Went on an afternoon scouting shorebird sites around the Bolivar Peninsula with David Swaim, Scott Watson and Iain Campbell. After a stop for tacos we dodged rain showers and picked up a bunch of shorebirds, many of which were dappled with rain drops, but non-plussed by this of course, and busily fed away. We had some great birds, and great photo opps, though these were somewhat limited by the gray skies, and wet conditions, which left us marooned to the car. A stop at Rollover Pass yielded an ever so plump Piping Plover, the usual mass of Black Slimmers, and a mob of Marbled Godwits. Heading to Bob Road we were entertained by this absurdly confiding American Golden Plover, which had Wilson's Plovers and Least Sandpipers for company. Our final stop, as the rain lashed down was arguably the best, as sandpipers galore fed constantly along the side of Rettilon Road, the access road to the beach at Houston Audubon's Bolivar Flats sanctuary. Best among them was this sporting Pectoral Sandpiper, which was not going to let a car full of eager birders deter it from feeding in a ditch right by the road! Good numbers of Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers were also seen there.
More from Texas real soon...
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