Oystercatcher Display
Continuing with Gulls FT last weekend: These 3 made about 5 passes in a very interesting display just for us!!!
Gulls Class Field Trip Galveston 2025
Had a great trip with the 2024 Gulls Class to Galveston etc. Highlight was the California Gull initially found by Sarah “blue legs” Womack!! Palm Warbler found by Doug was also a great bird!! We had 6 gull species and numerous shorebirds.
Slender-billed Curlew
We recently read a very good book called “Orison for a Curlew”(Orison = prayer). It’s about the Slender-billed Curlew of Europe. Some of the narrative took us to places we had birded in Bulgaria. I highly recommend!! https://www.goodreads.com/…/27278141-orison-for-a-curlew Regretfully, on a Bulgaria birding site, I just saw this article on the end of the story….
South Texas
Other stuff seen on south Texas trip.
Great Black-backed Gull NO
On RGV trip on Monday I found this interesting gull at the Port Aransas jetty. I called it a Great Black Backed Gull in the field based on thick pink legs, big bill, large size (a good bit larger than Herrings present), white head, thick neck and patterned coverts. Posting pix to gull FB pages,…
Gray Gull NO, Brownsville Dump YES
Spent monday and tuesday on a quick trip hoping for Gray Gull in the Rio Grande Valley. Didn’t find that gull, but always wanted to visit the famous City of Brownsville Dump !!!! Quite a sight!!!
Yellow-headed Cara Cara YES
Here’s the target of my trip to Galveston — Yellow headed Cara Cara. Like the Kelp Gull he’s up from South America.
Dunlin, Least & Western Sandpipers
Can ya’ll ID these 3 Texas winter shorebirds: 1/5/25, Galveston East Beach. Started the shorebird scoresheet for 2025 with 12 species.
Massive Flight of Cormarants
Several places on the Gulls Field trip we had very large numbers of birds. Here’s only 1/2 of a huge flight of cormorants that flew by us on the Texas city Dike. Anybody volunteer to count them?