One of the most exciting birding
discoveries in summer 2014 was a Collared Plover detected in south Texas. A second record for the US, this bird was
seen quite reliably every day for about a 2-week period in August 2014 at a
spot called the Hargill Playa, a 30-minute drive north of McAllen. Although I don’t typically chase ABA
rarities, with monthly business trips to Houston, a number of times I’ve added
a vacation day to pursue life birds in south Texas. And the Collared Plover was no exception – I
added a day to my regular August 2014 Houston trip, flying into McAllen to try
to look for the Plover. Unfortunately I
arrived in south TX on August 18th which was the first day the bird wasn’t
seen. I spent 3 hours in the heat,
humidity, and wind searching for the bird but to no avail.
The Hargill Playa is a large flat basin
with a pond that varies in size based on recent rainfalls. The pond is surrounded by a salty beach and
vegetation that to my un-trained eye looks like saltbush. All in all, the site looks like one you would
see in the Great Basin in Nevada. On my
2014 trip the site was full of birds – shorebirds, waders, terns, and gulls
principally. I had 48 species during
that visit, including family groups of Snowy and Wilson’s Plovers, which were a
bit surprising for this inland location.
But alas, no Collared Plover.
 |
| Hargill Playa |
Fast forward to July 2015 – on the 21st a
Collared Plover was again detected at Hargill Playa – undoubtedly the same bird
as last year. I happened to be in
Houston at the time, and would have loved to drop everything and run right down
to south TX to look for the bird. But I
had a full work schedule and couldn’t break free. I knew I had another Houston trip coming up
in 3 weeks, and would be able to add a vacation day on that trip to try for it. But would the bird stay that long? Although last year it was only around to 2
weeks, its last day was August 17th, and this year I would be able to get there
a full week earlier. An optimist might
say that this year the Plover would stay at least until last year’s departure
date. A pessimist (or realist?) might
say that the bird would be long gone after a 3-week wait. Ever the optimist, especially when it comes
to birding, I booked my August trip with an extra vacation day to head to south
TX. But this time I would drive from
Houston, instead of flying, to give me more flexibility to try for other birds
in route.
The 3-week wait became agonizing at
times. Although the Collared Plover was
reported daily initially, it soon became old news and no reports were posted
some days- even though I checked eBird, the TX listserve, NARBA, and a Lower
Rio Grande Valley blog. And then the
week before my trip came the first negative posts. But positive reports were posted the last 2
days before my trip, so I became more optimistic. And being hopeful that I could find the
target bird rather quickly, I developed a gameplan with the help of eBird Needs
Alerts to go after 4 other possible TX statebirds between Houston and
Hargill. My flight was scheduled to land
around Noon in Houston, and my plan was to head right to Hargill. With a 5-hour drive that would give me a
couple hours of birding time in the evening, and I would have much of the day
available the next day as well. If I had
time I would go after my other targets, but only after finding the Collared
Plover, focusing on that highest priority target first.
One challenge was going to be the extreme
heat wave that TX was experiencing at the time.
With heat indices of 105-110 throughout much of the day, birding out in
the sun at the playa would be difficult, if not dangerous, except for the early
morning and late evening. And in fact, recent
reports showed that birders were mostly finding the Plover in the morning, so
even the bird was avoiding the mid-day heat. As
a result, even though I would have some birding time in the evening the first
day I arrived, I was less than optimistic that I would find it then, instead
thinking the next morning would be a more promising time.
As soon as my flight landed I quickly
checked the various websites and the Plover was indeed seen that morning! And since my flight had landed at least 30
minutes early I would have plenty of time to try for it that evening. But as I made my way south, I began to debate
whether I should rush down there right away.
With my flight getting in early I would get to the playa by 5 PM, still in the
teeth of the afternoon heat. An option was
to make a quick stop along the way to search for one of my other targets,
allowing for a later arrival in Hargill.
One of my statebird targets was Purple Gallinule which had been seen in
a pond just a 10-minute side trip off my route to Hargill. But should I take time away from my prime
goal? I’ve missed key targets in the
past by pursuing lower priority birds first, and didn’t want that to happen
this time. Just before I had to make the
decision whether to head for the Gallinule, I checked my weather app and the
heat index at Hargill was still 110. And
since I figured no one would be at the site to tell me I just missed the Plover
anyway, I took the turnoff to try for the Gallinule first.
