A good morning in Bolivar

A few blogs ago I mentioned some birds this spring that I wanted to target and then a pair of Surf Scoters were found near Frenchtown road in Bolivar so I figured the chase was on.  I was not really looking forward to the trip for some reason, I didn't sleep well and then slept in until almost 6:15.  That is late for me and I thought the later I left the longer the ferry line was going to get.  I got to the ferry and basically drove right on without even having to wait at all.  Great surprise but I was still feeling really groggy wondering if what I drank this morning was decaf, that would be a day ruiner.  But I pressed on under cloudy skies and windy conditions which was probably why there was hardly any ferry traffic, not great beach goin weather.  Within a few minutes after getting to my spot I saw 2 Surf Scoters through my wind shaken scope mixed in with a group of Lesser Scaup for Texas Life Bird 422. 


After that I made my way to Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary but first a quick stop at Fort Travis yielded me an American Golden-Plover for another new Galveston County bird.

There were tons of shorebirds to sort through at the beach and sanctuary.  Some of my favorites are Piping Plovers with bling, that is those that have been banded.  I like to take pictures of these and send them to organizations and universities that are studying them.  They usually send back a response with info on the bird like how old it is and where it was banded.


 

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