June 2 - Colorado River at Matagorda

We got up around 7:30 and again ate at the motel’s breakfast nook.  After we got our things together, we returned to Matagorda Bay to take another kayak trip, this time in the river.

Eurasian Collared-Doves were at the kayak rental

 . . . and Barn Swallows were building nests in the rafters

At the kayak rental, I asked Sammy about the little burrows and mini-“chimneys”.  He noted that they were mud crabs Panopeus obesus, which live in burrows, under shells or among the sea grasses in salt marshes and all along the Texas Coast.

Thousands of these holes were in the lawns and shoreline

We launched straight into the river and paddled down to the jetty at the mouth first, where there was a nice flock of Pelicans rooting.

We turned back upstream toward the north end of Tiger Island, and checked out some of the side channels.  There is little to no current in the Colorado River here, and we were more influenced by tide and breeze than the force of the river.

Marty

There were the usual gulls, egrets, grackles and Willets to see.

I was surprised to see a single Whimbrel tucked in along a tidal channel, working little crabs out of the mud.

It was getting hot,

so we returned to the Park after about 2 ½ hours, and returned the kayaks.

I had noticed yesterday that there was a little wetland between the east jetty and the beach, which attracted a number of terns and gulls, and thought that I should scope it out today.

The flock had Royal, Sandwich, and Least Terns, and Laughing Gulls

As Marty and ‘Becca went down to the beach, I set up my spotting scope to scan through the birds.

Then, away from the madding crowd of terns and gulls, I noticed a shorebird staring at me.  It was a Wilson’s Plover, which was my ABA Life Bird No. 611.

The Wilson’s Plover is a fairly common, although declining, species that nests along the U.S. Atlantic coast from Virginia south, and along the Gulf Coast all the way to South America.

This bird is banded.  I'll report the band to the Bird Banding Lab and let folks know about it

There’s a Pacific coast population, however they don’t get much north of Baja California, so I’d never seen one before.  Kind of like a big-billed Killdeer, but pretty distinctive.

We headed back toward Houston - Clear Lake, and checked back into the Candlewood Suites.  Marty and Becca are attending the North American Prairie Conference tomorrow, so we had supper and went to bed fairly early.

Colorado River eBird Checklist is Here

Matagorda Bay Nature Park beach eBird Checklist is Here