[texbirds] Black-whiskered Vireo on Matagorda Island
- From: Petra Hockey <phockey@xxxxxxxx>
- To: TexBirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 08:11:32 -0500
Please start sending your posts to texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
TexBirders;
Yesterday Ladd and I spent the entire day out on the bays, Matagorda
Island and Peninsula. After several days of north wind hopes were high
for some late migrants and I was not disappointed. Every little
cluster of bushes and trees was loaded with cuckoos, pewees, empids,
vireos (mostly Red-eyed) and an assortment of warblers, mostly females
and second year birds. Dewberry thickets of only 1-2' height had
buntings , grosbeaks and tanagers working through them but the berry
peak had definitely passed already. The most available food was an
abundance of little moths and butterflies and almost all birds, even
the non traditional flycatchers, were taking advantage - some more
graceful than others.
Best find was a Black-whiskered Vireo in a lime prickly ash/mesquite
cluster a couple of hundred yards south of the southernmost building
of the old Army Base. Since I had left the snake leggings behind I
couldn't approach closer than about 30 yards and didn't get any useful
photos. I believe this is likely a first record for Matagorda Island
and Calhoun Co.. I was also very satisfying to see and hear Bobwhites
everywhere. They have gotten so rare in other places.
The birding along the long row of salt cedars on the southernmost part
of Matagorda Peninsula was considerably easier since the area is
grazed and surrounding vegetation was short and chigger and snake
free. I did, however, not crawl into the "tunnels" that the wild hogs
and cows had pushed into the cedar thicket because mosquitoes were
swarming inside. Flocks of Eastern Kingbirds worked the abundant
insects in all directions, often sitting on thistle heads as these
were the highest elevation perches except for the salt cedar row. It
took me 3 hours to walk just once up and down this ca. half mile long
row. Encountered impressive numbers of Veerys and Gray-cheecked
Thrushes, 2 Black-billed Cuckoos, tons of Traill's Flycatchers and
about 15 species of warblers.
On the way over to Sundown Island, our local breeding bird colony for
Brown Pelicans, herons, egrets, terns and skimmers, Ladd landed a nice
22' speckled trout at the big jetties. Motoring around the colony we
saw the pelican chicks already quite big and exercising on top of
their nests. The entire island is chock full of breeding birds, the
noise and smell intense and the constant coming and going like a
permanent rush hour.
The wind is from the north again this morning. We are waiting for the
choppy water to calm down a bit for another day of late spring birding
and fishing.
Petra Hockey
Port O'Connor, Calhoun Co.
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