Restrictions Apply (Texas)

© 2025 Alamo Birding Services LLC

By Mary Beth Stowe

Download Trip Report Here!

3/26/20 


With our normally busy spring guiding season having gone bye-bye with the travel restrictions set in place as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, Birder Patroller Deb was moved to help out and actually hired me to help her with vocalizations!  So since Elf Owls had returned to Bentsen (and Whippoorwills were possible), we decided to head into the park an hour before dawn and hear what we could hear! Thankfully the predicted wind advisory was not to materialize until noon, so it was quite pleasant, with a clear, star-studded sky. But things were very quiet to start: we did pick up a distant Great Horned Owl (that we eventually got closer to), and a Cardinal was the first songbird to start tuning up. Ironically it was when the sky started lightening in the east that the Pauraques started sounding off, and at one point we actually spotted one on the road behind us, doing “knee bends” like a Rock Wren, then periodically jumping up to snatch a bug! The “McCall’s” Screech Owls were softly trilling, and thankfully a pair started calling close to the road so Deb could hear them!


Sadly, that was it for the night birds; the normal players (particularly Couch’s Kingbirds and Mockingbirds) brought the morning to life, and a Long-billed Thrasher started fussing right next to us, giving off all three common call notes (the smack, the duit, and the faaaaaa!)! A Clay-colored Thrush called, but was a little too distant for Deb to pick out amongst the rising cacophony. 


Instead of “waiting in the dawn” at the resaca as I do on my Birdathons, we continued on and did the loop through Acacia Circle. We heard a Beardless Tyrannulet do its dear dear dear song near the restrooms, sounding like we were right on top of him, but could we find him?? Of course not! We finally gave up and continued on, when Deb spotted the Gray Hawk in a tree which was undoubtedly the same one we had heard whistling! A White-tailed Kite sailed overhead, but in the gloom Deb couldn’t see any detail. 


Once in the loop we spotted a Bronzed Cowbird on the wire and a White-winged Dove in a dead tree. We then took the Kiskadee Trail back to the resaca, where we found the trail’s namesake on the nest (there were two nests, in fact)! They had a little spat when one of them tried to bring in some nesting material while the other was still sitting on said nest… A Verdin was chinking brightly (but refused to come out as usual), and heading over to the resaca an Upland Sandpiper called overhead! We logged a pair of Pied-billed Grebes and a distant Anhinga; Deb spotted a Great Blue Heron go past, and a Great Egret also flew over the road at one point. 

A pigeon perched on a tree branch with a white background

White-winged Dove

It was shortly after that as we were headed out (and I was trying to video a singing Cardinal) that one of the rangers pulled up and informed us that they were closing the park! Hidalgo County had just issued their own “shelter in place” order the night before, but according to the order (of which I had a copy in my pocket with pertinent lines highlighted), one could still travel to parks and outdoor areas (in or out of Hidalgo County) to “recreate”, so long as you abided by the “Social Distancing Guidelines” (Deb and I had done our part by driving separately…)! The ranger (who was very nice and really seemed pained to have to break this news to us) said this was a state-wide thing from Texas Parks & Wildlife, so we (along with several other people we passed who were also biking or walking their dogs) were horrified at the prospect that our beloved state parks were now off limits! (Hold that thought…)


Restrictions Apply

Video Grab of a Cardinal

So we continued on, picking up a trio of Chachalacas and a lonely White-tipped Dove at the Nature Center area (they all seemed to be saying, “Where’s our breakfast??” as feeding had discontinued earlier in the month), and somewhere in here I heard a Roadrunner cooing amongst the similar-sounding doves! Cave Swallows wheeled over the canal area while a single Barn sat on the wire, and the Black Phoebe actually sat up high in a tree near headquarters! A buzzy “Zoo-zee-zoozoo-zee!” betrayed a Black-throated Green Warbler, who refused to come out… We went to check the bathrooms (which were closed), logging a singing House Wren and Inca Dove on the way.


