Artic Tern (Finally!) at PINS, 7/30/26

Yesterday Caley Thomas found an immature Arctic Tern at the Padre Island National Seashore.  She along with Willie Sekula had seen the same bird a few days earlier.  Others also reported it.  OK.  That's enough!  Time to make another try at my Texas nemesis bird.  Arctic Tern used to be a mega rare bird in Texas with just a few reports from isolated western lakes and coastal beaches.  But several were seen along the beach at Padre National Seashore durning July of 2024.  I made a couple of tries and missed, one by just a few minutes.  And maybe a half dozen, both adults and young, have been seen this past month.  Whether it's global warming or just more birders is hard to say

So I took off again yesterday morning and reached the Padre Island National Seashore by 10:30 am.  I was not worried about being early as the birds tend to be out feeding during early hours.  It was time to start searching the tern flocks for a black-naped Sterna with very short legs and a delicate bill.

Just a note on Tern classification.  They all used to be in the genus Sterna but recent molecular genetic studies have caused ornithologists to split the terns into several genera.  Kinda makes sense.  Sterna is made up of the confusing group of mid sized terns that include Forster's, Common, Roseate and Arctic Terns.

There were plenty of Terns to sort through.  Everyone is done breeding and out playing on the beach.  Larger terns included lots of Royal and Sandwich Terns and a few Caspian Terns.

And just a word about leg anatomy.  The visible swelling on a birds leg is not it's "knee".  It's the "heel".  The entire portion of the bird's leg below that swelling is it's foot.  Above the swelling is the bird's tibia.  The "knee' and femur are not visible.  Think about a chicken hind quarter.  The thigh and drum stick join at the knee.  The other end of the drum stick is the that swelling visible in the photos above.  This is helpful to keep in mind as I examine leg length on Sterna gulls.

So what about this guy in a mixed tern flock.  It looks a little short legged.

The problem is "short" is a rtelative term.  Short compared to what?  So my strategy was just to check out and photograph a lot of Sterna terns.  If I missed it in the field maybe I would catch it later while editing photos.  Leg length duly noted but maybe the bill is too heavy.  Hmmm....

Now here's three of them.  Six in the next pic.  There's only one Arctic Tern so these have to be Common Terns.

Hundreds of Black Terns served as a distracton.

What about this one?  Seems pretty short legged and small billed.  Leg length can also be affected by how fluffed up the bird is and is it partially squatting?

I got closer and now the legs seemed a little longer.  Then it stretched and I think there's too much black in the primaries.  Maybe the carpal bar is too bold.

A Black Skimmer skimmed by.  I moved on.

Then...  really short legs, cute round head and dainty thin bill....  This might be it!  I moved closer.

As Troy Hibbetts put it "The legs are almost comically short."  It walked away a little and "waddled" might better describe the motion.  Arctic Tern!

It flew and I got some decent photos showing thedark tipped primary flight feathers and the pale secondaries.

This poor little Arctic Tern is less than half way along its fall migration route from the Arctic to the Antarctic.  Including the return that's nearly a 25,000 mile annual trip.  Resting with it's eyes closed, it may not be feeling well.  Many of out lost vagrant birds are stressed.

Arctic Tern is species #612 on my Texas eBird list.  Glad I was finally able to tick that one!  It was not a lifer as I saw a few with the Kevin and Barry Zimmer on the 1981 Western Field Ornithologists pelagic trip out of San Diego.  So it had been a while.

Padre Island National Seashore, 6/22/26

On Sunday Willie Sekula and Caley Thomas found an adult breeding plumaged Arctic Tern while plying the beach at the Padre Island National Seashore.  I'm sure this wasn't just an accidental find but an intentional attemp to locate this and other rare species that can show up on Gulf beaches during the summer.  Willie knows his stuff!

Arctic Tern is my Texas nemesis species by a long shot.  I have driven many beaches hoping to find one and I've chased several, all to no avail.  So I got up early Monday morning and made the nearly 200 mile drive to the Padre Island National Seashore where it is possible to drive sixty miles of beach.  There were plenty of terns to sort through.  These are mostly Royal Terns.  Breeding is over and white foreheads are coming back.

Sandwich Terns were also around.

But I was after the smaller Arctic Tern which means fishing through the Common Terns.  These are all in basic plumage.  I don't know if they are young of this year or non breeders.

There were also breeding plumaged Common Terns known as alternate plumage.

I don't know if this is a Common Tern or a Forster's Tern.  iNat say's Forster's but the bill doen't seem orange enough to me though it is pretty big.  I didn't see any basic plumaged Forster's which is easy to ID.

I ran into long time Texas lister John Berner and his wife from Houston.  Arctic Tern is his nemesis bird too.  Turns out neither of us were able to find it.  Willie's list on eBird had a lot more birds.  I'm sure many were driven off by the Sunday afternoon beach goers.  So maybe it wasn't our fault.

Best bird for me was this young Aplomado Falcon.  I'm sure it hatched nearby.  Tag says B 04.  I remember seeing my first along the coast of Veracruz many years ago.  Aplomado Falcons were once extirpated from the US but are now realitvely easy to find due to captive breeding programs and providing nesting birds with preditor proof nest boxes.

