Nice time to be on Gulf Barrier Islands...

C

Clint

Active member
We're doing shorebird surveys on the Isle Deniere chain. In the last couple of weeks, we've had a large influx of birds. The short-billed dowitchers, western sandpipers, black-bellied plover and semi-palmated plovers have all shown up in good numbers. Also, the white pelicans have returned and the skimmers are bunched up....and the fishing has been pretty good at night under the lights.

Clint

Godwit fly-by
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godwits and long-billed curlew
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skimmers
View attachment skimmers.jpg
 
Neat stuff.
We have quite a few white pelicans here already also.
Any Halodulii beds on the the north side of the islands there? Redheads show up yet?
 
No halodule beds in the area....primarily a dos gris area, and haven't seen any yet, just blue-wings, green-wings, and mottleds.

Clint
 
We had a pile of coots show up over the last 3 nights. Ducks too, but I have not had a chance to glass them yet. I imagine its mostly gadwalls and spoonies.
 
We're going out next week and taking the night vision scopes to try to get some nocturnal observations so we'll camp on the island. I imagine we'll start picking up some scaup and mergansers then. Have a few specks showing up around the house, but it's turned dry again, so the fields are being worked up.

Clint
 
No halodule beds in the area....primarily a dos gris area, and haven't seen any yet, just blue-wings, green-wings, and mottleds.

Clint
Click to expand...

I am glad you answered with something about waterfowl I was concerned about what USGS had done too for a minute. Oh, I enjoyed the pictures and would love the camping experience.
 
Brad,

One has to respond to where the funding is. The project is in response to a restoration project set to start next year. May have a similar project starting in Mississippi soon. Seems like I spend all my time on shorebirds and secretive marsh birds than I do with waterfowl now a days....

Clint
 
What?!?! No Eskimo sighting?

Had a lone Greater Yellowleg, Giant Kee Kee Bird to be technical :), flying up and down the river behind my tree stand last weekend. It was cool sounding on a quite morning but started to became annoying after half a dozen trips, must have lost it's friends someplace.

Tim
 
Funny you mention and eskimo....thought I had one a few weeks back. Strange bird....brown, right size, smallish bill...when it finally took off, I concluded it was a baby willet...meaning like barely able to fly...poorly marked wings...but certainly not an eskimo....need more decoys to bring one in....

Most interesting was a fly-by that I am convinced was a wandering tattler...far outside it's range...but several years ago I had 4 ruffs together....no picks so I don't get credit....but a couple of local birders have said that they wouldn't be surprised if that's what i saw...

Have a few GRYL on the pond with the geese each morning...

Clint
 
If that young Willet was down in LA that had to be a little unusual? If I could barely fly it either had to leave way too early from up north or was raised there.

I bet it was still an adrenalin rush for a second.
It sure would be cool to have Eskimos around but I think I have less faith for that than I have that Ivory-Bills could still be out there... and I have little hope of that.

Tim
 
TimJ...learn your willet bio....eastern willets nest along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, so it was an eastern willet...also related to the smaller body size....I argue with most of the birders about how many eastern vs western willets winter in Louisiana....Florida, almost all wintering birds I have seen are Westerns....Texas....almost 50:50.....Louisiana....I think more Eastern but don't really have enough data....

I am actually one who gives Eskimos more chance than Ivory-bills...not much, but more....no chance for Bachman's warbler...IMO.

Clint
 
Well I never knew they nested that far south. I thought they were only up in the north east. I learned something today, aren't you proud of yourself. :)

I really wanted to believe in the Ivory Bill "rediscovery" but nothing I have seen is any better then most Bigfoot information. Too bad. If you do ever see an Eskimo please have a good photo before you go national with it.
 
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