Bolivar (2)

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Many of the shorebirds at Rollover Pass are far enough away that they are best viewed through binoculars. When we were there, this was the cae with some small groups of Dowitchers, for example. However, many others were scouring the area near where we had our picnic and some of them seemed to forget about our presence after a while.

That was the case with a couple of Ruddy Turnstones, a Yellowlegs and a Marbled Godwit.

 

Most of the Black-bellied Plovers were more shy and stayed well away from us.
 

So, too, did other Plovers.
 

 

I was surprised not to see any Long-billed Curlews on this visit. There were two Whimbrels, though, a species that is less common and that I never tire of watching. One of them was hunting in the shallows but kept stopping to deal with a persistent itch on its neck.

The other Whimbrel was exploring the sand near the water's edge and seemed to be having more success.
 

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Bolivar (1)

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After Anahuac on Sunday we drove to High Island, where we planned to have a picnic lunch in the Boy Scout Wood sanctuary. Bad idea! The mosquitoes were  really ferocious. So we headed down to the coast and along the Bolivar peninsula to Rollover Pass, where we set up our chairs on a sandy spit that projects into the sea.

It turned out to be a great place for lunch: Hardly any people and no mosquitoes! Even better, from where we sat we could see more than a score of bird species.

The larger wading birds - Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and Rediish Egrets - were too far away to photograph but a couple of hundred Brown Pelicans were resting on nearby sandbars.

They shared the sandbars with hundreds of other birds, including many Laughing Gulls and several Tern species.

The black birds on this sandbar were Black Skimmers.

A few dozen Least Terns were outnunbered by large flocks of Royal Terns.

The calls of the Royal Terns as they flew overhead drowned out even the noise of the Laughing Gulls.

Amazingly, the Terns were able to make just as much noise even when they had their mouths full!

This pair of American Oystercatchers were taking a break from feeding.

Another Oystercatcher decided that we had parked too close.

 
Willets were everywhere, their drab plumage blending in well with the colors of the sand and sea.

Of course, thery stop being inconspicuous as soon as they spread a wing!

There were a few less common and more interesting birds at Rollover - but let me leave those for my next blog post.
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Foto Friday: Brown Pelicans on Bolivar Peninsula

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Anahuac NWR

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After visiting the Anahuac NWR visitor center, we drove down to the main refuge on FM 1985. The site now seems to have fully recovered from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike.

A slow drive around around Shovelers' Pond produced a good number and variety of birds.

As on our previous visit, Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling Ducks were plentiful. The Fulvous are the ones that don't have black bellies!

There were plenty of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons, too.

As usual, the ducks and wading birds were having to keep a sharp eye out for hungry alligators.

One of the most common birds on this visit was the Tricolored Heron. They seemed to be everywhere.

Snowy Egrets were fewer in number. Most of them were busy feeding alone. 

However, some seemed to happy sharing their hunting grounds with Black-necked Stilts.

Apart from the occasional Killdeer, Sanderling and Lesser Yellowlegs, Stilts were the only shorebirds we came across.

Groups of Roseate Spoonbills were grazing in the distance but this was the only Spoonbill that was near enough to photograph.

While we didn't see any Purple Gallinules, Common Gallinules were abundant. Most of them seemed to be young birds.

We didn't see any Rails at all and the one Least Bittern we spotted disappeared into the reeds too quickly for us to get more than a brief glimpse of it.

The water by the roadside was being constantly patrolled by Forster's Terns.

On our way out of the refuge Dee noticed a Swainson's Hawk and a Northern Harrier, both of which I missed. Oh, well, I suppose somebody has to watch the road when we're driving.
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Anahuac

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On our way to the main section of the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, we stopped off at the refuge's HQ buiilding.

The yards behind the visitor center had a butterfly we'd never seen before.

There was a stunningly beautiful - and somewhat scary - spider also.

The highlight, though, was the hummingbird activity around a pair of feeders. Two male Ruby--throated Hummingbirds were determinedly defending the feeders from several other hummers of both genders. Between bouts of frantic activity one of the defenders would perch on the feeder pole to recover.

So, our trip had started well. Next up was the main Anahuac NWR tract on FM 1985. As last couple of visits there had produced lots of good birds, we had hopes for this visit.
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Our Yards

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It is the beginning of the fall semester at the college - always a frantically busy period. So my birding this week has been limited to a couple of brief visits to the campus nature trail. Fall migration is in full swing now but there have been few signs of it at the college: All I saw this week was a Yellow Warbler and an Empidonax flycatcher, neither of which I was able to photograph.

Our yards at home have been largely empty of birds, too, except for migrating female and fale Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, which spend their days arguing over our nectar feeders.

If birds have been scarce in our yards, other life forms have not.

Butterflies have been plentiful at home and at work, with frequent fly-throughs by Giant Swallowtails.

Question Marks have been around, too.

 I can't remember ever having seen so many Anoles before.

We have plenty of Mediterranean Geckoes also. The light outside our garage is regularly surrounded by 7 or 8, feasting on the bugs drawn to the light.

Our area seems to be having a good year for dragonflies.

 I thought this one was particularly pretty.

Spiders have been less visible than usual but this one caught my eye the other day.

The Yellowjackets continue to nest happily under the roof of our deck. Over the past three months the nest has increased significantly in size and in activity. We don't bother them and - so far at least - they don't bother us.

Some different wasps or hornets have started constructing a nest above our garage door.

Meanwhile Mud-dauber Wasps have been busy making nests at various points around the outside of the house.

Last but not least, our yards (and the campus nature trail) are hopping with toads, most of which are still tiny.

Weekend Trip
To make up for my recent lack of birding activity, we're going down to the coast for the weekend. Although I haven't decided on a route yet, I'm sure we'll visit a couple of sites on Bolivar and Galveston, as well as some others on the way. The weather is forecast to change Sunday and I'm hoping this will bring in more migrating birds!
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