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Rollover Pass on Bolivar can be a great birding site or a poor one, depending on the state of the tide and the number of anglers present there. When we went on the Labor Day weekend, the tide was high and the site was crowded with fishermen. In spite of this, we saw quite a few birds out in the water, along the beach and even in the parking area.
The water had a few large waders (Snowy Egrets and a Tricolored Heron) as well as several groups of Brown Pelicans. The latter species usually fishes by diving into the sea from a height but these birds were adopting a different approach. They would float on the water and then suddenly fly just a few yards before settling back down onto the water and grabbing fish.
Two Marbled Godwits turned up and began to groom as we were watching.
The edge of the beach had adult and young Laughing Gulls.
There were Semipalmated Plovers (with black neck band) and Sanderlings also.
There were some adult and young Wilson's Plovers, distinguished from the Leasts by their heavy bills.
A handsome American Oystercatcher was prowling along the water's edge, while a Willet wandered nearby.
There were Royal and Least Terns, too.
One of the Leasts decided to bathe and groom.
The parking area itself had several of the same birds but also had a couple of Ruddy Turnstones.
The puddles had Snowy Egrets.
As we prepared to leave, I mentioned to Dee that I was disappointed not to have seen a Reddish Egret, a bird missing from my 2014 list. Amazingly, right then one flew down into one of the puddles among the parked vehicles.
It even proceeded to groom just yards from our car.
It was certainly a very good note on which to end our short visit to Rollover.
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Sunday morning we headed for the coast in spite of a weather forecast that promised severe thunderstorms and 80% chance of rain. We were right to ignore the forecast because the only rain we saw were a couple of light showers as we were leaving Houston.
Our destination was Galveston via Bolivar but we decided to make a quick visit to Shovelers' Pond in Anahuac NWR on the way.
One reason for dropping in at Anahuac was in hopes of seeing shorebirds. However, the water level at the pond was so high that there were virtually no shorebirds or waders around. To compensate, there were plenty of Whistling Ducks and Gallinules.
Several adult Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were supervising their offspring.
On this occasion, though, they were greatly outnumbered by their prettier cousins, Fulvous Whistling Ducks.
This duckling stood up to show us that it really didn't have a black belly.
Common Gallinules (formerly Common Moorhens) were even more abundant. Some adults were grazing alone.
Others were accompanying their chicks.
The chicks varied in age and color.
Purple Gallinules were much scarcer than on our previous two visits and they were even more difficult to photograph. This is the only picture I managed to get of an adult.
I was a little luckier with this juvenile, whose plumage was just beginning to turn purple.
As we were completing the auto-loop, I spotted a Neotropic Cormorant that was struggling to deal with a large fish it had just caught.
It was still trying to eat the fish several minutes later when we left on our way down to Bolivar Peninsula.
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The other day I had to drive my wife over to the North Cypress Medical Center at Huffmeister and 290. While she was inside, I took the opportunity to go and check out the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (BBWD) on the two ponds behind the Medical Center. At this time of the year, there are roughly 50 BBWDs on and around the ponds.
Most of the ducks are juveniles and they tend to hang out with their siblings.
The adults have a dark brown crown of feathers extending from the back of their neck all the way to their bill.
On the juveniles the brown crown ends well before reaching the bill.
When the ducklings are very young, their parents usually keep a close eye on them. However, as the ducklings get older, the parents are less vigilant.
Apart from the BBWDs and several species of exotic ducks, the ponds have a couple of resident pairs of Mallards. I couldn't resist taking a photo of this striking female Mallard.
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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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