Texbirders,
Today I walked south from Pass Cavallo along the Gulf beach of north Matagorda
Island for about 2 miles (nice shelling), then crossed over to the narrow
inlet, skirted it and headed across the flats to the center dunes of the
island. Spring migration was in full evidence in every part of this hike.
Heading up the coast just offshore flocks of ducks, cormorants, a few Cattle
Egrets and hundreds of Little Blue Herons with some Snowy, Tricolored, Great
and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons mixed in kept passing me by. The most exciting
bird was a lone White-winged Scoter that winged by between the beach and the
breakers for great views. Barn Swallows and a few Purple Martins headed up the
island over land where a big Peregrine Falcon and a Merlin were intercepting
tired and unsuspecting migrants.
A group of scattered trees around the central dunes at the north end is one of
my favorite spots and today a group of early warblers were feeding voraciously
on insects attracted to the freshly budded out and blooming hercules club
trees. This relatively small area was spared during a very recent burn and is
now, surrounded by blackened ground, even more attractive to birds than before.
I spotted 7 Northern Parulas (all male; one with unusually reduced eye arcs), 1
Louisiana Waterthrush, 4 Black-and-white Warblers and 2-3 Yellow-throated
Warblers among the more common winter residents.
The island got 2+” of rain over the last few days which is great for
regenerating the vegetation but will make mosquitos bust out in force very
soon.
Petra Hockey
Port O’Connor, Calhoun Co.
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