The Packary Channel County Park, A Great Day of Birding

Last week we went to Port Aransas for a day of birding with Dan and Barb.  While there, Renita talked with a woman who commented on the great birding at the Packary Channel County Park, which is located on North Padre Island.
Renita's birthday was last Friday, and I asked her what she wanted to do. She did not think awfully long before she said she wanted to go birding at the Packary Channel County Park. After packing a lunch and putting the cameras and binoculars in the car we used Google maps to find out how to get there.It showed us that the quickest way was to go through Corpus, Christi and then take SPID, (South Padre Island Drive), over the bridge to the county park. However, Renita wanted to take the ferry and it was a good choice as we saw a beautiful Cara Cara and a bright pink Roseate Spoonbill.

Arriving at the park, we first walked out on the boardwalk and quickly spotted several hummingbirds feeding on long reddish flowers. The more Renita and I watched the more hummers we saw and to add to the mix three Baltimore orioles played a game of chase as they also fed on the same flowers. They flew to a larger flowering shrub and there were more hummingbirds, orchard orioles, and several warblers

It was a great way to start the morning, but it got even better. Another birder told Renita that we should go left at the road and slowly walk the road carefully watching the shrubs, trees, and all the feeders. It was only a quarter mile and at first, we did not see much but upon reaching the yard at the end of the street we were amazed at all the orioles and hummers in the yard.

The owner had put out orange halves and the birds were greedily tearing the pulp from the fruit! On one stick an impaled orange half was being fed on by a Tennessee Warbler, while a female orchard oriole waited overhead.

After taking some images of other orioles, I got an image of four hummingbirds on a feeder. They were busy sipping the nectar while another flew nearby waiting for its chance.

Leaving the back yard, an eastern peewee posed on a nearby branch. As I was taking its image, Renita spotted a rose breasted grosbeak high up in a towering tree.

On our walk back Renita further spotted a blackburnian warbler

and I got another image of a yellow warbler. It had been a great day of birding and while there were other birders, we were easily able to maintain a six-foot distance. We also wore our masks which is something that we do not see a lot of people doing down here along the Texas Coastal Bend. Clear skies

Ps We went back the next day, accompanied by Dan and Barb, (and yes, we drove in separate cars). Only to find that most of the birds have continued their migration. It turned out that we had caught the tail end of a huge fall out. There had been a really strong cold front and as the birds fly north across the Gulf of Mexico they tire and “Fall out”, on the first land they see.