March 17, 2007
This month’s trip eight participants assisted Tom Kihn with the Bolivar Bird Survey from 8 till 11:30. It was an absolutely beautiful day to be out birding. Crystal clear skies and a little brisk but not to cold. Unfortunately it was not good weather for seeing migrants but it was good weather for migrating birds, which is ultimately what we want. Groups of two to four birded various areas of Bolivar Peninsula from the Ferry landing to Rettilon Road and saw 104 birds for the survey. Highlights for the survey were the Burrowing Owl at Fort Travis that has been there since January, eight Red Knots including one molting into alternate (breading) plumage, a couple of American Golden Plovers and a Whimbrel at Bolivar Flats, Prothonotary Wablers, Palm Warblers, Yellow-throated Warbler and Black and White Warbler. After eating lunch at La Playita Mexican Restaurant we all went back to see the Burrowing Owl to give the folks who didn't bird that area during the survey a chance to see it. After watching the owl for a little bit we split up with some people heading to the North Jetty and others to the Flats. We all met back up at the East Bat unit of Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge since the ferry line was terrible.
We spent the afternoon birding the East Bay unit of Anahuac NWR and Shoveler Pond in the main area of Anahuac NWR. It was pretty slow in the afternoon with nothing of note being seen. I was hopping for better birding in the afternoon but at least it was a nice day and we did manage to get over 100 birds between the groups for the survey. One encouraging note is that a number of the rice fields along FM 1985 and in Anahauc NWR have been flooded and there is lots of good habitat for migrant shorebirds when they start showing up in numbers.
If you missed this months Bolivar bird survey don't despair because the surveys are conducted every third Saturday of each month. A few points about the survey that I neglected to mention in the announcement were that this survey was started and continues due to the efforts of the Houston Audubon Society specifically Stennie Meadours and it is the Houston Audubon Bolivar Land Fund that people can send donations to to help protect more land on Bolivar Peninsula. I strongly recommend that everybody tries to help out with this survey because this survey is part of what helped allow Houston Audubon to receive a 99 year lease from the Texas General Land Office to protect this unique and special habitat as well as Horshoe Marsh and the other sanctuaries that Houston Audubon has on Bolivar Peninsula. In addition this survey is important because it is helping to document what species are using the peninsula that maybe impacted by a project like building a bridge across from Galveston to Bolivar.
Below is a list of birds seen by the various groups during the survey.
Location: Bolivar - Port Bolivar area
Observation date: 3/17/07
Participants: Adam Wood, Bryan Tarbox, Bill Tarbox, Pam Smolen, Alex Lin-Moore, Andy
(no last name provided), Mary Dodson, Peg McNealy, Gwen Robberson, Patsy Lawrence, Stennie Meadows, Harlan Evans, Khara Strum, Bill Palmer, John Kirschner, Lisa Bell, Rachel Schiesser, Tom Kihn (compiler).
Also seen: hummingbird species 1, empid species 1.
Number of species: 104
Mottled Duck 16
Blue-winged Teal 37
Northern Shoveler 1
Green-winged Teal 1
Lesser Scaup 325
Red-breasted Merganser 39
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Northern Gannet 1
American White Pelican 257
Brown Pelican 120
Neotropic Cormorant 19
Double-crested Cormorant 26
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 9
Snowy Egret 20
Little Blue Heron 1
Tricolored Heron 2
Reddish Egret 3
White Ibis 2
White-faced Ibis 2
Roseate Spoonbill 26
Turkey Vulture 13
Osprey 1
White-tailed Kite 3
Northern Harrier 5
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Kestrel 2
Clapper Rail 2
American Coot 72
Black-bellied Plover 104
American Golden-Plover 5
Snowy Plover 10
Wilson's Plover 6
Semipalmated Plover 5
Piping Plover 10
Killdeer 3
Black-necked Stilt 13
American Avocet 2530
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Lesser Yellowlegs 10
Willet 96
Spotted Sandpiper 3
Whimbrel 1
Long-billed Curlew 21
Marbled Godwit 77
Ruddy Turnstone 10
Red Knot 8
Sanderling 51
Semipalmated Sandpiper 5
Western Sandpiper 10
Least Sandpiper 57
Dunlin 57
Short-billed Dowitcher 85
Long-billed Dowitcher 23
Wilson's Snipe 2
Laughing Gull 345
Ring-billed Gull 47
Herring Gull 29
Royal Tern 50
Common Tern 4
Forster's Tern 205
Black Skimmer 225
Rock Pigeon 3
Eurasian Collared-Dove 14
White-winged Dove 5
Mourning Dove 19
Inca Dove 2
Burrowing Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 4
Loggerhead Shrike 11
Blue Jay 1
Horned Lark 1
Purple Martin 2
Barn Swallow 32
Carolina Wren 1
House Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 15
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 26
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 128
Orange-crowned Warbler 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler 65
Yellow-throated Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 2
Prothonotary Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 3
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 37
Song Sparrow 8
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 7
Northern Cardinal 15
Red-winged Blackbird 110
Eastern Meadowlark 8
Common Grackle 48
Great-tailed Grackle 64
House Sparrow 61
~ Adam Wood, OG Field Trip Coordinator, birdman_570@yahoo.com, 713-515-1692 |
