Today (Sunday, 08/21/16) my wife (Birgit) and I birded the Weaver Rd. sod
fields in Cameron Co. (10:15-10:55 AM) and some of the Progreso sod fields
in Hidalgo Co. (11:30-11:45 AM). Here I will report only the shorebirds
found at those sites.
Weaver Road: KILLDEER (8); LEAST SANDPIPER (6); PECTORAL SANDPIPER (7); amd
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (14). We birded all the sod fields along this road,
including along its dog-leg at the fields' north end. At this site there
was still some standing water, plus some still-damp areas, and the
shorebirds tended to feed in those areas. There and in many other places
the grass was very high, making the birds hard to spot. Probably quite a
few were missed as they foraged in the long grass.
Progreso sod fields: Here we birded only the sod fields between US-281 and
the north end of the long field on the east side of the road. That long
field begins at the second irrigation stand-pipe after one heads north on
the traversal road from US-281. We birded both east and west sides of the
road. On the aforementioned east-lying field we found only one species,
KILLDEER (7, widely dispersed on the very short, recently cut grass). West
of the traversal road we found only 1 KILLDEER.
We are expecting more shorebird migrants, but today was certainly
disappointing.
Rex Stanford (Weslaco).
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