South Padre Island, 4/13/16

With a weak cold front forecast to come from the north I thought it might be a good day to head out to South Padre Island and see what migrants might be about.  The day started slowly at the Convention Center, dark and drippy with more birders than birds.   This Prairie Warbler has been present for several days but the reported Black-billed Cuckoo was a no show.

First Western Kingbird for the year.

There were a few wet Northern Parulas and Nashville, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped and Black-and-white Warblers around.  By lunchtime most of the birders had left and I decided to drive out on the flats and check out the pink-bellied Franklin's Gulls that had been passing over during the morning.

Found a couple of Least Terns, my first of the year.

This Short-billed Dowitcher looks a little messed up.

It started to rain harder and the tide was coming in so I left the flats and decided to check out Sheepshead. Not much was happening on the south side, just a Hooded Warbler and a Northern Waterthrush.

Across the street was a small flock with the same species as at the Convention Center.  And then I caught a glimpse of a white belly with a narrow bluish breast band........Cerulean Warbler!

Only a couple of birders were present to enjoy this bird and the rain started to increase.  In fact it rained really hard and the wind had increased from the north.  Our cold front was passing through.  I headed back up to the Convention Center to see if anything new had arrived and found few bright male Indigo Buntings and a couple of Painted Buntings.

I missed the reported Louisiana Waterthrush but managed to dig out a Kentucky Warbler.

I drove back to Sheepshead, checking out Oleander St. along the way.  A large new house was occupying one of my formerly favorite vacant lots.  I didn't check out Atol or Campeche.  The vacant lots are quickly disappearing on South Padre Island.  Back at Sheepshead a large crowd had gathered to look for the Cerulean Warbler and had found our first Blackburnian Warbler for the year.

And then I refound the Cerulean.  The group was happy about that.

Then a Blue-winged Warbler was found across the street.

I added a Wilson's and a Worm-eating Warbler to raise my day's warbler tally to seventeen.  Here's the list.

South Padre Island, Cameron, Texas, US
Apr 13, 2016 9:00 AM - 5:35 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
71 species (+1 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 4
Mottled Duck (Gulf Coast) 2
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Neotropic Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Reddish Egret 1
Cattle Egret (Western) 120
Clapper Rail 1
Sora 1
Black-bellied Plover 4
Wilson's Plover 1
Willet 5
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Sanderling 12
Short-billed Dowitcher 6
Laughing Gull 50
Franklin's Gull 500
Ring-billed Gull 1
Least Tern 2
Royal Tern 2
Sandwich Tern 15
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 5
Eurasian Collared-Dove 12
White-winged Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Lesser Nighthawk 2
nighthawk sp. 2
Chimney Swift 10
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 6
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Western Kingbird 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 10
Tree Swallow 1
Bank Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 50
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Swainson's Thrush 2
Wood Thrush 1
Long-billed Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Worm-eating Warbler 1
Northern Waterthrush 3
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 5
Tennessee Warbler 8
Orange-crowned Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 4
Kentucky Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Hooded Warbler 1
Cerulean Warbler 1
Northern Parula 3
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 8
Prairie Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 4
Wilson's Warbler 1
Savannah Sparrow 5
Lincoln's Sparrow 5
Summer Tanager 2
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 10
Painted Bunting 4
Red-winged Blackbird 100
Brown-headed Cowbird 12
Orchard Oriole 2
House Sparrow 10