Four Rarities in Texas
Written 12/15/23

Recently several bird rarities have showed up in south Texas. Four major ones that interested me were:
1. Cattle Tyrant (Machetornis rixosa) in Corpus Christi. This is the first record of this species in the American Birding Association (ABA) area.
2. Gray-collared Becard (Pachyramphus major) in Brownsville. This is the third record of this species in the ABA area.
3. Mottled Owl (Ciccaba virgata) at the Santa Margarita Ranch along the Rio Grande River just downstream of Zapata. First ABA record.
4. Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum) also at the Santa Margarita Ranch. Second ABA record.
Needless to say this flurry of rarities has attracted the attention of birders across the country. I had hesitated to chase these birds because of other established plans and I was not sure of the strength of my knee which is still healing after my slip on 9/1. Two of these birds require significant walking over uneven ground.

But the birds kept calling me and I started to talk to Chris Hitt about trying to go for them. The plan developed quickly. On Friday December 8th we decided to go for the birds. Very early Saturday morning the 9th I was on a plane to San Antonio through Miami. Chris was on a plane from Raliegh Durham to Austin. Upon arrival, Chris picked up a rental car, drove to San Antonio, and by 1 pm we were on our way to Corpus Christi. A two-hour drive

The Cattle Tyrant is a non-migratory South American bird and probably arrived by hitching a ride on a ship. There is some question as to whether or not it will be countable but from a pure birding perspective it is a neat bird to see. It has been hanging around near an intersection in Corpus Christi down by the dock area and has been feeding on bugs and flies that it finds around dumpsters and parking lots. We spent about 30 minutes checking out the locations it frequents with no luck. We spoke with a birder who had just seen it and soon after that we found, saw, and enjoyed the bird.

The first of our targets was checked off. We got back in the car and drove the 2 hours to Harlingen. We found a nice place for dinner and spent the night in a motel there.

Our second target was the Becard. It had been hanging out near the visitor’s center of the Resaca de la Palma State Park in Brownsville. On the day before, when we saw the Tyrant, the weather was hot and humid. But that changed overnight as a cold front came through. Not only was it much cooler but the wind was quite strong with high gusts. Not the best situation for looking for a bird that hangs in the middle to upper levels of trees. We were at the location by 7 am and the trees were really moving. We got the lay of the land and started looking along with about 20 other serious birders. And we looked and looked. Slowly walking the area of previous sightings. The trees were blowing around, so it was tough to see bird movement. The morning went slowly. About 12:15 pm Chris and I got a very brief look at the target bird. It popped out of dense foliage up in a tree and then quickly ducked back in. We got the diagnostic field marks so we could count the bird, but it was not very satisfying. No chance for a photograph. We spent the rest of the day trying to refind the bird with no luck. We hoped for another chance for this bird later in the trip, but it was now time to focus on the remaining two birds.

One of the challenges of seeing or even hearing the owl and the tigerheron was that they are on private property with very controlled access. The only way to get to the property is with a guided group that is limited in number. There are night trips that might see or hear the owl and hear the tiger-heron. Nothing is guaranteed. On some night trips tapes are used to bring in the owl but most night trips are non-playback trips. These are listening only trips hoping to be there when the owl decides to call. Beside the night trips there are daylight trips that might provide sightings of the tiger-heron. Nothing is guaranteed. There is no chance of the owl on the daylight trips. In a flurry of emails and text exchanges during the last-minute frenzy of planning this trip, I managed to get on a daylight trip on Tuesday morning. I could not get on any night trip during my time in the area. It looked like I had a chance for the tiger-heron, and I had no chance for the owl. Chris has seen the other ABA record of the tigerheron in 2010 so he was not going on the Tuesday daylight trip. Like me, he wanted the owl but there were no openings on a night trip. While walking around Resaca Park on Sunday morning looking for the becard we made a connection with the guide I would be with on Tuesday morning. A nice young man, Ryan, who was there also looking for the becard with some clients. I had heard from Laura Keene that occasionally people do not show up or cancel at the last minute for night walks. I talked with Ryan and asked him what the possibilities of openings at the last minute. He said he would check with one of the other guides via text. In about a half hour Ryan let us know that there was space for both Chris and I that night on a non-playback night trip. We jumped on the opportunity in a heartbeat. This was more than we ever expected. We hung around the park for several more hours, but we never got back on the becard.

