Rounds on the Flats

I am finally back on my feet. Still a bit tender in the legs and feet, but the toll for a shiny new finisher belt buckle is almost paid. I must say, I feel a bit like Biden after the first debate with everyone recommending I stop doing the ultras ha. The concern is definitely appreciated, but Linda will confirm I believe one should always know their limits (and ever reach beyond). Luckily I learn from my mistakes and will be taking steps to remedy whatever gremlins snuck into my race plan starting with my “barnacle-bitten swab” of an ankle. That weak bastard is still unusually “round” (and crunchy) which brings us to our similarly shaped featured feathered friend(s) of the day.

Hit the jump to see more of what was “rolling” around the flats of Bolivar Peninsula back in April. As enticement, this is a rare multi-species post!!

You likely already recognize the first species in this set from my August post (link here). That particular encounter with the Piping Plover was a result of a visit to the convention center flats on South Padre Island. This species happens to also hold the distinction of being my 300th unique species (link here). Note, I am eagerly awaiting what my 500th will be now that I have crossed over the next threshold and well on my way (70 to go).

The small statured Plovers are incredibly cute, always leaving a big smile on my face every single time we encounter one in the field. Not to take anything away from their larger kin like the Black-Bellied and American Golden varieties, but the little plump bodies with sticks coming out the bottom remind of Croquet balls being hit through wickets. Side note, I wonder if my pathetic ankle weakness is due to the number of times I smacked it trying to send my opponents ball to the next galaxy after a devious roquet as a child.

When it comes to the endangered Plovers, we typically only get to enjoy one or maybe two to four if they have mates and successfully produce offspring. Our two famous Illinois Pipings that took up residence on Montrose Beach (Chicago) were successful for several years giving us amazing access to their family. Monty has since passed and Rose is considered missing (likely remated) – their offspring Imani actually returned to the area hopefully to keep the legacy going – on a sad note, none of his four chicks survived this year.

Beyond that special treat at Montrose, we have to travel to get good looks at the Plovers. Per the previous post, we have had our best luck during our snowbird months at South Padre Island on the flats next to their convention center. It does take a bit to pick them out from the masses of Gulls, Peeps, Skimmers and numerous other sand walkers and then the constant struggle to keep a bead on them as they scurry about punching holes in the flats. This year we switched it up a bit and opted to head to Arizona for the start of the year and then hit the Texas Gulf Coast in the Spring. This was the first time we were down there during the heart of breeding season – and it was magnificent!

One area that was really hopping was the Bolivar Peninsula Flats. A productive visit during the winter months, but wow, was the spring click fest after another. Thousands of American Avocets, Brown Pelicans and Peeps everywhere you looked. The star of the visit was definitely the abundance of “accessible” breeding Plovers. Several in the Plover family are listed as endangered. Pipings are the most threatened and have the federally endangered red watch classification with a global population of a mere 8,400 (Cornell). As a result, a large majority of Pipings you will encounter have been banded – and when I say banded, I mean decorated up like a Christmas tree.

I have pointed out in previous posts that I have mixed feelings about the banding efforts. I definitely enjoy submitting banded birds found in the field and learning more about their history. It definitely gives researchers and conservation efforts badly needed information. On the downside, these banding methods can seem highly intrusive and no better example than with these Plovers. It is not uncommon for them to have several bands of varying colors and even flags which extend beyond the diameter of the legs. To their credit, the banded specimens I’ve seen seem to be getting along alright, but it just feels excessive. Guessing you already noticed this specimen has 5 bands – three bands on the left leg and a band on the right leg along with what turned out to be a flag. I originally mistook that red flag for a band as I didn’t initially have a good angle to see it being tucked up high on the leg.

Pipings are ID’d by their placement of the color bands/flags. For example, here are the Great Lakes Piping Plover organization band methods (link here) and some of the other organizations are listed on that site as well (link here). As you can see, there are a LOT of options. Bands are read from left to right and top to bottom, so in this particular case I initially reported it on the banding submission page as Metal band, Green, White/Red, White or XGW/RW. In actuality the red band was really a red flag which designates it as a band from the Coastal Bird Program. This likely caused some confusion when I submitted it to the banding association, but they were able to get it to the right people and decipher the ID. A very nice Avian Conservation Ecologist (Brooke) responded back that our specimen was indeed banded by the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program back in 2012.

You read that right, 2012! This Plover is around 12 years old. She also noted it has been seen every year on the Bolivar Flats since banded. I was rather stunned to see that age as I’ve read their average lifespan is only around 5 years. A quick check of Cornell’s site discovered that the oldest known specimen was slightly over 17 years, so well within range of that. Note, Pipings do not have distinction between the sexes and no information was provided as a result of the banding, so I cannot help you there.

I bow to your longevity little friend.

To follow up on a comment earlier on the accessibility front, as a result of their conservation status, Plovers are provided a large no-go zone in their breeding locations. At Montrose Beach, you better bring your longest glass or you will picking through grains looking for something with a stumpy bill. Bolivar has a temporary boundary fence set up on the beach as well, however, that boundary is significantly closer to their nesting area giving a much better experience. Still need to respect the bird, but I appreciate the extra reach. These shots are still heavily cropped, but at least you can get a good feel for the species. On the photographer front, I also really liked the different textures and subtle nuances that were picked up in the shot along with the birds.