A bird perched on a wire with a white background

Barn Swallow

I was in dire need of said bathroom, so we agreed to meet at the El Tigre near the freeway. While I was taking care of things (and grabbing a package of Ramen noodles that I haven’t been able to find anywhere) Deb called Estero Llano Grande, where Ranger Javier assured her that “the wetlands awaited”! Apparently the decision to close was on a park-by-park basis (the Bentsen ranger told us that Resaca de la Palma had also closed), and I blessed Javier a million times over for keeping Estero open! Once we got there we headed straight into the Tropical Zone (after enjoying a Long-billed Thrasher in the parking lot that was serenading us), but the migrant show that was so prevalent on Sunday seemed to have had dissipated, as the only warbler we encountered was the ubiquitous Orange-crowned. 


As we strolled, an Olive Sparrow sang his bright bouncing-ball song, and a Myiarchus flycatcher gave a fleeting glimpse, which could have been the reported Great Crested, but we never saw it again (and never heard it call). The Buff-bellied Hummingbirds were chattering around that exotic cactus they love, and an accipiter that blasted over revealed his identity as a Cooper’s when he started calling! Over by the Indigo Blind a female Hooded Oriole wheeped (and got chased off by another), then I tried to remember exactly where Ben had shown me the Great Horned Owl nest! We ran into a gal named Tracy who had worked with Deb at the RGV Birding Festival, and she pointed the nest out to us, this time with Momma in it! While we were chatting a Ruby-crowned Kinglet actually sang a little of its bubbly song!

Two people are walking down a dirt road in the woods.

Tracy points out the Great Horned Owl nest (below) to Deb


A bird is sitting in a nest in a tree.

From there we headed to the drip by way of the butterfly garden, where a Carolina Wren was sitting up and calling in plain sight, but unfortunately Deb couldn’t get on him before he ducked down… we gave the two drips about 15 minutes each, where someone had placed some grapefruit that a couple of Mexican Bluewings were taking advantage of! Eventually a Green Jay and Orange-crowned Warbler came in to the “Pauraque Hall” drip, while only a White-tipped Dove came in to the “Picnic Table” drip. Black-crested Titmice came to the tray feeder occasionally, and somewhere in here Deb spotted a Ruby-throated Hummingbird! A Purple Martin wheeled overhead, and a young Altamira Oriole was working on sewing up the ever-present nest on the wire (even if it only consisted of a few strands)! The adult came blasting over before we ran into “Salineño Mike” and started chatting about the voluminous number of Red-billed Pigeons that were reported along the Seedeater Trail!

A small brown bird perched on a tree branch

Carolina Wren

A man wearing a hat and a vest is standing in the woods.

"Nuts - missed that one!"

A butterfly is perched on a slice of grapefruit

Mexican Bluewing

A yellow bird is perched on a power line

A young Altamira Oriole practices weaving a nest from the wire

Continuing to the Park Host Area, we logged a bunch of Mourning Doves (MODOs to the jaded) and spotted a pair of Curve-billed Thrashers running around on the floor! From there we decided to check out “Mary’s Drip” at the start of the Green Jay Trail (so called because she was the one to cotton me onto that one), but since the bench was in the sun and it was currently inactive, we decided to go to the deck and finish the morning there.


We had the usual players in Ibis Pond: Least Grebes, Shovelers, Blue-winged Teal, Mottled Ducks, and tons of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks – a whole herd was resting under the “feeder tree” next to the building like so many lazing cows on a hot day! A Common Gallinule was poking around some lily pads that looked great for Purple (which would have gotten a lot of people excited), and another White-tailed Kite sailed by amongst the Turkey Vultures! More Purple Martins wheeled around (expected since their martin house was just out of sight), and Deb looked in vain for Vermilion Flycatchers …

A man standing on a balcony overlooking a lake

Deb on deck

A group of ducks are sitting on the ground.

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

There is a tree in the middle of a field.

