Yesterday (Friday, May 13, 2016) afternoon my wife (Birgit) and I twice
visited the Weaver Road (Cameron Co.) sod fields with particular interest
in the shorebirds species, mainly migrants, that we hoped to find there.
Between those trips we birded Port Isabel Reservoir. Below are listed the
times of those visits and the highlights of each, along with some
commentary.
WEAVER ROAD SOD FIELDS (1:30 â 2:40 PM): The vast majority of our finds
were in the northernmost fields (i.e., immediately on south side of the
Weaver road dog-leg) and, in particular, in the parts of those fields where
irrigation water filled harvested (i.e., de-grassed) furrows between rows
of unharvested grass. Shorebirds: AMERICN GOLDEN-PLOVER (2); KILLDEER (3);
BLACK-NECKED STILT (7); GREATER YELLOWLEGS (12, ranging widely); LEAST
SANDPIPER (2);WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (est. 15-20; uncertainty because this
species tends to dash about very rapidly, covering some distance; not easy
to count precisely); PECTORAL SANDPIPER (est. 90-95; virtually everywhere
in the watery areas, many very striking in their softly-colored breeding
plumage with many buffy fringes but ruddier shading here and there,
especially in the auriculars; both males and females present);
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER (8); and WILSONâS PHALAROPE (est. 80, widespread in
fields, but occasionally walking about in long, rather neat lines as they
foraged). Most of the Pectoral Sandpipers were in the aforementioned
northern-most fields, but a small group of them were found in one of the
more southern sod fields.
PORT ISABEL RESERVOIR: (4:15 - 4:30 PM): The sight of this area was
distressing relative to the unsuitability of the place at present by many
shorebird species. The water was very deep, and almost all of the prior
grassy/marshy area had literally disappeared underwater. From the
perspective of avian welfare, this area now seemed to us a substantial
disaster, making us feel sad because this, during late spring migration,
often has been a prime site for migrants to feed and rest, including the
smaller shorebirds. Yesterday the birding there was very disappointing, and
we found only: WILSONâS PLOVER (3); KILLDEER (2); BLACK-NECKED STILT (2);
WILLET (3); LEAST SANDPIPER (1); and DUNLIN (2).
WEAVER ROAD SOD FIELDS (7:00 â 7:48 PM): We wanted to revisit this site
because long prior experience had taught us that the birds there can change
notably in both species and number late in the day. In particular, we hoped
and strongly suspected that the site might in late day provide Hudsonian
Godwit (HUGO), based on prior experience with HUGOs on Weaver Road in late
afternoon during spring migration (i.e., on May 10, 2014, 27 HUGOs). That
species, indeed, already was present in one of the northwestern-most fields
(i.e., immediately south of the Weaver Road dog-leg) when we arrived. We
were very excited to find three of these large, elegant, godwits foraging
in lovely low-angle sunlight, a nice subject for photography (right from
the vehicle window, bracing the camera, telephoto lens fully extended, on
the window ledge). We did look for other species but spent most of the time
in tracking and photographing the HUGOs. Because the godwits often flew
about in these northernmost fields, stopping often to forage, but quickly
moving on, keeping track of them and taking photos of them at each stop was
time consuming. These frequent flights provided some flight photos. Here
are the two additional species we found: PECTORAL SANDPIPER (rough est.
35-40, but no counting was done of these widely dispersed birds); and
WILSONâS PHALAROPE (rough est. 25-30, but, again, no actual count). Both of
those species had diminished in number from our earlier visit. Upon
arriving home I quickly uploaded the pictures to the computer and saw that
the photos had nicely captured the beauty and diverse plumages of the three
HUGOs and their striking top-side plumage during flight.
Wishing everyone the best of birding,
Rex Stanford (Weslaco).
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