Last night we gave a presentation on The Biggest Twitch to the ABA convention. A packed audience of some 250 people listened and laughed as we took them through our big year at a lively pace, and they've been kind enough to tell us since how much they enjoyed our talk.
However, no lie-in this morning to revel in the glory as we were up at 5am to lead a field trip of some 30 birders out to the Port Aransas area. We were joined by local expert Dane fellows who knew the best places to visit for shorebirds (waders) and migrants. We started at Indian Point Park where Least Sandpipers scurried around the car park while just offshore Least, Royal, Forsters, Black and Gull-billed Terns were seen at close range. Clapper Rail even posed on the adjacent salt marsh for long enough to allow the whole group to enjoy scope views, but most surprising of all was the arrival a Golden-fronted Woodpecker which swooped in low and landed on the handrail of the boardwalk!
Next stop was Port Aransas Birding Centre at the local sewage works. Here a boardwalk extends out through reed-fringed lagoons which are heaving with birds: Spotted Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Wilson's Phalaropes, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, Eared (Black-necked) Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, while a confiding Sora pottered around the edge of the reeds just feet from the boardwalk. Best of all was a Least Bittern which scurried along the reed edges allowing enough fleeting glimpses for the whole group to get a look.
After our picnic lunch, shared with Great-tailed Grackles and Laughing Gulls, we moved on to our final destination, Paradise Pond, and well-named indeed! An area of willows with a boardwalk and two water drips, reedbed and some thoughtfully placed fruit makes this a perfect migrant trap, and it kept us all amused for hours as we totted up a good warbler list. Undoubted here was finding a Black-throated Blue Warbler, a local rarity which can only show just once a year in this area. We also enjoyed Magnolia, Blackpoll, Wilson's, Tennessee, YEllow and Northern Parula Warblers, as well as good views of Gray-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes and Brown Thrasher. Orchard and Baltimore Orioles fed side by side on the fruit while Painted and Indigo Buntings fed in the long grass below, while a stuning male Dickcissel clung to the tall reeds above - paradise indeed!
We recorded over 100 species today and returned to the hotel, having enjoyed a wonderful day with great company.