The meeting place for the night walk was about a 2-hour drive from where we were at Resaca, and we did not have a motel reservation in that area for that night. But those were just details that we dealt with. By 7:30 that night we were at the meeting place at the edge of the Santa Margarita Ranch where we met our guides for the night walk. The meeting place was right beside a section to the border wall. A well-lit place to meet. As we waited calling Barn Owls were overhead. We caravaned down a road to an access gate to the ranch and to a small parking lot on the actual ranch. From there our group of 10 plus the two guides started the walk. We crossed though an established opening in the border wall to bird an area south of the wall and north of the Rio Grande River.

This is where both the owl and the tiger-heron are currently. We walked about a mile in silence, in the dark, with minimal use of flashlights. It was a cool night with no wind. A perfect night for listening. We heard Eastern Screech-Owl (MacCall's) on the way to our first listening location and heard Great Horned Owls when we got there. About 10 minutes after we got there the Mottled Owl called. Amazing. It was not close, but it was a distinctive and diagnostic call. We then moved down to another area closer to the river where we heard the tigerheron call after a wait of about 30 minutes. Again, it is a distinctive and diagnostic call. On the way back out of the area we stopped again at the first listening location where after another session of listening Mottled Owl called again. This time much closer and louder. Some birders with the group got recordings. The guides are very hesitant to use a tape for the owl because it will come to the call and it will be disturbed. They only use a tape on two walks in any week. This is in agreement with the landowner who works closely with the selected guides to provide the best long-term situation. But the tiger-heron is different. It will respond to the call but not come in. A totally different situation. The guides played the call of the tigerheron, and it immediately responded from a close location. It was well heard by all. By about 10 pm we were back at our cars. It had been quite cool down by the river, but it was worth for the experience. Anyone with only a light jacket was challenged. The result of that day (Sunday the 10th) was that Chris and I had seen or heard three mega rarities. Our targets were swept.
The eBird report from the evening walk is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156133195

The next morning, we decided to do some birding at Benson State Park. We walked from the visitor’s center to the hawk watch platform and back. The area was pretty quiet. We got the word that the Becard was being seen well at the Resaca Park, so we headed there. We arrived about noon, 10 minutes after it was seen and photographed well. We again walked the area for several more hours, but it did not reappear. A Roadside Hawk put on quite a show at the park and we all got stunning views of this rarity.

As the sun went down Chris and I went to the Oliveira Park parrot roost to enjoy the sights and sounds of the parrots coming in at night.

Then Chris and I went back to our lodging in Rio Grande City, stopping for dinner on the way. We covered lots of miles that day. Chris did an outstanding job doing all the driving on the whole trip since the rental car was in his name.

I did have a reservation for a day hike onto the Santa Margarita Ranch on Tuesday morning with the chance of seeing the tigerheron. By noon on Monday, I decided to drop off that walk. As it was, it was a good decision. They did not see or hear the tigerheron that morning. On Tuesday morning Chris and I birded the Salineno boat access area, the DeWind’s yard and the Falcon Dam State Park. All great areas where we saw and enjoyed many new “trip birds”. About 2 pm we headed north to the San Antonio area where we went to Laura and Dave Keene’s house to partake of their generous hospitality. We had dinner together and it was nice to reconnect before we got a good night’s sleep.

On Wednesday morning Chris headed to Austin, as planned, to visit friends who live there. I stayed with Laura and Dave for all of Wednesday and most of Thursday. During these two days Laura and I did local county birding. Laura added two new Medina County birds and I added many more. I flew home on a red-eye flight to Philadelphia via Phoenix after Laura and Dave drove me to the San Antonio airport.

It really was an amazing trip. Planned at the last minute and changed several times on the fly. We managed to be able to see or hear our four target birds, including three of them in one day. Like any birding adventure there was also the human element. While birding on this trip we reconnected with many established friends and made several new ones. The bird chasing community is not a huge community and over a period of time many friendships are developed.
I ended up with 120 species for the trip.
Pictures from the trip are available HERE

The eBird Trip Report is at https://ebird.org/tripreport/178116

Now it is time to be ready for the next chase.

A Casual Storm-Petrel Chase,,,,
Written 9/3/23

There are chases that are “drop everything and go“ chases. And there are “planned and casual” chases for birds I have not seen and want to add to my lists.
This latest birding adventure falls into the latter category.

