When we left the highway, we had about 11 miles to go on a road filled with pot holes before arriving at Laguna Atascosa NWR. But there were some good birds to see along the way. I now had 27 life birds on this trip, and another target bird, White-tailed Kite is often seen in this NWR.
Northern Bobwhites
Crested Caracara
Common Nighthawk
Common Nighthawk
Dickcissel
Eastern Meadowlark
Female Red-winged Blackbird
Male Red-winged Blackbird
We arrived at the Laguna Atascosa NWR, and the sky started to get very dark. Heavy rain and thunderstorms had been forecasted for the afternoon and evening, and we had a long drive back to San Antonio. We didn't stay there very long, but saw a few birds before heading north, but did not see a White-tailed Kite.
Harris's Hawk
Pied-billed Grebes
Plain Chachalacas
Bullock's Oriole
Roseate Spoonbill
We headed north all the way to I-37, drove in rain some of the time, and stopped a few times before the interstate to look at hawks. We saw another Red-tailed Hawk without any breast markings.
Harris's Hawks
Red-tailed Hawk
White-tailed Hawks being pestered by a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
White-tailed Hawks
White-tailed Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
We ended the 3-1/2 days of birding, and 900+ miles of driving, with 118 avian species, and I got 27 new life birds, giving me a total of 599.
Click here for additional photos and the complete avian trip list