We have been staying on South Padre Island and today is our last day. We hadn't done any birding here but had heard that the Convention Center had a nature trail, so we tried it. The elevated boardwalk that eventually led us to the Laguna Madre Bay wound through a very nicely preserved wetland. We were told as many as 5 different species of rails lived in the wetland. We heard several, but they never let us see them - very usual for rails. At the end of the boardwalk was a nice viewing platform looking out over the bay. Many different species of waders, gulls and shorebirds were visible from this location. The bay was very shallow for quite a distance and this provided wonderful feeding and resting opportunities for the birds. There were three Black-necked Stilts close to the viewing platform. We noticed some odd behavior from a particular pair that didn't resemble the usual feeding behavior that we had been witnessing. The male circled around the female as she kept her neck extended and bill pointed slightly downward. He would sometimes cross her bill and sometimes he appeared to get some water and put it on her. Finally after circling several times, they decided to play piggy back with the male on top. After the mating ritual was over, they decided to cross bills and rest, apparently they were in a no smoking zone.
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