Whistler's Ballet - Anhinga Yoga

I always enjoy watching [and sometimes luckily] recording some comical maneuvers to us humans...the antics of the wild birds in our area. Other times it's just the beauty I like to capture, their stature of pride, their colors, their eye rings, etc. And to be honest, most times when a bird or a flock is high above, in flight, I most oftentimes forget to photograph; just watching in awe of nature. Yet sometimes, when we're out and about on a not so good day for photographing birds, I still tend to bring the camera out and hit the shutter button. On one occasion recently it was just that kinda day. And Murphy's Law did show its face...you know, if something will go wrong it will...or however it goes. Anyway, the 'wrong' was: Dark and Dreary, and on top of it...an elusive wader!!... it was a humid, cloudy day with no good lighting for taking pictures. But, we still drove to Calallen, Texas [about 15 - 20 miles from home] to see if any migrating hawks would be showing up at the Bazemore Hawk Watch. It began drizzling rain lightly, and we stood out on the watch tower for a while, but nothing showed up in the sky. Besides it was wet!! We hopped back in the car and drove around the park's drive, seeing a few flycatchers and swallows and mottled ducks, along with a couple of snowy egrets and stilts. But back along the bank of the pond I spied a dark ibis. I wasn't sure if it was an immature or a glossy. Now a Glossy Ibis isn't supposed to be in this area of the USA, but I was hoping. Even tho the day was dark, we stopped and I got out and walked back to the area I had seen it...I was already soaked from the rain, what harm will a bit more rain do? Through the binoculars I could see it wasn't an immature white ibis, nor a Glossy Ibis... but a WHITE FACED IBIS!!! The colors showed up in the field glasses, I was excited as they are reportedly close to extinction in the state of Texas. The white faced ibis are remarkably similar to the Glossy Ibis of the Florida area....with the bronze-wine color with a bit of iridescent green in feather markings...the only difference between the two is the face. During breeding season the White Faced Ibis has a light colored 'face' ---mostly around its eyes, while the Glossy Ibis doesn't. The two best photos I got shows a bit of the lighter colored markings around its face...still, I was elated to have spotted one here in the Coastal Bend even if the daylight wasn't that good - maybe someday on a sunny day, I can find another opportunity.

ANHINGA and WILLETT [or willet -I've seen it spelled with one 't' sometimes]

photos taken:  Oso Bay [Hans Suter Refuge] - Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range: Anhinga - Willett

BLACK BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK

photo taken: Lakeview Park - Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range: Black Bellied Whistling Duck

IMMATURE AMERICAN COOT

photos taken: Leonabelle Wildlife Refuge - Port Aransas, Texas

Habitat Range: American Coot

REDDISH EGRET

photo taken: Indian Point Park - Portland, Texas

Habitat Range: Reddish Egret

WHITE FACED IBIS

photos taken: Hazel Bazemore Park - Calallen, Texas

Habitat Range: White Faced Ibis

...and while Bud and I were out birding over the weekend past, we spotted ANOTHER RARE bird!! According to the sighting map of Texas, only a dozen or so sightings have been confirmed since records have been charted, and one confirmed nesting in Arizona!! This bird, tho its cousins are often spotted, this bird  rarely comes north of Old Mexico's mountains/South American forests. My list of birds in Texas [I have five charts going where I keep records of my sightings], this particular bird I photographed has "R" across the tablet of months...meaning RARE. I will share a couple of photos next week, so, stay tuned....