Back to High Island

.
On Thursday I took a day's vacation to drive a colleague's dad around some birding sites.

Our first main stop was at the rookery at High Island. As on Sunday, the main birds there were Great Egrets, Neotropic Cormorants and Roseate Spoonbills.

However, this time there were also several Anhingas, including a female and male perched near each other on a snag.

Sunday's large alligator in the parking area had moved on but a 3-foot youngster had taken its place.

After the rookery we tagged along with the noon guided bird tour of Bolivar, stopping first at Rollover Pass. As usual, the birding was excellent and this time most of the birds were on the beach rather than further away on sandbars.

The most numerous species was probably Black Skimmer.

Mixed in with the Skimmers, Terns, Short-billed Dowitchers, Marbled Godwits and American Oystercatchers were Laughing Gulls.

A pinkish reflection in the water resolved itself into the pink breast a Franklin's Gull in breeding plumage.

A Black-bellied Plover and a Wilson's Plover scuttled around on the sand.

Some Willets, a Yellowlegs and a Dunlin wandered nearby.

A small flock of American Avocets fished in the shallows.

The next stop was the shorebird sanctuary on Bolivar Flats. Among the comparatively few birds here were several Reddish Egrets, busy fishing in the shallows.

We left the group at the flats while we headed west to the Bolivar ferry and Galveston Island. There were still a few species I wanted my companion to see, including White Ibis, Rocky Turnstone and Tricolored Heron. Surely we would spot these if we drove along Sportsman Road!
.