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Mid-morning on Thursday we drove over to 11 Mile Road, where I had seen three Sandhill Cranes earlier that day. Of course, the birds had moved! We did get good looks at an Osprey and a White-tailed Kite, though.
There were Sandhills along 8 Mile Road but all were fairly distant from the road, so we took a quick trip along Sportsmen Road. Thanks to Dee's sharp eyes, this produced good looks at a group of three adult and two juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Herons.
The rocky area at the end of 8 Mile Road was still very busy with shorebirds. Willets seemed to be everywhere.
They are among the drabbest of all shorebirds - until they stretch their wings.
A sleepy-looking Ruddy Turnstone was resting with some of the Willets.
Mixed in with another group was a much less common bird, a Whimbrel.
Nearby was a Black-bellied Plover.
A solitary American Avocet and a Sanderling looked rather out-of-place next to all the brown and gray shorebirds.
A Tricolored Heron flew off when we drove a little closer but a family of American Oystercatchers stayed to let us admire them.
As with most young birds, the young Ostercatcher never stopped crying.
We noticed that it was banded.
The parents were not banded.
On our way back down 8 Mile Road, a single Sandhill Crane flew over.
Then we found what we had been looking for: A group of Sandhills reasonably close to the road.
I can't think of a better way to end a good birding weekend than by getting good looks at Sandhill Cranes.
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Thursday morning under dark skies I did a scouting drive to find Sandhill Cranes, so that Dee and I would know where to find them later.
There were plenty of other birds around on 8 Mile Road. One flock had a nice mix of Great and Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Roseate Spoonbill and White Ibis.
On Sportsmen Road, Ospreys seemed to be perched everywhere, eating their fish breakfasts.
A Belted Kingfisher was still fishing from a utility wire while another had already caught a crab.
Perhaps the best sighting along the roadside was a Red-breasted Merganser, always a treat to see.
The rocky area at the end of 8 Mile Road was busy with shorebirds, including Ruddy Turnstones and Least Sandpipers.
I decided to return there later, when the light would hopefully be better. However, a Common Loon just cried out to be photographed then and there.
There were a few Sandhill Cranes along 8 Mile Road but they were all very distant.
So I went over to 11 Mile Road, where I finally found a trio of Sandhills fairly close to the road.
After that, it was back to the motel to collect Dee and to do a more leisurely drive around the 8 Mile Road area.
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We decided to end the year with a 2-day trip to the coast. We started at Anahuac NWR, where birds were comparatively scarce.
A male Vermilion Flycatcher was a welcome sight but the bird refused to come within camera range. We were luckier with an Osprey that posed on a sign at the start of the Shoveler Pond loop.
Out on the water, American Coots and Common Gallinules (below) were the most common species.
There were also quite a few Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Pied-billed Grebes.
Most of the ducks we saw were Northern Shovelers, like this female.
The others were Blue-winged Teal.
Herons and Egrets were few and kept their distance, except for one Snowy Egret that was near the road.
We saw only a couple of White Ibis.
As we were leaving, I noticed a White-tailed Kite hovering behind the butterfly garden. When I reached the area, the bird was perched but it soon flew off.
The road down to Rollover Pass on Bolivar was lined with American Kestrels and Red-tailed Hawks: We counted over 30 Kestrels and 19 Red-tails.
The water was very high at Rollover and so most of the birds were on sandbanks too distant for photos. There were plenty of birds present, though: Both Pelicans, many Gulls, hundreds of Black Skimmers and American Avocets, several species of Terns and Plovers, a dozen Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, scores of Willets, Ruddy Turnstones, etc.
I had to content myself with photographing the few birds that were on the beach.
American Avocets are always worth a look and a photo.
Willets are much plainer but I can never resist them.
I ignored the many Laughing Gulls but took a quick shot of a Ring-billed Gull.
A Black-bellied Plover looked rather drab in its non-breeding plumage.
Several smaller Plovers were scuttling around on the beach and I managed to get pictures of a Semipalmated Plover and a Piping Plover.
After that, it was time to head to Galveston for a late lunch at Mario's on the Seawall.
As usual, the ferry ride provided lots of opportunities to photograph Laughing Gulls as they followed the boat.
By the time we finished eating, it was to late for photography and so we headed for our motel. My plan was to get up early the next day to go out and look for Sandhill Cranes. As it turned out, there were plenty of Sandhills around, as well as plenty of other interesting birds.
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