Texas City Dike

I have wanted for quite some time to visit the Texas City Dike, near Galveston, but the dike had been closed for the past two year for repairs of damages sustained during 2008's devastating Hurricane Ike. I've heard nothing but good reports since the dike reopened late last fall. So when I discovered I was the only one in the family who got Presidents Day off last month, I leaped at the rare chance for an outing.


Royal Tern (Sterna maxima)
The dike itself is very nice, extending out about two and a half miles into Galveston Bay. There is a paved, two-lane road running the length of it, several piers and boat ramps and a nice stretch of sandy beach on the northern side (away from the gulf).


Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Since spring migration was still several weeks away, there were not any unexpected birds to be seen. However, I still found almost twenty different species on and around the dike just in the short time I spent there. There were numerous Royal Terns, plus a lone Forster's Tern diving for food in the choppy waters of the gulf side of the barrier. As you would expect, gulls were everywhere, from giant Herring Gulls to the smaller Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls. There were also a handful of egrets, pelicans (brown and white), and lots of both Double-crested and the smaller Neotropic Cormorants.


Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) in winter/non-breeding plumage


Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

I was a little disappointed at the extremely low numbers of shorebirds to be found, but I expect that will pick up quite a bit over the next few weeks as migration hits the Gulf Coast. The only shorebirds I saw were a lone Willet, two tiny Sanderlings and a handful of Ruddy Turnstones.


Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla), with Ring-billed Gulls in the background
As I started to leave for home, I did make a very quick stop at the Bay Street Park, located just around the corner from the entrance to the dike. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the marshy pond running the length of this park held quite a few more birds, including Northern Shovelers, Gadwalls, Blue-winged Teal, American Coots and a couple of Pied-billed Grebes. A small pier overlooking the pond also gave some great photo opportunities with the dozens of gulls resting there.


Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis), with a Laughing Gull in the background
All in all, this was a nice day of birding. I will definitely be returning to Texas City whenever I get the opportunity!


Note: As always, you can click on any of the images in this post to see a larger version.

Tern Here for Fishing

While in Baytown a few weeks ago, I happened upon a fishing frenzy of Forster's Terns out over Burnet Bay. There were forty or more terns wheeling and diving over and over into the choppy bay water. Most of the flock was concentrated about halfway across the bay, too far to catch any decent pictures, but a handful of terns ventured closer just long enough for me to fire off a few shots.


Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)




It was really quite something to watch.


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #83.

One Good Tern Deserves Another

Living as close to the Gulf Coast as we do (and having kids that jump with excitement every time the word "beach" is uttered), you would expect we would spend quite a bit of our summers frolicking in the waves and brushing sand off our tushies. Unfortunately, we don't tend to get down to the beach nearly as much as any of us would like to.

However, I did make a run down to Quintana Beach a few weeks ago and was surprised at the number of terns that were present. Until the last year or so — when my interest in birds really grew into something that went beyond "Oh look, there's a bird!" — I had always lumped many of the shorebirds found at our local beaches into that ignorant misnomer of "sea gulls." But with the (mostly) patient tutoring of several more experienced birders on recent outings, I'm quickly beginning to discover the vast variety of gulls and terns. Here are a couple of my recent forages into tern identification:


Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)


Royal Terns (Sterna maxima)
(with more photos here and here)
Other terns seen on the trip included Least Terns, Sandwich Terns and a solitary Black Tern. Unfortunately, I didn't make it back with any decent shots of these.


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #39.