First Official Bird Tour

Yesterday was the first official bird tour of 2014... Bahia Grande Unit between Hwy 48 and Hwy 100.
Weather was extremely cold and incredibly windy, high temp of 42 with wind gust of 28 mph and complete cloud cover. So much for warm sunny South Texas! In spite of dismal conditions we managed a healthy 22 species for the 4 visitors who attended, David and Judy, Richard and Phyllis. Still training new bird tour volunteers Cari and Leon, too. Cari kept the bird list for me and David took great pictures.

One highlight was huge mass of small shorebirds...
rising from the surface of Laguna Largo like a plume of black smoke the enormous flock teased us from an immense distance. Even a scope view revealed not much more that  just so many black dots. Finally a portion flew close enough for a few quick photos to use for ID purposes. Comparing short straight bills to 3 main references, Sibley, Crossley, and The Shorebird Guide, I deduced Semipalmated Sandpiper (SESA) Any additional feedback from shorebird experts would be appreciated.


Another treat was the flock of Horned Lark - no photo of those - playing leapfrog along the road.

Two Savannah Sparrow sat up in a protected area long enough for us to study them. While viewing the two sparrows, a striking male Bobwhite (NOBO) popped into sight. Then a female periscoped up and down. As we oogled and aahed, the quail began a single file promenade across the road. We counted 8, 9...  thought the end had come when another head appeared, then ducked back into the grass. She finally worked up the nerve to cross, that's 10. No, Wait, another head appeared and then disappeared. She also eventually scurried and hurried across to join the covey - 11 total.  

The star of the show was the Aplomado Falcon (APFA) almost at the end of the tour. 

 A showy White-tailed Hawk caught our attention cart-wheeling and just having fun in the wind. After several  stationary minutes of entertainment, our forward motion spooked the Falcon from his perch just a few feet away. Luckily, he didn't fly far and found a protected snag on the downwind side of a small mesquite/thornscrub thicket. David managed some amazing photos. With our spirits soaring, we barely noticed the pothole minefield as we journeyed back to the visitor center.