Winnie and I continued our Saturday birding at Estero Llano State Park. We got there about 1:45 P.M. and took a few minutes to eat the salads Winnie's son had made for us. While eating we had northern mockingbirds and long-billed thrashers singing and orange-crowned warblers foraging. Then we went down to the visitor center and I immediately enjoyed the birds in the pond, while Winnie went into the visitor center. I was enjoying looking through a scope operated by a volunteer. A Vietnamese lady started asking me questions about birds and my camera. By the time Winnie showed up, she had asked if she could go around with us.
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| View of the pond in front of the visitor center |
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| White-faced ibis |
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| Vegetation in the wooded areas |
One of the birds we came to look for was the gray-crowned yellowthroat, a relative of the common yellowthroat. We didn't see that bird, but did enjoy seeing a lot of ducks and waders as well as several kinds of sandpipers and a few vermillion flycatchers in young male and young female plumages. The day was so cloudy that a sora came out early. We went down to the location of the sleeping common pauraque and had to stop along the way to take close pictures of a yellow-crowned night heron. On the way back from checking out the large alligator in the lake past the bedroom of the common pauraque, we were met by a woman coming to find us to show us a green kingfisher.
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| Sora by Winnie Shrum |
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| Spotted sandpiper |
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| Western sandpiper (I hope) |
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| Common pauraque - one or more of these birds are always sleeping in the same four square feet. |
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| Green kingfisher in very low light |
Then we decided to go up the hill to the Llano Grande. We had a whole new set of birds there. There were at least 100 black-bellied whistling ducks, many avocets and black necked stilts, and ruddy ducks.
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| Winnie's picture of Suzy and me coming up the hill to the Llano Grando |
Back at the garden behind the visitor center, we watched inca doves and a pair of ruddy doves as well as a female rufous hummer. Then we had a little boy take our pictures at the entrance sign before saying goodbye to Suzy.
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| Inca dove pair |
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| Female rufus hummingbird |
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| Pair of ruddy doves |
This is a very easy place to find a lot of species. It too will be even better in migration.
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| Winnie, me and our new friend, Suzy |
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