On my regular
March business trip to Houston I ended up with an early morning free, so of
course I researched potential statebird possibilities nearby the eBird Needs
Alerts. There weren’t any targets in the
greater Houston area, but there were several in and around Galveston
Island. That’s only an hour ride from
Houston, so with a pre-dawn departure from my hotel, I could spend a few hours
on the coast for some strategic chases.
Recent reports included sightings of a Glaucous Gull, Gannets, an Iceland
Gull, and a Black Scoter, though I’d be happy with just 1 or 2.
The first
target was a first year Glaucous Gull with 2 reports of likely the same bird - once
from 7 ½ Mile Beach and once from nearby 8 Mile Beach. I arrived at the area just after dawn, and
decided to try 7 ½ Mile Beach first. As
I drove off the pavement and onto the hard packed sand, I could see a group of
just 4 gulls on the beach up ahead.
Certainly not enough critical mass for my target bird, right? But before I had even put the car into park,
I realized that one of the gulls was large and very pale. And with a quick binoc view I realized it was
my first year Glaucous Gull. That was
easy! I got this passable phonescoped
photo of the bird as it fed on a fish carcass.
TX is my 21st
state for this species (see my statebird map below) – and this is by far the
farthest south of all of my sightings.
I looked up and
down 7 ½ Mile Beach and didn’t see much activity in the immediate area. But off to the southwest in the general
vicinity of 8 Mile Beach I could see a good sized flock of roosting gulls, so I
decided to head in that direction to see if I could find another rare gull. After a short drive I was there to check out
the gulls – just the normal Laughers, Ring-bills, and a couple Herrings. So with nothing of interest on the beach, I
starting scanning out over ocean, hoping I might find a Gannet. There was one recent report of a nice number
of Gannets from “Galveston Island” (no specific location was given), so this
location was as good as any to give it a try.
A quick initial scan just yielded the regular species. But then I spotted a pair of birds flying far
out to sea that could be Sulids – but at that distance I couldn’t be sure. I kept watching them and they were now flying
toward me. Finally, after a minute or so
they were close enough to ID as Gannets.
Within the next few minutes I spotted 3 others not too far out, plus 2
others much farther in the distance plunge diving. That was much easier than I expected – after
all I’ve looked for Gannet off the TX gulf coast many times in the past. Now that I can shade in TX on my statebird
map, LA and MS are the last 2 states on the Atlantic or Gulf in which I still
need this species.
I was just
about to leave 8 Mile Beach when I noticed a large pale gull fly by – it was
the first year Glaucous Gull. Amazing to
see it at both locations! (or at least I
assume it was the same bird)
Since I had
such rapid success on my first two targets, I had a bit of extra time on my
hands. So I decided to head into nearby Galveston
Island State Park for a bit of light birding, and I chose the Clapper Rail loop
for a quick stroll around the marshes.
After a short walk I stopped at the observation tower to listen to what
might be calling. Within a couple
minutes I started to hear some clicking noises coming from the marsh. I listened intently as the bird continued to
call – it was a Yellow Rail. And then
while I was celebrating my find, a Black Rail called from the same general
area. I had Black Rail in this same area
in April 2017, but Yellow Rail was new for my statelist. TX was only my 4th state for this elusive
species - in MN as a breeder, LA and AR in fall migration, and now TX as a late winterer.
It was a bit interesting
that I had Yellow and Black Rail but no Clapper Rail on my walk around Clapper
Rail loop.
Next I was off
to the Bolivar Peninsula to chase after a couple statebird possibilities - an
Iceland Gull near the Bolivar Flats, and a Black Scoter offshore with Scaup
flocks. I headed right to the beach and
soon spotted several flocks of Scaup offshore.
But the rough seas, and distance to the flocks, made viewing difficult,
and I once again couldn’t pick out a Scoter (I had tried looking for Scoters in
these Scaup flocks last April). As I
continued driving down the beach I checked out the gulls along the way but
there were no Icelands. I was striking
out on my targets… I soon reached the
Bolivar Flats and decided to head out on the mudflats to see what I might
find. The Flats were full of shorebirds,
and I counted 16 species in total. There
were no rarities, though it was nice to find 6 species of Plovers –
Black-bellied, Piping, Snowy, Wilson’s, Semipalmated, and Killdeer. That included one Piping that was banded, and
after some research I found out that the bird was banded on the Missouri River
in North Dakota. Nice! And then there was this Reddish Egret that had
some white feathers in the wingtips – could it be an intergrade between the
dark and white forms?
That made for a
nice ending to an early morning of birding, finding 2 of my 4 possible stakeout
statebirds, plus finding a 3rd statebird on my own. That gives me 445 on my TX statelist, which is
by far my largest single state list. Though
as a percentage of the total birds ever recorded in the state, it is only my 8th
best. My TX list is 71% of the total
recorded in the state, whereas my 364 in NH is 91% of the total state list. If I had 91% of the total TX list my
statelist would be a whopping 576.
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