Roadside Hawk

 

There has been a Roadside Hawk in the Valley, at Frontera Audubon, for about a week.  It would be a good bird to get.  There aren’t many North American records for it.  This hawk normally doesn’t go north of Mexico.  It’s not even listed in our Sibley’s North American bird book.

 

So, this morning, we headed off to see the Roadside Hawk.  We stopped at Edinburg Scenic Wetlands first; walked the trails and saw a few birds.  From there we went to Quinta Mazatlan, an old adobe estate in McAllen, converted to a wildlife refuge.  It was closed because it’s Sunday, so we moved on to Frontier Audubon in Weslaco.  It was open.  At the reception desk our first questions were about where to find the hawk and when it was last seen.  This hasn’t been an easy bird to get, so we expected a rather generalized answer.  The answer we got was surprising specific.  She said “I can tell you exactly where it is.  Right about now it’s in a box headed north to the University of Texas where they’ll study and document the remains.”

 

It turns out a Great Horned Owl moved into the Frontera Audubon Thicket night before last.  Yesterday they found what was left of the Roadside Hawk on the ground under a tree.  The Great Horned Owl ate it.  Oh well.  Wild Kingdom.

 

We had a walk through the thicket anyway and got some more birds for the day.  We didn’t get anything terribly uncommon, but we picked up a couple new year-birds: the Wilson’s Warbler and the Plain Chachalaca.

 

Here is our list for the day.  Four hours; forty birds:

 

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck	edinburg scenic wetlands
Gadwall	edinburg scenic wetlands
Blue-winged Teal	edinburg scenic wetlands
Northern Shoveler	edinburg scenic wetlands
Ruddy Duck	edinburg scenic wetlands
Plain Chachalaca	frontera audubon
Least Grebe	edinburg scenic wetlands
Neotropic Cormorant	edinburg scenic wetlands
Double-crested Cormorant	edinburg scenic wetlands
Great Blue Heron	edinburg scenic wetlands
Great Egret	edinburg scenic wetlands
Snowy Egret	edinburg scenic wetlands
Cattle Egret	edinburg
Cattle Egret	edinburg scenic wetlands
Black-crowned Night-Heron	edinburg scenic wetlands
Turkey Vulture	edinburg scenic wetlands
Turkey Vulture	frontera audubon
Red-shouldered Hawk	frontera audubon
Crested Caracara	edinburg
Common Moorhen	edinburg scenic wetlands
American Coot	edinburg scenic wetlands
Laughing Gull	edinburg scenic wetlands
Rock Pigeon	edinburg
Eurasian Collared-Dove	edinburg
Mourning Dove	edinburg
Inca Dove	edinburg scenic wetlands
Inca Dove	frontera audubon
Greater Roadrunner	edinburg scenic wetlands
Belted Kingfisher	edinburg scenic wetlands
Golden-fronted Woodpecker	edinburg
Golden-fronted Woodpecker	edinburg scenic wetlands
Golden-fronted Woodpecker	frontera audubon
Ladder-backed Woodpecker	frontera audubon
Great Kiskadee	edinburg scenic wetlands
Couch's Kingbird	frontera audubon
Loggerhead Shrike	edinburg
Black-crested Titmouse	frontera audubon
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	edinburg scenic wetlands
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	edinburg scenic wetlands
Northern Mockingbird	edinburg scenic wetlands
Northern Mockingbird	frontera audubon
Orange-crowned Warbler	edinburg scenic wetlands
Orange-crowned Warbler	frontera audubon
Yellow-rumped Warbler	edinburg scenic wetlands
Wilson's Warbler	frontera audubon
Northern Cardinal	frontera audubon
Great-tailed Grackle	edinburg