Day 2 of the South Texas trip started with bright sunshine, temps in the low 50s and a jaunt down a dirt road known as the "Sparrow Road" past oil wells, ranches, and farm fields. I had the road all to myself except for the occasional F350 trucks barreling down the road at 65 mph leaving dust clouds in their wake. As if I needed to be reminded I was in Texas.
The day started with a pair of White-tailed Hawks surveying the surrounding fields.
This immature Lark Bunting was the second 'lifer' of the trip. A very showy adult would have been great but, you take what you can get.
I also had the photo blinds at Resaca de la Palma to myself. Here I picked up the third 'lifer' of the trip - a Tropical Parula. The life list has grown to 540. The park ranger indicated folks had been looking for this bird in a couple stands of trees and brush near the visitor center. That sounded like work to me. So, I opted for the photo blinds behind the visitor where I hoped the bird would make a visit to the pools of water there. Et, voila...
Needless to say, the Parula was not happy with the Orange-crowned Warbler trying to sneak a peak while it took its bath.
The blinds yielded excellent photos of several other species including the Altamira Oriole.
Green Jay
Olive Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
And the appropriately named Black-crested Titmouse.
Another species observed was neither a Turkey nor a Chicken. It was a Plain Chacalaca and a gosh darn nuisance at bird feeders.
Finally, with more than 900 species of birds in Costa Rica, many with crazy shapes, colors and sizes, the humble Clay-colored Thrush is their national bird.
The trip yielded 3 lifers and 57 new species for 2025, bringing the YTD total to 179. Almost 100 total species were observed during this quick, two day trip.
It's back to several days of heavy-duty yard work before we head to North Carolina next week followed by visits to Barnegat, NJ and the Sax-Zim bog in Minnesota with a target list of 91 species of northern and maritime birds.
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