...I'm finding no time to go birding...busy each day painting interior of all rooms in our house!!! Bud is rewiring the outlets and light switches. Kinda too busy to do much of anything else.
BLACK BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS
Habitat map: Duck
BLACK TERN
Habitat map: Tern
DUNLIN
Habitat map: Dunlin
LONG BILLED DOWITCHER
Habitat map: Dowitcher
RED WINGED BLACKBIRD
Habitat map: Blackbird
STILT SANDPIPER
Habitat map: Sandpiper
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It's only the middle of May for us all, yet, here in Coastal Texas we have had scorching days and warm nights. Temperatures of late August already. We have even reached the century mark for heat indices!! I'm not looking forward to summer. LOL
Being that it's been so hot, if I don't get out before sunrise, I don't get out. I've also been nursing a sprained pelvis along with the chiropractor's help. So, not much long distance walking either, lately. Birding has been put on the back burner so to speak. But, I haven't stayed home ALL the time. When I do get out, I'm only out for a couple of hours, then rush home to the Air Conditioning!!
Please take note of my little observation written up below the TERN photo. I'd love your input!!
For the last month or so, the storm fronts come in from the NW and from Old Mexico [Baja of California] almost daily...drenching our area that is already saturated. We have been staying home for weeks it seems. There may be a lull in the storms for a few hours and I try to get out of the yard in that interim. But, not always. As I said, the ground is saturated and the open, flooded, fields outside of town a ways are like magnets for some birds. I drove by one of those fields the other day and lo and behold, but not surprising, several Hudsonian Godwits [they literally "flock" to flooded fields along the migration passage] were feasting along with ducks, gulls and others. Then, one morning on the island, I happened to walk in a small park area along the ferry landing and then to the beach by the jetty before the storms arrived. Mostly terns and pelicans there, and an egret...
Note: I have read that the male feeds fish to his potential "betrothed" to impress her. But, what I have noticed in the recent years as I watch them interact, there is a lack of robbery during this maneuver! What I mean is, when a fish is caught, usually there is a hoard of other terns and gulls trying to steal the catch...but during the courtship ritual, there is a lack of intrusion. Has anyone else noted this action? Do they know the intentions of said male, and leave him be to go on without invading or trying to steal?
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The weather is keeping me from going outdoors much, altho, Bud and I did drive to Rockport this past week to see what migrants are showing up...the heat and a bit early in the season kept us from finding many birds. I did spot and photograph a 'new' flycatcher. I don't have all the bird photos taken that day off the camera's card yet, so...I'm once again choosing my photos from my bird folders on the computer!
ALSO: I read a most interesting article that Cornell Ornithology Lab emailed me. It seems long ago, there were several species of what we now call, in general, the Yellow Rumped Warbler. Now with more advanced DNA technology, there is scientific proof that the Warbler is perhaps FOUR DIFFERENT SPECIES! Read More....
I'm scanning through my photo folders, by month, and I will begin with April, since it's the top folder being that they're alphabetical. Some of my favorite captured images...
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE
LADDER BACKED WOODPECKER
GOLDEN FRONTED WOODPECKER 1
DUNLIN
SUMMER TANAGER [first spring]
GOLDEN FRONTED WOODPECKER 2
BELTED KINGFISHER [male - less colorful than female]
INDIGO BUNTING
- - -
This is a series of 'action' photos of a duck...
MOTTLED DUCK
photos taken:Duck [Han Suter Refuge - Corpus Christi, Texas] Bunting [Paradise Pond - Port Aransas, Texas] Kingfisher [Park Lake - Bishop, Texas] Woodpecker [Golden Fronted1 - Rose Hill Cemetery in Corpus Christi, Texas * Golden Fronted2 - Holy Cross Cemetery in Corpus Christi] Summer Tanager [Packery Channel Park - Mustang Island] Dunlin [Charlies Pasture - Port Aransas, Texas] Ladder-backed Woodpecker [Holy Cross Cemetery in Corpus Christi] Loggerhead Shrike [Packery Channel Park - Mustang Island]
The day before the Holiday Weekend began, Thursday last week, I found myself walking along the salt flats of Charlie's Pasture [North] by the ship channel. It was amazing to see so little water in the area compared to the week before where some spots were 'deep' in water; dried up this time 'round. Doesn't take long when the hot Texas sun comes out and heats up the land. There were a few birds tho, with the likes of dunlins in their summer garb, dozens of black necked stilts making a terrible ruckus and defending their territory by flapping their wings and flying to a dry patch of land acting injured. I'm not sure if it was for MY intrusion or perhaps a snake was lurking in the sea grasses. I just can't say. More birds seen were tri-colors, several species of sandpipers, a couple of spoonbills, one lone horned lark and a snowy egret. I stopped along the way several times to photograph. Upon leaving the area, walking back to the pavilion, I was watching a huge cargo ship heading out to the Gulf Waters. But, I nonchalantly stepped over a 'messy' area on the boardwalk [birding area, so the messy part I'm sure you get my gist]...without giving it much thought. Then, it 'hit me'. No...not the poop... "That looked a lot like a bird!! I must go back and get a photo of that, or no one would believe me!" Here it is:
I swear...sometimes, I have bird on the brain!!
Is it a duck?
An egret?
I'm thinking duck...but what kind?
I know, I know, it's not either...
LOL
...Moving on. The main reason we went to Port Aransas on this day was to eventually head to the Jetties on the ship channel. Reports of hundreds of Black Terns on the beach instigated our drive to Mustang Island! We ended up there to get some photos but while walking along the north pasture preserve, I'll share some birds seen there, first:
[all photos shared today are from Charlie's Pasture North in Port Arnasas, Texas unless otherwise noted]
This is me on the beach...
THEN, to the jetties. As reported to me with a friend sending an email, I was literally bombarded with the sight of several hundred terns and sea gulls. The Black Terns were wide-spread among other tern species and laughing gulls!! Bud snapped a photo of me just as I walked into the 'no vehicle' zone to view the masses. I took several photos of them all, from royal terns, sandwich terns, sea gulls...but my main focus was on the Black Terns this time. The dark Summer [breeding] Plumage was evident as well !!
BLACK TERNS in dark Breeding Plumage
photos taken: Port Arnasas Beach [Jetty area] - Port "A" Texas
Black Tern populations declined by 3.4 percent per year between 1966 and 2010, resulting in a cumulative decline of 78 percent, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. The 2014 State of the Birds Report listed them as a Common Bird in Steep Decline. A group of terns are collectively known as a "ternery" or a "U" of terns.Read more...
Now share your birding experiences:
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