Over the summer, Chris Hitt and I made plans to do a pelagic birding trip on August 26th out of San Diego. The target species was Townsend’s Storm-Petrel. This small pelagic bird had been considered to be a sub species of Leach’s Storm Petrel until a few years ago. It recently was elevated to full species status. Townsend’s occurs in very small numbers in US waters and seeing one was certainly not a given. But you can’t see some birds at home. Another draw for us were Lilac-crowned Parrots that are “countable” in the San Diego area. We invited Scott Reynolds to join us on this trip and he jumped at the chance. He had many more target birds than we had.

The keystone of this adventure was the pelagic trip. Organized by the Buena Vista Audubon (https://sandiegofieldornithologists.org/buena-vista-audubon-sponsored-pelagic-birding-2023-schedule/), it had a great set of spotters on board with narration on the PA system by the incomparable Paul Lehman.
In the first part of the trip, we encountered thousands of pelagic birds. Two highlights were a Wedge-tailed Shearwater and a Nazca Booby. Chris and I had chased a Nazca Booby in the San Diego harbor several years ago and it was nice to see one again. The Wedge-tailed Shearwater was unexpected. There are only a few records of this species in the San Diego waters, so it was not a bird we were expecting to see
.
Later in the morning the boat got into a group of Black and Leach’s Storm-Petrels. In that group there was a single Townsend’s Storm-Petrel, our major target bird! I did get a photo of this bird but at best it can be considered as “for documentation purposes only”. Birding slowed down as the day progressed but there were always birds to enjoy.
We spent 1.5 days before the pelagic and two days after the pelagic, land birding. Taking advantage of local information supplied to us by Paul we were able to get our target birds. We visited a parrot roost the first evening and encountered hundred of parrots including many Lilac-crowned Parrots. In the Wing Street Canyon in San Diego we were able to locate Red-masked Parakeets on our second visit to that area. This is a species we had hoped to see. Boulder Basin Campground high up on Black Mountain in Riverside County provided us with a memorable morning of birding. We were surprised by the high temperatures inland. There was a heat wave and we encountered temperatures well up in the high 90s inland.

Pictures are at http://www.thefilemyrs.com/Birding/BirdPhotographs/2023Pictures/2023_8_San_Diego/index.html
eBird Trip Report is at: https://ebird.org/tripreport/153946
The eBird report allow you to see where and when we saw birds on this trip.

A Lesser, or Siberian, Sand-Plover Chase
Written 8/17/23

Lesser Sand-Plovers (Charadrius mongolus) are Asian birds that breed in the Himalayas and across to the bare coastal plains of north-eastern Siberia. In addition, there are breeding records from Alaska. Most serious ABA American Birding Association (ABA) listers see these birds in Alaska. Vagrants have occurred on the west and east coasts of the US. Whenever one is spotted it is a very notable bird. Before this adventure I had never seen a Lesser Sand-Plover.

A single Lesser Sand -Plover was seen and identified on Cape Cod (MA) on Monday morning. The specific location was Cape Beach State Park. Identification was not an issue. The bird was on a stretch of beach that was, with some effort, publicly accessible. Unfortunately, the plover went missing on Monday afternoon and continued to be missing on Tuesday until midday. Obviously, I was thinking. When the bird was refound again on Wednesday, and hung around most of the day, the chase was on.

The logistical problem was how I could be at the location on at sunrise Thursday morning. That would give me the whole day to look for the bird if necessary. I came up with a couple of possible plans and finally settled on one. I left our house in suburban Philadelphia about 6 pm on Wednesday evening. It is not a long drive to Cape Cod (350 miles) but the city of New York is in the way. And that means possible traffic and construction delays. It was not a bad drive north but there were the expected traffic and construction delays. I got out onto Cape Cod slightly after midnight. There I found a rest area and parked for the night. I had a semi-restful night in Hotel Honda. Awake by 5 am, I was soon back on the road. After a stop for coffee and gas, I arrived at the parking area about 6 am. Local birders had provided great information on parking, accessibility, and the location of the bird. There were already a couple of cars in the parking lot when I got there which was a good sign. After getting organized, I was on the beach. The local instructions said that birders should get on the beach and walk north, looking for a group of birders. And that is what I did. After a walk of about 8 tenths of a mile on a sandy beach, I got to a group of birders. And the bird was there. The group was at a very respectful distance and the plover seemed to be just moving around looking for food along the shore with little concern. Great views in the scope but a bit distance for great photography. That was OK. This was the best view I ever had of a Lesser Sand-Plover. I was happy. The drive was certainly worth it. There were also Semipalmated and Piping Plovers near the Sand-Plover for comparison.

