Erik Breden earlier today posted in regard to our birding visits yesterday
to two eastern sites in Cameron Co. (South Padre Island and Laguna Atascosa
NWR), visits that were focused on finding and photographing passerine
migrants. That phase of our birding ended, as indicated by Erik, after our
visit to LANWR, but late in the day (6:50 â 7:20 PM) yesterday (April 22,
2016) our party, consisting of my wife (Birgit) and I joined by Erik and
Mary Breden, surveyed the Weaver Road (Cameron Co.) sod fields to look for
grass-loving species of shorebirds (aka grasspipers). Aided by a thin
cloud layer blocking direct sunlight that otherwise would have made
difficult our studying the birds on these west-side fields, we had
considerable success using both binoculars and a scope to find and identify
the target species and to ensure that very remote individuals could
reliably be differentiated from the non-shorebirds also present on the
grass (e.g., grackles, blackbirds, and meadowlarks). We, though, took no
photos as the grasspipers were mainly quite distant and the light level was
low. The majority of the birds reported here were on the most southern of
the several fields, but a substantial number also were found in the next
field north of there. In fields still farther north we found none of the
target species. Here are the shorebirds we found and indications of their
numbers: AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER (est. 40 - 45); UPLAND SANDPIPER (12);
LEAST SANDPIPER (3); and BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER (est. 80, at least).
Seeing these shorebirds peaceably and quietly feeding on the sod was a
relaxing way to end our birding after plenty of sometimes frantic efforts
to track hyper-energetic warblers and other passerines amidst the tangles
of trees and leaves. It was a joy to see these grass-loving migrants
getting the food and rest they needed after their long journeys and in
support of their long, continuing journeys, often to very far northern
breeding grounds.
Wishing everyone the best of spring birding,
Rex Stanford (Weslaco).
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