Birding TX

Wed, January 18, 2012, 8:00 am
Goose Island State Park

Trip Report

This Snowy Owl was most cooperative.

Goose Island State Park is located north of Rockport, Tx across Copano Bay. The Park has birding volunteers during the winter months that lead walks, and on this day our host was Jim Lockwood from Arizona. We meet him and other birders at the fishing pier at 8:00AM. Now the birding did not start off all that great. The problem was the wind, it was blowing steady at about 25 - 30 mph with gusts even higher. And with the wind it was cold. Everyone was bundled up like we were in PA at Yellow Creek in January. Note the wind in this part of Texas is a story in itself. I will at a later date talk about the wind.

Back to the birds. We walked out on the pier long enough to view a few ducks and shore birds. The wind drove us back to the shelter of the oaks and RVs camped out on the island. We walked down the island collecting a few birds along the way. About 10:30AM the bird walk was over, but by this time the wind had let up, and the sun warmed things up. Elyse, Tom, and I set out birding the Park on our own. By the time we finished we collected 78 different bird species, and three of those were life birds for me. Not bad for a day that started out cold and windy.

We retrieved the spotting scope, and walked back to the fishing pier, and were treated to a variety of ducks, herons, egrets, sandpipers, plovers, terns and other shore birds. Two of these birds were lifers for me. Working the exposed oyster beds next to the pier were flocks of sandpipers, and among those birds were Western Sandpipers, a new bird for me. The other bird was a good find, a Whimbrel was feeding on a distant bar, and with the help of the scope we nailed it. Not only was the Whimbrel new for me, but it was also new for Tom and Elyse. In fact the Whimbrel was a birthday present for Tom.

After we finished with the pier we birded the wooded section of the park. We eat lunch with birds at a feeding station. As we worked on sanswiches and fruit we viewed three different doves, four sparrrows, Cardinals, Spotted Towhees, Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, and even a White-eyed Vireo. After lunch we walked around the area, and in a bush next to a road we found my third life bird for the day a Bewick's Wren.

For a day that started out as a potential bust turned out to be one of our better birding days.

Tom

Submitted by Tom Glover

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