I stayed around about 30 minutes and then headed back to the car. The walk out, wondering if the bird was there, seemed much longer than the walk back after having seen the bird. Once to the car, I got organized and headed home. Another 350 miles with traffic and construction. I could easily deal with those issues because “I had seen the bird”. I was home by about 3 pm on Thursday.

Lesser Sand-Plovers are a species that continues to be studied. The International Ornithologists' Union (IOC) has considered and accepted the split of Lesser Sand-Plover into Tibetan Sand Plover (the atrifrons group) and Siberian Sand-Plover (the mongolus group). It will show that way on the next published IOC checklist. People who are more expert with this species than I am, have determined that the individual that is being seen on Cape Cod is of the mongolus group. With that in mind, the individual I saw today will probably end up as a Siberian Sand-Plover.

A set of pictures is at http://www.thefilemyrs.com/Birding/BirdPhotographs/2023Pictures/2023_08_17_%20Plover_Chase/index.html
The eBird report is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S147456443

A Tern and Some Airline Issues
Written 6/28/23

Large-billed Terns (Phaetusa simplex) are big unmistakable terns that are non-migratory residents of South America. They look a bit like a Black Skimmer. Large-billed Terns only have a small history of vagrancy.

In early June not one, but two of these super-rare birds were seen by birders in Florida. They were documented almost simultaneously in separate areas of the state, creating the first state record and second state record, and since these birds are so rarely found in the North America they also established fourth and fifth North American Records.

For those of us who “chase” rare birds this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Unfortunately, my June schedule was full of other plans (garden party, dude ranch, etc.). I could not get away. I figured the birds would be long gone by the time I was able to get to Florida. But the birds stayed and at the end of June I was able to make a move to add this species to my ABA list.

Working with Chris Hitt, we made a plan. Using frequent flyer miles, I would fly to Charlotte on the afternoon of Tuesday (6/27) and Chris would fly to Charlotte at the same time. We would meet at the Charlotte airport and then take an evening flight together to Fort Myers, Florida. We would be up and out early on Wednesday and go for the bird. It was hanging out on the west coast, about an hour from Fort Myers. After seeing the bird, we would return to Fort Myers in the evening of that same day (Wednesday) and return home. That was the plan. It was a good plan. But not a plan that happened.

On Tuesday Les dropped me at the local train station and I was off to the Philadelphia Airport. I checked in easily and went to the Admiral’s Club to await my flight to Charlotte. That is when things went downhill. My flight was delayed for mechanical reasons but I still had enough time to meet Chris in Charlotte and connect to Fort Myers. But one delay became two delays and then several more delays occurred. The departure time kept getting pushed further and further back. The automated system at American Airlines saw a travel problem with my plans and automatically rebooked me for a Wednesday departure from Philadelphia to Fort Myers through Richmond and Charlotte. Under that plan I would arrive in Fort Myers on Wednesday evening after I was already ticketed to return to Philadelphia. Not good. Changes needed to be made.

One of the advantages of having access to the Admirals Clubs (American Airlines) is the ability to work face to face with experienced travel representatives. I went to the deskand a nice representative took ownership of my situation. She understood my travel issues and worked through the options. The final plan was for me to fly to Charlotte that evening when my original flight finally would be able to fly out of Philadelphia. Because mechanical issues were part of the delay the airline would provide me with a room on Tuesday night in Charlotte. The agent was able to get me the last seat on a Wednesday morning flight to Fort Myers. That was the best solution, and while not perfect, it would work. In the midst of working through the problem and possible solutions, thunderstorms rolled across the Philadelphia Airport and there was a “ground stop”. No flights were coming in or going out for about 90 minutes. Further delay. Luckly, I had brought my computer and used the delay to sort and edit pictures from the recent dude ranch trip. The bottom line was that after a 5-hour departure delay, I flew to Charlotte, obtained a room through the airline, and took a paid for cab to a Courtyard hotel. I was in my room by 11 pm.

