Paradise along the Coast...

First off, if you are reading this post Kate, I read your comment left in reply to the spam comment found here regarding the boycott of American women. And in turn, when I marked it as spam, your reply comment about it being ridiculous, went out with it for some reason ---getting rid of your comment was not my intention as I was going to respond to you in a complimentary way ---just wanted to let you know that I appreciated your reply to the spammer. Yes, it was [and has been all around blogland] a ridiculous and malicious comment!!

It's been cold and wet here in the Coastal Bend for a few days this past week. And I'm lovin' it. Actually, the morning temperatures have dropped close to the freezing mark in some areas. For now, our birding excursions have been nil...I'm sharing photos from the week before; on the islands. These are of a white tailed hawk as it soared above the island highway taken through the car window as we drove toward the town of Port Aransas.---

Once we arrived at Port A [as the locals call it], we circled around the town's streets to a favorite birding destination...Paradise Pond---

...it was a chilly, damp morning and not too much bird activity. Even the Great Blue Herons were huddled up in the cold! A little surprise came to us as we were headed back to the car tho...a Ladder-backed Woodpecker!!

So, this week, while it's raining and wintry weather has come our way, I have been reading a book of a woman from the 1930s who became nationally renowned for her birding expertise [tho not considered professional in any degree]. She is/was a native Texan, residing along the coast, in the area of Rockport, Texas....Connie Hagar. There are two birding sanctuaries in Rockport named for her, both of which Bud and I have never been but NOW wanna drive there and find 'em!!  Eventually, Miss Hagar became an associate, so to speak, of the Naturalist and Orinthologist, Roger Peterson, who's books are still published today...Peterson's Field Guides. For the most part, we can thank Connie Hagar for the notes, figures, facts, and data within Mr. Peterson's guides of Texas Birds!!! Hagar and Peterson worked together recording stats, banding birds, and mapping of the migration seasons throughout the Coastal Bend of Texas. Not only a bird enthusiast, but of all nature and natural surroundings of her home state she was. Ms. Hagar  was also on the cover of Life Magazine --- dubbed as an amateur naturalist. As far as I'm concerned, half way through the biography of Connie Hagar, she alone put Texas Birding on the map for all enthusiasts around today!!!

Special Interest:

Life Magazine Cover Photo

Book.  Connie Hagar - The Life History of a Texas Birdwatcher [amazon]


G B HERON, WHITE TAILED HAWK, LADDER BACKED WOODPECKER
photos taken: Port Aransas, Texas [island highway & Paradise Pond]
habitat map: White Tailed Hawk - Great Blue Heron - Ladder Backed Woodpecker

now, share your birding experiences: