Quarantine Chronicles Archives

Because of the coronavirus pandemic my ability to go birding has been hindered. I decided to write about some of my favorite birding adventures in a series called the Quarantine Chronicles. This post is about my first trip primarily for birding, which was in South Texas in December of 2018. South Texas, more specifically the Rio Grande Valley, is one of the best birding areas in North America. It has a unique mixture of Gulf Coast and Central American birds. Many of these birds can’t be found anywhere else in North America.

Quarantine Chronicles Part 3 here.

12/25/2019

On our third day in Texas we went to the town of Salineño. The bird feeder at the Salineño Wildlife Preserve provided the best photography opportunities of the trip. Later in the day we birded Falcon Lake State Park.

Early morning fog over the Rio Grand river. This river is the border between Mexico and the United States.

Osprey. — An Osprey perched with a fish.

Salineno Wildlife Preserve. — The entrance to the Salineño Wildlife Preserve.

Green Jay. — Green Jay at the feeding station.

Audubon's Oriole. — Audubon’s Oriole with a photo bombing House Sparrow.

Poisonous Snakes. — That’s not good… Funny sign seen later in the day.

Mouse. — This little mouse froze like a deer in the headlights.

12/26/2019

One of my favorite locations we visited during our trip was Estero Llano Grande State Park. We spent almost the whole day birding at this location.

Northern Cardinal. — Northern Cardinal with water dripping off its bill.

Common Pauraque. — A Common Pauraque hidden in the leaf litter.

A Neotropic Cormorant. They can be identified by the long tail and white “V” on their face.

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, American White Pelicans and Black-necked Stilts.

Fulvous Whistling-Duck. — A pair of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks.

Eastern Screech-Owl McCall's. — An Eastern Screech-Owl, McCall’s subspecies.

Texas birding can’t be beaten!

Because of the coronavirus pandemic my ability to go birding has been hindered so I decided to write about some of my favorite birding adventures in a series called the Quarantine Chronicles. This post is about my first trip primarily for birding, which was in South Texas in December of 2018. South Texas, more specifically the Rio Grande Valley, is one of the best birding areas in North America. It has a unique mixture of Gulf Coast and Central American birds. Many of these birds can’t be found anywhere else in North America. On the first day we spotted one of the rarest birds of our trip, the Hook-billed Kite.

These pictures were taken before I had my Nikon P1000 camera. My Dad took all of the pictures in the post. Thanks Dad for letting me use these! Here are my favorite shots from our first two days in Texas.

Quarantine Chronicles Part 2 here.

12/23/2018

A White-tailed Kite perched in the distance.

Wow! Look at this flock of American White Pelicans circling above our heads.

Our main target of the day, a Hook-billed Kite! Hook-billed Kites are rare in the United States and can only be found at several locations right along the border. They can easily be identified by their broad paddle-like wings.

Harris's Hawk — Harris’s Hawk circling overhead.

Inca Doves feeding on the ground. These small doves have distinctive scaly backs.

Tropical or Couch's Kingbird — A Tropical or Couch’s Kingbird. These two birds are almost identical and only identified confidently by voice.

12/24/2018

On our second day in Texas we spent most of our time birding at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge which had seemingly endless trails. This is the only time I have ever seen 100 species in one day! It is an incredible birding spot. We ended the day at a Green Parakeet roost in the town of McAllen. These are some of the only wild Parakeets in North America.