[texbirds] Hornsby Bend - 2 Piping Plovers

  • From: Eric Carpenter <ecarpe@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: Texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 2 May 2013 21:30:26 -0500

I was finally able to get out after work this evening around 6.45pm to
see what this strong cold front and brutal north winds had put down.
I decided to give Hornsby Bend a look since I figured shorebirds that
were hunkered down would be easier to sort through & find then
passerines.  The gusty winds (25-30mph perhaps) and the cold temps
(high 40s) made for a difficult time but I was rewarded about 10
minutes into my efforts when I heard two shorebirds making an
unfamiliar call as they quickly flew past me over the ponds and into
the area around the drying beds.  I only got a glimpse of them, though
combined with their call, I was pretty sure they were Piping Plovers.
I searched in vain for 20 minutes and had just about given up when I
found them again on the dike road between Pond 1East and 1West.  A
couple other folks came out later and likely have better photos by
here's one I took through the car window in the fading light of early
evening:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecarpe/8703825770/in/photostream

In addition, there were lots of other shorebirds hunkered down on the
edges of both Pond 1West and  Pond 2 (several hundred Wilson's
Phalaropes).  Mostly typical stuff for this time of year though a
couple bright alternate plumage Western Sandpipers were nice as were 3
Am. Avocets, 3 LB Dowitchers, and a handful of Stilt Sandpipers mostly
in alternate plumage.  I suspect all of this will still be around
tomorrow until the winds subside.

--
Eric Carpenter
Austin
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  • » [texbirds] Hornsby Bend - 2 Piping Plovers - Eric Carpenter