[texbirds-freelists] [texbirds] High Island Bird News April 17

From: Sam Woods <sam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:15:59 -0700
APRIL 17, 2012

After the heady heights of "fallout Monday",
birders arrived with near fever-pitch excitement at what the High Island
lots would offer today….they were not disappointed.

The day opened
with the earliest of early birders hearing the distinctive cries of a
CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW emanating from HAS Boy Scout Woods that sadly was
never found in its daytime hiding place. After Monday's domination of
HAS Smith Oaks as THE sanctuary to be seen in, dawn saw a hearty crowd
of birders piling in the parking lot in readiness for another bumper
crop of warblers there. The Houston Audubon morning walk was scheduled
to roam HAS Boy Scout Woods, although was quickly re-scheduled to cover
Smith instead after the early birders reported warblers aplenty. Once
again TENNESSEES dominated the mix of warblers there, with few trees not
holding one or two, although in truth even these healthy numbers of
individuals were down on yesterday's bumper Tennessee harvest. Indeed,
that was the true pattern of events today. While warblers were
plentiful, and birders too, with both seemingly happy and healthy, in
reality numbers were a little down on yesterday's batch, with some
having cleared out overnight, bringing the tally down to 28 WARBLER
SPECIES today, (down from 31 the day before-NO Canadas, Bay-breasteds,
Blackpoll, or Swainson's were recorded today, although for the first
three at least peaks are yet to come later this month). The stars of
this celebrity A-list set included a reported male BLACK-THROATED BLUE
WARBLER which eluded all but the chosen few sadly, KENTUCKY WARBLERS
which were few and frustratingly skulky for many, an odd WORM-EATING or
two, an elusive PRAIRIE WARBLER in HAS Boy Scout Woods, and a handful of
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERS which were found in both of the most popular High
Island sanctuaries today (HAS Boy Scout and HAS Smith Oaks). On top of
that, multiple CERULEAN WARBLERS "put out" today and included both males
and females of the species. It was good to see still some of the
southern breeders still in evidence, traditionally some of the
early-movers of spring, with YELLOW-THROATED, and HOODED still around in
small numbers at least, along with the aforementioned Kentucky.
BLACKBURNIANS were of course, also popular, among new birders, year
listers, and old-timers who see this fiery-faced bird as one of the true
heralds of spring. Aside from the warblers migrants were still out in
considerable numbers today, especially the "mulberry munchers" which
were out in force: rarely a mulberry was left untouched by the droves of
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS, SCARLET TANAGERS, INDIGO BUNTINGS, BALTIMORE
ORIOLES rummaging in their midst, which were also joined by GRAY
CATBIRDS, TENNESSEE WARBLERS, SWAINSON'S THRUSHES, RED-EYED VIREOS, and
some memorable PAINTED BUNTINGS for the year's crop.

Other notable
trends of the day included an increase in cuckoos, which although not
numerous, and have surely yet to peak, involved multiple YELLOW-BILLED
CUCKOOS and a first-of-season BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. There were also
several day roosting COMMON NIGHTHAWKS which perched their way onto some
people's life lists.

The shorebirding over lunch provided welcome
relief from the common and widespread malady of warbler neck, and
involved a trip out to some muddy fields near Anahuac NWR (along S Pear
Orchard Road), where up to 50 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS were the
undoubted stars.

All-in-all, a truly enjoyable day for lovers of
warblers and shorebirds alike, with both plenty of individuals and good
diversity, a fantastic show of what the Upper Texas Coast is rightly
famous for.

_THE A-LIST:_

Blue-winged
 Golden-winged
 Tennessee

Orange-crowned
 Nashville
 Northern Parula
 Yellow
 Chestnut-sided

Magnolia
 Yellow-rumped
 Black-throated Green
 Blackburnian

Yellow-throated
 Prairie (1 elusive bird in Boy Scout)
 Palm
 Cerulean
(multiple-both females and males)
 Black-and-white
 American Redstart

Prothonotary
 Worm-eating
 Ovenbird
 Northern Waterthrush
 Louisiana
Waterthrush
 Kentucky
 Common Yellowthroat
 Hooded
 Wilson's

Yellow-breasted

Sam Woods
 High Island


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[texbirds-freelists] [texbirds] High Island Bird News April 17

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