Shorebirds Sandia Wetlands
Stopped at Sandia Wetlands near Balmorhea for another shorebird fix. 6 species of shorebirds. Phalaropes are just so photogenic!!




Stopped at Sandia Wetlands near Balmorhea for another shorebird fix. 6 species of shorebirds. Phalaropes are just so photogenic!!




Here’s a comparison between a molting adult (right) and a 1st fall Lesser yellowlegs. Notice the immaculate patterns on the back of the left bird (juve). The adult’s alternate feathers are worn and dull in the coverts and scapulars. You can see emerging basic mantle feathers on the adult which are gray and large and…
Here’s a courtship or territorial display of the Cooper’s Hawk. He climbed higher and higher and spread white feathers at the base of the tail, then very deliberately flapped wings up all the way , then all the way down. Cool sight to see!! LE Woods picnic grounds, Davis Mountains, 3/17/25.
Made a quick trip to check conditions at cedar point on lake buchanan this morning. Only had 2 killdeer and 4 very distant shorebirds. But the good news is conditions look pretty good for shorebirds later in the fall migration — we have shore!!! (meaning sand next to water). Had about 65 Great Egrets, a…
14 species of shorebird at Hornsby this morning. I’m surprised I haven’t seen Western or WHite-rumped Sandpipers yet. The fun part today was 20 Hudsonian Godwits flying over the ponds and then 4 landed and stuck around for 15 minutes.
Eric, Lance and I led the Shorebird Class to Corpus over the last weekend. I had a great time with highlights for me being: “That’s him!!!” (IDing the long-staying Glaucous Gull in mid-air at 65 mph on the JFK causeway), Identifying grass-pipers at the sod farms with the class at about ½ mile distant (definitely…
When identifying a Semipalmated Plover, the latter word can rhyme with lover or rover. Both are technically correct. Eric and I are both right!!! What else is news!! Article at Audubon Magazine Article at Audubon Magazine