Started the day just after sunrise at east beach at Galveston which was
much drier than a week ago but still had a high tide. Nice walk but lots of
gnats along the ship channel that liked to swim in the sunscreen but which
were not the biting kind. Breeze picked up and they went away.
Walking out to the base of the jetty, several buff-breasted sandpipers were
along the vegetation line feeding. After a bit they left when the two
crested caracara flew by after finishing eating on the young ring-billed
gull which was well plucked and mostly gone. Lots of least sandpipers along
the sand but not much down the ship channel.
The lesser black-backed gull was out on a small island with the pomarine
jaeger that would have been part of the sand bar if the tide were lower. A
large ship wave flushed many birds and the jaeger moved over by the jetty
close to another buff-breasted sandpiper and the gull vanished.
The jaeger has grown a lot of new feathers over the last 2 weeks but still
is not real trim and neat. many of the bare quills are partly covered.
There are a couple of new primaries but it never spread its wings so I
could not count.
Lots of shorebirds around as I left as well as numbers of reddish egrets
and more buff-breasted sandpipers. Probably the best day of the summer/fall
so far.
Last week, I heard calls that sounded sort of like white-rumped sandpipers
in flight but never saw anyone to make the call. Discovered that juvenile
western sandpipers and arguing semipalmated sandpipers have calls much
higher than adults were the call from the previous week. Have to remember
that for next year.
The two ferry rides had no frigatebirds and very few birds other than those
begging and riding the boats
Commonest land bird of the day was no-tailed grackle. If you watch those
that still have tails, you can watch the feathers drop out. 2 birds lost 3
feathers in about a minute on the boat.
Marbled godwits continue as yard birds in Port Bolivar but are not probing
deeply as it has not rained much
Fort Travis was being mowed short so if there is good rain over the next
few days before the grass grows, it will have great birding of grasspipers.
Yesterday there was a flock of buff-breasted sandpipers and scattered
marbled godwits and black-bellied plovers somewhat ignoring the mowers.
Apparently lots of goodies in the newly mowed grass.
Bolivar flats was good as usual. Tide was high and there was little feeding
wet areas but by the time I left the falling tide had birds arriving from
inland to feed. 82 Wilson's plovers was my high for the season as well as
over 100 black-bellied plovers. A fair number of banded plover but they
were foot-trembling and not showing their flags most of the time. More
repeats than new birds.
The migration/move of the sandwich terns continues with only a couple of
the ferry ride and none sitting other than up at the dike. One black tern
and 4 least terns for the day and 1 common tern. Young forster's were at
rollover pass with the skimmers in the wet where you usually park to scope
the area with no edge to scope again.
Going back around to the dike had more people and fewer birds than a week
ago. Lots of fish cleaning and one pelican and a few laughing gulls begging
for the leftovers. Some really good shorebird habitat but without the
shorebirds. No apparent reason for the shortfall but there was a good flock
of black skimmers with one young of the year bird among them.
It will be interesting to see how long the jaeger stays now that normal
migration is starting. And when the summering lesser black-backed gulls are
joined by migrants.
It would be nice if there were a few landbirds in the brush which usually
have lots of migrants in past years. No hawks yet on the wires but I am
still amazed by all the caracara where there used to be none.
--
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx
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