Date: 4/26/26 12:46 pm From: Paul Conover via groups.io <zoiseaux...> Subject: [labird] weekend on the coast
Labird,
Nothing revelatory, but the last couple of days on the Cameron
coast were a really interesting illustration of daily migration flights.
I stayed on the east side, and my woodland birding was solely at Willow
Island. Friday morning reports from W.I. were dispiriting, to say the
least (birding was described as "grim" by Van), but when I arrived
around 5 that afternoon it was a different scene, with dozens of
catbirds and Blue Grosbeaks and a few individuals of a lot of other
migrant species. Saturday morning was likewise dead following a Friday
night exodus, but migrants kept arriving over the course of the day and
it ended up birdier in some ways than it had been Friday (for example 28
individuals of 12 warbler species vs 15 of 8 on Friday). Arrivals really
seemed to pick up around 4pm, when suddenly catbirds were everywhere (I
estimated 6 in the morning and 60 in the evening). Saturday's Warblers
seemed to arrive earlier than stronger fliers like catbirds and
grosbeaks, and I wondered if those warblers had started across the Gulf
of Mexico on Thursday night versus a Friday start for the stronger
fliers. However, for all I know any or all of these birds may have just
cut across from the Texas coast.
Beach-wise it was dead. It really seems like gull migration
happens much earlier than it used to, and the few big gulls I saw seemed
like they were getting an early start on a doomed summer vacation.
I'd love to hear weekend reports from Peveto and elsewhere.
