All,
Just got home from spending a few days at Port Aransas with my wife and
kids. We were celebrating our 11th anniversary and Mother's Day. Great
time! Weather turned dicey last night, with a monster storm blowing
through and dumping lots of water, knocked out the power, but all things
considered the trip was awesome. A few highlights on the birds we saw:
Magnificent Frigatebird (female) was soaring high above the municipal pier
area at Port A this morning with a bunch of circling pelicans.
Many dozens of Black Terns were present all over the island today compared
to just a few individuals yesterday.
Shorebirds were PLENTIFUL, especially at Port Aransas Nature Preserve. Of
note, relatively numerous White-rumped Sandpipers were seen in multiple
locations, each time confirming with excellent views with my scope and
seeing their white rumps and typical breeding plumage. They were often in
company with Stilt and Least Sandpipers, phalaropes, and Dunlin. Several
singles, but one time a flock of 8 flew in together. A single Pectoral was
flushed up from a marshy brackish pond in a field, landed again a little
ways down. Cool!
A Philadelphia Vireo, Blackpoll Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, and 2 Eastern
Wood-pewees may have been grounded by last night's storm - were seen
together at Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, along with many White Ibis,
usual herons/egrets, Ruddy Ducks, Eared Grebe, Common Gallinules, usual
shorebirds, and a massive alligator.
A couple nice Gull-billed Terns were seen at Port Aransas Nature Preserve,
completing a nice list of terns for the trip. A male Redhead was in a pond
along 361 on Mustang Island - should be way up north by now! Wonder if
he's injured.
82 total species - not bad! Had many of those "birder's nirvana" moments
when there were so many species all around, weather cooperative, and
beautiful surroundings. Struck out on Boat-tailed Grackle, at least none
confirmed - anyone seeing those around Port Aransas? Also, struck out on
rails. See list below in no particular order:
Laughing Gull
Brown Pelican
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
Purple Martin
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Cattle Egret
Great Egret
Reddish Egret
Little Blue Heron
Great-blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-heron
Green Heron
Roseate Spoonbill
White Ibis
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Stilt Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
White-rumped Sandpiper
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Wilson's Phalarope
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Wilson's Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Least Tern
Black Skimmer
Sandwich Tern
Magnificent Frigatebird
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Ruddy Duck
Redhead
Eared Grebe
American Coot
Common Gallinule
Red-tailed Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Crested Caracara
Osprey
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Mourning Dove
White-winged Dove
Eurasian Collared Dove
Rock Dove
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Northern Mockingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Philadelphia Vireo
Eastern Wood-pewee
Blackpoll Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Double-crested Cormorant
Neotropic Cormorant
Common Nighthawk
Lark Sparrow
House Sparrow
Best regards,
Nate Nye
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