A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

October 24, 2022 ~ Galveston Island State Park spans the island, from West Bay on the north side, to the Gulf of Mexico on the south. The Gulf-facing portion of the park was heavily damaged by several big storms, but construction has been completed, and that side is now open for the first time in four years. The day was mild and overcast, so it was time to go exploring.

Saltwort and Cordgrass in quiet salt marsh along Clapper Rail Trail, Galveston Island State Park
Samsung Galaxy S10e phone photo

I failed to follow my own rule when visiting the coast – check the tides – but got lucky. The tide rises and falls by about 15 inches here, so at low tide the water recedes from the marshy earth, leaving the paths of treacherous slick clay-lined sand firm enough to walk safely in jogging shoes. I roamed out Clapper Rail Trail, through saltwort going dormant for fall, and cordgrass drying to wrap its grass blades around itself for sleeping through the winter. But, apart from the occasional distant and wary Great Egret, the marshes were quiet.

Highly poisonous Coralbean seeds in pod
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR
(Click on any photo once to enlarge in a new window; close that window to return here.)

The yellowing mounds of short scrub were spotted with the striking (but deadly) seeds of the Coralbean, Erythrina herbacea. Hummingbirds love the scarlet tubular flowers in spring and summer, but the poisonous seeds mean that this plant is a good choice only for remote wild spaces, not areas where children or pets might find them interesting.

Adult Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, in new plumage
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1000
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

Scissortailed Flycatchers, Tyrannus forficatus, are in south-central USA in the spring and summer to raise their families, and then fly south through Mexico to Central America to sit out the cold weather. I had spotted some fairly scruffy flycatchers in August, so this dapper chap was a surprise. His pristine tail feathers with their faintly scalloped edges were flawless, and he wore his apricot (or persimmon, or tangerine) armpits and peach flanks proudly. (The scissor-tail males are more brightly colored than the females, so I know this is a male.) Everywhere I walked along the grassy paths, swarms of grasshoppers and dragonflies showered up and away; the scissor-tails are eating well.

Fresh rich color on Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

He sat calmly, inspecting the horizon in all directions, looking back occasionally to check on me. I stayed on target as my arms trembled and palms sweated, because I knew from long experience that the moment I lowered my lens, he would fly. I outlasted him. He took wing and I was able to get two shots, one with no sticks in front, but soft focus on his face, and one with a welter of sticks in front, but a clear face. Several birders have noted that one of the joys of birding in the fall is that there are so many birds who are just reaching adulthood and have not yet learned to be cautious around humans – that may have been the case with this fellow.

Galveston Island State Park trail map, screenshot, courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife

Galveston Island State Park has four distinct ecological zones: salt marsh with its tidal flooding, coastal prairie thick with tall grass and fall wildflowers, the interdunal saltwater wetlands that I wanted to explore, and of course the sandy beach. I drove across the divided road 3005 to explore the newly opened Swale Trail, taking the beach access route through the grassy dunes. I didn’t find the entrainment ponds marked on the map, behind the dunes. Either they were obscured by dune grasses, or I took a wrong turn. In any case, I wound up on the beach.

Adult non-breeding Sanderling
1/2000 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

There I found a bit of a challenge. This graceful and quick little bird is, I believe, a non-breeding adult Sanderling, Calidris alba. He has black legs and longish straight bill, with a taupe back and wings, a faint shading from his back over his shoulders to the front of his neck, and pure white (“alba”) belly and cheeks. His wings have a black lower border that is partly hidden by overlapping white feathers in this image.

Sanderling draws an ellipsis
1/2000 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

He dashed back and forth along the beach staying just out of reach of the waves, constantly probing down into the saturated sand for small mollusks and invertebrates. The breeding adults have a rusty checkered pattern on back and wings, but this is the non-breeding season, so he has the subdued taupe-and-white feathering.

Adult non-breeding Least Sandpiper
1/3200 sec. f/5.6 ISO 800
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

I think this is the Least Sandpiper, Calidris minutilla. As his scientific name suggests, he is the smallest of the Calidris genus, about as big as a sparrow. The Least is distinguished by yellow legs, dappled back and wings, and smudged breast. His head appears smaller on his rotund little body, and he has a distinct white ring around the eye.

Adult non-breeding Western Sandpiper with iridescent sea foam
1/2000 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

And I think this is a third species – it is smaller, chunkier, and browner than the Sanderling, and the dark shadow comes more nearly all around its neck. Its cheek is dark. It has no black border on its wing.

Sea breeze ruffles a squinting Western Sandpiper
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 2000
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

The central veins on its back and wing feathers create a more distinct striped pattern than I see on the Sanderling. I think this is the Western Sandpiper, Calidris mauri. All About Birds also points out that the Western Sandpiper’s black bill is slightly downward-curving, and I think I see that in this image as well.

Ranges of the peeps (and scissor-tails), courtesy of All About Birds and Wikipedia (for the Sanderling, world-wide)

My struggle to identify these three birds is so commonly experienced that there are articles in blogs, magazines and even the Encyclopedia Britannica on identifying “peeps”. The nickname peeps includes the Sanderling, the Least Sandpiper, the “Standard Peeps” (Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers), and the “Long-winged Peeps” (White-rumped and Baird’s Sandpipers). There are pages and pages of descriptive words. “A little smaller than”, “bulkier than”, “streakier”, “longer bill”, “heftier bill”, “very slightly drooping bill”. The highly detailed verbal descriptions make me thank goodness for comparative images.

Self-portrait with camera, in old-person ground-hugging photography position

Stiffness in my knees rules out deep knee bends for photography. The thorny burrs in my trouser hems ruled out a belly crawl. Ideally, I would have carried a milk crate out over the dunes and down to the beach, but the afternoon found me without, so I improvised. Imagine squatting, knees spread, rump raised, and feet flat on the ground. Holding the camera in your right hand, sink your right elbow between your knees. Your chest is now over your left knee, so wrap your left arm around the outside of your left knee and support the long lens as it crosses in front of the knee. Take a deep breath, then exhale. Relax your neck to let your head hang between your knees, your right ear level with the ground, and look left through the camera to see an inverse portrait shot of a peep with a soft seawater background. A lot of words. Or I could just draw you a picture 😊