01 April 2012

Gulf Coast shorebirding...TEXAS 1 April



Anyone projecting a fallout today must have been pulling an April fool. There was clearly no 'big" movement going on today, although there was a trickle of arrivals in the afternoon, preceded by a good run along the coast for me. Our morning folly around Houston Audubon's Boy Scout Woods was generally quiet but punctuated with two bright birds from the migrant crop: a young male Baltimore Oriole comprising my first of season, and followed by yesterday's Yellow-throated Warbler, helpfully "glued" to the same tree.

In the afternoon Scott Watson and I took a trip down to the coast where we swept the small plovers (Wilson's, Snowy, Piping, and Semipalmated) between Rollover Pass and Bolivar Flats, and also admired the healthy crop of Western Sandpipers on the flats. Best of all though was this super-confiding Long-billed Curlew, showing off its most famed feature on the beach, while Least Terns sat unconcerned as our car rolled within feet of them.

Despite a trickle of new birds for most in the afternoon my only "FOS" (first of season) was a Red-eyed Vireo in Boy Scout Woods. My day closed with a Hermit Thrush giving itself a thorough wash at the drip there before I retired to a hearty plate full of brisket, which Scott and I were determined to finish!


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