[texbirds] Anahuac to Texas City Today, ducks, golden eagle, tropical kingbird etc

From: Joseph Kennedy <josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx>
To: 4 Texbirds Maillist <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 18:31:59 -0600
With the hawk watch over, I did my normal loop from Anahuac around to the
Texas City Dike. Lots of wind kept the land birds under cover and maybe
hawks too.
Anahuac had the best ducks I have seen there in many years say 10 or 15.
Shoveler Pond had lots and the big marsh on the way down to yellow rail
prairie has turned fresh and is covered with birds.

Not too many hawks around compared to last year but krider's were at Double
Bayou Park and a couple at Anahuac and one on Bolivar. No dark hawks unlike
last winter but there are lots of harriers everywhere. Most of 1985 did not
have hawks today. Northern harriers are everywhere with 2-3 birds in many
spots.

An adult golden eagle was down on the big Anahuac marsh sorting out injured
and uninjured ducks. It is an adult bird and really golden on the nape etc.
Did not see it catch anything but it was not working hard. A couple of
young bald eagles were also around the refuge.

The good hawk of the day was a bird on yacht basin road that was probably a
light-phase-Harlan's-phase red-tailed hawk, a form I have never seen
before. It got up in the wind and was gone with the wind.

Had 6 ospreys for the day.

Ducks were good with fulvous ducks at shoveler pond. First saw a single,
then 13, then 87 and finally another 8. I considered the one bird a good
late record. Most ducks were gadwalls mixed with baldpates but a fail
number of mallards are in. Only a few geese in the refuge but there is
great habitat around Pear Orchard Road and lots were going in and out of
the area with most being snows and ross's.

Down on the bay at frozen point, there was good fish along the shore and
several loons. Something is wrong with grebedom as I had only horned grebes
and could not find any eared all day. Those were the only loons too. A
total of 34 horned grebes was the most and only ones I have seen in the
refuge. One large flock flew by.

Rollover Pass really had lots of birds with many gulls, terns, shorebirds
etc. There is a large roost area to the north of the north-west side of the
pass as well as the birds to the northeast. Only a couple of oystercatchers
seen but others heard hunkered down out of the wind.

The beach in Crystal Beach at Stingaree Road had lots of gulls with most
being herring there and all other spots on the coast. There was a single
adult lesser black-backed gull there which is one of the few I have seen on
Bolivar in contrast to Quintana. A second bird was on the Texas City Dike.

Bolivar flats had lots of herring gulls and really lots of avocets, most of
which were out swimming in the surf and further out. Really lots. Too
unpleasant walking in the blowing sand to go down the way to see what else
was in the large flocks and the tide was coming in rapidly. Another big
flock at the base of the jetty on the little boat launch one block west
including 6 unbanded oystercatchers.

They are hauling sand into Frenchtown road to provide shoulders again but
it is a work in process.

Not much on the ferry ride but gulls and pelicans. This is my first trip
where people chummed the gulls by getting seasick. Some really good rolling
over near the Galveston side.

Stopped on Pelican Island and the pair of tropical kingbirds is still very
much paired with no sign of a secret chick from a 4th nesting try in the
late summer. They are persistent.

The strong wind was forcing water up against the Dike and the long sand
spit and most of the rocks where the 2 bait camps used to be were
underwater or waves. Much of the beach was also flooded with a long lagoon
up against the large grass piles. Quite a few gulls with the ring-billed
gulls missing from the beach present.

1 sandwich tern and an even dozen common terns joined the forster's and
royal terns and a single Caspian. Most of my normal resting spots were
flooded. No sign of loons or grebes but the pelicans were feeding well.

I almost went down to Smith Point as vultures were getting up from the
double bayou area just around sunrise but they headed east and acted more
like feeding birds.

And last but a short look. A peregrine was working a swirling flock of rock
pigeons right over Nasa Road 1 while I was passing on the freeway. A second
pigeon swirl may have been caused by a peregrine a mile north.

A great day out in the field.

-- 
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx


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[texbirds] Anahuac to Texas City Today, ducks, golden eagle, tropical kingbird etc

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