The spot I was heading for was called Mittag's
Pond/Hays Lake a short distance east of Riviera. Several Purple Gallinules had been reported
here and at 2 nearby wetlands in the last week.
The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that it was teaming with
activity – at least 40 Black Terns were skimming low over the water, numerous
waders of several species were scattered throughout, and there were at least 50
Fulvous Whistling Ducks sitting in the shade of some small bushes – yes it was
very hot there! I didn’t see any water
lilies which I typically associate with Purple Gallinules, but there was a
section of mudflats that had dying vegetation as if the water level in the lake
had dropped recently. I started scanning
this area and quickly picked out an immature Gallinule – though just a
Common. I saw no other Gallinules, and
didn’t think the habitat looked very good for a Purple anyway. So not wanting to take too much time away
from the Plover search, I decided to head to Hargill after this short 30-minute
side trip.
When I arrived at the playa I saw another
car up ahead and a birder already looking out over the basin. I drove up to him and asked if he had seen
the Plover. He said he had it about 20
minutes earlier at the water’s edge right in front of us. He then went back to his car to get his
camera, but had not re-found it. The
birder told me a Caracara had flown in and all the birds scattered. My heart sank. That was my worst-case scenario – if I had
not taken the 30-minute side trip I would likely have seen the Plover the
moment I had driven up. And now it was
gone. Why hadn’t I followed my own rule
to go after the key target before trying for any other birds?
I set up my scope and started my search,
first scanning the shoreline where the other birder had last seen the Plover –
but it was not there. In fact there were
no shorebirds at all. I expanded my
search area a bit and found 2 Caracaras at the water’s edge – 1 was feeding on
something – hopefully not a Plover. Now
my mind jumped to Falcated Duck in CA and my 5 unsuccessful searches for that
bird. Was Collared Plover going to be a
similar nemesis bird?
I scanned the shore again with my
binoculars and noticed a small “bump” close to the water’s edge. Although I had scanned this area several
times earlier without this feature getting my attention, this time something
caught my eye. I put my scope on it and
realized that the “bump” was actually a shorebird sitting on the sand, with its
back almost identical in color to the surrounding sand. I zoomed in and easily identified it as a
Plover, but with Snowy’s and Wilson’s also at the playa, I needed to determine what
species of Plover it was. I started
checking for all the key field marks – white forehead with a black stripe just
above it at the top of the head, black patch in front of the eye and not
behind, and then a complete black band across the chest. It was the Collared Plover! Over the next 30 minutes we watched it as it
eventually stood up and walked along the shore line giving very good views,
including showing those pink legs. I got
these passable phonescoped pictures of the bird despite being a fair distance awat, the
scope shaking in the wind, and lots of heat shimmer.
Now that I had checked off my principal
target bird, I had quite a bit of time to go after my TX statebird
targets. Though since the heat index was
still 106, I wouldn’t be spending too much time chasing after birds out in the
heat and sun. I decided to head just a
couple miles to the west of Hargill Playa to Brushline Road where up to 3 Glossy
Ibis were occasionally reported in with White-faced, though not in the past 10
days. And several Purple Gallinules were
reported along that road as well.
When I got to the northern end of the dirt road
I was quickly surprised by how many birds were around. In the drier areas numerous Lark Sparrows were
hopping along the road, and I found 3 coveys of Bobwhite calmly feeding along
the roadside (can’t remember the last time I saw a Bobwhite). Soon I arrived at the first wetland which was
covered in a flock of blackbirds – mainly Great-tailed Grackles with some
Bronzed Cowbirds mixed in. Then I
noticed a lone dark Ibis at the edge of the marsh – just a White-faced (I guess I’d
have to be really lucky to have the only Ibis around be a Glossy). I scoped the back of the marsh and found at
least 30 more dark Ibis – but all were too far away to ID. A bit further along I came upon a flooded
field with a number of both Whistling-Ducks and 8 dark Ibis close to the road. Lighting was perfect but again all were
White-faced. Next I came up to a pond
full of water lilies – ideal for Purple Gallinules and a pretty spot, but no
Gallinules were in site.
