Banded Plovers on Mustang Island 2015-11-29
On the morning of 11/29/2015 I spent about 3 hours birding-by-car about 7 miles of beach on Mustang Island starting at Access Road 1 and ending at Access Road 2. Here's my eBird list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26043409
Highlights included a Lesser Black-backed Gull that has been wintering on this beach for several years now, and two adult-plumaged Aplomado Falcons, probably from the release program at Mustang Island State Park.
I'm using this journal post to document banded wintering plovers that I photographed on that morning. I recorded 67 Piping Plovers and 28 Snowy Plovers. Of those, 21 Piping Plovers and 1 Snowy Plover were banded. Tony Amos has been surveying this stretch of beach for decades and has extensive records of these banded birds. One is this Piping Plover:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2475034
Tony first observed this bird in 2003 and has documented it returning every winter to the same 100m of beach since then! I was with him a couple of those times, once in 2012:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/131241
and once again in 2014:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1103694
Attached are observations for this bird and all the other banded plovers I photographed that morning. It's especially interesting when you switch to Map View. What an important place the Texas beach is to these birds! Soon I'll figure out how to report them to the banders.
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Blue-Yellow, Yellow-White
Yellow tag obsercured -- U34?
Lat 27.783638, Lon -97.092262
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Red-Orange, Black-Yellow
Yellow tag obscured.
Lat 27.781911, Lon -97.093689
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
White-black, Orange-Black
Yellow tag obscured.
Lat 27.777933, Lon -97.096928
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Yellow tag: 8N2
Lat 27.770836, Lon -97.102559
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Light blue, Light blue-yellow
Lat 27.768497, Lon -97.104303
Seen in almost exactly the same spot last year:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1103694
And in 2012:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/131241
See notes on above observation. Tony Amos has been seeing this bird for 13 years now in the same 200m of beach.
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Yellow-Green, Red-gray
Blue flag on right foot.
Lat 27.767944, Lon -97.104778
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Green-Yellow, Black-orange
Lat 27.76608, Lon -97.106195
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Yellow-Blue, Light blue-green
Blue tag obscured.
Lat 27.763155, Lon -97.108417
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Blue tag: A84
Lat 27.757472, Lon -97.112542
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
no bands, Red-black
Lat 27.756355, Lon -97.113428
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
White-light blue, Black-white
Yellow tag obscured.
Lat 27.755947, Lon -97.113739
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
White-white, Red-blue
Lat 27.747502, Lon -97.119828
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Red-orange, Yellow-green
Yellow tag: T42
Lat 27.743036, Lon -97.123012
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
none, Black-green
Possible flag on left leg.
Lat 27.734513, Lon -97.128928
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Yellow-light blue, white-black-green
Light blue flag on left leg.
Lat 27.729111, Lon -97.132648
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Light blue-orange, White-black
Lat 27.723563, Lon -97.136564
Photos / Sounds
What
Snowy Plover (Anarhynchus nivosus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Snowy Plover
Yellow, Red-black
Green flag on right leg.
Lat 27.722097, Lon -97.137506
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Yellow-blue, Blue-orange
Yellow tag obscured.
Lat 27.719908, Lon -97.139081
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Green-white, white-black
Yellow tag: V00
Lat 27.709555, Lon -97.146189
Photos / Sounds
What
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Observer
mikaelbDescription
Banded Piping Plover
Black-blue, Black-white
Lat 27.704552, Lon -97.14952
Comments
They really are charming little birds. Really enjoy these observations, Mikael.
Add a Comment