[texbirds] American Golden Plovers: Cameron Co. (03/05/13)

  • From: "Rex Stanford" <calidris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "TEXBIRDS" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2013 22:24:44 -0600

In what seems to us an unusually early appearance, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS 
were present today in Cameron County in a sod field on the west side of 
Weaver Road (between Jimenez Road and FM-800). Several of the fields there 
do not presently have grass growing in them, but those that do today hosted 
13 of that species. Facing off one of the most frightfully strong, steady, 
northwest winds we remember having encountered on our birding trips, these 
plovers foraged, gradually progressing northward in the field, via the 
typical plover run-stop-run manner. That made them easy to spot initially. 
At one point something unseen by us put them briefly to flight, and the 
grace of flight of these handsome plovers with long, pointed wings was joy 
to behold. We first saw them around noon today and wanted to study them with 
our scope, not just with our binoculars. Alas, the horrendously strong 
northwest wind made us apprehensive about opening our rental sedan's trunk 
lid to extract the scope for fear that the lid's attachment might be 
compromised by the force of the wind--no kidding! We therefore counted these 
plover's using our binoculars and found 10 during our morning visit to the 
field.

After interim birding at a pond (resaca?) along Rangerville Road (FM-1479) 
and at the Wildlife Management Area on Jimenez Road north of FM-1479--some 
nice birds, but nothing of special note at those sites--we noticed that the 
wind had abated just a bit and returned to the Weaver Road site of the 
plovers, this time arriving from the south such that the still-fierce north 
wind would pose no threat to the trunk lid during scope retrieval. Having 
retrieved our scope, we set it up south of the vehicle, which now largely 
blocked the wind, thereby stabilizing the tripod and allowing views at high 
magnification. In that way we enjoyed close-up, deeply rewarding, views of 
these elegant migrants. The wind, even then, was so strong that these birds, 
which typically run with their heads lifted high on their graceful, long 
necks, were forced to pull in their necks to stabilize them in the fierce 
head-on wind.

As birders seek the "grasspipers" at this season, they will want to bear in 
mind the following considerations:

Grasspipers, such as American Golden-Plover, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, and 
Upland Sandpiper, are diminishing and seriously threatened species. At this 
time of migration through our area and through areas much farther to our 
north these species presently are and likely will continue to be facing 
circumstances of extreme and prolonged drought that has greatly reduced the 
availability of food and water. Actions that would stress such species while 
they attempt to find food, water, and/or rest could constitute a very 
serious threat to their lives and thus combine with other, multiple 
circumstances that already threaten their continued existence. The 
aforementioned problems related to obtaining wood, water, and rest presently 
are compounded in the Lower Rio Grande Valley by the rapid disappearance of 
the sod fields which would seem to provide these species' best opportunities 
for obtaining what they need for migration and even for staying alive. The 
La Feria sod fields, in accord with what someone recently posted to 
TEXBIRDS, now are being plowed into furrows, which would seem to indicate 
that they now will be used for other purposes than producing sod. In Hidalgo 
County today, we passed by the Progreso sod fields but did not explore their 
dirt access road, thanks to driving a low-slung rental sedan, but the state 
of the fields there did not seem encouraging relative to the hope of 
adequately supplying the needs of the grasspiper species that will be moving 
through this area. We soon will further check out the Progreso sod field 
area, and when we do, we hope to report here on what we find. There are 
other examples, in this area, of the same thing happening.

Birders who wish to see these beautiful long-range migrants can help to 
ensure that their visit(s) do nothing to disturb these migrants and/or 
reduce their chances of finding and using the drastically reduced vital 
resources presently available. A little thoughtfulness at the time of 
visitation can ensure that one's visit in no way provides duress and thereby 
a threat to the individuals whom they are fortunate enough to be able to see 
and enjoy. By bearing in mind such considerations, we can do our part to 
ensure that these long-distance migrants will find what they need to 
continue their migration and, ultimately, be ready to reproduce their own 
kind.

Rex and Birgit Stanford
McAllen, TX 

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  • » [texbirds] American Golden Plovers: Cameron Co. (03/05/13) - Rex Stanford