Laguna Vista

Due to the virus the county and state birding spots have closed down to some degree, so this morning we went to a city park a few miles up Highway 100 in the small town of Laguna Vista. Normally there are few people there, just a jogger or two, but today we found a few friends and acquaintances already there. No hugs or handshakes.

Earlier this season there were photos posted of a Yellow-breasted Chat taken there. I was hopeful. They are not terribly rare, but they make their living working in dense brush and are a damned hard bird to photograph. I have taken a few pictures of Chats, but never better than I.D. photos. We did get three fleeting glimpses today, but I never even got off a shot. Lorna neither and she is far quicker than I am. 

But Olive Sparrows and Long-billed Thrashers are beautiful ... and a Hooded Oriole isn't exactly a "dirt bird". They are really beautiful, on the far eastern edge of their range. We also saw Mockers of course and a couple of Green Jays. I usually don't bother taking photos of Green Jays any more, but they are literally on the eastern edge of their range here - no reports of Green Jays ever on South Padre a few miles east.

 Starting to get warmer - 80F today here on coast, 10 degrees hotter up river. Forecast for +10 degrees next week.

Reporting weather and suffering from heat, so you don't have to.  - Gunnar