The back trail from the Tropical Zone to the VC


We called it a day, but not before watching a little White-eyed Vireo quivering his wings right next to us in the parking lot! We finished with a modest 61 species for the morning. Bird list:


Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Blue-winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Mottled Duck

Plain Chachalaca

Least Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

Rock Pigeon

Inca Dove

White-tipped Dove

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

Greater Roadrunner

Common Pauraque

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Common Gallinule

Killdeer

Upland Sandpiper

Anhinga

Neotropic Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Turkey Vulture

White-tailed Kite

Cooper's Hawk

Gray Hawk

Eastern Screech-Owl

Great Horned Owl

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet

Black Phoebe

Great Kiskadee

Couch's Kingbird

White-eyed Vireo

Green Jay

Black-crested Titmouse

Verdin

Purple Martin

Barn Swallow

Cave Swallow

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

House Wren

Carolina Wren

European Starling

Curve-billed Thrasher

Long-billed Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Clay-colored Thrush

House Sparrow

Lesser Goldfinch

Olive Sparrow

Hooded Oriole

Altamira Oriole

Red-winged Blackbird

Bronzed Cowbird

Great-tailed Grackle

Orange-crowned Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Northern Cardinal

Michigan Photo Shoot Part 2 - Pine River Nature Center & Applegate

By Mary Beth Stowe • August 18, 2025
Got up at a decent hour the next morning, went through the routine, and spent a wonderful hour out on the deck just enjoying whatever came by! A pretty American Goldfinch was the highlight, along with a Robin that was whinnying and singing! At around 8:30 we headed over to the Pine River Nature Center, but it was just gonna be Laura and Ida meeting us – no Archie (their Golden Retriever)! But when we got there, there was a sign that said, “No dogs on the trail”, so I guess it was a good thing! And it was indeed a lovely place, but I’m glad I brought my stick as there were several steps and inclines, as well as loose rocks. Birds were singing all over, so added a bunch of year birds by ear (unfortunately nothing got filmed except a lovely Ebony Jewelwing): Mourning Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher were highlights, but the Redstart had me wondering until he sang his “email” song! I cottoned Dave and Laura onto Merlin, and they both downloaded the app when they saw how impressive it was in IDing the birds (but I warned them that Merlin isn’t always right)! We visited the “treehouse” which had a nice view of the canopy (Ida insisted it was haunted), and then went to the VC where Ida could look at the stuffed and live animals (that Grizzly was impressive)! The Eastern Box Turtle was beautiful with his yellow cheeks, and the director was telling us that they were confiscated by Michigan game officials because they’re a threatened species.

Michigan Photo Shoot Part 1 - Around Town

By Mary Beth Stowe • July 30, 2025
It was a long time getting to Detroit as my 7:15 flight to Dallas was delayed until 11:45, but thankfully the flight to Detroit was also delayed, so there was plenty of layover time at Dallas! Both flights were uneventful; neither of my seat mates were very talkative, so I wasn’t going to push any conversations and just took that as a green light to go ahead and relax!

Day 6 - Mustang Island 2

By Mary Beth Stowe • June 16, 2025
Started out pre-dawn the next morning, adding a beent ing Common Nighthawk to the trip list right in the parking lot! There wasn’t a hint of any utility work, so I found The Willows fine, only it was as I suspected: a fancy residential area with a few trees that looked good as a migrant trap. No migrants around today (it was already in the 80s) so I found the hotspot designated as the area between Port Aransas and the state park, and just covered that stretch by stopping every half mile and scanning for falcons. There were still no occupants at the nesting platforms, but one stop did have a White-tailed Hawk perched on a gas well! That’s when I discovered (presumably) that I had left the foot for the cameras at the hotel, so I went blasting back (but not before stopping for a pair of Mottled Ducks and Black-necked Stilts), got back inside, and couldn’t find a trace. The nice front desk gal said she’d let me know if housekeeping found anything, but I figured it had to be buried somewhere ! And while checking the towel that I use to wrap The Monster, there it was, on the body of the camera instead of on the lens, where I usually put it! I felt so dumb – I told the gal I had found it, so we were both relieved, but I felt like I had wasted a half hour by coming back. But I had to remind myself that God’s timing is perfect, and everything is for a reason, even if it isn’t obvious at first!

