I went with my best-friend and bird partner to the Bolivar Point bird sanctuary saturday, on the ferry over there we had dolphins along the side. And on the beach as we were getting to the parking area we spotted horned-larks along the edge of the dunes, overhead a lg harrier was doing its thing.
After parking and getting all our gear on. it was breezy but sunny we made off to the point about 3 miles of beach. We noticed a lot of birds standing in the surf or shallow puddles since it was low tide, and it turned out to be American Acocets, I had seen a report on the local audubon site that 7500 of them were about in the area. I believe we saw half that amount and they were still beautiful and graceful in their winter plumage as they are in their summer they just lacked that cinnamon blush.
We counted 45 white pelicans on a sand bar along with neotropic cormorants and a few brown pellys.
Am. black-bellied plovers, snowy and piping plovers were running about along with lots of dunlins and sand pipers. We met another birder from Alaska who told us where to spot a couple of sooty terns and a few red-knots. On the way to see them we watched long-billed curlew and willets.
The gulls that I could id were the franklins, ring-billed and laughing along with the herring (I'm terrible at gulls) but we saw caspian and several other types of terns(not a strong point either).
Then we left and went to a nearby refuge by the only paved road on this penninsula and ended up being in the marde gras parade....driving slowly through hundreds of party goers already feeling their barley dressed up like jesters all covered in beads! We stopped at a store and bought us a couple of beers, it was nerve wracking and now I know how the birds must feel being on display!!
At the refuge even with a couples of pints in us we counted aligators, meadowlarks, osprey, harriers, great egrets,little blue & great blue herons, shovelers and blue wing teals, coots and moorhens in the ponds. Kingfishers and red-winged blackbirds, seaside sparrows, and a couple of hooded-mergansers off the bay near there. Along with the usual mockingbirds, grackles cardnals and blue-jays on the road out. I forgot the white faced and white ibis, I think thats all, I left my list in the truck. ha!
Anyway we only did the short loop around the pond so we could've spotted much more but we headed home. I really needed this short break and enjoyed the whole day!
After parking and getting all our gear on. it was breezy but sunny we made off to the point about 3 miles of beach. We noticed a lot of birds standing in the surf or shallow puddles since it was low tide, and it turned out to be American Acocets, I had seen a report on the local audubon site that 7500 of them were about in the area. I believe we saw half that amount and they were still beautiful and graceful in their winter plumage as they are in their summer they just lacked that cinnamon blush.
We counted 45 white pelicans on a sand bar along with neotropic cormorants and a few brown pellys.
Am. black-bellied plovers, snowy and piping plovers were running about along with lots of dunlins and sand pipers. We met another birder from Alaska who told us where to spot a couple of sooty terns and a few red-knots. On the way to see them we watched long-billed curlew and willets.
The gulls that I could id were the franklins, ring-billed and laughing along with the herring (I'm terrible at gulls) but we saw caspian and several other types of terns(not a strong point either).
Then we left and went to a nearby refuge by the only paved road on this penninsula and ended up being in the marde gras parade....driving slowly through hundreds of party goers already feeling their barley dressed up like jesters all covered in beads! We stopped at a store and bought us a couple of beers, it was nerve wracking and now I know how the birds must feel being on display!!
At the refuge even with a couples of pints in us we counted aligators, meadowlarks, osprey, harriers, great egrets,little blue & great blue herons, shovelers and blue wing teals, coots and moorhens in the ponds. Kingfishers and red-winged blackbirds, seaside sparrows, and a couple of hooded-mergansers off the bay near there. Along with the usual mockingbirds, grackles cardnals and blue-jays on the road out. I forgot the white faced and white ibis, I think thats all, I left my list in the truck. ha!
Anyway we only did the short loop around the pond so we could've spotted much more but we headed home. I really needed this short break and enjoyed the whole day!
