San Luis Pass Flats

It was a nice sunny day, so we decided to head to San Luis Pass, a strait of water at the southwestern end of Galveston Island.

Just before the San Luis Pass-Vacek Toll Bridge, which spans San Luis Pass, we turned off the main road onto the flats.

There were only three other groups on the flats on the Bay side where we stopped.

“Pier fishing on the San Luis Pass Pier was a favorite for visitors and locals alike for many years; however, the beach and pier were wiped out during Hurricane Ike in 2008, and it was not rebuilt. The pass is also home to bank fishermen who often travel many miles to take advantage of the excellent redfish population from June thru October.

“San Luis Pass on the Galveston side is a place for bird watching” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Luis_Pass).

“At the far west end of GI one can walk the Gulf side beach and then the Bay side tidal edge. The Gulf side is sand flats and dunes, and the Bay side is tidal flats, cane grass and scrubby sandy upland” (galveston.com/sanluispass/).

I can cite a reference (galveston.com/sanluispass/) to the type of birds found on the flats—Sandpipers, Gulls, Terns, Avocets, Herons, Egrets, Wintering Raptors, Sparrows, Grebes, Mergansers, Loons, and While Pelicans—but I am unable to identify the birds in the photos shown in this entry.

The photos above and below show an interesting posture adopted by birds on the tidal flats—standing on one leg.

“'Why do birds stand on one leg?' has been a recurring question among birdwatchers for a very long time.

"Birds' legs have an adaptation called 'rete mirabile' that minimizes heat loss. The arteries that transport warm blood into the legs lie in contact with the veins that return colder blood to the bird's heart. The arteries warm the veins. By standing on one leg, a bird reduces by half the amount of heat lost through unfeathered limbs” (http://birdnote.org/show/why-birds-stand-one-leg).

"However, the fact that birds also stand on one leg under warm conditions means that thermoregulation is not the only function.

"Standing on one leg occurs when these birds continue to rest, preen or sleep” (besgroup.org/2010/02/26/why-do-birds-stand-on-one-leg/) and "another popular theory suggests that wading birds stand on one leg to look less suspicious to aquatic prey” (goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/why-do-herons-stand-on-one-leg/).