BIG DAY 4/24
The birding workday began with a 5:30AM departure bound for Choke Canyon State Park to try our hand at grabbing some desert species. This was a pointed maneuver to outpace our competitors (can you even really call them that...) who stuck to Corpus proper. Led by the best birder I've walked with in my life, we took a series of side roads around the park lined by wire fences with scrub on either side. Cassin's and Clay-colored Sparrows and an indescribable ~500 bird Mississippi Kite kettle way off in the distance set the tone for the day.
Working back toward the coast and stopping at what I believe must've been some insider spots, we added myriad hawks and songbirds. A mudflat adjacent to the park's reservoir held some more niche species that weren't guaranteed on the coastline: Little Blue Heron, Baird's and White-rumped Sandpiper, Inca and Common Ground Doves etc.
By 9AM we had about 85 species. An hour's drive took us back to the Sparking City by the Sea, with a necessary pit stop at Jack in the Box the observe the Monk Parakeet colony. Throw in Swainson's and Harris's Hawk views from inside the restaurant while awaiting our milkshakes, we were making good time.
After dipping on the storied (apocryphal to me...) Cattle Tyrant downtown, we looked for warblers in a shabby city park. Hooded Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, a surprise Chuck-will's-Widow (maybe the most absurd ID from our leader, as our visual was limited to essentially just a flying brick through the treetops for 1 second), and a beautiful Ruby-Throated Hummingbird display flight were standouts.
Next we headed to the classic CC and Port Aransas destinations. And one of the first sightings upon arrival... my cherished Least Bittern in his full, diminutive glory (world's smallest heron species) high in the reeds. I checked out of the group's mad dash for a while and watched him call, attempt to camouflage, and generally be a freak.
