Bird Alert - August 28, 2007

The field trip to Bolivar Flats on Saturday August 25 found the water levels still high – a lingering effect of Hurricane Dean. Virtually all the expected shorebirds, terns, gulls, etc were present.  At the beginning of the trip, a Crested Caracara was seen over the marsh along with a Common Nighthawk and a White-tailed Kite.  Wilson's Plovers seemed very numerous, but there were also Piping, Semi-palmated, Snowy (two only) and Black-bellied (relatively few) Plovers present.  Gulls and terns were probably mostly over at East Beach in Galveston as they often are on high tides, but Caspian, Royal, Sandwich, Forster's, Black and Least Terns were all found along with a good number of Black Skimmers.  One Whimbrel was seem along with many Long-billed Curlews, but relatively few Marbled Godwits.

 

The fall migration is certainly already upon us.  Migrant inland shorebirds (waders) are now moving through in peak numbers, and our winter resident shorebirds are arriving.  Cattail Marsh had a quite extensive shorebird habitat with low water levels in Cells 2, 3 and 4.  See www.cattailmarsh.org for map.  On Sunday August 26, there were good numbers of Long-billed Dowitchers and even a few Short-billed, along with Least and Western Sandpipers.  There was a sprinkling of Pectoral Sandpipers, and at least two Baird's present.  Both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs were there is some numbers and at least one Spotted Sandpiper was seen.  At least 200 Blue-winged Teal (in eclipse plumage) were in Cell 4 along with a fair number of Mottled Ducks and a few Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.  The heavy rain on Monday night in South Beaumont may well have resulted in greatly increased water levels in these cells, making them less attractive to the birds described above.

 

Land bird migrants are also passing through, with lots of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers reported over the weekend, along with fair numbers of Yellow Warblers and a few Hooded Warblers. However, reports from Sabine Woods are that the deer flies are very numerous.

 

John A. Whittle