Day 5: Mustang Island 1

By Mary Beth Stowe • June 9, 2025
When I realized I wanted to hit The Willows first (some good migrants had been seen there the day before), I was curious to see what direction Siri would take me, as it obviously would be different than my written directions that would take me directly to the state park. But as always, she wanted to take me into the heart of Houston rush hour traffic, but an alternate route appeared to zigzag towards Galveston, so I took that, only she kept trying to get me to take a totally different route!! Needless to say I got terribly turned around and ended up going a back way back to the tollway (and actually went through pretty nice suburban area – I got to thinking that I wouldn’t mind living there so long as I didn’t have to get on the freeway), and from there she took us the same way we came up until it was time to veer off towards Corpus, where we went through some hair-raising construction but finally made it safely to Padre Island! I wanted to head straight to the Willows (she was initially gonna bring us in from the north, but I guess she abandoned that idea), but stopped first at the state park to use the potties and make a sandwich. On the way up I saw the two Aplomado nesting platforms, and thought for sure I saw some birds in there, but headed on to the Willows with the idea of checking them more closely on the way back, only ran into some “Be Prepared to Stop” traffic (and they really meant it this time, too), so rather than fight that we decided to turn around and check out the beach access we had just driven by.

Day 4: Sheldon Lake State Park

By Mary Beth Stowe • May 27, 2025
It was indeed raining the next morning (and really blowing the night before), so I actually got to have the "real" breakfast before settling down to work on file processing! The initial forecast was heavy rain up till 11:00, but after an hour that drastically changed, and by 8:00 it had cleared up enough (with no heavy rain thereafter) to head on up to Garrett Road! Again, the beltway was a breeze, and after getting off on Garrett I quick-like got some ice (it melts in a hurry) and then headed down to the "boat ramp". It really wasn't a "boat ramp", but rather a huge parking area abutting a cypress swamp that rivaled anything in Florida — no wonder the Limpkins like it! I parked at the far end and set up shop (already several fishermen were at the other end, close to the road), and was wondering what all these red splotches on the cypress trunks were when it dawned on me (upon closer inspection) that they were the Apple Snail eggs! Again, no wonder the Limpkins like this place! And I didn't have to wait long, either: shortly one came sailing in, yelling as he did so, and landed right on the edge of the parking area! Another one came in shortly thereafter and chased the first one, and he was practically at my feet! Kay had confirmed where the babies had been, but when I went over to check, I couldn't find any — I suspect they're fledged by now. Besides the Limpkins (which really performed well, both on top of trees and close by) I was able to film a female Red-winged Blackbirds on the nest (and later poking around the ground with a missing foot), plus a pair of Great-tailed Grackles strutting around the joint. The first Neotropic Cormorant of the trip flew overhead, and somewhere what I suspected was a Great Blue Heron nest was hidden, as I could hear babies squawking. [Update: They may have actually been Cattle Egrets, as while in the process of creating video grabs, I caught a couple sailing by in the background of one of the Limpkin videos...] A Green and calico Little Blue Heron also came wheeling in, but closer to the road, and I didn't want to get too far away from the car. A ranger made the rounds with a bucket, picking up trash, and we got to talking about the Limpkins, which were "all over the place" now, according to him, and reported that birders all the way from Austin came in to see them (and a lot further than that, I'm sure, when they were first reported)! Purple Gallinules called but wouldn't come out, of course, and after about an hour a guy pulled up and got on his phone, so I figured it was time to move on. After I packed up I jokingly said to him, "Your turn!" which got a chuckle, and it did indeed look like he was preparing to fish right where I was!

