South Texas in Style: Upper Valley Extension 1/23/2026-1/26/2026

ebird.org/tripreport/468541

The beautiful weather that we enjoyed for the past ten days continued on our first day of the Upper Valley Extension, although cooler weather was expected the following day.

An upriver view of the Rio Grande riparian corridor from the boat ramp at Salineno. © Brad McKinney

Our first stop of the tour was along a wild stretch of the Rio Grande at the small town of Salineño. Here, we had great views of the lush riparian corridor on both sides of the river. We quickly scoped several species of waterfowl swimming along the river, slowly drifting from the Mexico side to the United States and vice versa. Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, and Pied-billed Grebes all dotted the surface waters while Neotropic Cormorants and White Pelicans flew gracefully downstream. A distant Gray Hawk was perched atop a tall tree on a river island while two Ospreys were competing for a preferred snag close by. Both Ringed and Green kingfishers made appearances along the riverbank providing excellent studies of these incredible birds.

Plain Chachalacas were regulars at feeding stations throughout the tour. © Brad McKinney

After a short hike along a river trail, our group visited the famous DeWind feeders, which have been maintained by Bob and Cate Bowman for several years. We enjoyed wonderful views of Plain Chachalaca, White-tipped Dove, Great Kiskadee, Green Jay, Clay-colored Thrush, and Altamira and Audubon’s orioles. We even had daytime scope views of a “McCall’s” Eastern Screech-Owl—a subspecies of Eastern Screech-Owl found only in southern Texas and northeastern Mexico—poking its head out of a nest box!

We had great looks at three Audubon's Orioles at Salineno. © Brad McKinney

After checking in at Zapata’s Holiday Inn, we headed to Santa Margarita Ranch for a late afternoon/night tour led by Simon Kiacz, who has been guiding trips to see the mega-rare Mottled Owl for over two years. Our hike began along the riparian zone where up to seven Brown Jays have been seen consistently for the past three years.

Clay-colored Thrush at the Salineno feeders. © Brad McKinney

Brown Jay is a Mexican and Central American species whose range barely extends into Texas along a narrow stretch of the Rio Grande between Santa Margarita Ranch and Falcon Dam. During the past two decades the Brown Jay has been nearly absent from the United States until recently and is currently considered a very rare resident of Santa Margarita Ranch and surrounding woodlands. The sun was low in the sky when we approached the Brown Jay hotspot, and almost on cue we saw a large jay silhouette ahead on the trail. Seconds later, we heard their loud “PEEAHH” calls from several locations off the trail. During the next half hour, we were thrilled to get outstanding views of five Brown Jays (one adult and four immatures) along with a rare Rose-throated Becard (male), White-tipped Dove, Green Jay, Long-billed Thrasher, Olive Sparrow, Altamira and Audubon’s orioles, and many other species.

One of five Brown Jays that frequented the feeding station at Santa Margarita Ranch. © Brad McKinney

The subtle beauty of a White-tipped Dove at Santa Margarita Ranch. © Brad McKinney

A Collared Peccary (javelina) and White-tailed Deer also made brief appearances, and in the dim twilight a Common Pauraque appeared on the trail behind us. As the darkening skies revealed Jupiter and Sirius, a participant spotted a Great Horned Owl in a nearby mesquite tree. It may have been this Great Horned Owl that kept the Mottled Owl from calling until well after nightfall, when we excitedly heard its distant calls along the Rio Grande. Simon guided us along a trail that took us to a spot where he thought the owl might be perched. Amazingly, the Mottled Owl flew into a tree within a few feet of where we were lined up providing us with brief but amazing looks at the fantastic bird. Our final bird of the evening was a Common Poorwill that was calling from arid slopes of the ranch. This species is rarely heard in January; however, it responded to playback on this warm winter evening. The timing of this night tour could not have been better, as an approaching cold front was just a few hours away!

Green Jays are always a crowd favorite at Salineno. © Brad McKinney

We woke up the following morning to a brisk north wind and cool temperatures, so we chose to bird the Santa Margarita Ranch riparian zone over the exposed bluffs, as it would be better protected from the wind. This proved to be a good choice as, after laying out a breakfast bird buffet of oranges, bananas, peanut butter, and whole peanuts, we had extended studies of Brown and Green jays, Altamira and Audubon’s orioles, and many others. Marjorie spotted the female Rose-throated Becard lurking in a tree behind the feeding station, complementing the sighting of the male from the day before. On our way to the highway, we saw a large covey of Scaled Quail scurrying along the dry chaparral. Both Green-tailed Towhee and several White-crowned Sparrows showed well at the butterfly garden at Falcon State Park. On our way back to Zapata, we saw a Greater Roadrunner (on the road, of course!), and Jane spotted an adult White-tailed Kite perched in a distant tree, which we savored in the spotting scope.

One of two dozen Scaled Quail seen at Santa Margarita Ranch. © Brad McKinney

We started the last morning of our Upper Valley tour by driving the roads of Falcon County Park, where we got wonderful looks at several species that had previously eluded us, including Cactus Wren, Black-throated Sparrow, and Pyrrhuloxia. Joining this suite of birds were Black-crested Titmouse, Curved-billed Thrasher, and Western Meadowlark. We then headed back to the DeWind’s feeders at Salineño for some relaxed birding before visiting the Roma bluffs for a stunning vista of the Rio Grande. What a great way to end our birding adventure in this unique part of the Rio Grande Valley.

I want to thank each of you for joining us on VENT’s South Texas in Style Upper Valley Extension. I hope to see you on the birding trail in the near future!

A complete list of the birds recorded on our tour can be found at: ebird.org/tripreport/468541

Description for the next departure of this tour.

Brad McKinney's upcoming tour schedule.