April 11th: This morning the continental breakfast at the BW opened at 5:30am and after this we met at the van at 6am to pack up and check out. From here we drove south on Hwy 83 to the shortcut to Roma scanning the road surface for goatsuckers without any luck. However we did see several LESSER NIGHTHAWKS flying around at first light. From here we headed over to the El Rio RV park in Chapeno. The person at the trailer took our fees and put out feed right at 7:30am. We had multiple looks at BROWN JAYS this morning, at the feeders and down by the river as well. Also here were our first BRONZED COWBIRDS, and more ALTAMIRA ORIOLES which provided great looks this morning. Down by the river we had no fewer than three RINGED KINGFISHERS flying about chasing each other. Several GREEN JAYS moved through the large trees by the river. Once again the water in the river was high apparently a result of a release for irrigation purposes just in the last two weeks (according to the property owner who was quite upset due to the loss of shore and income). We did our best to scan the river and added several birds this way including a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD male sitting in Mexico, an adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, and our first PIED-BILLED GREBE and GREEN HERON. We walked along the river and then returned to the feeding area where we managed to get views of a perched RED-BILLED PIGEON in the scope at length thanks to Andy’s sharp eyes.

From here we drove back to Salineno arriving there around 9am. We managed to find our first PYRRHULOXIA and GREEN KINGFISHER plus good views of BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. Another VERDIN appeared briefly but soon frustrated us by moving off quickly. Again here we had several RINGED KINGFISHERS and ALTAMIRA ORIOLES.

We then drove east to the Santa Margarita ranch where we paid our entrance fee and drove down to the gate. Right away an incredible piece of luck occurred when six RED-BILLED PIGEONS landed in a bare shrub just fifty feet away in full view! A remarkable run of luck with this tough specialty. We then walked down towards the river but unfortunately could not find any good access points. It was a bit frustrating and the birding was slowing down as it was getting hot. We did again get a brief glimpse of a VERDIN, and heard both a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and a CLAY-COLORED ROBIN. We also bumped into a group of three nice ladies here that we would trade information with several times in the next few days. The biggest low point of this site was that it was likely the place that Tom picked up a DEER TICK which later that afternoon was found embedded into his wrist!

We then drove into Rio Grande City stopping at a Las Cazuelas restaurant along the main drag for a good lunch. After this we drove east on Hwy 83. After a brief unsuccessful attempt to see the Los Ebanos ferry (closed due to high water in the river), we stopped in at Bentsen State Park. Tom decided we would not go in and instead punished the group with a long surly dissertation on all the wrongdoings of the World Birding Centre and Bensten State Park. Some of the group shopped in the gift store here and we also gleaned enough information to plan an evening trip here the next day for the elf owl. We left Bentsen and drove east along back roads to Anzalduas County Park arriving here in mid afternoon. Within the first five minutes of arriving Tom heard the song of a TROPICAL PARULA and soon we were all enjoying views of this rarity. It sounded like there were two males here. Next we heard a gray hawk call and then a tyrannulet but we couldn’t locate either because they never vocalized again. We tramped up a slope where the Marilyn and Barbara managed to impale themselves on the SAME cactus! Fortunately the wounds were not severe. Walking around the park didn’t produce much more except some brief glimpses of warblers, but as we were leaving the park Tom spotted a gorgeous adult GRAY HAWK perched on the top of a pole right beside the car - a nice piece of luck.

Tom had promised a break this afternoon but that didn’t materialize. Instead we drove on to Progresso Lakes where we added nice views of a WHITE-TAILED KITE and heard and saw a TROPICAL KINGBIRD as well as hundreds of BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS. Just north of here at Llano Grande we found a nice selection of ducks and shorebirds providing some good photo opps. Among these were AMERICAN AVOCETS, STILT SANDPIPERS, 3 CINNAMON TEAL, many NORTHERN SHOVELERS, one AMERICAN WIGEON, GULL-BILLED TERNS, a large group of FULVOUS WHISTLING DUCKS, 2 ROSEATE SPOONBILLS, a single AMERICAN PIPIT, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, and a large group of flyby AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS. This was a great spot with really nice views of many waterbirds. This was our last stop and we then drove north on 1015 to our hotel (BW Palm Aire) where we checked in, and then went directly to supper at the hotel restaurant (pretty good). Another great day in the valley with 104 species total and bringing our cumulative total to 178 species for the trip.