Birding the Rio Grand Valley in Texas - Trip Report

[Cameron Johnson]

Went down to Texas last week to try and pick up all the amazing rarities they have hanging around in the valley for the past few months. Aside from some car trouble (had to completely replace one of my tires due to a puncture) and some *very* gusty winds, the birding was incredible and I got to see almost all of my targets.

The highlight of the trip was by far Santa Margarita Ranch, with Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Mottled Owl, Brown Jays, Red-billed Pigeon and so many more incredible birds all in one area! You need a guide to get onto the private ranch but if you end up going down there I highly recommend signing up, and if anyone would like more info about it please feel free to reach out!

I also got some none-rarites that I was happy with, including Whooping Crane, Green Kingfisher and Fulvous Whistling-Duck, the latter two of which I got some incredible photos. Still have yet to see a Sandwich Tern, somehow, so I think that is officially a nemesis bird for me 😆

You can find my full trip report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/207527