JoAnn and Millie were two sisters from
Georgia and South Carolina respectively, JoAnn being the seasoned birder
showing fledgling Millie the ropes! J They had already had some fun days birding
before our outing, but JoAnn really wanted to see an Aplomado Falcon, so we
started this beautiful day out at Old Port Isabel Road (OPIR). I was hoping the previous day’s rains would
encourage the migrants to stick around, but they also wreaked havoc on
notorious OPIR; thankfully we didn’t have to go very far before we found the
Aplomado pair close to the hacking platform (actually sitting on a couple of
yuccas), so I was very happy to see them, especially since I had missed them
Saturday! The Whimbrel flock was still
around, and an Upland Sandpiper flew over unseen. A Gull-billed Tern came in close to
investigate, and meadowlarks were all over of course, but we only found one
Cassin’s Sparrow singing (but that’s all you need). A Harris’ Hawk flew by with something in his
mouth, but surprisingly we saw no White-tailed Hawks or Caracaras.
Whimbrel
Distant Aplomado Falcon
From there we headed up SR48 and straight
to the Island, where again, things were disappointingly slow at the Convention
Centre (one of those “more birders than birds” situations). Before hitting the boardwalk we meandered out
back (as we hadn’t done the Flats yet), and as we were looking at a Greater
Yellowlegs a Clapper Rail went scampering across a dry spot in the background
(unfortunately the girls missed that one L)! A White Ibis in full breeding colors was the
first JoAnn had ever seen like that, and both an adult and immature Little Blue
Heron posed. Continuing to scan I heard
something that sounded kind of like the nasal call of a Gull-billed Tern, only
when I got on the vocalizer I was shocked to see a Sooty Tern, a somewhat expected species on Gulf pelagic trips, but
never on shore! You would have thought
it was a Sunday morning praise service with all the whoopin’ and hollerin’ J, but after all
three of us frantically took pictures I got a message out on the RBA, and
before long every birder who was signed up with that message group (who
happened to be at the CC) was descending on the spot! The tern actually put on a great show as he chased
a Laughing Gull, then the gull chased him, and those who happened to be at the
observation blind at the end of the boardwalk probably got the best looks of
all! (I should say that I wasn’t too terribly shocked, as a pair of
Sooties had been reported in the area not too long ago, but my expectations of
seeing them had been so low that I had actually forgotten about the report…)
A shock was seeing this Sooty Tern float by (also below)!
Figuring nothing (including a fallout)
could top that, we hit the boardwalk, and picked up one of the Least Bitterns
searching intently for lunch! The grassy
area had a Sedge Wren actually singing, and several Marsh Wrens burbled from
the mangroves, which were otherwise devoid of migrants (unlike last time). We enjoyed some herons and Pied-billed Grebes
out at the end, however, and just like last time, I thought I heard a kid
yelling when it clicked that it was an Oystercatcher, and said Oystercatcher
whizzed by and gave everyone great views!
On the other leg of the boardwalk the usual spoonbills, stilts,
whistling ducks et al were in the pond (along with a Redhead pair), and the
showoff Common Gallinule was showing off his babies at the end!
Focused Least Bittern
Mottled Ducks
Great Southern White
Baby Common Gallinule (check out those tiny wings!)
We hit the Flats after that, where water covered
most of the area yet it was still shallow enough to drive up to the flocks
(although I think my passengers were dubious J). As usual, we got great looks (and photos) of
skimmers, dowitchers, and the usual shorebirds, but we had a couple of
stars: a nice Wilson’s Plover right next
to the car playing “Catch me if you can,” and a lone Franklin’s Gull off by
himself.
Black Skimmers and Short-billed Dowitchers
Franklin's Gull
Since Sheepshead was more active last
time, we decided to head over there next.
We had the whole place to ourselves, surprisingly, at least until a big
white pickup pulled in followed by three police cars!! (And while clandestinely watching the goings on
we concluded it wasn’t just a “moving violation”, either - it was difficult
trying to ignore this live “Dragnet” episode and pretend to look for
birds…) That turned out to be the big
excitement of the spot, as after they all left the birders showed up en masse,
and that’s when what few birds we had showed up as well: an Indigo Bunting here
and a transitioning Summer Tanager there, along with a female Rose-breasted
Grosbeak was about all that came in.
Transitioning Summer Tanager
Fellow birder Susan (or someone in her party) had found
a Palm Warbler on Oleander, so we decided to swing by there, and sat with
another guy who already had the place staked out. A female Hooded Warbler put on a nice show,
but other than her the crowd was mostly made up of various doves and House
Sparrows. We did see a suspicious warbler over by the fence, but it crawled
under and to the neighbor’s yard before we could get a good look. Walking back to the car a Hooded Oriole wheeped from one of the palms, and just
as we were getting ready to pull out a magnificent male Scarlet Tanager showed
up outside JoAnn’s window, but the bird split before she could get a picture… L
We still had time before having to head
back, so I suggested the Port Isabel Reservoir, and that turned out to be a
great place: a Bobwhite ran across the
road on the way in, and in the reservoir itself, tons of peeps (mostly Least
and Semipalmated from what I could pick out) were feeding, and one female Wilson’s
Phalarope preened amongst the duller males.
But the stars were the three little plovers that gave great views: Snowy, Semipalmated, and Wilson’s! We crawled along Holly Beach Road, picking up
a few land birds for the day list, including a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that
posed for pictures! We also had a
handsome Caracara on a pole, but nothing else out of the ordinary.
Indignant-looking Wilson's Plover
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
We started home after that, and when JoAnn
mentioned that they still needed King Rail and Fulvous Whistling Duck, I was
all set to make a brief stop at Tiocano Lake, but a monsoon deterred us, so we
just continued on to Alamo. Still,
wasn’t a bad day with 96 species to show for it!
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck
Redhead
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Harris's Hawk
Clapper Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
Black-necked Stilt
American Oystercatcher
Snowy Plover
Wilson's Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Franklin's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Sooty Tern
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Aplomado Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Verdin
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Hooded Oriole
House Sparrow
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