192 species in 3 days...

This is the first moment I have had to blog since the last entry.  We have covered so many habitats and have seen an additional 91 species to add to the 101 we saw the first day.

Magnificent Frigatebird

On Wednesday, the group hit Rockport H-E-B to see a nesting pair of Tropical Kingbirds.  One of our group members, Ron Weeks, had heard that this bird would be there and we could not pass up the opportunity.  After that we headed to Rockport Beach Park, just southeast of Corpus Christi. Here we spotted a colony of Black Skimmers.  We then headed north to Port Arnasas and Paradise Pond where we saw 23 species of warblers including Mourning, Blackburnian, Blackpole, Magnolia and Canada.  We took advantage of the coast and got many water birds including Common Loon, Roseate Spoonbill, American Oystercatcher and Magnificent Frigatebird.  We saw 148 species by the end of this truly successful day.

Thursday was another spectacular day.  We did not see high numbers of species but we did get to see some rare ones.  Our morning started early at Norias, a southern section of King Ranch.  Our goal for the day was to find the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl which nests on the ranch, the Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, and the Tropical Parula.

As soon as we arrived we heard the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl sing.  Its song is a continuous series of rapidly repeated, slightly rising, whistled notes:  pwip pwip pwip (as explained by David Sibley in the Eastern Field guide).  Within seconds the owl flew up and perched itself for a long time giving all of us a clear look at this adorable small owl.  I particularly enjoyed seeing its false eyes on the back of its head.

Vermillion Flycatcher

For the next 8 hours we drove throughout the ranch in search of known nesting spots for Tropical Parula and Northern Beardless Tyrrannulet.  We were not having great luck on those specific birds but we did get great sightings of:  Eastern Screech Owl, Redhead, White-tailed Kite, Wilson's Plover, White-tipped and Inca Dove, Barn Owl, Great-horned Owl, Vermillion Flycatcher, Botteri's Sparrow, and Blue Grosbeak. 

Tropical Parula

Finally, at our last spot, we heard the Tropical Parula!  After a good amount of searching I spotted the bird! It cooperated and stayed still long enough for everyone to view it through the scope.  It was tremendously gorgeous!  Then we thought we heard another one, but what we were hearing was a Northern Parula which sounds very similar but with Tom and Brian's trained ear they knew it was not the tropical.  We never got a good look but sound was enough to identify it.  It was a perfect way to end a wonderful day of birding.