OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can itbe? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)
noun[in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGINlate 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!
Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!
E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.
Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.
A South Texas Adventure - Day 3
Corpus Christi to South Padre Island
If there has been a cold front from the north, we may return to nearby hotspots to see what has dropped in over-night. Otherwise, we’ll pack up and head over to Hazel Bazemore in Corpus Christi to check the freshwater marshes for shorebirds and the uplands for our first chance at Green Jay.
Hazel Bazemore is one of the most famous fall raptor migration sites in the U.S. Each autumn hundreds of thousands of raptors pass through. Spring movement is more subtle for raptors but we often get a nice mix of hawks and falcons in April and land birds are plentiful at the impressive hawk watch tower.
Our afternoon will be spent in cruise mode as we meander our way to the evening’s destination: South Padre Island, one of the most productive drops in points for migrant birds flying across the Gulf. Birding from the car can be quite good along our route especially for raptors such as Swainson’s, Harris’s Hawks and Crested Caracara.
As we transition from coastal plains to the Rio Grande Valley, we’ll stop along the way to check road side rests and woodland scrub for migrants and an increasing number of South Texas specialties such as Great Kiskadee and Green Jay.
By late afternoon we’ll arrive at South Padre Island, check into our rooms in time to freshen up before dinner. Depending on timing and energy we may enjoy an optional, after dinner, stroll near the hotel.
Tuesday 18thof April 2023and we leave the hotel at 7 thirty and we expect to spend three and a half hours to drive to the southern part of the Padre Island. Yesterday we visited the northern part.
We need to drive via the mainland to reach the southern part as the island is pure wilderness except for the northern and southern tip. So, we will drive to Port Isable and from there we will take the bridge to South Padre Island.
So today it will be picnic lunch and we will pick up the picnic lunch at a German bakery in Corpus Christus before driving south.
On the way south
Our first stop will be at the Hazel Bazemore Park Hawkwatch Platform but it is raining cats and dogs so it will not be much of bird watching, well we will watch birds but I have no high hopes for any good pictures.
We parked the car next to the Hawkwatch platform and the heavy rain had turned in to a drizzle. The platform had a roof so we were in cover from the rain. There were many birds and I took a whole lot of pictures, most of them went to the trash.
Gloom and grey for long as I could see and a crazy ISO speed was required and the pictures was not any good. There were many birds that I had not seen before so it would have been nice with some sunshine.
Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.
Sitting in a tree outside the cover at the Hawkwatch platform. It was raining so I stuck out my arm with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder to get the sound.
We leave the platform and we drive down to the lake and it started to pour down again. We stopped to look for birds but I stayed in the car. I knew it would be pointless to try to get any good pictures.
We spotted a pair of the beautiful duck, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck but too far away, and of course to dark for any good pictures.
The group is out in the rain
The lake
eBird Report
Hazel Bazemore Park Hawkwatch Platform, Nueces, Texas, US Apr 18, 2023 08:43 - 10:07 Protocol: Traveling 4.01 kilometer(s) 20 species (+1 other taxa)
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2 Northern Shoveler 7 White-tipped Dove 1 White-winged Dove 2 hummingbird sp. 2 Not possible to ID Black-necked Stilt 2 American Avocet 2 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 1 Great Kiskadee 1 Couch's Kingbird 1 Eastern Kingbird 3 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 7 Tree Swallow 4 Northern Mockingbird 2 Baltimore Oriole 1 Red-winged Blackbird 6 Bronzed Cowbird 3 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 Great-tailed Grackle 5 Northern Cardinal 7 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
We leave Hazel Bazemore Park Hawkwatch Platform and we continue south. Heavy rain so there are really no opportunities to stop for any birding. But we see one White-tailed Hawk on a road with the nick name “Hawk Alley” and this road is also an eBird hotspot with the same name.
We continue towards Port Isabel and the bridge to South Padre Island. We will stop for the picnic lunch at a rest area on the way. The picnic area has tables and roof so it will be possible to enjoy the food even if it is raining.
Gloom and grey for long as we can see
We enjoy our lunch
We enjoy our lunch
Falfurrias Rest Area
Falfurrias Rest Area
Falfurrias Rest Area
We arrive to Falfurrias Rest Area and we eat a delicious lunch. I was ready first and I went to explore the area. I turned on my eBird app and I found out that the Falfurrias Rest Area was an eBird hotspot as well.
