On the Road

We have hit the road!  We’re on our way to Maine but we’ll take 10-11 weeks to get there.  We have lots of stops and fun things to do on the way.

We are in Weslaco, Texas staying at a large commercial RV park.  On Saturday we visited Estero Llano Grande State Park.  

Entrance

Estero is one of the Word Birding Centers and is the largest wetland environment in the WBC network.  It is 230 acres of wetlands.

It was a former agricultural field and has been extensively restored.

  

It’s been a few years since we’ve visited this wonderful birding spot and we were glad to get back here.

There are a lot of spiny things to get you!

Can you find this South Texas specialty?

We did find a grebe in Grebe Marsh but we also found lots of other things including this Green Kingfisher:

Green Kingfisher female

Another South Texas specialty is the Plain Chachalaca:

Plain Chachalaca

We had both flavors of Night-Herons:

Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night-Herons

The Teal trifecta:

Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal

Cinnamon Teal

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and Black-necked Stilts are always favorites with their bubblegum pink legs:

Speaking of pink, we have a nice Roseate Spoonbill flyover:

Roseate Spoonbill

Plenty more to see in South Texas!

Birds seen at Estero Llano Grande State Park:

Mourning Dove

Northern Shoveler

Blue-winged Teal

Green-winged Teal

Cinnamon Teal

Roseate Spoonbill

Great Egret

White Pelican

Tricolored Heron

Mottled Duck

Black-necked Stilt

Red-winged Blackbird

Snowy Egret

American Coot

Northern Cardinal

White-faced ibis

Neotropic Cormorant

Gadwall

White-tipped Dove

Eastern Phoebe

Vermilion Flycatcher

Fulvous Whistling Duck

Long-billed Dowitcher

White Ibis

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Least Grebe

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Lincoln’s Sparrow

Northern Mockingbird

Common Yellowthroat

House Wren

Common Ground-Dove

Harris’s Hawk

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

European Starling

Curve-billed Thrasher

Orange-crowned Warbler

White-eyed Vireo

House Sparrow

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

White-tailed Kite

Great Blue Heron

Great Kiskadee

Plain Chachalaca

Green Kingfisher

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Anhinga

Great-tailed Grackle

Common Pauraque

Couch’s Kingbird

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Spotted Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

Stilt Sandpiper

Black Phoebe

Black-crested Titmouse

Turkey Vulture

Next time:  Back to the Panama Journal