[texbirds] sod field shorebirds (05/10/14): Progreso (Hidalgo Co.) + Weaver Rd. (Cameron Co.)
- From: "Rex Stanford" <calidris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "TEXBIRDS" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 11 May 2014 14:55:39 -0500
Yesterday (05/10/14) we birded three sod field areas: Progreso (Hidalgo
Co.), La Feria, and Weaver Rd. (Cameron Co.). The small remaining La Feria
field along FM-3067 seemed devoid of visible water and yielded no shorebirds
on both our mid and late afternoon visits. Here are our highlights from and
comments on birding the two other areas:
PROGRESO: Here the vast majority of the shorebirds in our mid-afternoon
visit were in the northeast corner of the very long sod field east of the
north/south traversal road, not far north of US-281 (and just past a
concrete standpipe at the field's south end). Sky/weather-related issues
(i.e., heat waves and/or bad sun angles) made viewing the birds somewhat
difficult during both our mid- and late-afternoon visits. Given the
aforementioned viewing difficulties, we simply will list species found,
across the two visits yesterday, for we did not try, with three exceptions,
to estimate or count their numbers: GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LESSER YELLOWLEGS,
PECTORAL SANDPIPER, STILT SANDPIPER, WILSON'S PHALAROPE (10-12, early visit;
relatively easy to spot and count, but widely dispersed); and LONG-BILLED
DOWITCHER (5, early visit), SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (2, late visit). It is
much easier to study shorebirds on days when there are considerable clouds
(keeping down heat convection) but with some breaks to create a light level
(and direct rays) suitable for visual study and photography. The highest
numbers of shorebirds were always in the areas with plenty of richly green
grass, usually those with some standing water. We think it likely that we
failed to find and/or identify some small calidris sandpiper species, thanks
to the viewing conditions and, especially, to the ease of disappearance of
briefly seen small birds in the somewhat tall grass and as they entered dips
in the substrate. We were particularly surprised not to find White-rumped
Sandpiper, but that might have been due to failure at detection, thanks to
the circumstances previously noted.
WEAVER ROAD: We birded this area between, roughly, 5:15 and 5:40 PM. All
the grassland shorebirds we found late yesterday at this site were in the
first field south of the junction of Jimenez and Weaver Roads (in
Rangerville). Driving north on Weaver Road from Jimenez Road, the sod fields
are on the left (west) side of the road just past several residences on west
side of Weaver. Again, the target species that we found were all on the
first field south of Jimenez Road (and south of a few residences). This
particular field seemed the greenest of them all, and the birds certainly
liked it. Hundreds of small shorebirds of a variety of species were roaming
the grass, almost always on the far (west) side of the middle of the field,
making viewing and identification difficult, a circumstance aggravated
considerably by the sun being in that direction. Size and unique
configuration of species helps greatly in species identification in such a
situation, and that is where the super-star of the shorebirds yesterday was
very easy to detect, namely HUDSONIAN GODWIT (HUGO). We spotted the first 2
of these large, handsome, elegantly long-billed, creatures soon after
reaching the south end of the first sod field, and they were seen with
considerable regularity along the entire length of that sod field, roaming
in numbers ranging from 2 through 11 per group. The total HUGO's counted
there yesterday was 27, and we think that count might have been slightly
conservative due to our effort not to double-count individuals. We were
delighted and astonished at this find, and when we thought we might have
seen them all, along came others. For example, near the north end of this
field, when we thought we had counted the last of them, some emerged from
behind a dark, plowed-up berm, onto the visible grassy turf, like stars
coming onstage from the wings. For us, they were that, given that they are
world-class long-distance migrants, ranging in winter from far southeastern
South America (even to its southern tip) to the far northern reaches of
North America.
Despite the problems in viewing distant birds under adverse lighting
conditions, we could identify with a sense of certainty the presence of the
following species (and admit that we might well have missed some of the
species present, especially in the far distance): BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (9);
KILLDEER (3); GREATER YELLOWLEGS (not counted); LESSER YELLOWLEGS (not
counted, but more numerous than Greater); PECTORAL SANDPIPER (numerous, but
not counted), and LEAST SANDPIPER (1, many were likely missed in the tall
grass and substrate dips). It would have been easy to miss any of the small
calidris sandpipers at this distance with some rather tall grass and adverse
viewing circumstances.
Some of the shorebird species still are arriving in spring migration. If you
find White-rumped Sandpiper down this way, please let TEXBIRDS know. We
still have not found it this season.
Wishing everyone the best of birding,
Rex and Birgit Stanford McAllen, TX
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- » [texbirds] sod field shorebirds (05/10/14): Progreso (Hidalgo Co.) + Weaver Rd. (Cameron Co.) - Rex Stanford
