Island Birding...Conclusion...

To conclude my solo excursion from a couple of weeks ago, from Leonabelle Turnbull's Nature Center I then drove to Paradise Pond in the little fishing village of Port Aransas.  To my surprise I was the only one there at the moment I arrived. The first of the two birds I spotted was a great tailed grackle and a ladder-backed woodpecker.

It was reported the day before I stopped here that there was a Bullock's Oriole in the area. I saw ONE oriole hidden behind large fully leafed branches, but even through the binoculars I couldn't make a positive ID, and it all too soon flew off into the heavy wooded area. Turning the corner to head to the pond, I was greeted by several perching immature Black Crowned Night Herons.

...and several ADULT B C night herons:

As I walked around along the elevated walkway, I spotted a Loggerheaded Shrike, a Little Green Heron, an unidentified yellow warbler that didn't perch anywhere close to me which I was unable to follow and get a photo, a tri-colored heron [not shown], a mama duck and some of her teenaged offspring,  a turkey vulture, a cardinal, an immature common gallinule [moorhen], a great blue heron perched atop a power pole.

As much as I liked the solitude, the quiet, the early morning, the heat was beginning to make it quite uncomfortable in the swampy atmosphere, so I turned to leave to head back home. As I reached the corner on the walk near the car, I spotted something! Flying fast and furious, circling the banks of the pond!  By the time I attempted to get a photo of it in flight, it was no longer in my sight! I stood for a while, beginning to sweat profusely, waiting and willing it to return in full view. It did. AND IT FOUND A TREE BRANCH ...giving me a chance to push the shutter button. Far across the pond it sat for a few minutes before flying off into the blue once again. A BELTED KINGFISHER. The belted kingfisher's wingspan/body length is estimated: (wing)-23 inches/58 cm ... (body)-14 inches/35 cm.  This is a male.  With this species, it's opposite of the bird kingdom...the FEMALE is the larger AND the brighter colored.  The female Belted Kingfisher has an extra 'stripe' on its breast...a rufous/orange stripe below the blue/gray band like the one I photographed HERE.  The male has only the blue/gray...

I had a fruitful outing. To top it off, as I drove toward Corpus Christi, along the island highway, I spotted what are most always sitting along the highway each time we travel the road, a White Tailed Hawk. But this time, instead of 'just sitting there'...it was showing off!! I pulled over on the highway's shoulder with weekend traffic zipping by... and got some photos.  I'll share those photos another time!

Now share your birding experiences:






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