Started off on the really neat wetlands on east beach but discovered that
they dried up entirely in the last couple of days. Most of the birds other
than a few American avocets were gone too. Not sure what will happen to the
puffball stage willet babies and the baby Wilson's plovers. They can
probably go out to the beach but that gets a little crowded.
There were a couple sets of baby horned larks scooting around just inside
the tern protection fence as well as 2 pairs of ground nesting mourning
doves. Apparently the habit at Anahuac refuge can occur elsewhere.
Almost no terns resting on the area with little variety. I did get my first
baby royal tern for the year. And there were quite a few more apparently
nesting least terns including a couple of chicks at the runaround stage.
3 snowy plovers were close together way around the channel where the
fencing heads back west. No sign of little ones or nesting activity.
On my way back to the car I was about at the jetty when I heard strange
tern calls behind me. Saw 3 royal terns attacking another bird sitting near
where I had just walked by. Turned out to be a jaeger against a slate gray
sky and lowdown sun but it was flushed by some nice people out driving in
the no car zone. Did not like their picture taken and left. My first
impression was a smaller bird as compared to the attacking terns but
pictures seem to show a light pomarine jaeger and not a dark other species.
On the way out had a light phase adult swainson's hawk which is odd for
just outside the sand area on the island.
The ferry ride was more eventful with 6 magnificent frigatebirds mostly
over near Bolivar. Lots of other birds feeding along with porpoises and
fisherfolk. More frigatebirds were over Fort Travis which went up into a
building thunderhead. An osprey was feeding on a pole at the jetty base.
The ponds on Retillon Road were drying and had great flocks of spoonbills,
ibis and egrets eating the goodies. But Bob and Frenchtown road were full
to the brim still.
Bolivar flats were great with lots of sand flats and shallow water.
Shorebirds were returning with long-billed curlews scattered along the edge
and on the flats. Several newly arrived marbled godwits had nice orange
bills but were already losing feathers. And there was a big increase in
western willets all along the way. And my first greater yellowlegs of the
summer or fall migration. And one of the godwits and one Wilson's plover
were banded.
Least terns were doing better here too with more birds appearing to be
nesting. And a big influx of black terns with a total of 4 for the day.
In addition to the missing non-breeding black and common terns I am also
missing all the non-breeding least tern flocks which are usually sitting on
selected spots. There are tremendous numbers of little minnows out along
the sand edge that would feed lots of them.
Rollover Pass had an area where Pelicans could stand but no good spot for
terns or shorebirds. The nesting Wilson's plovers there had at least on
youngster almost fully grown and feathered.
Skillern tract continues to have really good mud and water. They are also
working. Flocks of whistling ducks and some dark ibis were there but only
killdeer and black-necked stilts were only shorebirds for the great habitat.
1:00 pm was not a great time for shoveler pond but if anyone wants to look
at water lilies now is the time with large parts of the pond covered by
large and small lilies. A purple gallinule took a whole seed head from one
of the large lilies back to where the youngsters were along the edge of the
water. Looked for swallow-tailed kites again with no luck.
--
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx
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