We’re staying in an AirBnB on the edge of Patagonia, which is in a very birdy part of South East Arizona. Today we spent the day visiting several sites within ten miles of the town, starting at dawn with the excellent Harshaw Road. Despite the temperature – just 41 deg f. when we set off – we’d added three new trip ticks before breakfast: Costa’s Humming Bird, Vaux’s Swift and Phainopepla. Next was the hummingbird centre, followed by the famous roadside rest area along the H82, which provided us with our second swift species of the day (and trip) White-throated. Next was Patagonia Lake State Park, where Western Grebe near the dam was another new bird. After our afternoon siesta we returned to Paton for a final session where we continued to miss Broad-tail hummer and Mourning Warbler but did finally catch-up with Tropical Kingbird, which arrived in the car park just as we were leaving. On our way home – just five minutes through the town – we stopped at the Mississippi Kite stake-out. It wasn’t there but a kettle of 70+ Turkey Vulture caught my attention. A lone Cooper’s Hawk was the only different bird until, high in the sky above them, I spotted a Golden Eagle. Our last addition to the list for the day. We’re now on 333 and trying to chase down a few more species to get to my ambitious target of 350!

Our day began and ended with nightbirds. After breakfast we headed back to Estro Llano after a tip-off about roosting Pauraque. We did the ‘tropical area’ outside the gate first, looking for warblers and checking out a couple of possible nest sites for owls – nothing doing. Once inside we headed for Alligator Lake where, after a bit of searching, Neil found first one and then another roosting bird. The Yellow-breasted Chat bathing at the water drip was a bonus. Another abortive visit to another turf farm for a dip on Buff-breasted Sandpiper – rapidly becoming my bogey bird for America – was followed by a brief visit to Anzalduas Park, another of those public parks along the Rio which is beyond the wall. Here a lone Frankin’s Gull was a welcome addition to the list. The rest of the afternoon was spent at Bentsen State Park which, although rather quiet, produced a ‘grip back’ of displaying Turkey and better views of Buff-bellied Hummingbird. We headed back to our hotel for a bit of R&R and supper before venturing out again for the Elf Owl stake-out at the entrance to Bentsen SP. Amazingly it’s the same hole in an electricity pole (the one with the transformer attached) where we saw Elf Owl in 2018. We arrived in good time – the mosquitos weren’t too bad – before the bird popped up at the appointed time of ten past eight. It bobbed back down again, putting in one more final appearance before flying off into the night sky. Two great night birds book-ending our day.

Last bird of the day – the adorable Elf Owl at the entrance to Bentsen SP – photo courtesy of Jane

A tale of two sparrows. Today we left South Padre Island, our home for the previous three days, and headed south-west towards the Rio Grande. Our first unscheduled stop was at the recently created South Texas Ecotourism Centre – a huge restoration project of the Bahia Grande. Lots of good stuff including a slightly odd looking Spotted Sandpiper in winter plumage and a Common Yellowthroat. But perhaps the best wildlife action was the ‘rattler’ which Nicola came across in the car park! We then headed for Palo Alto where in 1846 a battle between the US and Mexico redefined the border between the two countries. In the leaflet describing the events it says ‘The US fought for the Rio Grande because of “manifest destiny” – the idea that the US had the right to expand its borders and spread democracy across North America. Northern Mexico was in the way…. Palo Alto serves as a reminder of the ongoing, complicated relationship between the two countries.’ Ring any bells? Anyway I digress. This unique landscape is also home to two range-restricted sparrows. Botteri’s, which only has a toe-hold in the Lower Rio Grande valley and south-east Arizona, and Cassin’s with a slightly bigger range, reaching into New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma. They look rather similar. We saw them both well, within ten minutes walk of the visitors centre. We spent the afternoon at Estro Llano State Park – looking for and finding Grove-billed Ani. We also came across five Wilson’s Phalarope in a melee of shorebirds. As we were leaving the reserve a superb male Blackburnian Warbler appeared in the trees above us. The major upset of the day, which I only discovered when I came to download my photos, was that the camera had been on the wrong setting all day and I had no recognisable images 😦 – fortunately Jane did, so these are all courtesy of her.

Today it was a case of ‘rinse and repeat’, visiting the Convention Centre and the Sheepshead St lots in rotation, from dawn till dusk. After lunch we did venture down to a ‘park’ at the southern tip of the island but, despite being an ebirder hot-spot, it also turned out to be an RV park. We had to pay$12 for the privilege to park and we saw no birds of note! The weather has been hot with clear skies and a gentle south-easterly breeze – fabulous for the Easter weekend holiday makers but dire for bird migration. Every species has been hard won. We did find two trip ticks at the Convention Centre – Red Knot and Chipping Sparrow – which saved it being an early ‘dot day’ but otherwise it was tough going. This was really our last chance to catch up with small bird migration across the Gulf – we should see some raptor movement as we move further up the valley but otherwise we’re now mostly looking for scarce breeding species and southern over-shoots. Still we have managed to rack-up 23 warbler species and amassed a trip list of over 200 in just a week – so all is good. We move forward with optimism.

