Golden Triangle Audubon Bird Alert -- May 9, 2010

Spring Migration is now beginning to wind down, but the first week in May has produced very good birding in Sabine Woods with many species being seen.  Mourning Warblers have been seen almost every day, often bathing at the drip. Although there was a good selection of species on all days, in terms of numbers, several days were dominated by one species. May 4 was Bay-breasted Warbler day (or at least of first such day), May 5 was Gray Catbird day (with at least 200 present) and May 6 was Yellow Warbler day. The cold front on May 8 brought in about 20 warbler species, in what may be the last great day this spring.  Full details will be published in the Spring Migration Count report in due course. But there will still be a few days with significant numbers of songbird migrants, and groups like the flycatchers just reaching the peaks days of passage.

Shorebird migration really has two interesting phases.  In late March a number of species begin passing through.  Then in May and even into early June, a number of other species reach peak migration.  On the migration count on May 8, there were literally hundreds of Whimbrel in west Jefferson County. Every moist or wet field had its complement. Other prominent species included White-rumped Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers and Pectoral Sandpipers.  Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs and Wilson's Phalaropes continue to pass through.  Early Hudsonian Godwits were seen.  It is not really worthwhile to attempt to specify exactly where the best fields are, because they change literally from day to day.  There are many more rice fields in cultivation this year, and the best approach is to look for fields that are being drained but still have an inch or so of water or less.  As long as the fields are still significantly moist, preferably with a few pools here and there, they are well worth checking.  We should note that it often requires a binocular scan to see the birds.  If you are new to west Jefferson County, the following roads are often among the most productive; South China Road, McDermand Road, Thompson Road,, Lawhon Road, League Road, Johnson Road, Aggie Drive and Ebner Road.  In addition to the shorebirds, you can expect to see Dickcissels, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Eastern Kingbirds.  Relatively few raptors remain in the area, although you might find Swainson's Hawks or one of the very few Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harriers that remain.  Crested Caracaras are now resident in the area.

There is one other location which is shorebird heaven right now, and that is Cattail Marsh, but you have to be prepared to walk!  Although the Marsh is "closed" for a prolonged rehabilitation, individuals may request permission to enter the area to bird, and it will usually be granted upon signing a liability release provided the construction activities permit.  Park outside Cattail Marsh in Tyrrell Park and walk in to the office just inside the gate.  Request permission there.  However, currently, the water is all being routed through cells 4 and 8 – see the map at Cattail Marsh.  Upon entering the Marsh, turn left along the levee and then take the first major levee to the right.  Proceed to the levee that separates the center cell (#3) from the far cell (#4).  That is a distance of just over one mile.  You can walk the levees round cell #4(1.6 miles total!) and then it is another one mile back to the entrance.  On May 8 and 9, cell #4 was teeming with shorebirds; White-rumped Sandpipers (maybe 1000), Stilt Sandpipers (perhaps 500 or more), Great and Lesser Yellowlegs, Dowitchers, Wilson's Phalaropes, Least Sandpipers as well Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Mottled Duck and even two pairs of Mallards.  There are Tricolored and Little Blue Herons, both Night-Herons, White and dark Ibis.  On May 8, John Haynes had a Ruff in this cell, but it was not relocated the next day.  That doesn't mean it wasn't there, given the numbers of birds present, and the extensive vegetation that creates many places that cannot be viewed, but Ruffs on the Texas coast do not have a history of staying around.  A Glossy Ibis was in the cell on May 9.

During the Migration Count, John Haynes had three Swallow-tailed Kites – apparently one juvenile and two adults over the Natural Wetland to the south of Cattail Marsh that serves as the final stage of treatment before the water is discharged into Hillebrandt Bayou.  (If you are in Cattail Marsh, you can walk to the pump house in the southwest corner and then over the bridge to the wetland, but it is a long, long walk.)  These three kites were seen again May 9 (from a much greater distance) from the levee along the west edge of cell #4.  The kites are early migrants some arriving early in March, and likely early nesters, but this still represents an early date for a fledged juvenile.  John Mariani reports seeing an adult Swallow-tailed Kite over Rogers Park in Beaumont on May 9. There was also a very early Wood Stork circling over the same general area.  (Wood Storks in our area are usually considered to result from post-breeding dispersal.  This bird represents an extremely early bird for this area, although the species does nest very early.  It is possible this is a bird whose breeding attempt failed.)

A sighting of interest was an adult Bald Eagle over Highway 73 just east of the Veolia plant on May 9.  The bird flew across the road and perched in a small tree on the south side of the road.

With thanks for reports from Gerald Duhon, Terry Ferguson, John Haynes, John Mariani, Christine Sliva and all participants in the Migration Count.

John A. Whittle