Day 19,20 March 19, 20, Rockport TX area Great bird sightings!

Laughing Gull      Rockport

Loggerhead Shrike

Day 19-20  March 19-20, Birding in the Rockport area --Gulf Coast USA

Two great days of finding those birds!  A large thunderstorm and the first rain of any kind in the 2.3 weeks we have been on the road added to the activity of the birds especially this AM Tuesday the 20th).

Sunday it was that round trip to Refugio, and Monday it was a more distant trip to the Bay at Corpus Christi that netted some 49 birds identified (ID’D). Between Rockport and Aransas Pass there were many places along the Gulf where the spit along the road allows water to pond and puddle on the inland side of the road. Here there often were shore bird to observe. Three wildlife area were on our list that day  and one eluded us as for the life of me I could not find it. Sometimes the old directions change or names change on the roads. Whatever we did find two places that allowed us to observe some new species for the trip. 

Avocet at Indin Point Portland, TX (Corpus Christi Bay)

Great Egret near Gulf Coast.
Outstanding on Monday were; Reddish Egret, Caspian Tern, Greater Yellow legs, Black Skimmer, both the Snowy and the Cattle Egret, Long Billed Curlew, Short Billed Dowitcher, Least Tern, and the White Ibis.Being in and around the big city of Corpus Christi was not a favorite spot to look for birds, but they were there along the edges where the water is. As the migration has not started the migrants (songbirds) are not here yet, but wait for their arrival any day now. 

Today was birding close to home after the first rain. After a lubrication on the truck, we stayed right on the waterfront to observe and there we did see many species.  The city of Rockport has a very large park called the Rockport Beach Park, with pond that has easy access between the pond (50-60 acres ) and the Ocean. Here the birds can move freely back and forth and use a few small islands in the lake. With the heavy rain last night  there was no shortage of water for them to splash and frolic. (Do birds frolic?)

Species seen there today included, but were not limited to: Great Egret, Coot, Common Loon, Long Billed Curlew, Black Bellied Whistling Duck, Marbled Godwit, the Franklin’s, Ring Billed, Herring and Laughing Gulls, and the Caspian, Forster’s and Common Terns, Quite a haul for one morning.  That park has three nesting areas for the Caspian Tern, the Laughing Gull, and the piping Plover. See the pictures of some.

Black Skimmers on nesting  grounds

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks. (Rockford)

bays there where we added:  Turnstone, Reddish Egret, Later we went to the west side of Corpus Christi and added a few: Snowy  Plover, Scissor Tailed Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Red Breasted Merganser, Avocet, Oystercatcher, Black Necked Stilt, four Osprey in  a 1/2 mile, and Pied Billed grebe. 

The total for the day was 52 species ID’D.

Suffice to say that things are “looking up” and although we may not do as well on other days, this is the reason we travelled here. Enjoy the log and the pictures. I will place some on the blog as the internet allows.

Tomorrow will be Aransas Pass and Wednesday a trip to see the Whooping Cranes in their last weeks before departure to the north. That will be by boat on the Intercoastal Canal. LOts of ship and barge traffic there.