* Texas
* Statewide
* March 25, 1999
* TXST9903.25
- Birds mentioned
Red-Throated Loon*
Pacific Loon
Least Grebe
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Surf Scoter
Masked Duck*
Swallow-Tailed Kite
Broad-Winged Hawk
Swainson'S Hawk
American Golden-Plover
Upland Sandpiper
Black-Tailed Gull*
California Gull*
Lesser Black-Backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Great Black-Backed Gull
Eastern Kingbird
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher
Yellow-Throated Vireo
Clay-Colored Robin
Northern Parula
Yellow-Throated Warbler
Black-And-White Warbler
Worm-Eating Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Hooded Warbler
Summer Tanager
- Transcript
Number: (713) 369-9673
Sighting Reports: (281) 992-2757
WWW: http://texasbirding.simplenet.com/rba.htm
Compiler: John O'Brien, mailto:johnobrien@eye.med.uth.tmc.edu
Andrew Hamlett, mailto:Bachwblr@aol.com
Coverage: Texas Statewide
Transcriber: David Sarkozi, mailto:dsarkozi@flash.net
Thank you for calling the Texas Rare Bird Alert, sponsored by the
Houston Audubon Society. This recording was made Thursday, March 25 at
9:30 p.m. To report your bird sightings please call 281-992-2757.
Highlights of today’s tape are: PACIFIC LOON, CALIFORNIA GULL and many
new migrants.
Coastal locations are hosting an increasing variety of migrant birds
recently. On Galveston Is., a PACIFIC LOON (Gavia pacifica) was seen
with the loon flock in Offat’s Bayou on the 20th. The RED-THROATED
LOON* (Gavia stellata) seen last week was not relocated. From I-45,
take the first exit onto the frontage road after crossing the bridge
onto Galveston Is. and approach the bayou from the small road after the
Emmanuel Baptist Church. At East Beach, a 1st winter GLAUCOUS GULL
(Larus hyperboreus) were seen on the 23rd. At the Bolivar flats, female
SURF SCOTER (Melanitta perspicillata) was seen near the shore and 9
FULVOUS WHISTLING-DUCK (Dendrocygna bicolor) were noted flying by.
Inland parts of Galveston Co. also hosted some interesting birds this
week. In LaMarque a 1st winter CALIFORNIA GULL* (Larus californicus)
and two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (Larus fuscus) were seen at the BFI
landfill and two more LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL were seen at the LaMarque
dog racing track. To reach these locations, exit I-45 at exit 15 and
proceed southwest a short distance to the dog track. A GREAT BLACK-
BACKED GULL (Larus marinus) was seen next to
Highland Bayou Park on March 16th but has not been seen since.
At the Sylvan Beach hawk watch in La Porte, Galveston Co., a SWALLOW-
TAILED KITE (Elanoides forficatus) was seen on the 20th. 6 SWAINSON’S
HAWK (Buteo swainsoni) and more than 200 BROAD-WINGED HAWK (Buteo
platypterus) have been seen since the hawkwatch started March 12th.
In Brazoria Co., a LEAST GREBE (Tachybaptus dominicus) was seen in
moccasin pond at San Bernard NWR on the 15th. Two NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH
(Seiurus noveboracensis) seen there on March 20th were probably
wintering birds.
Migrant landbirds on the coast were relatively slow this weekend, but
several species were seen in Quintana, Brazoria Co. These include
EASTERN KINGBIRD (Tyrannus tyrannus), NORTHERN PARULA (Parula
americana), YELLOW-THROATED
WARBLER (Dendroica dominica), BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER (Mniotilta varia),
LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH (Seiurus motacilla), and HOODED WARBLER (Wilsonia
citrina).
At High Island, Chambers Co., migrants seen on the 21st included a
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER (Protonotaria citrea), and nearby in Anahuac NWR, a
SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER (Tyrannus forficatus) was seen the same day.
Other SCISSOR-TAILED
FLYCATCHERs in the region were seen in west Harris Co., and at Attwater
NWR in Colorado Co.
Some new migrants found in the Big Sandy Creek and Upper Neches units of
the Big Thicket on the 21st include numerous YELLOW-THROATED VIREO
(Vireo flavifrons), a few HOODED WARBLER (Wilsonia citrina) and
LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH,
a WORM-EATING WARBLER (Helmitheros vermivorus), and 3 SUMMER TANAGER
(Piranga rubra).
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER (Pluvialis dominica) and an UPLAND SANDPIPER
(Bartramia longicauda) were widely reported on the upper coast this
week. Both species were found on the Bolivar peninsula in the grazed
pasture next to H87, in west
Harris Co. along Beckendorff between Pitts and FM 2855, and at Attwater
NWR.
In the Rio Grande valley, the BLACK-TAILED GULL* (Larus crassirostris)
at the Brownsville landfill has not been reported since March 18th.
CLAY-COLORED ROBIN (Turdus grayi), however, are still being reported
frequently near the visitor’s center at Santa Ana NWR. Finally, two
MASKED DUCK* (Oxyura dominica) were found in a private portion of the
Kennedy Ranch on the 20th. For information on other Rio Grande Valley
specialties, please call the Rio Grande Valley hotline at 956-969-2731.
Thank you for calling and good birding!
- End Transcript
* Denotes Texas Review Species, sighting reports should be
sent to the Texas Bird Records Committee, Greg Lasley, 305
Loganberry Court, Austin, TX 78745-6527, contact Greg Lasley
(mailto:glasley@earthlink.net)
David Sarkozi, WB5N mailto:dsarkozi@flash.net
Houston, TX
(713) 520-5906
See my webpage, Birds of the Upper Texas Coast
http://texasbirding.simplenet.com/
See the Texas Online Clearinghouse at
http://www.flash.net/~dsarkozi/