More and more shorebirds are coming back but with higher tides there isn't
that much room for them to really feed, especially those that have to have
wet sand and newly bared sand/mud. Least sandpipers feed in dryer spots and
do a lot of picking away from the waves like this bird on Galveston's east
beach
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166010748
Piping and snowy plover are starting to set up territories so that you can
find them at the same spot on each trip as long as there isn't a major
change in the tides
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166010750
On Thursday about 50 marbled godwits were spread all around Fort Travis
probing for grubs
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166010768
I have been unable to get a good picture of the prey as they can swallow
while part of the bill is still in the ground but this time I got a picture
of the whitish grubs they were eating. Don't quite look like june bugs and
I think that crane fly larva are grayish.
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166010768
I did not find the big flocks of Wilson's plovers this week but they are
around, often with other plovers
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166010778
Including black-bellied
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166010775
And semipalmated
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166010776
Forster's terns continue to molt into winter plumage
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011373
Had my first good flock of black skimmers of the fall along the beaches. As
usual, they acted more heat stressed than the terns they were with
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011380
One group had 2 young of the year birds, my first this summer
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011375
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011379
Lots of panting. Note that the bill is shorter than the adult still and the
legs are more orangish along with the spotted plumage
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011378
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011376
You know its hot out there when the nighthawks stand erect on a fencepost
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011394
Periodically the local nighthawks were up in the air in response to insect
hatches
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011393
Adult black-bellied plovers are returning from the nesting grounds only to
molt in a short period
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011390
Good numbers of semipalmated plovers continue out there
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011400
More and more of the short-billed dowitchers are well into their molt
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011402
As are the western sandpipers
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011405
This bird has been here for maybe a week or a little more. No sign of
adults yet and like last year only a couple of semipalmated sandpipers.
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011407
In contrast, young white pelicans were the first arrivals on the flats
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011409
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011410
The piping plover chick was my first of the year and comes from some of the
same territory as the white pelicans
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011496
And almost all of the western willets are in full winter plumage after
their short migration to get here
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166011411
More of the young of the year shorebirds will start to arrive in the next
couple of weeks. Note the young least sandpipers who always raise questions
as to what is that strange bird.
--
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx
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