Thursday, August 28, 2014

Baytown Nature Center (contd.)

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Most of the usually wet areas alongside the trail toWooster Point were totally dry and the trees held just a handful of common birds, like these White Ibis.


One of the few remaining ponds had the only shorebirds we saw all morning, some Black-necked Stilts.






A solitary Killdeer was keeping the Stilts company.


The bay at Wooster Point was empty of birds, except for Forster's Terns, Laughing Gulls and the odd Brown Pelican (below).


So we walked on to the new wetland area being created on the edge of Scott Bay.


The area is currently rather trashy and the vista isn't improved by the refineries and/or chemical plants across the bay, but it should be a prime site for shorebirds over the coming weeks.

I scanned the waters of the bay for the Common Loon that had recently been reported there but didn't see the bird. However, the wetland was attracting a selection of large waders, including Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron and Roseate Spoonbill (below).




Spoonbills are two a penny in our area but I still have to stop and wonder every time I see these strange-looking birds.  

It wasn't until we were leaving that I realized that one aspect of our visit had been truly remarkable: We had not encountered a single mosquito. That has to be a first for what is habitually the most mosquito-infected area west of High Island.
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