The last weekend [Sunday] of August, I decided to go for my walk along the trails of Indian Point and Sunset Lakes. Well, when I arrived at Indian Point, the park gates were closed and locked. The park road had been flooded out, and being the stupid humans that some are, they drive through those areas and lose control of their vehicle causing 'rescue' work, and keeping all the rest of us with common sense out, for safety sake [instead of allowing those who WOULDN'T attempt driving through flooded areas]. Anyway, I just drove on past and knew of a parking lot on higher ground and walked the entire trail...from Sunset Lake to Indian Point. The micro-burst that caused the flooding, allowed all the fresh water ponds between the two parks...to be extremely full, and quite a few shore birds/waterfowl taking advantage of their hunt for food. Here are just a few of what I spotted...
Long Billed Curlew
habitat map: Curlew
Black Bellied Plover
habitat map: Plover
Ruddy Turnstone
habitat map: Turnstone
Willet
habitat map: Willet
Great Blue Heron
habitat map: Heron
Snowy Egret
habitat map: Egret
White Ibis
habitat map: Ibis
Plover [Wilson's?]
habitat map: Plover
Now share your birding experiences:
I haven't been anywhere lately to see 'water birds'! I miss them. Love the Great Blue and the Snowy Egret is a neat sighting. I love them all. Hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend. Ours will be HOT!
ReplyDeleteOh how beautiful, Anni! I'm glad you "found a way". Love, Andrea xoxo
ReplyDeleteYou got so many fantastic shots! I don't think I've ever spotted a Long Billed Curlew. Have a great weekend Anni :)
ReplyDeleteHello, Anni,
ReplyDeleteI was hoping to see some Plovers and other shore birds before the migration. My timing for birding is off this year. You saw a wonderful variety of birds, I love the cute Plovers. Your photos are beautiful. Thanks for hosting, have a great weekend.
The Curlew is fantastic, and the little Plovers so cute. What a great time to be there and snap! Such good variety.
ReplyDeleteThe curlew really has an impressive bill. Nice selection of shorebirds. I live too far inland to see most of them. It is a shame that some drivers lack common sense. We have the same with ATV's getting stuck after defacing the wetlands preserve.
ReplyDeleteExcellent collection of birds all of which I would never see. We do get Heron's and Plovers but not quite the same. Sorry I am slow with blogging the garden is more than demanding at present!
ReplyDeleteKeep safe, Diane
they are all so handsome, standing there looking and waiting. they acutally put a smile on my face. the ruddy bird is beatuiful and new to me
ReplyDeleteYou got some great shots...I just love them all. I suppose because I don't get to see any of them on a regular basis. I have not even seen very many G. B. Herons this year. I don't think I have seen even one in the strip pit area. I so would love to know why things changed so drastically out there.
ReplyDeleteAlways love seeing your shore birds. The very first photo in your post of the long billed curlew is very striking! Glad you were able to go walk the trail and share all the great birds with us. Hope you are enjoying your weekend.
ReplyDeleteYou showed the dudes how to do it Anni. Finding that way in led to some fine pictures. And I thought our Eurasian Curlew had a long bill - LOL. It's ages since I saw a Grey (Black-bellied) Plover since they are now fairly scarce. I may have mentioned before, finding a Willet here in the UK is my dream, but I've seen lots on US blogs so hope I can ID one when I do - dream on.
ReplyDeleteHave a fine Texan day and look out for those rainy days.
Good Morning Anni: I always look forward to what you present to us each week as they are generally birds we do not see in our area, and represent species I have not seen in many a long while. I am quite sure that your plover with the question mark is correctly identified as a Wilson's Plover. This bird used to be known as a Thick-billed Plover and the reason for that is quite obvious. Enjoy the week ahead. Best wishes. David
ReplyDeleteGreat shots! Love that ruddy turnstone.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mouth on that curlew. It looks like it could fit all the way down a skinny straw.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures. The first one is my favorite. Such a long bill!!!
ReplyDeleteWell Anni, all I can is that I'm jealous of all your shore birds. Once again, Summer is passing and I never made it to the shore...:)jp
ReplyDelete