Day 3: More Brazos Bend

By Mary Beth Stowe • May 20, 2025
The Lord was merciful the next morning and it wasn’t raining! Got packed up, swiped a couple of sausages from the breakfast, and headed out to the park. Got in earlier than yesterday, and right away a Painted Bunting was singing right next to the car! Unfortunately it was still too dark to take video, but you could just barely make out his colors! The first missed trail I wanted to cover was the Pilant Slough Trail (kept wanting to call it Pliant Slough), but wanted to crawl along that cypress swamp just in case another Limpkin showed up! Well, if someone didn’t mind counting a heard-only bird, there were plenty of them wailing away, only way back there! In fact, I could even see a private home back there, and five’ll get you ten that that was the place the owner was letting people in to see the birds when they first started showing up! While I was making audio recordings a couple of feral pigs snorted and ran away on the other side of the road, so that got me back to the car in a hurry! Shortly came across a “murder of crows” that was giving something fits, so I pulled over to see if I could spot what they were mobbing, and it was a Bobcat up in a tree! He stayed put for video, too! I thought that was pretty neat! 
Two trees are standing in the middle of a grassy field.

Day 2: Brazos Bend State Park

By Mary Beth Stowe • September 28, 2024
Got ready to go the next morning a little earlier than planned, so went ahead and headed over to the park, thankful that the gate was open just like the guy said! I went straight to 40 Acre Lake and took the Powershot down to the pier, but didn’t stay long as I realized I really needed to be using The Monster (i.e. Sony with the Big Lens) in this situation (it was still kinda dusky, even after sunrise, and it handles low-light situations much better than the Powershot). I ended up spending over an hour there as it was quite active: tons of Little Blue Herons (including many transitioning birds, called “calicos”), Common Gallinules, a young Great Blue, and even a pair of Purple Gallinules taking a bath (but on the other side of the lake)! Some Anhingas were swimming with just their head and necks above the surface (hence the name “snake-bird”), so that was fun to shoot! A Pied-billed Grebe was new for the trip (as was a Tricolored Heron that kept hiding). Got some artsy shots of Great Egrets and spoonbills across the lake, and another Anhinga had landed on the railing to dry his wings, and he was pretty dilapidated! I didn’t wanna bother him (it was obvious he was agitated when I started getting closer), but a Plegadis ibis wheeled in that had a gray face and dark eye, and I would think that this time of year any Whiteface would have a red eye! Unfortunately so long as I didn’t have Internet access I couldn’t upload a picture to eBird, so documentation would have to wait until I got to the Holiday Inn (if I could get on their Wi-Fi…). [Update: I could, so I submitted the photos – more on that story later…] White Ibis were out the yin yang, and what I thought were a mom and kid Boat-tailed Grackle came by (as the male was singing somewhere), but they turned out to be Great-tails after I reviewed the video. A Mississippi Kite circled over the trees, but the best video op was a roaring Alligator! That was great! The Four-spotted Pennants (a type of dragonfly) on the way out were anti-climactic! Totally forgot to film the Barn Swallow nest on the way out, though… ☹ I did hear some chickadees on the way out, so I wheeled back in and tried to get some video out the car window!
A tree in a park with spanish moss hanging from it