Perhaps the most interesting bird we found was what I take to be a non-breeding – 2CY – Least Tern amongst the flock of 30 or so migrating birds on the mudflats next to the Convention Centre (inset)

Last chance saloon. On December 19th 2024 two birders doing the Christmas Count on Anahuac NWR (now Jocelyn Nungaray NWR) found a bird they couldn’t identify. After much investigation they concluded it was a stonechat. A Swedish expert finally nailing it as Amur. The first record in the lower 48 States. It took weeks for the Friends of Anahuac to negotiate access to this section of the reserve, mostly used for hunting. Jake spotted the news a few weeks ago and we began planning our itinerary around it. Trips to see the bird, running three times a week, were announced a few days before and were taken up quicker than a Taylor Swift concert. Just before we departed from Cromer I managed to get us booked on the last trip ever – but would the bird hang around? We arrived at the meeting point for a 10.00 start to be told that the 8.00 o’clock group had seen the bird but distantly. After an over-zealous safety briefing we walked the 1000 yds to the spot. The three volunteer observers on site said they’d last seen the bird fly off over the trees 15 minutes previous. We stood around enthusiastically scanning the fields for awhile. No sign. Energy levels began to dwindle and, as at all twitches, people began to chat. In the end far more chat that looking. We were due to leave the site, to be clear of the property, by 12.00 when ‘she’ obligingly flew in, and did what any self-respecting stonechat should do – sat atop the vegetation spotting prey. What a relief. An incredible bird and the first new addition to our USA list!

The rest of our day was spent doing the Shoveler Loop including the hot-spots of the Willows and Wood Lot trails. We amassed a good list of waders and wildfowl and a good variety of warblers – better than at High Island.

The weather’s been challenging over the past couple of days and, as a consequence, so has the birding. With winds from the north gusting at 50mph only the most sheltered spots have produced any birds. We managed to catch up with a few waders and wildfowl yesterday at various locations in the south of Mainland and finished the day, back on our ‘home patch’, with another Red-breasted Flycatcher. Today began with a fairly leisurely start until news broke of a Pallas’s Leaf Warbler at a remote location in the north of the island. We arrived, got out of the car, and spoke to one of the birders already on site. The bird was apparently on a bit of a circuit but hadn’t been seen for twenty minutes. Within a few minutes the ‘shout’ went up and the ‘seven striped sprite’ was seen feeding low down in a Hawthorn. We were just deciding where to go next when another message announced ‘Common Nighthawk flushed from the roadside’ in Burravoe on the next island of Yell – a mega. We headed to the ferry terminal but where frustrated by not being able to book a slot on the next boat, and apparently there were no places coming back at all! Our hopes seemed dashed until Neil managed to get through on the phone – ‘wait in the unbooked lane and you’ll get on’ said the helpful lady and she booked us back on the 4.55 boat. We were off. A short drive to the village followed by a scramble to park and we joined the fifty or so birders looking aimlessly around the surrounding fields. The bird had originally been flushed from the road, then lost to view over the nearby houses. Eventually, in response to another message, the crowd surged up the hill, only to be greeted by the news that the bird was in fact a European Nightjar! A nice bird but not quite the one we’d been hoping for.

Weather over night wasn’t as bad as the forecast but still it was overcast and windy when we set off birding after breakfast. The willows in a Hoswick garden provide our first scarce warbler of the day – first picked up on call then later seen sheltering in a bush – Siberian Chiffchaff. We birded a couple of spots before our coffee stop in Lerwick. After, whilst watching the Olive-backed Pipit at Kergord Wood, a message came through of a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler (affectionately known to birders as ‘PG tips’) near Garth cemetery. A line of expectant birders were gathered along the edge of an iris bed when we arrived and it wasn’t long before the bird was flushed, doing several circuits in front of the admiring crowd before dropping back into cover. I managed a brief view of it on the deck followed by more fly-bys before we left it in peace. An hour of ‘R&R’ back at our accommodation and then we were out again, birding our local hot-spots around the village. The Snow Bunting performed well in the car-park of the Orca Inn, occasionally flying up into the trees – I’ve never seen them do that before. Whilst enjoying these antics I noticed a bird fly into the tops of a sycamore. It turned out to be the lovely Wood Warbler. Also in the nearby bushes at least one Yellow-browed Warbler. Then our final ‘twitch’ of the day – another message announcing an Arctic Warbler in the in copse at Burn of Njugalswater. A superb end to our warbler fest day.