The weather was cool in the morning but warmed all day up to 69 F with a steady north wind all day. That was an important factor in seeing birds as they are tending to stay down when that happens. The majority of the warblers have not some across from the south Islands* yet due to that wind.We may see them tomorrow if the wind shifts to the east or west at all. (*South Padre, and offshore Islands )
We met Jim at 8:00 at his home on the hill, and saw a few birds through his wonderful window (See yesterday's blog) including a Baltimore Oriole and a Summer Tanager. Five main stops were part of the agenda. 1. Brazoria NWR; 2. The dikes and roads around Freeport; 3. the small but prolific bird woods at Quintana; 4. Lunch at the Red Snapper Inn, (but more on that later); and 5. The sand beaches around San Luis Pass. Jim always asks if "this" is OK before we start or if there is a place we would like to stop at any time. He is very courteous and thoughtful. Ruth was accommodated with a step stool for exiting and entering the van. It has a a high step anyway. That worked well. Our other birder was Becky B. from the County of Brazoria, part of which we traveled today.
I will not list all the roads we traveled , as I could not remember them if I tried, but will indicate the different habitats and topography that we encountered
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| Shorebirds seen were like the Long Billed Dowitcher in the right foreground |
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| Typical were the tidal lands like this, where water inundated making great feeding for shore birds |
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| Along the Ocean side a mixture of Terns; Sandwich, and Forster's. |
The sands on the beaches around San Luis Pass are not your typical sand beaches , but rather mud flats as the tides changes it every tide. We hit it between tides so we could drive around and see the birds that have used the shallow water as feeding grounds. Jim is a master with the Ford Van that he drove and I marveled at the knowledge he had in being certain of water, sand and mud. We never got stuck in the 80-90 miles we drove today. At special spots we would get out for decent photos or to observe the birds more closely. This was helpful to Ruth as a stretch every hour or so really helps. Here were mostly shorebirds like the Black Skimmer, Short Billed Dowitcher, and the ubiquitous Lesser Yellow legs. (We saw them everywhere.)
Coming down the coast on highway 3005 past the San Luis Pass the swallows of all types were migrating. they were like a river f birds for miles and miles . W saw them all day at almost every stop. Four types , the Barn, Rough Winged, tree, and Bank Swallows. Mostly mature but some juveniles.
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| The Intracoastal Ship canal between Corpus Cristi and Houston |
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| Part of the Dow Chemical Complex near the great birding areas today. |
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| Is that a house? No! It is a ship traversing the Intracoastal Waterway |
The area of the Freeport dikes are built mainly to protect the industrial complexes there including Dow Chemical. The view from the dikes is special as we were up above the birds and water , so have an advantage in seeing them. Here we began to see The Egrets, some of the few ducks ( Blue Winged teal, Shoveler , and one Green Winged Teal) that were left as most have gone north already, then three types of Herons, (Great Blue, Little Blue and Tri Colored).
Time out for lunch!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had told Jim that the three of all liked seafood best. So we headed for the Red Snapper in Freeport where we each had a seafood selection. Jim had the Seafood Platter, Becky had the shrimp plate, Ruth had a shrimp and mushroom combo, and I had a bowl of seafood Gumbo soup and a chopped shrimp salad. Nobody complained and Jim kept talking all the way home as to how good it was. It was excellent.
After lunch it was touring the Brazoria Nat.Wild. Reserve. This has a system of roads for an auto tour and many different habitats for viewing. Jim signed us in at the entry and we spent another hour there adding to the list we already had. There were more open fields for sparrows and field type birds. During these stops we did see the Seaside Sparrow, formerly the Henslow's sparrow, a new bird on our "life list." A few other birds not formerly seen were; Black Bellied Plover, Snowy Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, White form of Reddish Egret, Least Sandpiper, TAMAULIPAS CROW (may be the first one seen on the Texas coast this year), a huge flock of White Pelicans, Redhead Duck, Tennessee Warbler, Neo-Tropical Cormorant, GOLDEN PLOVER, Pectoral Sandpiper , Wilson's Phalarope, Collard Dove, Clapper Rail, Whimbrel, American Widgeon, Swainson's Hawk, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Semi Palmated Plover, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Least Bittern, Green Heron, Yellow Crowned Night Heron, Yellow Billed Cuckoo, Parula, Red Tailed Hawk and a Bronzed Cowbird. This was NOT all the birds we saw as the TOTAL count today was 98 BIRDS. It was a great birding day.
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| A new Heron and Ibis rookery along a canal in Freeport. |
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| A field of daisies as we drove along. Texas wildflowers are magnificent. |
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| Can you name it? It is a "fluffed up" Red Tailed hawk. |
Although each of us is good at spotting, Jim, while he is driving, often, can spot a bird and tell you what it is. When he stops he can roll down the window, grab his "big Gun"camera and take a photo of a bird in flight before we could even see the bird. He did give us adequate time to watch any, however, that we wanted more time with.
So all in all it was as perfect a day as one would want when looking for and identifying birds. Jim was an excellent guide and did a great job.
Tomorrow we do it again only this time to Bolivar Peninsula and across the Galveston Straits on the ferry to the "other side". This area was hit by two Hurricanes in the last five years, and is still rebuilding. More tomorrow., and if the warblers come off the South Islands it should get interesting.
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