Port Aransas, July 5-7 2013

I spent the weekend in Port Aransas for the holiday weekend. It's a notoriously crowded time to be here, and not very interesting bird-wise. But I made it to three of the main birding spots and still enjoyed seeing the expected birds and finding a few unexpected things.

On July 5, Paradise Pond had a male and female Painted Bunting, and a heard-only Summer Tanager. The tanager was flagged as unexpected by eBird, so I recorded the call on my iPhone. Here's the observation on iNaturalist with the recording:

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/323948

Many Black Terns are moving through the area. They were present at the Turnbull Birding Center by the dozen, and were also visible from the pavilion of the Charlie's Pasture Nature Preserve.

A hot afternoon visit to the Turnbull Birding Center on July 6 was unexpectedly fun. There were three Magnificent Frigatebirds flying over the water and dipping into it periodically. There were at least 15 Ruddy Ducks -- even parents with ducklings. I didn't know they breed here. American Coot and Common Gallinule chicks were also fun to see. And there was one Lesser Scaup in basic plumage. See the second photo on the iNaturalist observation here:

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/323081

Based on the second photo, it might be in a molt and currently unable to fly.

Here are my eBird observations:

July 5, Turnbull Birding Center
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14576275

July 5, Paradise Pond
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14582471

July 6 Wetland Park
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14582470

July 6 Charlie's Pasture
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14582708

July 6 Paradise Pond
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14582910

I've been increasingly interested in dragonflies lately, and was excited to get a few photos of them on the trip. The town seemed to be full of Blue Dashers. At the Turnbull Birding Center there were a few more species, and a special thanks to Greg Lasley for pointing out the Needham's Skimmers and how to distinguish them from Golden-winged.

Posted on Ιούλιος 07, 2013 0953 ΜΜ by mikaelb