384. Common Eider

Date         May 27, 2025

Location    Race Point Beach, Provincetown, MA

To my left, I saw several ducks at the water's edge. Only one of them was an adult male; the rest were brownish. I strongly suspected this species, but I wanted to get closer to be sure AND get a nice look at this cool duck.

As I slowly made my way over -- taking a few steps, then pausing to look through binoculars, repeat -- a woman was walking to my left with a camera on a tripod. She was walking briskly and not stopping at all, so I was rather annoyed at her because I was afraid she would scare them off. So I quickened my pace somewhat.

She indeed made them head into the bay and swim away, but I got close enough to see it clearly. And at least they didn't fly away.

Cornell: Common Eider

383. White-winged Scoter

Date         May 27, 2025

Location    Race Point Beach, Provincetown, MA

Group of about five flying from my left to my right.

Cornell: White-winged Scoter

382. Crested Carcara

Date         May 3, 2025

Location    US Highway 90, Brackettville, TX

We were just driving from Del Rio to San Antonio and saw one on the side of the highway. It was a brief look, but these are so unmistakable.

Cornell: Crested Caracara

381. Couch's Kingbird

Date         May 2, 2025

Location    Moore Park, Del Rio, TX

We were still trying to make our way out, but the birds weren't done yet! Range and voice were extremely helpful in making this call vs. Cassin's and Western and Tropical. In just a matter of minutes, after deciding to go home, we picked up three flycatchers.

Cornell: Couch's Kingbird

380. Brown-crested Flycatcher

Date         May 2, 2025

Location    Moore Park, Del Rio, TX

Still making our way back, we heard and saw this bird high up in a tree. The more distinct yellow in the belly, the song, and the range helped us determine this species.

Cornell: Brown-crested Flycatcher

379. Great Kiskadee

Date         May 2, 2025

Location    Moore Park, Del Rio, TX

We made our way back to the opposite end of the park, and by this point, we were going to head back to the car and be done for the day. As we started back, we spied him/her high up in a tree. We eventually found a nest as well.

Cornell: Great Kiskadee

378. Cave Swallow

Date         May 2, 2025

Location    Moore Park, Del Rio, TX

Our last stop of the day was to a place called Moore Park, where Green Kingfisher had been reported. This was a city park, next to schools and civic buildings, with a stream running through it. It was a nice green space, but I had my doubts that we'd see anything interesting there beyond the usual suspects. It turned out to be an extremely productive area, despite all the cars and people about.

First we walked down to an overpass. There were dozens of swallows flying around. We soon spotted mud nests attached underneath the overpass. It was clear they were either Cliff or Cave Swallows (due to the nests and lack of forked tail).

However, it was quite difficult to make out details from the flying birds, and the ones on the nest were constantly moving as well, and heavily shaded. There were two things that made us determine that they were Cave, not Cliff: 1) the sounds they were making were distinct from Cliff and matched the sounds for Cave on the app; 2) the nests were not jug-like like Cliff nests; they were, as described in the Sibley's app, "a partially enclosed half-bowl of mud." Bingo!

Cornell: Cave Swallow

377. Common Ground Dove

Date         May 2, 2025

Location    Spur 406, Amistad National Recreation Area, TX

There were a few of these on the opposite side of the road from the bobwhites. They were acting pretty similar -- walking along the ground, foraging.

Cornell: Common Ground Dove

376. Northern Bobwhite

Date         May 2, 2025

Location    Spur 406, Amistad National Recreation Area, TX

As we drove further on, we saw some birds on the ground on the right side of the road. We stopped and were amazed to see several of these birds foraging in a shallow ditch along the side of the road. They proceeded to cross the road, where we saw our next new bird of the day.

Cornell: Northern Bobwhite

375. Bewick's Wren

Date         May 2, 2025

Location    Spur 406, Amistad National Recreation Area, TX

After driving all the way to the boat ramp and seeing a Least Tern, we drove back on the road leading back out to the highway, stopping at places that looked promising. We were pretty confident about this bird's song, and we were sure we were hearing it, but it was being quite stubborn about being seen, almost as bad as it's close cousin, the Marsh Wren. We finally got some decent looks as it moved about quite a bit on various tree branches, singing.

Cornell: Bewick's Wren

374. Common Black Hawk

Date         April 30, 2025

Location    Rio Grand Village, Big Bend National Park, TX

Confession time.

It is well known that Common Black Hawks have a nest at this location, down from the visitor center a ways. Signs near the nest prohibit getting too near. We did respect those signs and stayed on the road nearby. We saw the nest, but no hawks. So I pulled out my bird app and played the call note, hoping to attract their attention.

Before my clip had ended, one swooped up to the tree where the nest was and started responding. I stopped my phone immediately. But he sat there calling for about 10 more minutes.

Basically, it's a bad idea to "tape" birds this way because if it's done enough, it may drive them away from the nest because they think there are too many competitors.  There's a famous example of an owl (can't remember the species, but rare) at Cape May that didn't stay long because hordes of birders came there playing its call hoping to see it. I concluded that a brief use of this technique would not be a problem. But yeah, definitely should be careful about doing it.

Cornell: Common Black Hawk

373. Bell's Vireo

Date         April 30, 2025

Location    Rio Grand Village, Big Bend National Park, TX

We were hearing these *everywhere* in the brushy areas adjacent to the lawn/tree areas. We spent a lot of time trying to find them. Logan recognized the song, but couldn't remember what species it belonged to you for a while, then he finally remembered. We confirmed with our bird app.

We later did eventually get to see a couple, but they were usually content to stay hidden in the bushes, and sing almost continually. They were the most common bird at that site. Pretty nice-looking, actually, for a vireo.

Cornell: Bell's Vireo

372. Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Date         April 30, 2025

Location    Rio Grand Village, Big Bend National Park, TX

Rio Grande Village is in the southeastern portion of the park near the Rio Grand river. There is a small visitor center there and an abundance of city park-like terrain. We heard (they sound very similar to their cousin, the red-bellied) and saw this bird while wandering among the trees. We would see a few more throughout the morning.

The yellow coloration was delightful, being so used to the red of the eastern cousins. I suppose the opposite would be true to someone experiencing the Red-bellied after seeing Golden-fronted for years. That's part of the fun of bird watching. Something boring to you might be novel and exciting to someone else.

Cornell: Golden-fronted Woodpecker