Started the day just after sunrise at Anahuac refuge.
On the way down, had a Fuertes type red-tailed hawk at the stop sign where
562 and 62 meet. Anahuac had lots of some birds and seemed to be missing
what should be common birds.
Did 2 loops around shoveler pond and the marsh wrens are doing very well.
Common gallinules have many chicks. No purple gallinule chicks and one
coot. Lots of noisy boat-tailed grackle chicks are fledging. Also new
chicks of willets and older chicks of black-necked stilts. Young neotropic
cormorants and yellow-crowned night herons are on their own.
There are about 40 forster's terns around shoveler pond with most sitting
in a pulloff doing the bring a fish bit. Bobwhite was calling for my second
for the year and I got a quick look
Black rail calling down near frozen point about 75% of the way from the
burrowing owl spot and the end of the road. It was on the north side in the
heavier vegetation. Lots of seaside sparrows singing.
least bitterns were scarce as were orchard orioles in most of the refuge.
Catbird singing for a bit. It is still hard to get used to large numbers of
mourning doves out in the marsh. Again, the only dickcissels were the
alternate singing birds; all of the regular song group left the area.
Tides were very high and pushing at the edge of the parking lot at rollover
with no birds. 2 ospreys on the way down to the flats.
Tide high at the flats with almost no shorebirds as the feeding areas were
under deeper water. A few birds started coming from the roost back inland
but it would be another hour or so standing around so I did not wait. The
horned larks down that way are carrying food.
There were the remaining 5 dunlins including my latest ever breeding
plumage dunlins, 1 red knot, 5 black-bellied plover, 1 white-rumped
sandpiper, 10 western sandpipers, 10 sanderling, 2 marbled godwit, 4
semipalmated plovers, 1 Wilson's plover, 4 short-billed dowitchers, and 25
avocets. About as low numbers as I have seen for the area. Have no idea how
many other birds were roosting and waiting for the magic signal that the
tide is going down.
Does anyone know how they know the tide is going down, since tides are so
irregular here and the wind was keeping it from going out. A clock in the
brain would have had all the birds out to feed but no feeding grounds.
Ferry took a long time as the start of extra boats is delayed and more and
more people have the special go to the front of the line passes. Almost
only laughing gulls and rock pigeons on the boats with the grackles absent.
East beach had little but the wet spots had 45 American avocets and 10
western willets plus more horned larks. Wilson's plover chicks are off on
their own. 2 Caspian terns were playing bring me a fish game and 2 others
tried to get the fish but true love won. Had a frigatebird off the jetty
for my first of the summer in the area although the wind was great for good
numbers. Horses and birds do not mix.
There are more non-breeding black and least terns around and still no new
sargassum. Need lots of weed on the beaches for the birds to use.
Sort of getting a little slow out there but a couple more weeks will have
returning shorebirds.
--
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx
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