[texbirds] Brazoria County Tuesday: empty beaches and marshes

From: Joseph Kennedy <josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx>
To: 4 Texbirds Maillist <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2015 12:07:30 -0600
I did a tour of Brazoria county on Tuesday starting at San Bernard Refuge
without seeing many birds anywhere. Not even a lot of coot food for the
local eagles which were not seen. Black crowned night herons were feeding
and already have breeding plumes.
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966565

And one bittern was beside the road

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966566

The highlight was a single least grebe about half way down the leg of the
tour route past the observation deck. It smiled and then ducked down never
to be seen again.

A merlin went by the car in full hunting mode and showed how fast they can
really move but nobody flushed from the ditches for its breakfast.

Down on Quintana, the drive down to Brazosmouth was smooth and easy. On the
way down and back I had a total of 7 western willets and 10 sanderlings
plus maybe a dozen ring-billed gulls. At the river mouth there were more
birds including 11 lesser black-backed gulls (10 adult and 1 first year
bird). A few terns and gulls including young Caspian terns still begging
for food.

On the way back a group of small birds was catching flies on the beach but
all were American pipits and horned larks.

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966567

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966568

I drove the beach going east from Surfside to access 7 and did not have
many more birds but a small group of snowy plovers had a banded bird

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966573

A couple of American kestrels in Surfside did not flee when I stopped

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966571

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966570

And an osprey was feeding on a very dead fish that could be smelled at over
100 yards

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966575

Not sure if it was just lazy or the extremely muddy water was making it
hard to find fresh prey.

Brazoria Refuge was wet but arriving after the school bus tours have
started is not the best of times to find birds near the road. But there
were coots

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966576

And northern shovelers

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966577

Who do tip-up like normal ducks

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966578

The bus stopped next to an osprey perched on the platform where a couple or
roads meet and had to give all a great look at an osprey. Another kestrel
stayed put for me too

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/158966579

I drove long stretches of beach and had almost no birds which is odd as the
habitat looked great. Normally there is a large roost of snowy plovers and
a few other birds on Bryan Beach but I found none of any species on the
whole stretch.

Spring migration was started though. A small stream of tree swallows was
heading east across Brazoria Refuge but included no other species.

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


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[texbirds] Brazoria County Tuesday: empty beaches and marshes

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