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'COS YOU AINT GOT TIME TO CHECK IT!

Sickle-winged Skipper, Falcon Dam State Park

I HEARD THIS LINE VERY RECENTLY and it made me think of the way I have to identify many unfamiliar butterflies these days (and a few birds too). I can't see anything wrong with this as it leads to fewer mistakes and with so many butterflies around at the lovely butterfly garden at Falcon Dam State Park and so little time to study them it seemed my best option. Some of the Texan skippers look superficially Metalmark-like to me that it took me some time to find Sickle-winged in the book (nod to Kenn Kaufman for keeping me on the right track!).

Large Orange Sulphur - there are some spectacular sulphurs in the valley!

It was impossible to miss the many beautiful and colourful butterflies in the valley this year and to quote Greg Neise 'There were so many butterflies in the air that it was difficult to scan for raptors at times'. Now that is something! I did not devote nearly as much time as I would have liked to looking at butterflies this year so I am hoping to attend the Texas Butterfly Festival in Harlingen next time, which is immediately before the birding festival 1-4 November 2014... and hopefully to photograph the unspeakably beautiful Mexican Bluewing.

Southern Skipperling = scientific name minima, the smallest of the lot!

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ROADRUNNER, ROADRUNNER!

Greater Roadrunner, Falcon Dam State Park

ROADRUNNER IS ONE OF THE MOST CHARISMATIC BIRDS OF THE SOUTHERN DESERTS and having not seen one for a few years I decided on an early morning drive up the Rio Grande Valley to Falcon Dam. The valley’s seemingly endless franchise strip fizzles out after Rio Grande City and better looking desert scrub takes over from here westwards.

Just downstream from Falcon Dam, the Rio Grande River at Salineño was very productive. No rarities but a gorgeous lemon-yellow Audubon’s Oriole was singing in trees near the small feeding station there and several Altamira Orioles were also hanging around in the same area. An osprey was perched by the river and dived in for a fish at one point, while several more flew overhead. A pair of huge Ringed Kingfishers zoomed past and paused for a while before parting company – one heading up and one downstream. Eventually a local guy backed his pickup to the riverbank to fill a water tank and it was time to move on. Mexico is only a stone’s throw away, on the opposite bank of the river and has a very strong influence in this area. The radio was jammed with Mexican music stations and most homesteads had at least three or four election boards for offices such as Mayor. It was strange to see what looked like a completely open border here. The river was very slow flowing and would only have taken minutes to cross!

I eventually managed to find a handful of roadrunners, foraging furtively on the scrub edges of the access roads. One of them dispatched a large stick insect and woofed it down in one - being a ground cuckoo, roadrunner has a massive bill and a very long tail - it is always a challenge to squeeze the latter into the frame.

The roadrunner whacks a stick insect!

...we're in love with this feelin' now and we'll be out all night!'

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CODE 5 ALERT... AMAZON KINGFISHER!

Amazon Kingfisher, San Benito TX 

IT'S NOT EVEN IN THE BOOK! A pleasant walk around Santa Ana NWR today was interrupted by news of a true mega, an Amazon Kingfisher. Once we figured out it was on a roadside only 10 minutes from Harlingen we chased it, arriving by the side of highway 100 near San Benito to find a crowd of other birders already gathered and watching it in trees on the opposite side of a resaco (Ox-bow lake) of the Rio Grande. With only one previous ABA area record (2010), a monstrously large bill and smart rifle green plumage it put smiles on a lot of faces today. A big thank you to the 'drive-by' finder Leica rep and friend Jeff Bouton as well as to the kind folks, including first lady Lizzie Gordon(!), who flagged down traffic on the busy highway to keep things safe for everyone. It was quite an event.

Santa Ana was nice too with my first Olive Sparrow, found naturally, skulking around in the brush by the side of one of the access roads, although it was otherwise rather quiet. Birds here included usual RGV specialities like White-tipped Dove, Long-billed Thrasher and Black-crested Titmouse and there were also a lot of butterflies on the wing, notably the gorgeous Mexican Bluewing. I had originally planned to go further up-river this morning, to Bentsen, which would have put me well away from the action, but was persuaded by Robert Kirk and friends to have a more sociable stroll around Santa Ana - does everything happen for a reason?

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RGV OPEN COUNTRY BIRDING

This young White-tailed Hawk had me reaching for Sibley

FOR A CHANGE I CRUISED SOME OF THE COUNTRY ROADS NORTHEAST OF HARLINGEN THIS MORNING. The vast fields were mostly water-logged so progress was tricky at times. No rarities but a very instructive young White-tailed Hawk brightened up my day (check the grey cere and finely barred tail and it was obviously a big buteo while still sitting on a fence post!)  and I finally dropped in to the car rental lot at Valley Airport (I have never flown there!) to see the incredible spectacle of hundreds of Bronzed Cowbirds sheltering in the shade of the cars, even perched on tyres under the wheel arches. The huge agricultural fields of Willacy County held some nice birds including flocks of noisy Sandhill Cranes, scattered Loggerhead Shrikes and American Kestrels as well as parties of Horned Larks and Lark Sparrows. The sunrise today in Harlingen was pretty spectacular too!

Bronzed Cowbirds

Lark Sparrows

RGV Birding Festival, Harlingen sunrise

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