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Osprey60 went down to Texas to bird around the RGV (Rio Grande Valley) and came back with some spectacular shots. Here’s what he said about the trip:
“I didn’t go on a tour. My brother, mom and I flew down to Texas and met up with my aunt who lives in Houston (and is also a birder). We did a day of birding near Houston and then drove five hours down to the Rio Grande River Valley and rented an Airbnb. We had four days of birding in the RGV.
As far as places that I enjoyed, there were a couple that stood out. Estero Llano Grande SP was a great spot with their blinds and feeder setups for photographing a lot of the South Texas specialty birds. The South Padre Birding and Nature Center was also a great spot for photography, but more so for Gulf Coast coastal species as opposed to the RGV specialties. Bensten-Rio Grande Valley State Park was also a really cool location as was Salineno Wildlife Preserve. As far as favorite birds, the Hook-billed kite was probably my favorite, such a unique looking bird. My other favorite was the Aplomado Falcon, which is one I’ve wanted for a long time (and missed the previous time I was in South Texas), but I didn’t nearly as good looks at that one. Green Jays, Chachalacas, and Pauraques are also high up on my list though the kite and falcon get the edge because they were lifers.
All in all I ended up with five lifers on the trip and we ended up with just under 220 species over the week we were there”.
You can see the full trip report he compiled in eBird here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/89037/123463
Let’s take a look at some of his favorites, starting with the Hook-billed Kite.
Here’s his Plain Chachalacas looking right back at him. Wonderful pic!
Can you say “Pauraque”? I’m not sure I can but I can appreciate a great photograph of one. This shot was taken at 1/30th of a second so I’m guessing it was hiding under a bush so was in deep shade. Steady hands Osprey60!
I’ll add on one more just because it is such a striking picture. The Muscovy Duck is generally recognized as an introduced/domesticated duck (although south of Texas they can be considered as wild). They always have a strange collection of tissue around the face and this one is no exception with red flowing all around.
If you go on a birding trip let me know. I’ll ask that you email me a brief description of where you went and what you saw during the trip and then I’ll write up a trip report like this one.
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