On Monday we took the Bolivar ferry from Galveston. As usual, several Brown Pelicans escorted us out of the harbor.
For the first time in ages we didn't see a single dolphin on the trip but there were the normal hordes of Laughing Gulls being fed by the passengers.
The harbor at Bolivar also had two small groups of Red-breasted Mergansers.
We drove the beach from Retilion Road to the boundary of the Audubon beach area and then walked as far as we could along the latter. This stretch of beach almost always has hundreds of birds and sometimes thousands. This time we counted just 19. That's individual birds, not species!
After passing five Double-crested Cormorants on pilings, we saw five Long-billed Curlews fishing the water's edge near two Ring-billed Gulls.
Long-billed Curlew
Ring-billed GullThe Gulls and Curlews were new 2010 birds, as were four Sanderlings and three Dunlin.
Sanderling
DunlinA group of Lesser Scaup were floating offshore, too far away to photograph.
Then we got lucky when a flock of about 200 White Pelicans flew in and settled on land beyond the beach.
2 comments:
Is it my imagination or are White Pelicans much more numerous in the area than they have been in past winters?
I'm not sure, Birdwoman. I hardly ever see them, except every couple of years at Bolivar. On this trip I was surprised not to see many Brown Pelicans. I didn't see one on Galveston Island whereas there are normally dozens flying along the seawall.
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