More Great Galveston Birding

Gulls & Terns & Pelicans Oh My!

One tough thing about being in a spot like Galveston with only a little time to spare, is struggling with where to spend that limited time birding. By day two I was back to my old self and raring to cover some ground, and one of my favorite Galveston birding areas is in and around the lagoons and flats near East Beach. There are always oodles of gulls and terns here and in the area shown above there were 8 species of terns at view at once! (Least, Common, Forster's, Gull-billed, Sandwich, Royal, & Caspian Tern, and Black Skimmer)

Black Skimmer strikes an odd pose. Note the long lower mandible used to snatch fish from the water.

At other locales this would be a monumental feat, but here at East Beach in late March it's about right. As a matter of fact, others had seen all of those PLUS a Black Tern that I missed!

Royal Tern bathes in a newly formed rain puddle.

It's a wonderful spot to bird. The lagoons offer Roseate Spoonbills and Reddish Egrets seemingly dancing to the songs of the "Eastern" Willets and Clapper Rails in the salt marshes here.

A particularly" rosy" breasted Sandwich Tern stops to give me a curious glance.

Laughing Gulls are the most common Larid, although a Glaucous Gull was a highlight on one trip!

On Saturday it rained, and rained, and rained some more. "A good day to be a duck!" one visitor quipped but I was thinking differently... "a good day for shorebirds!" So when it came time to close the venue after a day of rains many headed toward the West side of the Island in hopes of finding grounded migrant songbirds. I was tempted but thought I'd check for shorebirds instead in the flooded road edges and fields. I wasn't disappointed.

Western Sandpipers with a few larger Dunlin at East Beach 3/30/07

The East Beach parking lot was chock full of drab Dunlin and bright-colored Western Sandpipers standing beak to tail in all of the puddles. There was no sunlight to speak of but I still couldn't help but take a few pics.

Western Sandpiper brightening into its breeding (alternate) plumage

Amidst the common Western Sandpipers and less common Dunlin were other shorebirds mostly in singles or very small bands: Greater Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, Black-bellied Plover...

A rare beam of sun light struck a lone Sanderling in a puddle albeit briefly.

I really enjoyed viewing the two "white-backed" plovers side by side.

Piping Plover East Beach, Galveston 3/30/07

It was interesting to note that this Piping Plover was not yet completed with its molt but it was still a fair distance from its breeding territory (likely along the Great Lakes somewhere).

Snowy Plover (probable male) East Beach , Galveston

In contrast, a nearby Snowy Plover (that likely breeds locally) was in immaculate plumage.