It’s Thursday—that means it’s birding day. I rode with neighbor Lorna to Santa Ana NWR, our last birding trip of the year, and perhaps for all times since Jerry and Karen Smith have bought a winter place here in the Valley.
It was an interesting commute; just outside the entrance to BPVRV Resort . We were met with a speeding Border Patrol vehicle, which turned around and passed us as if we were sitting still. With lights flashing, another 11 city, county, state, and Border Patrol enforcement agents passed us; we never discovered the reason. As we neared Santa Ana NWR, we saw eight illegal aliens leave a cornfield and jump into the Tahoe, which then sped away. It was definitely an orchestrated event, as we suspect are most illegal entrances into the US in this area. Quite interesting!
There were 24 birders this morning (Jim & Ruth Alexander, Marie Burke, Elton
|
| & Donna Combs, Donald Dunn, Dottie Farrer, Lou & Jan Frase, |
| Aileen Garvin, Lorna Graham, John & Romola Laninga, John |
| & Donna MacNeil, Dave & Marcia Marsh, Ernie & Karen |
|
| Martelle, Steve & Suzette Mazur, Pat Riek, Jerry & Karen |
|
| Smith), and before we began, Lorna presented Jerry and Karen with a thank you card and $200 in cash as a token of our appreciation. Truth be known, it’s much too little for the time and expenses they incur, but for them it is a labor of love. We had a great day today, ending with 71 species.
We did karaoke tonight at the palapa, and it was fun.
Just for fun I’m including a list of the birds we identified today.
 Ducks & Geese:
|
| Fulvous Whistling-Duck, |
| Gadwall, |
| American Wigeon, |
| Mottled Duck, |
| Blue-winged Teal, |
| Cinnamon Teal, |
| Northern Shoveler, |
| Northern Pintail, |
| Green-winged Teal, |
| Redhead, |
| Ring-necked Duck, |
| Bufflehead, |
| Ruddy Duck
|
|
| Chachalacas: |
| Plain Chachalaca
|
|
| Grebes: |
| Least Grebe, |
| Pied-billed Grebe
|
|
| Cormorants: |
| Neotropic Cormorant, |
| Double-crested Cormorant
|
|
 Herons, Egrets & Ibises: |
| Great Blue Heron, |
| Great Egret, |
| Snowy Egret, |
| Little Blue Heron, |
| Tricolored Heron, |
| White-faced Ibis
|
|
| New World Vultures: |
| Turkey Vulture
|
|
|
| Kites, Eagles, Hawks & Falcons: |
| Northern Harrier, |
| Harris’s Hawk, |
| Red-shouldered Hawk, |
| Crested Caracara, |
| American Kestrel
|
|
| Rails, Coots & Allies: |
| Common Gallinule, |
| American Coot
|
|
| Plovers, Sandpipers & Phalaropes: |
| Greater Yellowlegs, |
| Lesser Yellowlegs
|
| Mockingbirds: |
| Northern Mockingbird
|
|
| Starlings: |
| European Starling
|
|
| Wood-Warblers: |
| Orange-crowned Warbler, |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler, (Myrtle) |
| Common Yellowthroat
|
|
| Sparrows: |
| Olive Sparrow, |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow
|
|
| Cardinals: |
| Northern Cardinal
|
|
| Blackbirds & Allies: |
| Red-winged Blackbird, |
| Great-tailed Grackle
|
|
| Old World Sparrows: |
| House Sparrow
Plovers, Sandpipers & Phalaropes: Spotted Sandpiper, |
| Least Sandpiper, |
| Long-billed Dowitcher
|
|
| Pigeons & Doves: |
| Rock Pigeon, |
| Mourning Dove
|
|
| Owls: |
| Great Horned Owl
|
|
| Kingfishers: |
| Belted Kingfisher, |
| Green Kingfisher
|
|
| Woodpeckers: |
| Golden-fronted Woodpecker, |
| Ladder-backed Woodpecker
|
|
| Tyrant Flycatchers: |
| Eastern Phoebe, |
| Great Kiskidee, |
| Tropical Kingbird
|
|
| Shrikes: |
| Loggerhead Shrike
|
|
| Vireos: |
| White-eyed Vireo
|
|
| Jays & Crows: |
| Green Jay
|
|
| Swallows: |
| N. Rough-winged Swallow, |
| Cave Swallow
|
|
| Titmice: |
| Black-crested Titmouse
|
|
| Wrens: |
| Carolina Wren, |
| Marsh Wren
|
|
| Kinglets: |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet
|
|
| Gnatcatchers: |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
|
|
|
|
|
It appears that all we did today was eat, or at least be where there was food. This evening we joined a couple of dozen friends for ribs at a local barbecue joint considered a favorite of Winter Texans. Kay and I shared a plate, and after living in Memphis and Little Rock, and even our own KT’s Smokehouse BBQ and Catering (about the best ribs anywhere), and eaten real pork ribs, we were not impressed. But, as they say, we’ve now been there and done that.
Dunngone's Photos and Blog 