[texbirds] Quintana to High Island today

From: Joseph Kennedy <josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx>
To: 4 Texbirds Maillist <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2014 18:18:42 -0500
The planned of hordes of migrants did not appear but there were some birds.
The day started dark and dreary but finally the skies turned blue.
Driving down Bryan beach in the gloom, the beach was almost empty. I had 4
herring gulls, 3 laughing gulls and 1 almost adult lesser black-backed
gull. No ring-billed gulls and no tern. Later in the morning around 10,
there were a couple of small flocks of laughing and herring gulls, royal
and sandwich terns and finally 1 ring-billed gull.

I could not find any roosting snowy plovers but did have a slaty merlin
down by the berm and the horned larks were singing and digging in the sand.
The first migration of gulfweed was scattered along the beach and I could
not find any tar blobs.

The lagoon was very full but a few whimbrels were in a corner. A small
flock of franklin's gulls went over headed inland. Back to pavement, a few
lark sparrows were on South Lake Boulevard. Out on the beach near the pier,
a few of my FOS semipalmated sandpipers were accompanied by a single
baird's sandpiper.

Neotropic was busy with a crested flycatcher, an indigo bunting, a
white-crowned sparrow and an orange-crowned warbler but only 3 grackles and
no cowbirds. Later there were 7 grackles and 7 bronzed cowbirds. Xeriscape
had a blackburnian warbler, catbird and a very long-tailed scissor-tail
which will go into my hall of fame. Back by Neotropical, a merlin went
overhead going upcoast and really put the martins into the air.

Wandering, there were still lots of ruddy ducks on the flood levee. Up on
follet's island, there were 2 piping plovers and a flock of 8 buff-breasted
sandpipers came in from the gulf. Took off and landed several times but
headed inland when the females said that they did not fly from south
America to sit on a bunch of sand.

A single western kingbirds and a single great crested flycatcher were at
the nature trail and lots of birds at San Luis Pass. Dos Vacos had a couple
orchard orioles and more great crested flycatchers. Hooded and
yellow-rumped warblers made up at species. A couple of singing sedge wrens.

Lafitte had birds with gnatcatchers most common and they were catching
gnatcatchers. Hooded warblers joined them in some treetops. A few other
birds and lots of orchard orioles across the street went in and out of the
woods. Both tanagers and a few indigo buntings.

While checking the bottlebrush, I heard a hooded oriole song twice but
never saw anything but orchards where the call came from. The dominant
mockingbird was across the street. Went by a few times later and the song
did not repeat. Saw other birders that saw more species than I saw, most of
them earlier in the am.

Was really surprised by the shortage of migrants of both land and water
birds.

-- 
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx


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[texbirds] Quintana to High Island today

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