This afternoon from about 3:30 â 5:30 PM my wife (Birgit) and I (Rex)
birded the following areas: (a) FM-1599 from its intersection with FM-507
to the first area with residences east of there (including the site where
numerous Mountain Plovers had been found the previous day and earlier
today) and the return to FM-507, doing this twice, once, an extended and
intensive search early in our effort today and once, a more rapid one, late
in the afternoon (a final effort); and these efforts along that stretch
were separated by an effort along FM-507 from its intersection with FM-1599
to the county line between Cameron and Willacy Counties. We did not find
any Mountain Plovers on either road. In late afternoon we spoke at some
length with another birder who had been covering the same routes and, he,
too, reported no success with the target species. When we first arrived in
the area we encountered a small group of birders along FM-507, and they
reported having seen some Mountain Plover earlier (but no temporal details
were provided), but also noted that it was not presently being seen. Given
these reports of others and our own experience this afternoon, it would
appear that this species had been there earlier in the dayâas reported, for
example, also on eBird alertsâbut that it seemingly was not being found
when we were present this afternoon. We wish to emphasize that this does
not prove that the Mountain Plovers have âleft the area,â even if earlier
today their flock had been disturbed by one or more Peregrine Falcons
(according to on-line reports we have seen). They may have moved about the
area and happened to be in locations we did not visit, or possibly they
were present even in some areas we did visit, but we simply failed to
detect them. Mountain Plovers have a strong proclivity, like numerous other
species, for preferring substrate in which they tend to visually disappear.
When that source of difficulty is compounded with the possibility of their
being in very distant locations within oneâs field of view, a âmissâ
easily
can occur. We trust that others may be looking for this species tomorrow,
and those interested should âstay tuned.â
We had two attractive âconsolation speciesâ this afternoon: 30+ Long-billed
Curlews, 25 of which were seen in the air as a single flight at one point;
and three White-tailed Kites. We often saw two White-tailed Kites a short
distance apart on a utility wire, and for a brief period saw three of them
in flight together. They afforded some nice photos. Once, while I was
outside our vehicle scoping a field, I heard some loud, resonant,
flute-like calls that sounded to me like Long-billed Curlew, although I
cannot recall having heard such calls previously at this time of year.
Considering our encounters with these two beautiful species, it may be said
that we had an enjoyable birding experience today, even if the targets
species was not found.
Wishing everyone the best of birding,
Rex Stanford (Weslaco).
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