Started the day on Thursday taking the sunrise ferry across to Bolivar from
Galveston. Stopped to see if my friends of last winter were back and found
the newly returned black-bellied plover
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069962
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069961
Joined by least sandpipers
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069963
And a western willet molting into winter plumage in feather order and not
randomly like they normally do
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069964
Looking at websites for unknown birds at this time of year, the commonest
species is the brown-headed cowbird
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069966
They are in heavy molt into more adult feathering and there are lots of
pinfeathers sticking out everywhere
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069970
Groups of feeding birds can easily be id'd by the tails of the feeding
birds sticking up in the air, very few birds do that as a group
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069970
I have only seen 2 least tern chicks this summer. This one was from a
couple of weeks ago and a scan of about 600 least terns had no chicks of
the year that could fly
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070023
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070024
About 100 Wilson's plovers were out on the beach, most resting
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070019
They got disturbed twice when each of the two crested caracaras out on the
beach looked for brunch
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070011
The summering dunlin is fully molted and all new feathers. We rarely see
birds that look like this as very few summer and they molt on the nesting
grounds so have a few thousand miles of wear by the time the reach the UTC
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070012
More and more spoonbills out on the beaches
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070016
Younger pelicans are starting to get breeding plumage.
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069977
A magnificent frigatebird followed the ferry for a good ways
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069984
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069981
Lots of chance to see their aerial abilities
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069979
East beach had a couple of lesser black-backed gulls
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069987
The pool by the jetty had lots of trapped and dead fish resulting in lots
of piracy. One royal tern got a 3 inch fish and 14 other terns chased it.
Turnstones, sanderlings, piping plovers, and several species of herons all
fought for food that was readily available.
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069985
Least sandpipers did not stand a chance
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069986
This piping plover was over on bolivar flats in April
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069988
Lots of western sandpipers had arrived and not really molting yet
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069989
Up on the Texas City Dike the other common bird that is a mystery bird at
this time of year is the European Starling. This one is molting into winter
and adult plumage
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069995
Had my first young of the year peep in a puddle
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069998
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166069997
And a fluffy snowy plover
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070000
A great blue heron handled a large fish. The fish was still flopping when I
came by. It put it down and stabbed it several times
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070001
And then had lots of trouble getting it off the bill. When dead or subdued,
it was down the hatch
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070002
Which took quite a bit of work
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070003
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070004
And gravity finished the job
http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/166070006
Fewer birds than I thought were out there and the tides were out with the
southwest wind creating good habitat but the food was elsewhere.
--
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx
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