Meanwhile Chris was working though his own travel issues. His flight from Raleigh-Durham was delayed and his connection in Charlotte was at risk. But the flight from Charlotte to Fort Myers was also delayed. It worked out to be a very, very tight connection, but he made it to Fort Myers that night. He heard the airplane door close right behind him as he boarded.As Tuesday evening ended, I was in a hotel in Charlotte, Chris was in a hotel in Fort Myers, and the bird was still being seen. On Wednesday morning. I took a cab back to the Charlotte airport, flew to Fort Myers, met Chris at the Rental Car Center. There we picked up a rental car and we were finally off to see the bird, which we hoped continued to be there.

It took us about 50 minutes to drive to the location near Immokalee. We pulled up to the spot, found a temporary parking location, and got the lay of the land. Initially we thought we saw the Large-billed Tern but what we were looking at was not our sought after bird. I walked back to the car to park it better and get my scope. We could be at the location for a long time waiting. While I was away for about four minutes the tern flew in, landed on a sandy area, and then moved to a post. Chris called to me and I rushed back and saw the bird. Tick! A mega rarity. Actually, there was no rush. The bird sat on the post, except for one brief flight, for the next hour or so. We looked in binoculars and in the scope. And I got a few pictures through the heat haze. A life bird for both Chris and myself. There were a few other species to be seen there but the tern was the superstar of the show.

Finally, we had seen enough and it was time to move on. It should be noted that it was quite hot and there was no shade at our viewing location. We stopped at a local restaurant for an authentic Mexican lunch and then thought about the best use of our time. We considered diving to Sanibel Island (Ding Darling NWR) but we figured that it be quiet in the middle of a late June day and it was far enough away we would not have much time there. Rather than just ride around aimlessly we headed back to the airport and dropped off our rental car which we had used for only about 5 hours. The airport was cool, and it was a good place to sit and wait for our early evening flight. Chris and I were scheduled to fly together on an early evening flight to Charlotte and from there our paths would separate. After a 60-minute layover in Charlotte, I would fly to Philadelphia and after a 90-minute layover Chris would fly to Raleigh-Durham. As we sat waiting for our flight, we noticed some dark clouds on the horizon. The clouds got closer and darker. And there was lightening imbedded in the clouds. Sure enough the storm rolled over the airport and the ramp operations were shut down due to the lightening, And then it rained hard. And then our fight was delayed a bit. It was eventually it was delayed for over 90 minutes. My connection time in Charlotte disappeared and I would not make my flight to Philadelphia. I rebooked for Thursday morning on a flight from Charlotte to Philadelphia. When we finally took off to Charlotte there was the slim possibility that Chris would make his connection in Charlotte. He did not make it. He made a strong effort by rushing to the departing gate after we landed in Charlotte, but the flight had closed and the plane was backing away from the gate.Chris and I spent the night in the Charlotte Airport where we failed to find any good place to sleep or even doze. It was a long night. In the morning Chris flew to Raleigh-Durham and after driving home he was there by about 10 am. I flew to Philadelphia and was home by about 11 am.

This trip fell right in the middle of a really bad stretch of time for the airline companies. There were weather issues, staffing issues, and FAA issues across the country that caused thousands of flights cancelled or delayed. We were affected by all the issues but we managed to work through all the challenges.The bottom line is that, even with all the travel challenges, “We saw the bird!”. And that made it all worthwhile. Hopefully the next chase will be easier. Or then again it could be harder.

eBird List is at https://ebird.org/checklist/S142959127
A set of pictures is at http://www.thefilemyrs.com/Birding/BirdPhotographs/2023Pictures/2023_06_Chase_Tern/index.html

A "Go When You Can" Chase
Written 3/1/23

While each “chase” to see a bird species is unique, there are several categories.
One such category is a “drop everything and go chase”. Recent examples from my adventures include a chase for a Spotted Rail and a chase for a Dark-billed Cuckoo.
Another category is to “go for seasonal residents” such as Golden-cheeked Warbler like I have done in the Texas Hill Country. Or the Colima Warbler in Texas.
There are several other categories but that is a discussion for another time and place.
I have returned form a chase that fits into a “go when you can” category.

