A Quiet Day for Spring Migration

We began the day at Anahuac NWR looking for a leconte's sparrow which did not make an appearance, but we did see a virginia rail (new year bird) and an american golden plover. Driving back over towards High Island I thought I saw a bobolink sitting on a fence post as we raced by. Backing up we could not locate the bird but instead found another new year bird--an upland sandpiper.

Next stop was yacht basin rd on the Bolivar peninsula where we looked for a nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow. No luck again on this sparrow, so we then tried to find it further down the peninsula at bob rd. Again no sparrow but we did find a pectoral sandpiper, another new bird for the year. We then checked out Rollover Pass to see if there were any new shorebirds there. The tide was out so the sand/mud bars were extensive which meant the birds were pretty far out. Our scan revealed essentially the same birds as yesterday.

So we headed back to High Island which was again quite slow for a spring day. Nevertheless, 2 new year birds were found--ruby-throated hummingbird and hooded warbler. Given the relatively slow progress of the migration at High Island, we decided to begin moving down the coast. We drove past Houston and stopped in at Brazos Bend SP only to find throngs of Easter Sunday picnickers. We walked one of the several lakes there searching for a purple gallinule. Sifting thru countless moorhens and coots did not produce a gallinule. We did see several herons like the great blue above. As we approached the truck a mississippi kite flew over--the day's 6th new bird for the year.

The week total is up another 20 birds to 127, and the YTD number is now 442. Tomorrow we will be hitting San Bernard NWR and Aransas NWR. Stay tuned!