Purple Sandpiper at South Padre Island, 12/7/08

Well, today is Pearl Harbor Day and on this day twenty yers ago I found the first documented Pine Warbler for Arizona. I was teaching high school math in Benson, Arizona and was looking out the window between classes and there it was on the ground. Kenn Kaufman and others came out to photograph it a few days later. They've had several in Arizona since then so I guess I just got lucky to find the first.

Today I headed out to South Padre Island to look for the Purple Sandpiper discovered last weekend on the jetty. They're pretty rare in Texas or anywhere on the Gulf Coast and I had only seen one previously so I thought it was worth the effort. The long walk out to the end of the jetty was extremely slippery and I was having doubts as to whether I could make it to the end or get back afterwards. Luckily it was a beautiful day and the water was calm. It took over an hour of seaching but eventually I found the little guy and got some good pics. This is Cameron County bird #340.









The Purple Sandpiper is hanging out at the end of the jetties which takes over a quarter of a mile of slippery boulder hopping to reach.



A shrimp boat had run aground on the south jetties some time ago. Don't know how long they'll leave it there.