Birds and Nature

I enjoy watching birds of species that I am not familiar with so returned to Quinta Mazatlan this afternoon to look for the rare Blue Bunting again. It has continued to be seen most often at their amphitheater feeders and I waited there. When I saw it last week I thought I heard it call before it came into view so I was delighted to hear it call and a few minutes later it came in the opposite side of the feeders from where I sat and only stayed a short time so I missed it. Later I was much luckier. Again I heard it call and a couple minutes later it flew onto the top of a brush pile but quickly flew down and went back into the vegetation. I did pick it up about a foot or so back in the plumaged where it sat quietly for several minutes before walking around between the brush pile and vegetation then disappearing for several more minutes. Then it flew up to the wood feeder and chowed down on bird seed (looks like it ate millet) as shown in the video clip and did so for almost 15 m...

Since I posted the photos below of the Rose-throated Becard Professor Tim Brush at Univ of Texas-Pan American has informed me that this is an immature/subadult male noting the rusty remaining in the wings (that was most prominent in the flight photo I posted so will post it again, just click on 'read more' to see it). So here is a photo of the bird from behind which shows the rusty/rufous color in it's primaries.  There is also some rosy/rufous tinge on a few non-primary feathers. Neotropical Birds online in describing this species does not indicate any rufous/rusty coloration in adults but notes the following in the section on 'Juvenile and older first year birds': "Rufous or russet tones are prevalent in the body and wing feathers of males during the first year, and the first few pink or rose feathers may appear then, even rarely at the juvenile stage (Pyle 1997a)."  The photo above shows the extensive amount of rufous/rusty feathers retained...

Rose-throated Becards are very rare tropical species that have only been reported in Texas and Southeast Arizona. This male becard was found just a few weeks ago but there has also been sightings of a female type (fem/imm male) late last fall. This species occurs from Central America through much of Mexico. It is reported that these birds sit quite still for periods making them challenging to spot and with males like this one it is especially challenging if they are facing away from you or their heads are down so their bright rose colored throats. I was able to watch this bird for about 15 minutes as moved from tree to tree pausing often. It began foraging at about 15 feet above the ground but moved down to 4 or so feet into the shrubby vegetation. The bottom pic shows it flying away with the rufous feathers on it's wings evident. SeEtta A range map for this species is below.

Yesterday while I waiting for the Blue Bunting to return to the amphitheater feeder area at Quinta Mazatlan this local hummer kept distracting me by coming to a feeder less than 10 feet away. So I took a few seconds to kept a couple of quick pics. I those dots on top of it's head are pollen granules. SeEtta

This rarity has been seen at Quinta Mazatlan Birding Center in McAllen,TX for just under a month. This species is not seen every year in the Rio Grande Valley and was last found in 2016 at Frontera Audubon where I got a number of photos and some video too. I The first time I went to look for it I missed it by about 30 seconds, the birder said there it is but it was out of sight when I got there. I have looked for it a number of times and finally saw late this afternoon. While this Blue Bunting had been observed a number of times feeding on seeds from grasses and plants. Now it appears it has found that feeding stations are good places to eat. Apparently it has been coming in to the amphitheater feeding station and that is where I found it. The pic just above show it with small seeds in it's bill (best to click on the pic to enlarge to see that) I was happy to observe it 6 or 7 times under the feeders and in the vegetation behind the feeders like these bottom two pic...

Wild Red-crowned Parrots are found only in northeast Mexico and parts of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. These parrots are in Oliveira Park in Brownsville, TX where they are known to roost in the many trees in this otherwise sports oriented park (soccer fields, baseball, tennis, etc).  Do click on each pic to enlarge for better viewing. Red-crowned Parrots have life-long pair bonds and it is not uncommon to see pairs roosting or just perching together.   These parrots fly into trees with a lot of cover like shown in the pic above. They also perch in flocks on power lines.  They are quite striking when they fly as a flock as shown in the pic below.  And a very short video clip of the flock flying around as they tried to find the best spot to roost. Warning they are loud. Best viewed by clicking on the 'V' on bottom right corner of movie screen. SeEtta

I took these photos of this juvenile Peregrine Falcon from my car, a a technique I use frequently to reduce disturbance. I was pleased to be able to get several photos and leave with the falcon still perched on this pole. This bird was near Hargil Playa which attracts waterfowl and shorebirds, a good place to hunt especially for a juvenile. SeEtta