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This morning started with a bang! After breakfast we went to Sheepshead street (otherwise known as South Padre Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary) to check out the warblers.
There were no people and no warblers, but as we arrived a bird we didn’t recognize flew in and settled down on a tree branch. With our binoculars we made out a night jar, but which one we had no idea. We have only ever seen a Common Nighthawk and then a Pauraque a few days ago. It was not either of those. Such a beautiful feathered pattern!
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Two other birders came and we showed it to them. They got quite excited and tried to figure out the id. They band night jars in Illinois and the man is #70something on the ABA list—has 796 life birds. He is 85 years old—Lee Johnson.
Other birders came, and they all consulted. It was very interesting to hear the process of identifying by eliminating this one and that one.
Eventually the bird flew off, showing its wings as it flew. The birders finally agreed it was a Lesser Nighthawk, the first recorded on the list posted here in April.
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We then went to the birding center and walked the boardwalk. A White Ibis greeted us followed by a Double-crested Cormorant drying his wings
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Spoonbills were feeding, but too far away for a good look—colorful nevertheless.
A Black-bellied Plover ran hither and thither across the sand as well as a couple Dunlin.
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A Greater Yellowlegs hunting. It was a stunning day on the boardwalk!
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We could see the bridge to the mainland and the Port of Brownsville in the distance and a flock of Brown Pelicans flying over.
These were seemingly crazy people standing up, rowing by on small boards
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We enjoyed watching two Green Herons on the rail—completely unafraid of people and people seeing how close they can actually get until the birds flew off.
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Here I chatted with a birder who seemed to know her way around. She asked if there is anything I wanted to see. I replied that I hadn’t seen a Reddish Egret. She said I had just taken a photo of one!
Here there are white morph Reddish Egrets—Who knew? You can tell by their bill which is pink at the base and blue or black near the tip, a pinkish cast to the underside of their wings when they fly, and their frenetic feeding behavior of darting around rapidly. I am still looking for the non-white morph Reddish Egret.
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Mottled Duck with duckling and stunning Great Blue Heron
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Yes, there are alligators under the boardwalks. One of the attendants at our RV park said he used to work picking up cans and trash under the walkways until he ran into an alligator. He told his boss, and the boss did not believe him. He took the boss out and they saw an even bigger alligator. That was the last time he picked up cans. They must have found a better and safer way to clean up as we saw no trash whatsoever.
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Shorebird identification is still giving us some challenges. Pectoral Sandpiper and Willet.
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We went to McDonald’s hoping to blog. For some reason I couldn’t get on the internet. That was very disappointing after I finally caught up to myself. Now I am behind again. RATS!
We came back to rv park, blocked up sunny side and turned on ac. It kept us reasonably comfortable for a while. When it got to over 90 in the van, we shut off the AC and opened doors and windows and let the seabreeze do its work.
The strange thing about S. Padre Island is that the temperature only varies from 75 to 80 (usually around 75) degrees day or night, but the sun is VERY HOT. Luckily some days are a bit overcast so more tolerable for walking around, or for Sofie in the van.
Then we decided to go again to Clayton’s Beach Bar and Grill for dinner and take Sofie with us, hoping that sitting in the ocean breeze would be more comfortable than the van. We had seen people walking dogs through the bar and no one seemed to mind. Sofie thought it was very interesting—and we did too. Sofie even got petted a lot. We had some delicious fish tacos.
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We stopped by Sheepshead Street briefly and saw a Black-throated Green Warbler and an Eastern Wood-Pewee, as well as a Nashville Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush and Indigo Bunting. Again, we enjoyed visiting with birders from all over. A colorful lizard also caught our eye.
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A brief stop at the Convention Center yielded a Gray Catbird (on his way to Bennington Lake), a couple of Indigo Buntings, and a lone Ruddy Turnstone.
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When we got to the Island Tuesday, we went to the Birding Center and did not even know about the Convention Center. Talking to birders, we found that there has been a rivalry between the two, and the more serious birders favor the Convention Center.
The Birding Center was built by a real estate magnate and is very posh by birder standards—and charges admission. The Convention Center does not charge. In one spot the two boardwalks had been joined together, but now they run side by side with no connection at all.
Texans did figure out years ago that there was a lot of money to be made in birding, so they have created a birder’s mecca—many, many little areas of habitat for birds to attract birders. Birding is a huge industry here. Most of the Texas Birding Centers have resident naturalists. However, on S. Padre Island, there are no resident naturalists to help. Knowledge is exchanged between fellow birders and they do a good job of it!
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Today Our Eyes Were On
Our big surprise finds of the day—a lesser and least—Lesser Nighthawk and Least Bittern
Lots of greens—Green Herons and Black-throated Green Warbler
Pinks—Roseate Spoonbills and white-morph Reddish Egrets
Enough shorebirds to crack our brains
And watching experts trying to id the night jar we found
Another full and happy day
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