The first day of the fest is behind me. We vanned off at 7AM from the botanical gardens up to Port Arsanas. My benchmates were a sweet woman who kept a physical checklist: "My eBird prowess is limited" she claimed, and her husband, who the driver and guide referred to as an S.O.B. (spouse of birder). They seemed to not have smart phones or preferred not to use them, so I aided them in getting the addresses for some parks to check out later in the week. In exchange I received sage advice on marriage, retirement, and aging. The rest of the crew were other East Coasters, most of whom were also on their first excursion into South Texas. 

We hopped from spot to spot up Padre Island, making impromptu stops for looks at Aplomado falcon (didn't know it existed) and White-tailed Hawk (faintly knew it existed) nesting sites along the highway. 

As expected the lifers piled on quickly. It was evident that our guide knew most of everything there is to know about the area. One preserve's gate was unexpectedly locked, but naturally our intrepid leader knew the combination, and later revealed a trail within dedicated to him.

White Ibis

 

I got lucky to pick up a lot of shorebird species that I probably overlooked out west. Ruddy Turnstone, all the terns, Brown Pelicans etc. Intermittent showers cut out our time short in a few locations but it was still a productive day.

 

Brown Pelican

 

 

Least Tern (another entry for the "World's Smallest" list)

 

I'm now at a cursed beach coffee shop, unsure of how to pass the time until tomorrow's 4:45 AM wake up call. I'm in 155th place in the U.S. by species count for the year.

 

LIFELIST: 386