Day 1: The Drive Up & Brazos Bend Scouting

By Mary Beth Stowe • September 21, 2024
As usual, woke up early so got going early after the morning routine; added Golden-fronted Woodpecker to the list while packing the car (among other things we’ll probably pick up later). Another “write-in” bird heading north on US 77 was a Harris’ Hawk!  We stopped at the Sarita rest stop, picking up a Hooded Oriole for the trip, but boy, did it look nasty up ahead!! I wish I had been able to take a picture on the fly, because you talk about storm-chasing: once under it, it was black as night, with some terrific lightning displays! But then the rain started, and by Riviera it was zero visibility, so I just pulled into a Pizza Hut (or some such joint) parking lot to wait it out for a while. A Flood Warning came over the phone, and looking at the radar, we were right in the middle of a big red blob (I kept trying to capture a picture of the thing and was turning the phone off by mistake, so by the time I did get a picture the Red Blob had moved north a bit so the effect wasn’t the same)! Continued on after a few minutes, and while it let up, it didn’t really stop until the next stop at Refugio. We got a breakfast croissant at Burger King, then continued north. Filled up at El Campo (ended up going around the Very Long Block for that one), where a homeless guy opened the door for me! Headed on to Brazos Bend, where there was no hint of the threatened rain! Jumped out at the entrance to shoot the requisite sign, and had a Carolina Wren actually in view for a second while waiting to check in! I had some questions, so the ranger had me park and walk in where he gave me a map and showed me where the Limpkins usually show up; unfortunately it was as someone else had mentioned, and it was an almost three mile one-way hike along the Live Oak Trail to get to the habitat! He also suggested a couple of spots for Purple Gallinules, and said that the gate opens around 6:15, so that was perfect! Back at the car I remembered the other question I wanted to ask and went running back: do they have feeders? Nope – all natural here, she said!
A dirt road in the middle of a desert with mountains in the background

Day 6 - Kickapoo Cavern State Park

By Mary Beth Stowe • September 16, 2024
And what a final day! It was another cold but (thankfully) windless morning, and the drive to Brackettville in the dark was (again thankfully) uneventful. We made a potty stop there, picking up a singing Western Kingbird for the trip, and by that time it was getting light enough so that the last leg to Kickapoo Cavern on FM 674 was delightful – I’d love to be able to survey that road, as there was lots of good Edwards Plateau habitat and plenty of places to pull over. Did see a couple of ravens, but according to eBird both could occur, so I let them go. And am I thankful I downloaded the eBird checklist the night before, because there was no signal once I got to the park! (Although I had an initial shock when I ran the day list and only got four species – needed to change the date… 😊) After taking the obligatory entrance sign picture, we just crawled along, and were rewarded with a friendly Golden-cheeked Warbler, and later a Rufous-crowned Sparrow (he wasn’t friendly – just happened to be on my side of the road and was nice enough to stay put)! A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on a wire sallied out and caught a big bug, and although the singing Canyon Wren wasn’t new for the trip, the singing Scott’s Oriole was! The normal songsters seemed to be just Cardinals, Bell’s Vireos, and Bewick’s Wrens.
A river runs through a lush green forest with mountains in the background.

Day 5 - South Llano River SP - The Trails

By Mary Beth Stowe • September 7, 2024
Headed out in the black, deciding to park at the walk-in camping lot to see in the dawn. And what a morning! It was freezing cold (around 37 degrees; Heppy – my Subaru – even warned me that the roads could be icy), but not a speck of wind, and the night sky was glorious! (There was a sign in the campground saying this was a Dark Sky Park or something like that…) Got to see a couple of meteors, and even a satellite (or the Space Station)! 😊 Once again, the Cardinals had to voice their dominance as the first birds up (even before it was lightening in the east), but nothing in the way of night birds vocalized. I did hear this weird barking that I suspected was one of the Axis Deer, so I thought I’d have some fun and see what Merlin said! Interestingly, he thought it was an Inca Dove (no way), but he also said he picked up a Poorwill! I did briefly hear something that sounded like one poor-will phrase, but since it didn’t keep going (as they usually do), I didn’t count it. Walked around the lot trying to keep warm, and in the twilight a Great Horned Owl glided low over my head (and it was light enough to see the details of his face without the bins 😊)! Also heard Turkeys gobbling in the distance, and as it got lighter a singing Yellow-breasted Chat (that Merlin didn’t recognize, interestingly) was new for the trip, and that weird whistling that I heard yesterday that sounded like a funky Black-capped Chickadee and wrote it off as an oddball Field Sparrow or something suddenly clicked: it was the reported White-throated Sparrow! He gave great recording ops but never came out for a view, either there or in the blind.