South Texas Dec 2014 - The Novel (1 Viewer)

[ptickner]

Thanks for the report Steve. I hosted/guided a fishing trip to Laguna Madre a few years ago and we took one day off and did a whirlwind birding tour. It was June 1, 2011, so we had plenty of daylight, and we were out for almost 18 hours. I don't know how many miles we covered, but we ended up with 103 species.

We were lucky to get the Tamaulipas Crow at the Brownsville Dump, but my nose may never be the same. It was right around noon, and at 106°, we could barely stomach the smell even with windows rolled up! My understanding is that they are not really there very much anymore (the bird, not the smell).

Our highlight, although not a bird, may have to be the ocelot we saw at Atascosa. We were near the visitors center when it stepped out of the tall grass, stood for maybe 10 seconds, and retreated back into the grass. We were with a local birder who figures he had been to Atascosa several hundred times and it was by far the best look he had ever had of one.

I'd like to get back there with more time and have a little more leisurely birding trip (and maybe not be there in June at 106°!)

 

[dantheman]

South Texas Dec 2014 - The Novel

Erm, you obviously haven't come across any of my trip reports yet


Good stuff :t:

 

[Hamhed]

Thanks for the report Steve. I hosted/guided a fishing trip to Laguna Madre a few years ago and we took one day off and did a whirlwind birding tour. It was June 1, 2011, so we had plenty of daylight, and we were out for almost 18 hours. I don't know how many miles we covered, but we ended up with 103 species.

We were lucky to get the Tamaulipas Crow at the Brownsville Dump, but my nose may never be the same. It was right around noon, and at 106°, we could barely stomach the smell even with windows rolled up! My understanding is that they are not really there very much anymore (the bird, not the smell).

Our highlight, although not a bird, may have to be the ocelot we saw at Atascosa. We were near the visitors center when it stepped out of the tall grass, stood for maybe 10 seconds, and retreated back into the grass. We were with a local birder who figures he had been to Atascosa several hundred times and it was by far the best look he had ever had of one.

I'd like to get back there with more time and have a little more leisurely birding trip (and maybe not be there in June at 106°!)

Word that I got it that the Crow has not been seen there for several years. EBird shows no reports from 2011 on. You might have had the last sighting! Had there been a chance, I would have braved the odor for a chance at a bird that seems to have lost its foothold in the US.

Nice you saw the ocelot. We saw deer, squirrels, raccoons and cows! 8-P

Steve

 

[thegoderic]

Great report. I've visited the LRGV on a number of occasions on the back of work trips to Houston and can agree that a walk around ELG with Huck as a guide is an experience not to be missed.

 

[Hamhed]

Great report. I've visited the LRGV on a number of occasions on the back of work trips to Houston and can agree that a walk around ELG with Huck as a guide is an experience not to be missed.

Thanks. We didn't get to know Huck really well but he seemed to put forth some extra effort in helping us look for our target birds. For a guy who does this so regularly, he seemed excited rather than jaded about birding there. That made the walk so much more enjoyable.

Steve