South Padre Island, 2/28/10

With Honey at work today, my old teaching colleague Mike and I headed out to South Padre Island to see what was about. Still a bit early for spring migrants. We spent a few hours walking the boardwalks at the SPI Birding and Nature Center. Nothing unusual was going on but there's always interesting stuff to see. I enjoyed this Black Skimmer cruising by.



Here's a frantically feeding bunch of Roseate Spoonbills.



The Ardeids were looking sharp in their prenuptial finery. Normally I don't look twice at Great Blue Herons but I made an exception for this one.



A very tame Reddish Egret.



This Little Blue Heron dared me to get close.



There was not a lot of shorebird diversity, mostly Dunlin, Willits and both Yellowlegs. This was the only Marbled Godwit.



Yellow-rumped Warblers will be around a few more weeks before the main spring warbler invasion occurs.



After the boardwalk we drove the beach looking for unusual gulls. I think this may be a first cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull but I'm open to suggestions. Looks a lot like 27.11 in Howell and Dunn.



Here's some good looking Brown Pelicans.



We finised the day with some good food and suds at the SPI Brewery and some more at the Wahoo Saloon. A nice day was had by all!