EXPERIENCE
DID YOU COUNT?
You might say it started with a bang. Sunday of the Great Backyard Bird Count weekend dawned foggy with birders from our Audubon Chapter excited to start this annual count and event at the mouth of Davenport Bayou. At this location, hundreds of gulls, terns and shorebirds gather to rest and squabble on the sandbars of the small island. With salty gulf tides lapping the outside of the island, and quiet water between resting gulls and birders on the nearby mainland, four young boys rowed their skiff to the island. Beaching their boat, they began shooting at gulls with a BB gun. Bang!
A rowboat was quickly launched and paddled to intercept the developing drama. Our Audubon “ambassador” approached the boys expecting backtalk, and was surprised to find compliance once they discovered the birds were protected and migratory species. “The birds are always there,” they said, “so we didn’t think they were migratory.”
Indeed almost all bird species are protected by laws and international treaties. After all, birds that migrate between North and South America belong to many countries from Canada to Argentina. Even local birds like blue jays and cardinals, for example, are protected. Game species such as turkey, doves, and quail are also protected by laws, but there is a hunting season for them which regulates both timing and bag limits.
The boys left, and the birds settled back into their life antics – gulls drifted in and settled down preening, resting and squawking. Black Skimmers sailed in, tucking hefty red and black beaks under their wings and sleeping. Sanderlings chased tiny invertebrates up and down the beach, often weaving amongst the large gulls’ legs. On the other end of the island, graceful Snowy Egrets fed in shallows along the marsh grasses, stirring up tiny fish, and literally prancing with their bright yellow feet and graceful wings held aloft.
Inland, several flocks of Cedar Waxwings descended into the shrubs devouring scarlet yaupon berries to the delight and oohs and ahhs of everyone, then swirling into the pines only to alight again on other berry-bearing bushes. Overhead four ospreys circled and lit in their favorite pines, no doubt considering when to commence nest-building. A brown thrasher sang from atop a dead snag while towhees called unseen from thick undergrowth. Two blue-winged teal flew in…..a bald eagle sailed overhead stirring the gulls flocks into a frenzy…..pine warblers trilled from the treetops…..and American goldfinches chattered from a tall sweet gum…..
Birdsong early filled the air, especially as the sun burned off the fog. Experienced birders from the Chapter pointed out 58 species of birds and birdsongs for beginners, visiting “snow birds” and local birders who came to enjoy the morning of the Great Backyard Bird Count.
We hope you will join the F. M. Weston birders next year for the GBBC. Do you count? You bet! The more eyes spotting birds, the better. And just for fun and practice, check out Chapter activities where you can engage with bird walks, birding classes, and field trips!
By Lucy Duncan