Yesterday (Thursday, 05/14/15) we birded Port Mansfield (Willacy Co.) with
an emphasis on finding shorebirds, especially migratory ones. We had
earlier visited sites in Hidalgo and south Willacy counties, but the heavy
recent rains had resulted in situations not favorable to shorebirds, so it
was not surprising that those sites were relatively unproductive for our
purposes. We decided to head eastward to Willacy County, specifically to
Port Mansfield.
SOMETIMES-FLOODED MULTI-HABITAT AREA: Our first stop was what would appear
to be a (sometimes) tidally and rain flooded area south of the main part of
the town. It encompasses a variety of habitats and is a large area,
viewable from a small pull-out that provides a nice overview of the
habitat. A high-quality scope can provide excellent overviews from that
pull-out. We do not have at hand all the street names for the two
directions from which it may be accessed, but we do have the following
street information: We accessed it yesterday starting from Bayview (street?
drive?), which is a paved road heading what I think is south. At any rate,
as one travels on Bayview away from central Port Mansfield, one comes to
Baffin Street (unpaved) and turns right onto it, following Baffin to the
first (unpaved) street that permits a left turn. One makes that left turn
(we saw no street sign at that point), following that road until one sees a
little pull-out (also unpaved) on the left. It is from that point that one
gains an overview of the area that we birded, via scoping, yesterday at
mid-afternoon (ca. 4:00 â 4:45 PM).
In this area, which was graced by numerous pools of water and had a variety
of habitats , some marsh like, the following were highlights (i.e.,
shorebirds and waders), first the shorebirds: WILSONâS PLOVER (2, 1 male +
1 female; for seemingly the entire time we were there, each stood atop a
separate, but adjacent, hill probably derived from dredge spoil);
BLACK-NECKED STILT (several widely dispersed); AMERICAN AVOCET (10, always
together, often foraging in an evenly spaced moving line; fun to watch and
nice to photograph); GREATER YELLOWLEGS (6); LESSER YELLOWLEGS (1);
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (5, at least); LEAST SANDPIPER (1); WHITE-RUMPED
SANDPIPER (2); WILSONâS PHALAROPE (5). Waders noted were: ROSEATE SPOONBILL
(6, some in spectacular breeding condition, and, in flight, what can one
say but âstrawberry ice cream in the skyâ); SNOWY EGRET (est. 18-20); WHITE
IBIS (8, 7 adults and 1 immature); and GREAT EGRET (1). Last, but not
least, was BLACK SKIMMER (5). The scene was at times highly animated and
more than a little enchanting: There were in-flight skimmers cutting the
waterâs surface, mandibles apart, Roseate Spoonbills sweeping submersed
bill tips during a slow, stately, deliberate walk, and American Avocets,
body angled downward, and bill submerged (sometimes head, too), swinging
the bill like a scythe, often one avocet behind the other, evenly spaced
and rigorously keeping in sync in a strikingly military style. From our
perspective, a special treat was finding our first White-rumped Sandpipers
of the season, a neatly striped, slender and elegant species that already
had traveled from southern South America and that was fattening up for an
additional incredible journey to far-arctic regions, constantly and
aggressively feeding, sometimes chasing away its Calidris congeners that
were competing for foraging domain.
FRED STONE COUNTY PARK: On the north end of this park we scoped the
presently very water-laced extensive property north of the parkâs fence.
The shorebirds we found there were: WILLET (1); RUDDY TURNSTONE (8, at
least); WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (2); DUNLIN (1, considerable breeding
plumage); and WILSONâS PHALAROPE (1). Waders were: REDDISH EGRET (1,
white-morph adult); GREAT BLUE HERON (1); WHITE IBIS (1, immature); and,
last but not least, ROSEATE SPOONBILL (3, resplendent in flight in the
low-angle late-afternoon sun).
In Port Mansfield we thus had found 11 shorebird species. Earlier in the
day at Estero Llano Grande State Park (Weslaco, Hidalgo Co.) we had seen at
Ibis Pond (from the deck): AMERICAN AVOCET (2, nearly full breeding
plumage); STILT SANDPIPER (4, 1 of them in beautiful breeding plumage); and
SPOTTED SANDPIPER (2). This made a day total for shorebirds of 13 species.
Wishing everyone the best of birding,
Rex and Birgit Stanford.
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