standing at water’s edge in the early morning light,
as you watch the gulf waters churn.
With waves pounding the shore,
luring you with its rhymed verse,
hunger and fading light brings signs of yore.
~
Back in October, 2014…
As I walked along the shore, hoping to watch the sunrise, I came upon this Sandwich Tern. He, just like me, was all alone on this particular morning and together we watched the day begin.
I think this is an adult non-breeding bird. Notice the yellowish bill tip.Enjoying an early morning bath in the GulfJumped right in.This Sandwich Tern gave me a gift on this morning; he was number 375.
Sharing with:
`Eileen at Viewing Nature with Eileen for Saturday’s Critters
Just to show he was there – Reddish Egret (He was too far out in the Bay to capture a good photo.)
During our travels next winter we hope to return to High Island, Texas during migration. It is a lovely site seeing all the migrating birds stopping for a rest prior to heading to their nesting or summer grounds.
Our stop there in March was fun! I had seen, for the first time, the Black-bellied Whistling Duck a few months before while staying at Myakka River State Park and the Reddish Egret at Fort De Soto County Park. I wonder where this Reddish guy is heading?
On the second day, of our two day stay near Hight Island, Texas we decided to take a ride to the Gulf of Mexico. We drove along the Bolivar Peninsula until we reached the Galveston ferry and retraced our drive back toward High Island. We were not interested in going into Galveston.
As we crossed over Rollover Pass we noticed what looked like birds near the shoreline of the south end of Rollover Bay. I am glad we turned into this parking lot, where people were fishing, some were birding, but mostly they were enjoying this bay that leads into the Gulf of Mexico.
A couple tidbits of interesting history about Rollover Pass – it is a man-made strait that cuts through private property on the Bolivar Peninsula and links the Gulf of Mexico with Rollover Bay and East Bay in Galveston. Rollover Pass earned its name from the practice of smugglers who, from the days of Spanish rule through prohibition, avoided the Galveston customs station by rolling barrels of import or export merchandise over the narrowest park of the peninsula.
Today people visit this area, from all over the world, to camp, fish and bird. We must have hit this area just when a few hundred birds decided they needed a rest. We saw Gulls, Terns, Pelicans, Egrets, Dowitchers, Godwits, Avocets, Willets and I am sure some that I missed. Migrating birds as they rested at Rollover Bay on this day, March 24, 2015.
Short-billed DowitcherResting. I think that is a Willet resting with them.Black SkimmerBlack-Skimmers in the background.This is my first time seeing so many Black Skimmers at once. Avocets and other Terns in the background.“Get your foot off of mt face.”Laughing Gull – Adult Breeding
More photos to follow of our time spent at Rollover Bay, Bolivar Peninsula, Texas.
Sharing with:
~Charlotte at Prairie Birder for “Feathers on Friday”
at https://prairiebirder.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/feathers-on-friday-144/#comment-7176
I don’t know why I left The Rookery with so few Snowy photos. The Neotropic Cormorants, Great Egrets and Roseate Spoonbills outnumbered the Snowy Egrets (while we were there). I don’t remember seeing that many Snowy Egrets.
I couldn’t figure out what this one was doing; perhaps looking for another stick.
The Cormorants and the Great Egrets were well on their way to building their nests, sitting on them and a few had laid eggs, while the Snowy Egrets and the Spoonbills seemed to be just hanging out. I think the Spoonbills had just arrived at The Rookery. We were there on March 24, 2015 . I understand life there is hopping these days! What fun it would be to see the chicks!
A dispute.I guess the only thing he accomplished was to mess up his feathers.
Wolf Song Blog 