What a Weekend (3)

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Lafitte's Cove

Sunday morning I was at Lafitte's Cove at 7:30 and had the place to myself.

The preserve looked good in the morning light and there were plenty of wildflowers all around.



Most of the shorebirds and the Wilson's Phalaropes were still in the ponds as I hurried past to reach the woods.

I didn't see many warblers over the next hour. In fact, only American Redstarts, Bay-breasted Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Worm-eating Warbler. However, there seemed to be Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Gray Catbirds and Swainson's Thrushes on every section of the trail.


I settled in at the spring to wait for birds to come and bathe. A Gray Catbird perched above the water for several minutes.




Then a Swainson's Thrush came in to drink.





Bolivar Peninsula

Waiting for the ferry, we were amused to see Great-tailed Grackles jumping up to eat dead bugs from the front of people's cars.


On this trip we saw only a couple of Bottle-nosed Dolphins ...


but a Sandwich Tern helped to keep us entertained.



On land again, we took a brief ride down Frenchman's Road.

Common Terns were busy fishing while we had good views of a nice selection of shorebirds, including Long-billed Curlew, Whimbrel and Marbled Godwit.

Marbled Godwit

We checked out the 17th Street jetty but the sea was rough and there were no birds at all.

The situation was much better when we got to the beach. We were particularly struck by the number of Black-bellied Plovers, looking extremely handsome as they strutted along the sand or in the shallows.




Ruddy Turnstones and Sanderlings were plentiful and in a range of plumages.

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderlings

A couple of Least Terns eyed us as we drove by.


A Snowy Egret was wading and fishing.


I did a quick walk along part of the protected area of the beach but saw only a few more of the same birds.

Next stop was Bob's Road, a site we'd never visited before. In just a few minutes we saw Western Sandpipers, Willets, Wilson's Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers and our first Green Heron of the weekend.

Wilson's Plover

A group of Brown Pelicans posed for a photo.


Our final stop on Bolivar was Rollover Pass. Unfortunately, the only birds we could see were Brown Pelicans and terns far off on a sandbar.


Tomorrow: High Island and Anahuac NWR