3 out of 5 ain't bad

In a previous blog I mentioned 5 or so species on the upper Texas coast that I would make an effort to find during spring migration.  Well, spring migration is coming to a close and  I think I did pretty well considering I had basically one free day a week to chase birds.  Choices would have to be made to find these birds because all of them are found at completely different habitats.  

  1. Surf Scoter-  found in open water,  CHECK
  2. Bobolink- found in short bushy and grassy areas, CHECK
  3. Eastern Whip-poor-will-  found in hardwood forests...best chance to hear at night,  NOGO
  4. Black-throated Blue Warbler- found in dark s and shady understories,  NOGO
  5. Hudsonian Godwit- beaches, mudflats, and in my case flooded fields,  CHECK
For Texas Life Bird 429.

I found these via a facebook post from a good reliable source.  I had spent a lot of time looking at data on ebird  but many of the sightings of these birds seemed false. This time of the year there are literally people from all over the country and world here along the UTC for the infamous spring migration.  Infamous means more than famous according to Three Amigos.  I would see 10 checklists from a particular place and only 1 would say they saw Hudsonian Godwit.  I'm a little skeptical of these unless I recognize the name.  On a couple of occasions there would be pictures of the bird on the checklist, one had a picture of a Willet,  and another a picture of a Dowitcher.  This has got to be one of the most over reported birds on the coast.  

I started the day at Sea Rim State Park where I found 21 shorebird species but no Godwits.  I ended it in a Chambers County agriculture field in the middle of the afternoon with an incredible amount of  heat shimmer that gave me these unsatisfying views and pictures of a new life bird nevertheless.


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