Galveston to Bolivar

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At 10:00 a.m. Saturday we met up with Carlos and took the ferry from Galveston to Bolivar. The 15-minute ferry ride is always fun: It's free and it's usually enlivened by the appearance of dolphins.

Saturday was no exception and several dolphins turned up to entertain us and the other passengers.
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As usual, Brown Pelicans also flew and fished near the ship.

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Galveston and Bolivar harbors are excellent places to get close-up photos of Pelicans.
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Once we had disembarked, we headed to the North Jetty, hoping it would give us good views of shorebirds and waders fishing the shallow waters.
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The beach area here was badly hit by Ike and it was very sad to see people picknicking among the wooden pilings that had supported someone's home until September last year.
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In the event, the jetty wasn't very productive for birding. Several Great and Reddish Egrets were fishing but they were quite a distance away. However, one Reddish Egret was close to the jetty and not at all shy.
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It was so unconcerned by our presence that it felt free to deal with a bothersome itch.
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Nearby we saw the only Western Sandpiper of the day.
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Also, as everywhere else on the trip, we saw Willets.
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By 11:30 we were back in the cars and heading for the Bolivar Flats sanctuary, one of my favorite birding sites and somewhere that never fails to produce a good range of birds.