After two year of birding only in Maine (Pandemic and Maine Big Year), yesterday evening Ingrid and I flew into the Gulf Coast of Texas for a week of catching up.

First stop was the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas, Texas where we saw dozens of species including White Pelicans . . . damn we had missed them.

Later in the day, Ingrid spotted a small falcon on at platform a couple hundred yard from the road . . . a Aplomado Falcon.  This Mexican species crosses the USA southern border occasionally.  We had tried for this bird many times before the pandemic . . . glad to finally get it.

Tomorrow we head for the Rio Grande Valley looking for a Bat Falcon, a rarity that has been hanging around since December.