And at the same spot I was also rewarded with three Magnificent Frigatebirds.  I picked up six new birds for my Kenedy County list.

So I didn't get what I wanted but it was still a beautiful day at the beach.

My Best Ever Bay-breasted Warbler, 5/7/26

A late "cold" front was trying to enter the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas yesterday and I thought it might cause something interesting to land at South Padre Island.  I headed east and after passing San Benito the WhatsApp dinged.  Tammy Bulow had just found a Sulphur Bellied Flycatcher at the Convention Center.  It's probably the same one that was seen at the Birding and Nature Center five days ago.  A second chance!

Well have half dozen birders or more searched thoughout the day but to no avail.  I checked my records and found I saw a Sulphur-bellied back in 2006 at the Convention Center back before I had a camera.  I saw another at Quinta Mazatlan in 2008 and got photos of that one.  So it's not the end of the world.  Meanwhile there were other migrants to see.

I really got spoiled with warbler photography last weekend and despite quite a few warblers around, I found few I cared to shoot at.  After a while at the Birding and Nature Center where I found this cool Epimelissodes petulcus, I returned to the Convention Center.

Long time Valley bird photographer Larry Ditto and another photographer whose name I can never remember had chairs pulled up to the water feature waiting for action.  I may be a snob but I find most "photographers" have terrible nature observation skills.  They can only get photos if the bird is in their face.  But this afternoon they had warblers in their face and I joined in.

Most of the photo opps were OK but still not as good as I had last weekend.  The one exception was the Bay-breasted Warbler.  I was closer to them last week but the lighting and angles were always off.  This bird coming in to the Convention Center drip was really putting on a show.

 

Bay-breasted Warblers are just uncommon enough to always be a treat in the valley.  Their unique coloring is unlike any other bird species I know.  So no Sulphur-bellied Flycathcer but still a good day.

Good Fallout on SPI, 5/2/26

The forecast late spring cold front blasted in right on shedule during the height of spring bird migration so I made the long drive over to South Padre Island hoping for a good day.  I was not disappointed.  First stop was the Valley Land Fund's Sheephead lots.  About twenty cars were wedged in best they could and close to fifty birders were milling about.  The only problem was which bird to photograph first.  How about Bay-breassted Warblers?  These are uncommon enough to always be a treat.

Chestnut-sided Warblers put on a show.

Black-throated Green Warblers Can be seen from early migration all the way to the end.  Some even winter in the Valley.

 I think all the empids were present.  The amazing spring of Acadian Flycatchers continued.

Then word came across WhatsApp that Rice University flycatcher guru Cin-ty Lee had just found a Sulphur-bellied Flycathcer at the Birding and Nature Center.  It's been years since I've seen one in the Valley so I raced over.  I have Cin-ty's flycather guide out now even as I type this.  When I arrived everyone was looking but no one was finding.  I had to settle for bad shots of a Palm Warbler.

And a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

It was looking like no Sulphur-belly so I decided to head over to the nearby Convention Center.  I arrived to find the parking lots choked with cars.  It was UIL elementary school cheerleader competition.  Seemed like dosens of families with three foot tall cheerleaders were all over the place.  But many were leaving for lunch so I managed to find a good parking place and got back to birding.

I soon ran into Mary Volz who told me everyone was getting great photos of a posing Chuck-wills-widow behind the Convention Center.  She led me to the spot and sure enough a reddish nightjar was sitting in the open.  A reddish nightjar with a small head.  That doesn't look like a Chuck.  It's a rusty Common Nighthawk.  Well I caught hell for that opinion by new local expert.  "Look at the color.  It's a Chuck."  I said "But the head's too small.  And it's sittng in the open like a Common Nighthawk."  Later he admitted there actually is a rufous morph Common Nighthawk in Sibley's guide.  This old birder's still got it!

There was also word of a male MacGillivray's Warbler.  It was tough to get shots of it but I finally did.  And later I found a female.

The Veery was very accommodating.

Warbling Vireo has recently been split into pretty much identical Eastern and Western species.  They have different songs and I guess there are some slight plumage differences.  Our migrants are supposed to be Eastern Warbling Vireo.  This will be a problem for state records committes across the country.

My first Philadelphia Vireo for the year.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak was the bird that started me birdig fifty years ago.  It's referred to as your "spark bird."

This is either an Alder or a Willow Flycatcher.  They are best separated by voice and this one was silent.  I think the well defined eye ring makes it an Alder.  I need to study Cin-ty's book some more.

This little Ovenbird was a real charmer.

I think this is my best ever Magnolia Warbler photo.

Lizzy and Tammy told me of roosting Mississippi Kites in the mangroves.  I walked the boardwalk but got distracted by this tired looking Least Bittern.  We have summering Least Bitterns but this one might be a migrant.

The Mississippi Kites were a bit distant for good photos.

American Redstarts were out in force.

After shrimp wraps and a pint at The Brewery, I returned to Sheepshead where birders were still at it.  Some Black-and-white Warblers continue to pass through.

My first Canada Warbler for the year.  I think I finished the day with sixteen species of warblers.

One of the most common summer woodland birds of the eastern United States is the Red-eyed Vireo.

I finished the day with this Western Tanager.  I was the only one to see it.

Hell of a day!