After the Texas Library Association Conference I talked about in Part 1 it was time for some bird-finding. Texas has one of the biggest bird lists in the country, and my friend Brendan and I had five whole days to check it out.
I've birded southern Texas a bunch of times but Brendan had never been, so much of our trip was spent pursuing lifers for him. There were a couple of new ABA birds I could get, but that wasn't really the focus. We left Houston before dawn on March 31 and picked down the Gulf coast, then across to the Rio Grande and Lower Rio Grande Valley for a few days, then up to Hill Country and back to Houston. In total we saw 206 species, a pretty damn good number for a few days in a single state. Here's the trip report if you're interested.
I don't have time to go into a whole narrative! Sorry to the zero people who would read it! But I do like doing Top 5 lists on this internet website, so lemme do some of those.
Top Five Best Birds
5. Stilt Sandpiper
No no I know it's not the craziest bird or anything but I feel like I rarely ever get to see Stilt Sandpipers, but we saw some at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas. We went for other reasons (more in a moment), and it was one of those times in birding where you go to a spot that you know nothing about and it's awesome. The Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, at least in early April at the start of a good migration, was crammed with shorebirds. Crammed! And it was one of those boardwalk spots you see in the south (like Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Florida) where all the birds were super up close. It was awesome. Here's the checklist.
4. Elf Owl
It was well known among birders in the Lower Rio Grande Valley that there was an Elf Owl nesting in a telephone pole just outside the entrance to Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley SP. Folks had been winking and "hey didja know"-ing about it during our visit in the morning, and so we returned at dusk and waited for it to pop its little face out of its hole. Groups of birders and photographers wandered up around the time and got in place and then there it was. My photo stinks because it was dark, but you can see it in there.
3. Golden-cheeked Warbler
I just love Hill Country, really. It's really pretty up there, and such a welcome change of scenery after spending time in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. I've been to Lost Maples SNA once before, and Brendan and I returned to go after his lifer Golden-cheeked Warbler (and others). We saw a couple in one of the stream valleys on the way up the main trail, and they're just cool.
2. Crimson-collared Grosbeak
I only got two ABA birds on the trip, and so all things considered I count those as my "best" birds. No big deal. There's been a Crimson-collared Grosbeak hanging out for a bunch of weeks at the Edinberg Scenic Wetlands / World Birding Center, and we went to see it. We arrived and had that terrible birder experience when you get to a spot that a million people have seen a bird at but you just don't see it. You follow all the directions to the letter but either the directions are wrong or the bird's just not there. We were annoyed, but it ain't the World Birding Center for nothing. We went over to the front desk and a naturalist named Will took us right over to where the bird was just hanging out in a tree eating leaves. They eat leaves. Good bird. Thanks, Will!
1. Mottled Owl
A major focus of the trip was a couple of guided trips down into Santa Margarita Ranch looking for Brown Jays and the long-staying Mottled Owl. The owl is the first living individual ever seen in the ABA area - they're usually found no closer than Mexico. We joined a small group and headed down to the banks of the Rio Grande and, after just a moment, there it was. Incredible.
Five Biggest Misses
5. I can't really think of any
4.
3. Red-footed Booby
We didn't really even know there was a Red-footed Booby in the waters around Corpus Christi until we were driving through. We stopped for a bit and looked but couldn't find it. No worries. We didn't even bother looking for the Cattle Tyrant because we didn't have time.
2. American Flamingo
I've never seen an American Flamingo but there had been one hanging out at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center all winter. Except for, like, a day before we showed up. No dice.
1. Brown Jays
This one hurt. It's the only one, really. I've wanted to see a Brown Jay in the U.S. forever, and have been a bunch of times town to Salineño Wildlife Preserve -- where they used to be seen reliably before I was a birder -- but no luck. They'd been gone for years, after a flood or something. Some are back, just south of Salineño along the river at Santa Margarita Ranch. They were seen reliably at the tour we booked (both the evening and the daytime one) but BUT but BUT BUT BUT BUTUTTTTTTT we missed them. We missed em! They might have been building a nest nearby, or something, the guide said. Ugh. They were seen the days before and the days after and every friggin day of all time but not the day we were there. It's fine.
Five Best Meals
I am not ranking these in order, but just listing all the five star meals (not a real rating) we had during the trip. I fuckin love the food in south Texas.
- El Angel Food to Go. Salineño. Simple, delicious Mexican food we ate from styrofoam containers on the hood of our rental car. Tough to beat.
- Carne Asadas Don Omar. Rio Grande City. Good god these may have been the best tacos I've ever had. Hit the spot so hard after a long day of travel.
- Rudy's BBQ. Brownsville. This is a chain I guess with a bunch of restaurants across the southwest but it was fantastic! Everyone was super friendly and there were really cold beers.
- Rocha's Restaurant. Mission. I'm not generally super anal about what's "authentic" or not. I don't really even know what that means, but it's fun sometimes to feel like you're in a new place. I feel really guilty about not being able to speak Spanish, and we were certainly the only people here who didn't speak Spanish. We didn't feel unwelcome, or anything, but it was just kind of a rush to have that kind of cultural experience in the U.S. It was great. There was a lady softly singing from her table and when she was done she walked around and we all gave her a few bucks.
- The Smoke Ring BBQ. Mission. Good as hell. Brendan got a huge brisket burrito.
- Lost Maples Cafe. Utopia. Southern comfort food -- pies, hush puppies, fried catfish, etc. -- was a welcome change of pace from the food in the Valley and we filled up.
- The Bungalows on Shary. Mission / Mcallen. This wasn't a meal but a hotel. Brendan found it, somehow, and it was so cheap that we were suspicious, but we loved it. Right near a whole bunch of birding hotspots, and with access to a pool and a great bar. The best deal of the whole trip, I can't recommend it enough.
Things About Texas
2. The Wall. The border wall sucks so hard. It's stupid as shit. It's ugly, and tons of the gates and lights don't work already. It's keeping construction companies in business, I guess, and scams are good for that kind of thing, but it was so pathetic and sad to see it everywhere.
1. No Subarus. Haha we counted like 3 total Subarus our entire time in Texas.