Birding The Dog Days Of Summer
By Mary Beth Stowe
published July 2016
There's great birding in the Lower Rio Grande
Valley any time of year, but there's no denying
that "summer vacation time" is slow, primarily
due to the oppressive heat and humidity!
However, there are certain birds that grace
our area this time of year that make it worthwhile
to get out there and enjoy them! Probably
the most sought-after summertime bird is
the Groove-billed Ani (although the odd individual
usually hangs
around all winter
somewhere in the
Valley), but Couch's
Kingbird, Botteri's
Sparrow, Bullock's
Oriole, Brown-crested
and Scissor-tailed
Flycatchers, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo also
call this area "home" in the summer. Many
birds that the tourists
enjoy as spring
migrants will hang
around to breed,
such as Dickcissel,
Blue Grosbeak, and
Painted Bunting.
And, of course, the
resident Valley specialties
will always
be around to enjoy,
not to mention the
possibility of regular
vagrants such as Yellow-green
Vireo and
Masked Duck, both of which have bred here!
The trick to surviving birding in the summer
is to focus on the coolest parts of the day. When
I'm birding on my own, I shoot to arrive at my
destination at sunrise (or even a little before),
and wrap up between 11:00 and noon. We get
very few birders needing guiding services this
time of year, as most come here to either escape
the cold northern winters or to experience the
wonder of spring migration, but for those who
really have no choice, summer in the Valley is
better than no Valley at all! So in those rare
cases, if someone wants a full day of birding
I'll split the hours so that we take advantage of
the early mornings and late evenings.
Evenings can be great on any account, as birds
are coming in to roost, but in particular visiting
birders like to see the Red-crowned Parrots and
Green Parakeets, so the hour before sunset is a
perfect time to cruise 10th Street in McAllen
for the parakeets, and we have a nearby roost of
the large Amazona parrots in Weslaco that we
can take people to. The Red-crowned Parrot is
our only "countable" parrot, but good numbers
of feral "escapees" also join the flock, such as
White-fronted, Yellow-headed, Red-lored, and
Lilac-crowned Parrots.
Personally, I like road birding the best, as you
have a chance to hop into an air conditioned
car, whereas if I'm doing a morning hiking survey,
it gets pretty warm as it closes in on 11:00!
Our monthly Birder Patrol trips have braved the
deserts around Salineño in July as summer is
the best time for Red-billed Pigeon (and again,
you're not far from the car as you explore the
Dump Road and nearby Falcon State Park). At
South Padre Island you can be cooled by a nice
breeze, and birding on the beach from your car
insures that you can stay cool that way! My
most interesting recent "warm weather" birding
outing was with the Birder Patrol on May 28th,
where we headed down SR 186 to Sacahuistale
Flats, an area of thornscrub, grassland, and
mesquite savannah. The route actually starts
in agricultural area with some roadside palm
trees, and this is where we usually pick up nesting
Hooded Orioles and singing Dickcissels.
The main target this time of year, however,
is the Botteri's Sparrow, a restricted range bird
that only occurs here in the summer (another
race also occurs in southeast Arizona): it's
rather nondescript,
with a plain face
and breast, long
rounded tail, and
rather large bill for
a sparrow. Nearly
identical to the resident
Cassin's Sparrow,
it's best told
by its very different
sputtering song that
ends like a bright
bouncing ball, not unlike an Olive Sparrow's song. It prefers the more open areas, and we
weren't disappointed as we heard, then spotted,
a bird sitting nicely on a barbed wire fence!
Raptors are to be expected any time of year,
with Harris' Hawk being the most common,
along with Crested Caracara and the occasional
White-tailed Hawk. The route ends in Port
Mansfield, where Wild Turkeys are a possibility
at the Nature Trail, and a new wildlife viewing
area on the Laguna Madre affords good
looks at nesting Wilson's Plovers, Willets, and
Least Terns, plus other coastal birds that may
be passing through (fall migration for shorebirds
actually starts in July!). Summer is also
the best time to hope for a flyover Magnificent
Frigatebird, and this last time we were blessed
with three individuals at close range!
So if the dog days of summer are the only
time you can take vacation, don't write off the
Lower Rio Grande Valley! With planning and
common sense precautions, your birding can be
just as exciting as any other time of year!