio Grande Valley. Send wishes of luck!

Best,
Me

Everything you know about Kansas is wrong

Friends back home,

Today finds us in Round Rock, Texas, a somewhat charmless suburb of Austin, home to Dell Computers and the delicious-if-somewhat-nauseatingly-rich Round Rock Doughnuts.

Briefly on the birding, the past 48 hours have been rather cold and wet. Friday morning's birdventure was greeted with 17F temperatures, which had to be endured while standing in a field waiting for more types of longspurs to show. We managed to hear some Smith's Longspur, and also see a few American Tree Sparrows:

Gratuitous chest shot

Saturday morning, was warmer at 37F, but with a steady rain. We went birding anyway, got soaked and frozen, but did manage to find other new birds for the year. Then, a quick flight to Dallas and drive south, and here we are.

Reflecting upon our time in Kansas during the flight, I realized that a number of "facts" that are commonly told about Kansas really aren't true at all, and I'd like to correct the record:

"Midwesterners are rude"
Actually, everybody was incredibly nice and helpful; a fast food cashier took time to explain the menu to us. Even the kids were quiet and well-behaved.

"Everything is expensive"
A fairly decent dinner for two with beers was under $30 including tip, and gas was as low as $1.76/gallon. And don't even talk about real estate prices.

"It's lush and verdant"
Literally, the only green we saw was on a few juniper trees. Otherwise, everything looks like:

"The terrain is mountainous"
There were a few formations that you could generously call hills. However, most of the state we saw was like this:

In fact, Kansans are unfamiliar enough with the concept of verticality that they actually have this road sign:

"Weather is always mild and pleasant"
See above.


I think you'll agree that those myths are thoroughly busted now. Enjoy your next visit to the Sunflower State!

Until next time,
Me