At the Starbucks in Meyerland, I met Mary, David, Mary, and Constance.  It was “Brrr cold”, although the sun shone bright this early Saturday morning.  We piled into two cars and were off.  In a bit over an hour we arrived at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge.  We met Duc, Will, Lynn, Lisa, Sara, Andrew, and Barry.

We first visited the pavilion, pond, and bird feeders, near the environmental learning center, to see what feathered friends we could see.  Mary asked about the blackbirds in the tree near the feeder.  With our binoculars we spied a dozen male Red-winged Blackbirds hanging out like it was “guy time”.  We also spied several Moorhens and American Coots on the cattail pond.

We then visited the environmental learning center.  The volunteer host was very friendly, and we gathered bird checklists and maps.  As we left the center, someone shouted, and we looked up and several waves of Snow Geese flew right over our heads, honking, and then fading away into the blue horizon.  The wind was constant and kept us chilled, but the sun was our warm friend.  We drove the road to enjoy the Big Slough Auto Tour.  Just before we turned toward Gator Nest Pond, I saw a bird on the side of the road, then another bird on the other side of the road.  They turned out to be Killdeers (a type of shorebird).

At Gator Nest Pond, we scanned the water for birds but saw none.  Usually this is a great place for ducks.  The wind was particularly strong here.  But no birds on the water.  But in the air, that was a different story.  First, we saw a large bird, with long wings coming toward us.  It was an Osprey or “Fish Hawk “.  Then we saw a large group of birds fly overhead.  Dozens of gulls swooped, dodged, and flitted above us.  We saw on the opposite side of the road, a pair of Brown Pelicans.

We moved on, driven by the cold.  We would drive a bit, see some birds, stop, jump out and raise our binoculars, and talk excitedly about what we saw.  All the time, we were shivering in the wind enhanced cold.  Then we would jump back in our cars, warm up, and drive a bit further.

We flushed a Great Egret and Savannah Sparrows.  We saw a group of ducks on Olney Pond and determined they were Gadwalls.  A White Ibis stalked through the water and marsh grass looking for meal, while a Northern Harrier (a type of hawk) flew erratically just over the prairie grass and marsh looking for prey.

Farther on at Cross Trails Pond we saw more birds in the water and discovered Northern Shoveler Ducks, Northern Pintail Ducks, Blue-winged Teal Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes (about a dozen), a nervous Great Blue Heron, and errant cormorants who flew by, in hurry to get where they were going.

One of the real highlights of the outing was seeing three Rosette Spoonbills fly away with Duc madly clicking his camera as they retreated.  We also saw several American Kestrels perched on Baccharis shrubs.  Snowy Egrets waded in ponds and Lesser Scaups dove underwater to find tasty vegetation.  A Tricolored Heron flew away from our cars, on a mission to find a quieter hunting ground.  At the turn around point for the 7.5-mile Big Slough Loop, Rogers Pond, we watched Willets and several Lesser Yellowlegs probe the mud and water for food.

As we drove back to the environmental learning center and pavilion, Turkey Vultures and White Pelicans were seen overhead, catching the thermals and climbing higher into the endless blue sky.  We spied a flock of White-faced Ibis buzzing past us as fast as they could fly.  A Loggerhead Shrike and Yellow-rumped Warblers were rested in low-lying trees or shrubs.

We got back to the environmental learning center, hit the bathrooms (I needed that!), and had lunch on the pavilion.  We spread ourselves out, staying in the sun to combat the chill of the wind.  We had a great time talking and reviewing the birds we saw on our outing.  We found Eastern Meadowlarks on the ground near the bird feeders.

It was time to go but we had one more stop to make.  We left the parking lot and headed down a short road to the Salt Lake Fishing Area.  As we drove, another vehicle, ahead of us, pulled over and let us by.  A few yards past that vehicle I stopped the car suddenly.  There, on our right, was a beautiful Caracara (Mexican Eagle).  We sat in rapt attention until this large raptor decided it was time to leave and flew away.

We entered the Salt Lake Fishing Area parking lot and were surprised to see an entire new group of birds.  A Great Blue Heron was standing in the mud flat ahead of us, shorebirds were feeding in front and to the right of us, gulls were hunkered down, and way across the bay you could see hundreds of white spots, birds sitting on the water.  Damn, I wish I had a spotting scope!

It was time to go.  We retraced our steps and saw two more Caracaras, on the ground!  What a nice going away present.  Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge had been “Brrr cold” but it was a delight on a sunny, windy, winter day.  

Brandt Mannchen

January 14, 2018