It is a nice rest area and there are different areas for picnic and there was tables and BBQ equipment’s at the tables. The rest area is between the north and south lane of the highway so there was a little bit of a noise, no problem.
But the recording has a little bit of noise from the cars.
Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.
At Falfurrias Rest Area (LTC 004) between north and south bound highway line so the sound from the cars could not be avoided
There was a lot of birds in the rest area and I spotted three birds that I had never seen before. I got pictures of the three bird that I had never seen before, but the light made them pretty unusable. One recording of the “first timer” Black-crested Titmouse
I spotted two different woodpeckers: 1) Golden-fronted Woodpecker 2) Ladder-backed Woodpecker
We left the rest area and we spotted many hawks and vultures along the way. We passed one Swainson's Hawk sitting on a wire next to the road. We made a U-turn to try to get some pictures.
The weather improved and the rain stopped, a drizzle every now and then and by the time we reached South Texas Ecotourism Center we could get out to walk around looking for birds. I told the group that I was going to stay at the parking to look for birds as I thought it was a visitor center only.
Walking around on the parking and I could see birds on the other side of the fence and found out that there was a beautiful park behind the visitor center and I went to join the group. I spotted two new birds: 1) Redhead 2) Willet 3) Neotropic Cormorant
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Today's track at the South Texas Ecotourism Center
We left the South Texas Ecotourism Center and we reached Port Isabel and we drove across the bridge to South Padre Islands. I have never seen so many souvenir shops at one place before. And they were huge as Walmarts. Who is buying all these souvenirs?
The town was almost empty but they say it is full on weekends and holidays as it is a holiday town.
Port Isabel
Port Isabel
Port Isabel
We reach the bridge between Port Isabel and South Padre Island
Bridge between Port Isabel and South Padre Island
Bridge between Port Isabel and South Padre Island
We made one stop to look for birds but I stayed in the van as it felt like a ZOO. There were many bird watchers and they were all hanging on the fence looking at the birds in the garden. There were two gardens that they had made in to a protective area.
And they feed the birds so there were many birds. I just wanted to get to my hotel and I will have to go to a supermarket to by milk and stuff for my dinner and breakfasts.
We stayed at Holiday Inn and it was a very nice room and the internet was working. So, I was happy after 3 days in Corpus Christi without internet. I booked a taxi to the supermarket.
At South Padre Island supermarket
I took the same taxi back to the hotel and I had my tea. And I was hungry after a long day on the road. We will be exploring the birding areas in the area tomorrow and we will leave at 7 thirty tomorrow morning.
Just clickHEREto see if we find any exciting birds.
eBird Trip Report
Since April 2023 eBird offer a new feature, to create Trip Reports. At least this is when I first heard of this feature and I have decided to make the eBird Trip Reports instead of my list of OBSERVED birds.
And of course, this also means that I will HAVE TO go back and do the same for my old birding adventures, WHEN I HAVE THE TIME!
Today's Trip Report: Southern Texas bird watching tour with Nature Trip - Day 3 - ClickHERE
Lifers
Icons for lifers used in the eBird trip reports
Species lifer:First time that someone observes a species in their life
Photo lifer:First time that someone photographs a species in their life
Audio lifer:First time that someone audio records a species in their life
Exotic species
Exotic species flags differentiate locally introduced species from native species.
Naturalized:Exotic population is self-sustaining, breeding in the wild, persisting for many years, and not maintained through ongoing releases (including vagrants from Naturalized populations). These count in official eBird totals and, where applicable, have been accepted by regional bird records committee(s).
Provisional:Either:1)member of exotic population that is breeding in the wild, self-propagating, and has persisted for multiple years, but not yet Naturalized;2)rarity of uncertain provenance, with natural vagrancy or captive provenance both considered plausible.
When applicable, eBird generally defers to bird records committees for records formally considered to be of "uncertain provenance". Provisional species count in official eBird totals.
Escapee:Exotic species known or suspected to be escaped or released, including those that have bred but don't yet fulfill the criteria for Provisional. Escapee exotics do not count in official eBird totals.