[texbirds] Coastal Galveston today. Nesting snowy plover, white pelicans, few shorebirds

From: Joseph Kennedy <josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx>
To: 4 Texbirds Maillist <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 18:33:15 -0500
I started the day with a common loon just east of the 71st street freeway
exit where they like to hide from boats. No other birds out in the bayou.
On pelican island, the tropical kingbirds are trying again for a successful
nesting making the 3rd effort for this year and 9th for the last 3 years
when they arrived. Lots of calling and wing waving early in the day.

Out on east beach, the new regime has resulted in no wet spots for birds to
gather and only a few lingering shorebirds including 2 black-bellied
plover, 8 semipalmated plovers, 5 red knots, 4 sanderling and 1 western
sandpiper. Least and black terns were scattered around with a few least and
black terns protesting me and people walking to the jetty to fish.

I tried to find nesting northern harriers last week and this week at their
usual spots without any seen either day. The area where they nested last
year on Galveston had 2 newly fledged white-tailed kites.

Frenchtown Road and Bob Road ponds had new water from the weekend.
Frenchtown had 2 short-billed dowitchers and several fulvous whistling
ducks in the morning and 8 male blue-winged teal in the pm for the only
ones remaining. Clapper rails had their chicks out learning to feed.

Horned larks were feeding on Retillon Road. The beach had good walking all
the way down to where it turns in to the jetty base and the commonest
shorebird was 37 western willets with most in 1 flock followed by 13 red
knots but only 1 had any red. 5 greater yellowlegs were fly-overs. Good
numbers of Wilson's plovers. Both least terns and black terns were
scattered along the beach with the leasts split between breeding plumaged
birds and non-breeders. None showed any territoriality which is defined as
their playing whack-a-mole with my head. Later in the day a few males were
feeding females.

I light of the white pelicans reported elsewhere, I had a flock of 15
soaring over the jetty base on Bolivar and another 80 or so way out there
at Rollover Pass.

I drove lots of beach both ways and had almost no birds but laughing gulls
feeding in the surf and a scattering of terns. The sand bar that has been
good for birds at rollover has been cut near the base and very few birds
around as there was little room to sit due to the enormous numbers of brown
pelicans sitting everywhere.

I saw very little from the ferry heading east but returning, the wake
stirred up lots of food for the gulls and a large flock of brown pelicans.
The pelicans just dropped down and picked up fish rather than diving.
Several magnificent frigatebirds tried to steal from terns but not pelicans.

Texas city dike had little but I did find a sanderling and a faded
turnstone. A few gulls and terns and the only non-laughers for the day. One
was a very white faded worn bird and the other a dark bird with very worn
feathers. The white bird is in the running for the mangiest gull of the
summer. Not sure who he is.

The UC oystercatcher was sleeping near the base of the dike and 3 other
unbanded birds were out on the sand catching hermit crabs. They spot a
moving shell, grab it and run into the water where they extract the crab
somehow. 2 more oystercatchers were on the mud opposite the airforce
exhibit in the borrow pit for the hurricane levee.
The trip sort of confirms the lack of summering shorebirds this year
compared to the past several. Several non-tidal areas have dried
contributing to lack of shorebirds. almost all teal moved out too and no
hawks seen other than the kite family. But probably more brown pelicans
than I have seen on one day in texas ever and maybe the same with the
number of white pelicans too.

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


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[texbirds] Coastal Galveston today. Nesting snowy plover, white pelicans, few shorebirds

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