AWESOME BIRDS! Rio Grande Valley TEXAS Salineno & Falcon S.P. bird photography

[@marymathis9299]

That was fun...thanks so much for all the "sticky" efforts!!!

[@SparkyStensaas]

Glad you enjoyed it Mary! Yes, I probably still have some of those sand burs stuck to my clothes somewhere :-)

[@kathrynclark9921]

I was there with Wildside guides Alex Lamoreaux and Chris Brown 11-9-24 for a week. Awesome trip of life list birds. Great video

[@SparkyStensaas]

Nice! Not a lot of rarities around, but the good old reliable South Texas birds were plentiful and the weather was perfect.

[@gerrysibell7860]

Thank you for the video, Sparky. A couple more new places for my wife and I to visit when down at the RGV!

[@SparkyStensaas]

Great Gerry! Enjoy your birding time in The Valley!

[@generallee5609]

Thx for the video! Appreciate your insight to the birds as well as your videos!

[@SparkyStensaas]

Thank you so much, General Lee! More coming :-)

[@TomReichner]

What a useful video, Sparky! I hope to get down that way this spring, and this is excellent research info for the trip. Thanks!

[@SparkyStensaas]

Great Tom! Lots to shoot in “The Valley“

[@patrickpryal9344]

Awesome photo's Sparky, can't wait for your book !

[@SparkyStensaas]

Thank you Patrick! I really hope to have it out by summer.

[@ryanmarshik8971]

Zone tail… gorgeous bird I’ve never heard of 😂

[@SparkyStensaas]

One of my new favorite raptors!

[@kevinreichenbach5326]

Sparky, I thought I was the only one that used to windshield wiper to hold things. In the winter I put pop cans there to cool them off fast. 😅

[@SparkyStensaas]

That's awesome Kevin! I do that with my Bubbl'r all the time! Doesn't take long at Minus 20 :)

[@kathyporter6479]

I find your travel videos full of great locations and suggestions of places to explore. I am hoping to get on the road so I'm taking note. Love the birds you got here.

[@SparkyStensaas]

Excellent Kathy! So many great places to bird around the country.

[@kathyporter6479]

@@SparkyStensaas You are so right. It's fun to see some of the ones that are a bit off the beaten path too. I would never have thought about TR Roosevelt NP because ND and SD but they are now on my list. You should come to New England some time. See Parker River or Mount Auburn Cemetery during spring migration.

[@a.m.v.6938]

The shot of the Montazuma Cypress tree @ 10:23 is an amazing shot, has a surreal vibe to it.

[@SparkyStensaas]

Thank you! Such cool trees!

[@almeadows8277]

Again, a great collection of species, Sparky; well done.

[@SparkyStensaas]

Thanks Al!

[@jdddyyy1]

Awesome! Wonder when would be the best time of the year to try and see a zone tailed?

[@martinestrada7636]

have lots of those red winged black birds at my feeders lately, green jays, all kinds of doves, sparrows, tit mouse, northern cardinal

[@SparkyStensaas]

Sounds like you live in The Valley Martin. Very cool!

[@jtwanderer6328]

What a beautiful variety of species! I really enjoyed your descriptions. Thank you for your heroic moves to get some awesome shots! Looking forward to your book.

[@SparkyStensaas]

I appreciate your kind words JT. Hopefully the book will be out by summer!

[@avainographer]

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year!

[@SparkyStensaas]

Thanks so much! You too!

[@MHarenArt]

Another super episode! Happy New Year! And oh! I got my Bog Buddy Membership Card today! YAY!

[@SparkyStensaas]

Thanks for becoming a Friend of Sax-Zim Bog bog buddy!

[@Chris_Wolfgram]

Awesome :) Thank you :) I so wanted to go to Salineno on my 30 day cross country trip this year (Apr-May 24') but just never did squeeze it in. I still want to though. Really need the Seedeater.

[@SparkyStensaas]

Thanks Chris! What were the highlights of your 30 days?

[@Chris_Wolfgram]

@@SparkyStensaas Awe geez.... Well, I got 44 lifers :) But I guess two of my best catches were Golden Cheeked Warbler, and Black Capped Vireo :) A few of my "highest on the list birds" were Green Kingfisher, Red Faced Warbler, Varied Bunting :) I took 30,000 shots, of which about 200 made it through multiple culls to get to my Flickr page :)

[@Pedro-nf2rr]

Hola: Vaya variedad de especies,por aquí ni una 4ª parte.Las rapaces expedidas una maravilla de aves, los correcaminos muy fotogénicos.Da la sensación de que ir una semana continua,cada día se verían especies distintas.Gracias.

[@SparkyStensaas]

Mucho Gracias Pedro! Not too bad for one day :-)

[@2muchpurple]

Interesting video! I love birds and used to paint them and sell my art in galleries. Most of these birds are migrating? I live ib northwest Washington and mosy of my birds have gone south by now. We do have large flocks of geese and swans flying through at this time of year. 🌺

[@SparkyStensaas]

I would say that most of the birds in the video are local residents along the lower Rio Grande Valley. You live in a beautiful part of the country!

[@TracyBirds]

Green Jay is high on my list!

[@ecguy6]

Fortunately I see them daily a few of them live in my neighborhood (live in the rgv), just a few days ago a flock of the green parrots passed through here, noisy and I loved it.

[@SparkyStensaas]

Wonderfully colorful and very much has personality of a jay!

[@TracyBirds]

Happy New Year, Sparky! Great video, when were you there? 😊

[@SparkyStensaas]

Hi Tracy, this was filmed in November 2024.

[@johnnyguerra3754]

I live in Corpus Christi and just started photography / birding. I've been down south a few times now. This is the first time hearing about Salineno birding. I'm planning a trip to Falcon SP as I try to visit every state park in Tx. Now my trip to Falcon has been bumped up. Great video very informative. What month was this video recorded?

[@SparkyStensaas]

That is a very cool goal, Johnny! I filmed this in early November 2024.

[@SparkyStensaas]

PS you may want to register for the 2025 Rio Grande Valley Burdick festival some here. It is fantastic for beginners and they also have field trips to specialize at photography. It is one of the best festival the entire country.

[@johnnyguerra3754]

@@SparkyStensaas I will look into this festival. When I said that I just started it's been like a year now. I feel that I'm a beginner and always learning how to take better pictures. i have an R5 with 100-500. Always looking for new birding locations. Your Texas videos always help me. Thank you.

[@martinestrada7636]

Do you use a different camera to record your video?

[@SparkyStensaas]

Hi Martin, no, I use the Canon R5 for all photography and video. Of course the stuff that’s white angle is my iPhone. But all the bird video is with the Canon R5.

[@davebobolink5340]

Hello from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Brown Jay in the US used to be possible around here and eg, at San Ygnacio. Never easy, but sometimes noisy family parties would move through. Just wondered if they are still possible and if you tried for them.

[@SparkyStensaas]

Hi Dave, I got them at San Ygnacio in 2005 I believe. Then they disappeared for many many years. But in the last two years they have been possible only at Santa Margarita Ranch near Salineno, but you need a guide to get onto that ranch.

[@susanmatako8469]

Great success I would say on this outing. Beautiful pictures of the bird's.

[@davebobolink5340]

@@SparkyStensaasThanks Sparky 🙏. Great video of really special birds 🦅. Tusen takk! 🙏

[@StephenRogers-kr8yn]

Female red winged blackbird stays brown

[@SparkyStensaas]

Sorry, Steve, maybe I wasn’t clear. The photos were of male Redwings in “Formative” early winter plumage. The buffy edges to their feathers will wear away over the winter and they will be jet black before returning north.