November 13-15, 2023
I’ve included some bird pictures here from the trip I took with my friend David to the Lower Rio Grande Valley from November 12-15. We visited several different areas, all within 45 minutes of Harlingen. On the first day, we had a guide who took us to several areas around Brownsville, including Resaca de la Palma State Park, Palo Alto Battlefield, and Laguna Vista Nature Trail. We saw some great birds, but we missed one rarity we had hoped to see at Resaca — a Roadside Hawk.
On day two, we spent most of the day at the South Padre Island Birding Center, then went to Laguna Acosta NWR, where American Flamingo had been observed a few days earlier. We returned to Resaca de la Palma about a half hour before sunset in search of a the Roadside Hawk, where I saw it briefly as it flew into the woods, but David didn’t see it (it wasn’t a very satisfying view).
On our final day, day three, we returned to Resaca de la Palma first thing in the morning where we able to see the Roadside Hawk. As a big plus, we also saw a Rose-throated Becard, another rarity. On our way back to Harlingen, we followed an eBird tip on where to find a Burrowing Owl that had been spotted along a rural road next to some Agriculture fields. We then stopped at the Harlingen Soccer Complex in search of Least Grebe, and wrapped up our trip at the Hugh Ramsey Nature Center in Harlingen with some good looks at Plain Chachalaca and a Javelina.
We had 119 species, with 15 being new “life” birds for me (species I hadn’t seen before). and another 7 species new for me in the U.S. (I had seen the species in Central or South America).
Below are some pictures from the various areas.
Resaca de la Palma State Park
Palo Alto Battlefield
South Padre Island Birding Center
Outside Harlingen
Harlingen Soccer Complex Pond
Hugh Ramsey Nature Park
