Colleen and I made it to Blucher Park today and it took a while to
find it. This is a wonderful place in downtown Corpus Christi with Blue
Grosbeak, Yellow-breasted Chat, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, in addition
to Norther Mockingbirds, Boat-tailed Grackle and Grey Catbirds etc.
Lots of activity. We had a Summer Tanager (male and female) and
Pyrrhuloxia. There were lots of birders there too. One could probably
spend a good half day there. We left shortly after 12:30 as it is in a
bit of a sheltered gully and it got really hot there in the afternoon.
We needed a cooling off period. I had spoken with a local birder and
the fellow suggested Padre Island just over the coastal waterway at the
east end of Corpus Christi. After a break we went off to this place and
it was not busy with met two birders who gave us directions to Packery
Channel and the Island Audubon Centre which were great. But before this
there was time for a frozen yogurt where one adds all of the fixings yourself.
Both Colleen and I had our own creations and this was another break.
Once at Packery Channel, we met another couple and the we saw the
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. The bird was pretty in the late afternoon
light, then the Painted Buntings, Baltimore, Orchard Orioles and the
beautiful Lark Sparrow. This could gave us other ideas for birding in
the area. This whole area is really the north end of Padre Island as later we will also bird South Padre Island, but one can't get to one place from the other end except through the mainland. There is no Padre Island road going from the Corpus Christie end to the Port Isabel causeway to South Padre Island.
Barb & Colleen
Post script: I remembered how we got here so early in the day to get to several birding places on a travel day. Colleen and I left Ottawa yesterday and got as far as Houston in the later evening. We spent the night there and then took a shuttle back to the airport and took the morning Houston to Corpus Christie flight. We got into Corpus Christie picked up our car and checked into the motel early and went off birding. We were traveling on points so the choice of flights was limited. The alternative was flying into Houston like we did and then drive to Corpus Christie that same evening. We decided to fly instead as we had a fair bit of driving to do on this trip already. I think we put on over 1,700 miles in 11 days.
Here there were super birds in this small oasis: Yellow-breasted Chat, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Couch'ss Kingbird, Summer Tanager, Inca Dove, Chuck-wills-widow and Blue Grosbeak.
At Packery Channel, in the fields nearby or the old farmyard area there were Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Great-crested Flycatcher, Black-chinned Hummingbirds and Baltimore Orioles.
Below is a Black-bellied Plover right at the seashore.
We went to supper at
sundown at a local fish place Snoopy's where we had fresh gulf shrimp
and baked Mahi which were delicious and we watched the sun go down. An
excellent place and met some interesting people today. We made it back
to our hotel in the dark and got into our rooms.
Since
we got up at 4:20 to fly here today and it is now 10:30 or so, it is
time to call it a very good birding day! And hope for some more lifers
tomorrow.
Here are some photos taken this day, thank you to Colleen. Blucher Park was really wonderful and had a good variety:Yellow Breasted Chat, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Couches Flycatcher, Summer Tanager, Inca Dove and Chuck-wills-widow. Later on in the day at Padre-Island ( the section just over the causeway from Corpus Christie) we saw the Black-bellied Plover, the Yellow-headed Blackbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Baltimore Oriole (2 photos, male and female), Blue Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird and the Great Crested Flycatcher.
Here are some photos taken this day, thank you to Colleen. Blucher Park was really wonderful and had a good variety:Yellow Breasted Chat, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Couches Flycatcher, Summer Tanager, Inca Dove and Chuck-wills-widow. Later on in the day at Padre-Island ( the section just over the causeway from Corpus Christie) we saw the Black-bellied Plover, the Yellow-headed Blackbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Baltimore Oriole (2 photos, male and female), Blue Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird and the Great Crested Flycatcher.
Barb & Colleen
Post script: I remembered how we got here so early in the day to get to several birding places on a travel day. Colleen and I left Ottawa yesterday and got as far as Houston in the later evening. We spent the night there and then took a shuttle back to the airport and took the morning Houston to Corpus Christie flight. We got into Corpus Christie picked up our car and checked into the motel early and went off birding. We were traveling on points so the choice of flights was limited. The alternative was flying into Houston like we did and then drive to Corpus Christie that same evening. We decided to fly instead as we had a fair bit of driving to do on this trip already. I think we put on over 1,700 miles in 11 days.
At Packery Channel, in the fields nearby or the old farmyard area there were Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Great-crested Flycatcher, Black-chinned Hummingbirds and Baltimore Orioles.
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