TexBirders,
Had the privilege of showing 11 hearty birders the winter hot spots in Brazoria
County today. Â We started at San Bernard NWR with my car thermometer showing
24 degrees (wind chill of just 12) and large parts of the shallow marshes
frozen over. Â But the birding was good. Â For example, we started at the
Bobcat Woods and had Golden-crowned Kinglet, Black-and-white Warbler, Vermilion
Flycatcher, Couch's Kingbird, and Ash-throated Flycatcher all while standing in
the parking lot! Â As we moved to Wolfweed Reservoir we had killer views of a
Palm Warbler. Â On the reservoir itself we had two Bald Eagles and a good mix
of ducks including two Fulvous Whistling-Ducks. Â Rail Pond Road had a nice
adult White-tailed Hawk, some close geese (including Ross's) and cranes and a
Green Heron.
After a gourmet lunch and a deluxe bathroom stop at Bucee's, we headed to
Quintana. Â There we had a late Common Tern fly by us on the jetty and land on
the beach. Â As we watched it through the scopes, a Peregrine zoomed in and
emptied the beach of birds. Â We finished at Brazoria NWR with the expected
Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a pair of White-tailed Kites back dropped by a
huge storm cloud of smoke from a nearby prescribed burn. Â The smoke accented
by the setting sun made for a spectacular finish to a very brisk day. Â We
barely entered any woods due to the biting temperatures but still ended up with
109 species for the day by my count.
Good Birding,
Ron WeeksLake Jackson
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