jcentavo's Identifications

Collared Plover
Uvalde National Fish Hatchery
Uvalde, Texas
11 May 1992

This was the first North American record of this species. The Collared Plover is a species of central and South America. I have seen it in Mexico as far north as the coast of Tamaulipas, 200 miles south of Texas. On 9 May 1992 a Collared Plover was discovered by two independent parties at the Uvalde Fish Hatchery, Uvalde, Texas. I was able to see and get a few photos of the bird on 11 May. It was last seen 12 May. If you look under the "accidentals" section of either the 5th or 6th edition of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, you will see an account of this record. The Texas Bird Records Committee has one of my shots on its web page of this species at:
http://texasbirds.org/tbrc/collplov.htm

COLLARED PLOVER (Charadrius collaris)

Accepted (1)

9-12 May 1992 Uvalde, UVA (TBRC 1992-70; TPRF 1099; ph published on cover of TOS Newsletter 40(2), Spring 1992) (AB 46:448, 501)

Thamnophis species?
I think this is a Ribbon Snake (T. proximus) but am wondering if the sub-species can be determined from this quick shot. I encountered the snake while I was walking along a trail at Charo Ranch Park near Dripping Springs and managed this one quick shot before it took off quickly. The dorsal stripe was dull orange-yellow, not red.