[waves]
[music]
- CLIFF: Here we go Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary,
big group of birds over here let's go check em out!
[camera clicks]
Oh look at that flying in!
Boom, cool!
And if you watch that dark morphed Reddish Egret,
he's just running around, looks like he is going to fall over
at times, kind of fun to watch!
We are at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary on
Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County and this is a Mecca
for birds, for water birds, for shorebirds
that use the Texas coast.
[Black Skimmer squawks]
- Does everybody see the skimmer,
going right down that very first wave?
You can always go down to the beach and see anywhere from
15 to 30 species of birds, no matter whether it's in
the spring or the hot summer time.
[music]
And most of the time they'll be just like we are seeing here,
they'll be in little clumps.
- CLIFF: There are birds here for many reasons, for foraging
for roosting and some are even here for nesting.
This time of year we have least terns and Willetts.
- BIRDER: Did you see that least tern went back to the nest?
- CLIFF: Oh good, good, good, yes excellent!
You can see that it is pretty small, but notice the white
forehead and the yellow bill, he is the only tern that
is going to have that very sharp small yellow bill
with that white forehead.
The nesting birds here are very sensitive, and what we recommend
is that you fish, swim, and play at 50 yards away.
Keep your distance, let the birds have some space!
[Rookery calls]
Look in the scope there, there's a baby great egret, you have to
look through some wispy limbs.
- Oh yeah!
- CLIFF: He's really pretty!
- BIRDER: That's pretty cool!
Hah!
- CLIFF: The rookery here in High Island is unique because
it allows bird watchers to get really close.
[Roseate Spoonbill calls]
[feet crunching leaves]
- CLIFF: Trails are carved for easy walking.
There's platforms and viewing decks that make it really easy
to set up your camera or scope.
[camera clicks]
[bird ruffles feathers]
This here is the Great Egret, notice the showy plumes
on the back, they are very fluffy plumes that are
used for display.
Yeah it's funny to see these spoonbills with their big clumsy
spoonbills bringing sticks and gently weave them together to
make a platform nest and they are very meticulous.
[Roseate Spoonbill calls]
This rookery here is very important to a lot of these
birds because it provides them protection with the water
around it, and there are not many sights like this for
Spoonbills and Egrets to nest in!
[Baby egret calls]
Wow it looks like it's painful, these guys are over
a month old, they are going to fledge any minute.
Look at that, ew, feeding away.
She can't carry food in her talons or in her beaks,
so brings it back in her stomach, and they have to
regurgitate it up to transfer the food to the babies.
[laughter]
- They just finished the meal ya know.
Most of the birds just finished the meal.
In United States this is probably the best one,
[digital shutter]
and I heard probably the best in the whole world.
[laughter]
[digital shutter]
Every day I come here for three hours, from 6:30 to 9:30,
for over 10 years.
And I've been here for over 500 trips.
[digital shutter]
I probably only get a hundred good shots.
So it means one shot takes five trips!
[music]
- CLIFF: The coast is so rich with birdlife it's great birding
year-round every day of the year.
There's so many varied habitats and so many neat birds.
It's one of the number one hot spots in the country if
not the world to see birds.
[music]
- ANNOUNCER: This project is funded in part by a grant
from the Wildlife Restoration Program.