Tuesday 19 November 2013

Texas - the final reckoning

 TUB with the great Keith Hackland
As if I haven't already gone on about it enough, I have to say that my recent trip to Texas was an eye-opener. I expected a landscape similar to what I experienced in and around Tucson, Arizona - dusty desert. Instead, I was surprised as to how lush some of the areas I visited were despite there being an ongoing drought. The birds were awesome, the people incredibly friendly and the experience impeccable.

The Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival was the main reason for my visit and would not have been possible had it not been for Keith Hackland from Alamo Inn - a must stay location for any visiting birder. I met Keith around four years ago at the British Birdwatching Fair where he originally invited me to Texas. I thought that it would never come to be. But it happened. I tell you what, Keith is the nicest and most gentle man you are ever likely to meet. He was a superb host and now a very good friend of mine. I would like to publicly thank him and his family for making me feel so welcome and for making my Texan experience such an amazing one.
 TUB with Doug Gochfeld - fantastic leader and good geezer!
 Scott Whittle, TUB, Doug Gochfeld & Tom Stephenson - The ATeam (minus me!)
 TUB with South Texas Nature's Nydia O. Tapia-Gonzales
Special thanks to Nydia who along with her colleagues at South Texas Nature facilitated my trip to Texas.
Turkey Vulture
My Texan list


Least Grebe
Pied Grebe
Magnificent Frigatebird
Double-crested Cormorant
Neotropic Cormorant
Anhinga
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Snowy Egret
Great Egret
Tricoloured Heron
Little Blue Heron
Reddish Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
White-faced Ibis
American White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Snow Goose
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Wood Duck
Mottled Duck
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
American Wigeon
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Blue-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Harris Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Grey Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Crested Caracara
Aplomado Falcon
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine
Plain Chachalaca
Clapper Rail
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Whooping Crane
Grey Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Snowy Plover
American Oystercatcher
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Western Willet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Stilt Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson’s Snipe
Franklin’s Gull
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
American Herring Gull
Black Tern
Common Tern
Forster’s Tern
Cabot’s Tern
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Feral Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
White-winged Dove
Common Ground Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Green Parakeet
Red-crowned Parrot
Barn Owl
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Eastern Screech Owl
Common Pauraque
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Ringed Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Amazon Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cave Swallow
Sprague’s Pipit
Cactus Wren
((Carolina Wren))
((House Wren))
Marsh Wren
Sedge Wren
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Black Phoebe
Vermillion Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Kingbird
Great Kiskadee
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
Wood Thrush
Clay-coloured Thrush
Grey Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Long-billed Thrasher
Curve-billed Thrasher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Black-crested Tit
((Verdin))
Blue-headed Vireo
Black-crested Titmouse
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
European Starling
House Sparrow
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle Warbler)
Black-throated Green Warbler
Pine Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Wilson’s Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Olive Sparrow
Cassin’s Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Altamira Oriole
Audubon’s Oriole
        
176 species
24 lifers