[texbirds] Quintana to Texas City today, Gulls and more gulls

From: Joseph Kennedy <josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx>
To: 4 Texbirds Maillist <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2013 20:10:38 -0600
I got down to the beach at Quintana early and found more herring gulls by a
factor of several times than I have ever seen before. They were quite
nervous and kept taking off and acted like they had been harassed. But they
were getting ready to move inland for the day.
Going down to Brazosmouth, I counted roughly 1500 herring gulls with
another 500 to the west of the river mouth. A half hour later, say 8am,
there were maybe 200 herring gulls and by 10am there were maybe 50. Really
a great opporunity to look at all sorts of herring gull plumages.

The other gulls did not go inland to the extent that the herring gulls did
although lots of ring-billed and lesser black-backed gulls did go. I had 32
lesser black-backs going west from the beach access, another 6 to the east
and 5 more on Follet Island. To see this you need to be there before 7:30
am. I have no idea as to when they return.

Not a whole lot of shorebirds but the main roosting group of snowy plovers
had 61 birds with 10 more further west and another 6 further to the east.
Only 3 piping plovers among them.

the beach was a pleasure to drive except when you get almost to Brazosmouth
where you have to wander among tree trunks near the water. When I went down
that way in mid morning a gentleman was hiking up the beach looking for
people to help rescue his vehicle before the tide got it among the tree
trunks.

The low tide had lots of habitat on the jetty for the usual sandpipers. 1
common loon, a couple of eared grebes and bonaparte's gulls were about the
only other birds. No sulids seen despite much scanning all day.

The lagoon is very high and had a few redheads and an osprey fishing. The
sludge pond at the foot of the bridge still had the 5 wilson's phalaropes
that were feeding communally with a group of smilers. No spinning. The best
access was up the dike at the old road just past the phone facility on the
Bryan Beach bypass road.

Not  much heading up to Texas City.

Again, the dike had lots of herring gulls mixed in with the ring-billed and
laughing gulls. Only forster's terns and 2 bonaparte's gulls. 23 common
loons including the dwarf bird that was present last winter that has a very
small bluish bill. Tossing bread out caused the herring gulls to leave the
area but was loved by the common beggar gulls.

The glaucous gull was at the waters edge when I arrived. It preened and
then walked into the water and did a little dipping of its head in the
water. After a bit it swam out a ways with 2 herring gulls and bathed a
little. Then all 3 birds proceeded to swim off toward Anahuac or perhaps
the arctic. They swam way out and out of sight and had not returned when I
came back by the flock later.

The small plover roost had 9 snowy plovers, 4 piping plovers and 22
semipalmated plovers. No grebes on the way out but a small flock of 14 on
the way home.

Two american oystercatchers were seen, both with bands, N1 and an unknown
that might be B1.

Very few land birds seen but the big birds were in such numbers and doing
interesting things, I had spent little time looking.

Both the dike and quintana jetty have lots of little fish present for the
birds to eat. Its a little surprising that there were not more birds at the
feast. Ribbonfish and killifish are there for the taking. Human fishermen
caught little other than some tiny flounders.

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


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[texbirds] Quintana to Texas City today, Gulls and more gulls

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