Boom Chachalaca

Heading to Harlingen for a funeral I was not expecting to do any serious birding so I could devote all my attention to family.  At best I was hoping to see one of the 5 or so parrot species that call the Rio Grande Valley home.  As it turns out I had Thursday morning free until around lunch time so I went to a nearby park called Hugh Ramsey Nature Park.  It was a beautiful little park where I saw some birds that I have not seen in years like verdin, buff-bellied hummingbirds, and curve-billed thrasher.  But no parrots or other life birds.  So after a great morning of birding in cloudy, drizzly, freezing weather I decided to get back in the car, thaw out, and head back to the hotel a few miles down the road.  On the way back I figured I might as well keep my eyes out for parrots and then Bamm I saw a group in an oak tree on the side of the road so I pulled over and whipped out my camera for Texas Life Birds 410 AND 411.  Red-Crowned Parrot and Red-Lored Parrot.  And yes there is a difference.
Then I was off to spend the rest of the day with family ready to head home the following morning.

As it turns out, we wanted to spend a little bit more time with some of the family Friday afternoon so that left me with another unexpected free morning.  What to do what to do???  Well, I knew what to do.  I drove down to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge south of McAllen right on the border. Still freezing, drizzly and downright nasty for south Texas, I was just about the only person there except for the border patrol. I was walking so close to the border that if I saw any birds flying in the distance I could put them on a checklist for Mexico.  As soon as I got to the park I walked over to the visitors center and immediately saw 5 or 6 Plain Chachalacas (hence the blog title) and an Altamira Oriole for Texas life birds 412 AND 413.

A great but rainy and cold trip overall for birding and more importantly spending time with family experiencing the loss of a loved one.

I now have 105 species in Cameron county which is my 10th county with over 100 bird species.

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