Okay, now for the special treat part – at the expense of extending this post beyond what we normally try to hit. Hard to pass up not showing the other Plovers that were busy running the sands while we were at Bolivar. Another of the endangered Plovers is the Snowy variety. They are slightly better off than the Piping with a federal yellow watch status coming in at a population around 31,000 globally (Cornell). My first encounter with the Snowy Plover was on Dauphin Island a couple of years back and have since seen them on South Padre Island.

I was actually surprised to see them intermingled with the Piping Plovers knowing how territorial both species can be. For the most part, they were leaving each other alone, in fact, this Snowy specimen seemed to be “palling” around with the ID’d Piping above. Maybe they formed a strong friendship over the 12 years, no clue, but seeing them on their wickets together was quite entertaining.

At first glance, the Snowies and the Pipings can be easily confused. Both are rather plump, both have the stumpy bills, each has a forehead band that complement the dark band that goes halfway around their necks. Luckily there are a few differences that make it easier to distinguish in the field with a bit more scrutiny during the breeding season. First off, the base of the bills on the Pipings will have an orange color where the Snowies are dark throughout. There is a similar distinction in the legs with the Snowies again remaining dark where the other species will match the orangish coloring on their bills. The other breeding distinction I like to confirm is the black smudge on the back of the eye for the Snowies. Should probably point out that it gets a bit more difficult on the non-breeding front as both lose their head bands, Snowies loose the smudge and Pipings lose the orange coloring on their bills. In this case, continue to use the leg coloring difference to help keep the two differentiated.

I am hard pressed to pick a favorite between these two Plover species. Each are cute in their own way. All things considered, I would probably give the nod to the Piping purely for their more threatened conservation status – we all like an underdog.

I could sense this Snowy specimen was a bit jaded on my slight preference for taking more shots of the Piping than it.

“Hey paparazzi, how about a few more clicks MY way!?!”
“Sorry, I am just trying to get a decent shot of the bands on the Piping”
“Sure, take pictures of the walking Christmas tree over there and not this brilliant white bo-hunk posing right here before you – your loss sucker”

On second thought, you can also tell the Snowies from the Pipings by simply noting the more self-centered, cocky one ha. I will say this particular Snowy did give me two of my favorite shots from that visit. The one below…

…and this next one cropped in slightly tighter. I think the extra elements on the beach give it a lot richer look.

The surprises are not over. Might as well mention another Plover enjoying the flats. This next one is the Semipalmated and is likely the more prevalent ones to be found in your adventures. Unlike the two Plovers above, the Semi currently has a low conservation status owing to its 200,000+ breeding population (Cornell).

The Semi is easier in my opinion to distinguish in the field. It is unlikely you will be able to spot the slight webbing between its toes lending to its name, but they do have a much darker feather coloring than the other Plovers. Similar to the Pipings, they have orange on their legs and base of the bill during the breeding season. The easiest identifier is the solid dark neck ring. Think of them as a smaller version of the other member of their family, the Killdeer (link here), except with only one ring.

As you would expect, there were a significant number of the Semi’s compared to the other two Plovers while I was there. Unlike the other two Plovers, the Semis were sticking to themselves for the most part. Hanging out, watching the world go by, doing a little scratching.

Oh, and a few of them were actually working on the next generation. You can tell they do not spend a lot of time on elaborate nests. The male will select a few locations, make a few scrapes and offer it up to their mate for final selection – and they wonder why their numbers are in jeopardy. Montrose does their best to compensate for their lack of prep by surrounding their selected depression with a wire box in order to keep the larger predators away. The lady below is going to have to fend off those threats herself.

Well, we are this far into it, might as well pull another Plover out of the hat. Bolivar Flats was a smorgasbord of these little creatures the day I was there and based on the amount of clicks in the tin, I was doing my best to take it all in. At one point I thought I had seen a few Wilson’s Plovers in the mix. I am not as familiar with this species as I have only encountered them once before, the previous year on our visit to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Those were some looong shots from the road and didn’t get a real feel for the bird (and the reason I didn’t post on that particular +1 encounter).

With the extra time back in the digital darkrooom, I was able to dig in and do a better job of combing through the sand. Took some time, but ended up locating just few shots – more than likely there were not many specimens about as I shot the hell out of that beach. Unfortunately, only got one profile of this Plover and not the one I usually want. Most birds look like fun house mirrors head on, but not the case with the Wilson’s. This one looks pretty pissed off that a likely Semipalmated Sandpiper dare strut across its threshold.

Plovers are the Toy Poodles of the birding world. In their minds they are 6 feet tall and can bench press a Buick when it comes to any other living thing that dares to lock eyes. Clearly that Peep didn’t know the danger it was in ha.

Now for the next Plover…kidding. This post is undoubtedly going to give our editing staff fits on its length. Just thought you might like to see a variety of species in the Plover family and it isn’t something we do very often – hope you don’t mind. Time to ice the ankle (Jan’s orders). Reminds me, Brad and Jan are on their way home from faraway lands and probably landed by the time you are reading this post (or at least landed by the time you finished reading this post ha). Can’t wait to see what adventures they have brought back to entertain us.