Two other wetlands featured a family group
of Common Gallinules, at least 200 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, and several more
distant dark Ibis. I reached the end of
the road, and came upon a nice group of Groove-billed Anis and several Pyrrhuloxias,
but still no target statebirds.
I turned around and thought that I’d check
out those same wetlands one more time on the way back to the playa. When I reached the pond with the water lilies
I noticed some movement, quickly hit the brakes, and noticed an adult Purple
Gallinule dancing across the lily pads – statebird #2. With so much birding time in TX I’m not sure
why it has taken me so long to get this one for my statelist. TX was the 8th southeastern state where I’ve
seen this species, along with 3 in New England as a rarity (see my statebird
map below).
The next wetland I returned to was the
flooded field, but it had the same 8 White-faced Ibis I saw before. And there was just 1 wetland
left where I had 1 close White-faced earlier.
Once again there was one dark Ibis close to the road which was still a
White-faced. But then it took off and
landed a few feet away next to 2 other dark Ibis that I hadn’t yet spotted. The first one was again a White-faced, but when
I checked the last bird I was having trouble seeing red eyes. This bird was in basic plumage, whereas all
the others were in pretty high breeding plumage. I spent a couple minutes scoping this last
bird, seeing only dark eyes and no white around the face. It was a Glossy Ibis – statebird #3. TX was my 3rd central state for this
otherwise eastern US bird.
It was now 7:00, and although the heat
index was still 105, I headed back over to the Hargill Playa to try to get
additional views of the Collared Plover.
Two other birders were there when I arrived, but they had not seen the
bird. I did a quick scan and didn’t come
up with the Plover, so I called it quits for the day, very happy to have seen the
Plover earlier.
With 3 of my target birds out of the way,
there were only 2 possible new statebirds to pursue on day 2 – Buff-breasted
Sandpiper, and Magnificent Frigatebird.
There had been many recent sightings of Buff-breasteds at multiple sod
farms, including two fields with over 1,000 birds 2 days before. So I was pretty optimistic, and rightfully so. As I pulled up to my first spot, the Dacosta
Turf Farm, I noticed some movement in the taller grass near the road. Within seconds I had 2 Buff-breasted
Sandpipers right along the road – statebird #4.
I took this phonescoped photo of one of the nearby birds –the 499th
species that I’ve photographed.
Within just a few minutes of scanning I
counted 29 Buff-breasted Sands, probably the most I’ve ever seen in 1 day, let
alone 1 field. Although this is a
regular migrant in the central portion of the US, TX was only the 2nd central
US state where I’ve seen this species, though I’ve seen it in 9 eastern states as
a rarer migrant.
And while I was at the field this Upland
Sandpiper flew in and landed right next to the road – not a new statebird but
still a nice sighting.
My last target was the Frigatebird, which
had been seen occasionally at several inlets on the upper coast. I decided to make the small park at the inlet
on Surfside Beach my first stop to try for this bird since it also looked
like it would be a good spot to do a seawatch.
I arrived at the park and found a shady spot where I could stand and
look out onto the Gulf. Within seconds I
noticed several birds soaring out over the water – they were Frigatebirds lazily
circling over the inlet. Within a couple minutes I counted at
least 6 birds – that was easy – statebird #5. I’ve now seen Frigatebird in 4 Gulf states,
as well as Michigan as a rarity.
Since I got both of my targets so quickly,
I had some free time and continued to bird Surfside Beach to work on my trip
list. I added a number of new birds for
the trip – giving me a total of 91 species for the 2 days. But it wasn’t long until the heat and humidity
were a bit too much to take, and I made the short trip back to Houston.
What a successful trip! Most importantly I saw Collared Plover as ABA
lifer #746 and Lower 48 lifer #724. It
was the 10th lifer I’ve seen in TX in the last 6 years as a result of adding a
vacation day to a Houston business trip.
And I also saw all four of my other TX statebird targets giving me 426 for
my TX statelist.
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