A Visit With Monty in Texas

I had the pleasure of visiting with Monty in Texas this week. The idea for the trip hatched when Kristen Vale from the American Bird Conservancy found him at the Bolivar Flats in December and January. I decided then to take a road trip to see him. Fortuitously, a TX birder spotted him at Bolivar Flats as well, a few days before I embarked on my trip.

I loved going through some birding hotspots on my way south. I made sure to stop at the Bald Knob Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, not far from Little Rock, where a Piping Plover has been spotted in the past.

On my first full day of birding in Texas, I went to Bolivar Flats early in the morning, where I met Kristen Vale. I was in for one surprise after another. Bolivar Flats is HUGE! As in Texas HUGE! So huge in fact that driving on the beach is allowed. Wait, what? Driving on the beach? Yes. And camping on the beach. And letting dogs off leash on the beach. People were even there with their horses in a small corral. Oh wow.

But the Houston Audubon has a bird sanctuary at the West end of the beach, closed off to cars. It is a small portion of the overall area, but gigantic compared to Montrose, at 1,146 acres.

On that Monday morning, there were thousands of shorebirds, terns and gulls to wade through, literally, in our muddy boots. For the next 3 hours, along with Kristen and one other birder who had previously seen Monty, and looking through our scopes, we carefully sorted through the wildlife present on the beach, and the approximately 30 Piping Plovers that were there. All but one were unbanded, the one being Texas's own Piping Plover banded in the area in 2012 and recently named Georgia Peach after a hurricane blew him off course to Georgia. No sign of Monty. I stayed a couple hours longer, looking for him up and down the beach, but no luck.

Undeterred by his absence, I came back the next day. The number of birds was down in general, and there were only 11 Piping Plovers left. No Monty.

A suggestion was made that I should check a specific beach in Galveston where he was spotted in 2018, before we knew him as Monty. I hopped in my car and took the ferry across Galveston Bay and on to East Beach on Galveston Island. I kept thinking that Monty was giving me such a great excuse to fully explore the area!

At East Beach, I drove on to the parking area on the beach, parked my car, looked left, looked right, and on each side saw an infinity of a 200 ft-wide sandy beach. As in literally infinite, since I could not see the end of the beach in one direction or another. I later found out the beach is 32-miles long. Wow. Hopefully the pictures below will give you a sense of how immense the beach is.

I picked up my binoculars and my camera and started walking... I had not made 50 steps when I noticed a Piping Plover feeding on the shore. I looked in my binoculars, and in the glare of the sun, I thought I detected bands on the legs. I positioned myself at a better angle and sure enough, there were bands! Not only were there bands, they were Monty's bands!

I was elated. Monty! I started saying hello to him, and talking to him...he walked towards me, feeding. We visited for nearly hour. He is looking super dapper in his breeding plumage. Rose will be very happy. Even without the bands, his behavior identified him as 100% Monty. No one scurries on those legs like Monty does! He indulged me as I took some 300 photos and asked a young person to photograph us together. I was so excited to see him, I had to share my joy with someone. A gentleman sitting in a chair and burning in the sun was the target of my happiness - I informed him that the bird directly in front of him was the most famous Piping Plover in the world, that he has a website, a movie, a chidren's book coming soon, etc. He was intrigued and asked me where he could read more about him. I directed him to Monty's and Rose's website, chicagopipingplovers.org.

It was hard to leave. I made sure to let Monty know that Rose, Hazel, Nish and Esperanza had all made it to their wintering grounds safely. I told him how much everyone was missing him and Rose up North in Chicago and that we were hoping they would be back soon to nest again at Montrose. After a thousand "I love you's", I finally left.

Now the wait begins!

Tamima, aka Plovermother

The photos below show East Beach in Galveston, and Monty the king of the beach. (Please note photos may not be used or duplicated witout prior consent).