There has been a Bahama Mockingbird in in central Florida since the end of January. This native of the Caribbean occurs once or twice in most years in Florida. But each time it usually only hangs around for a day or so.
And just south of Lake Okeechobee (FL) there is a small group of Tricolored Munias. This population of birds native to Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and southern China and are considered a vagrant from Cuba. The American Birding Association (ABA) has recently determined that this species is now “countable”

Chris Hitt and I put together a little adventure to go see these two species. On Saturday morning (2/25) I flew from Philadelphia to Raleigh-Durham, arriving about 11 am, where Chris picked me up at the airport and we started our drive south. I could have flown to Florida and Chris would have driven down alone to meet me there, but by driving down and back together we had a chance to catch up on recent happenings and share driving and expenses.
We arrived at our motel in Orlando at about 8 pm. We were on the road at 6 am the next morning. The mockingbird has been hanging out near a building in Jetty Park which is near the Kennedy Space Center. We were there by about 7:30 am and we started looking and listening. A Northern Mockingbird showed and while was not what we were looking for, it was a good sign. We had learned from Laura Keene, who had seen the Bahama Mockingbird two days before, that the Bahama often interacts with the Northern. In about 10 minutes the sought after Bahama Mockingbird flew in and gave us great looks and photographic opportunities. Chris had chased this species unsuccessfully twice before and was really happy to be successful this time. This was my first chase for this bird and I was just as happy. Our work at Jetty Park was done and it was time to head for the munias

Tricolored Munias are small finches that, like other similar finches, primarily feed on grass seed pods. They can be difficult to get good looks at as they feed low to the ground in thick cover. This small group of about 10 individuals have been feeding along side a walking path from a parking lot at Belle Glade Marina and Torry Island to a nearby observation tower and about 200 yards past that. We were there by about 11:30 am and started looking. Again Laura Keene had preceded us by a few days and provided much appreciated “local information.” Other birders who were leaving confirmed that the birds were there but the birds were moving around quite a bit. After 40-50 minutes Chris noticed some movement in a bush behind some grasses and quickly we were on the birds. We had decent and diagnostic views. We were patient and with the cooperation of more eyes supplied by arriving local birders, a few birds came out into the open and we got great looks and photographs.
Our work at Torry Island was done and the two trip target birds had been seen and photographed.

We were now free to do some casual birding for a day or so. We headed back towards Melbourne, Florida with the intention of spending a couple of hours on the auto tour at Viera Wetlands. We had both been there in the past and it has been fantastic. When we got there we were shocked to find that the auto tour route had been closed for over a year. We are not sure what the reason is for that and there is not indication of the reason or when or if it will reopen to auto traffic. It is open to foot traffic and we briefly contemplated walking the multi mile route but soon thought better of that. It was late in the day and quite hot. We did walk out on the edge of an impoundment and watched birds on the impoundment and flying overhead. With that our day was done. A take out Chinese meal at our motel served as dinner.

It was now Monday and we decided to start our day back at Viera Wetlands. We felt it was worth watching the impoundments and the sky for birds. We had no plans to walk the auto route, just watch the impoundments and sky. But even if we had plans to do the long walk, we would not have done that. Heavy fog made viewing very, very difficult. We hung around Viera for about 45 minutes before heading to Merritt Island NWR. We were concerned that Merritt Island might not be open due to a couple of scheduled rocket launches from nearby Kennedy Space Center but that turned out to be a non-issue. We drove around parts of the refuge and did then did the entire auto tour. It is a wonderful place.
By noon we were headed north, planning birding the rest of the day, staying near Savannah, and getting to Chris’s house on Tuesday. My flight home was scheduled for Wednesday. As planned, late afternoon on Monday we explored Harris’s Neck NWR which was a new place for both of us. It is well worth returning there on another trip.

Our original plan of staying in the Savannah area on Monday night changed. We decided to head directly to Chris’s on Monday night. We arrived there shortly after midnight. I enjoyed meeting his wife (CK), seeing his house, exploring his property, and enjoying the hospitality of CK and Chris on Tuesday.
I flew home today (Wednesday) and Les kindly picked me up at the airport.

An eBird Trip Report is at https://ebird.org/tripreport/110604
A set of trip pictures is at http://www.thefilemyrs.com/Birding/BirdPhotographs/2023Pictures/2023_02_Chase_Mock_Munia/index.html