Valerie and I made our way down to the Texas coast and the lower valley (Rio Grande) for a week of birding in the early part of April. We flew into Austin and then made a four hour trip down to Rockport. Our target bird was the Whooping Crane. The worlds population of some 350 Cranes winter on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. We headed out Friday afternoon aboard the "Skimmer" for a four hour trip around the refuge. The trip is hardly limited to the Cranes, Several species of Herons, Shorebirds, Gulls and Terns make for an interesting afternoon.
After a successful trip to Aransas we made our way down to to the Bentsen R.V. Park where we spent the several days birding the Rio Grande. We finished the trip by heading up to Fort Hood to visit my son for a couple of days. We ended the trip with just over 190 species, 8 of which were firsts for myself.
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| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher- one of hundreds encountered during the trip. |
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| Osprey- |
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| Reddish Egret- one of many on the Aransas boat trip. |
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| Whooping Crane-one of about thirty birds seen this day. |
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| Ferruginous-Pygmy-Owl-another star of the trip. This bird was on a private ranch. |
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| Great-tailed Grackle- Very happy their in Texas and not in New England. Very noisy birds! |
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| White-tailed Hawk |
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| Common Pauraque- one of several on the trip. |
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| White Ibis-sub adult. Having a bite of crab! |
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| Cinnamon Teal- What can you say- a beautiful bird! |
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| Great Kiskadee |
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| Green-winged Teal |
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| Golden-fronted woodpecker- Mission, TX |
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| Red-crowned Parrot- Just as the sun was setting, we stumbled upon two birds after getting lost in Harlingen. |
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| Pied-billed Grebe- South Padre, Is |
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| Eastern Screech-Owl-Bentsen RV Park |
