I'd Rather B Birdin': Forster's Tern

§ Last Week of March...

Only photos shared this week. The last image, the photo of the Pyrrhuloxia was taken in our back yard thru the patio door windows...the rest shared today was all within 30 miles of home in different surroundings along beaches and at area parks. If you observe, Happy Easter to All!!!

GREAT TAILED GRACKLE
Habitat map: Grackle

MOURNING DOVE
Habitat map: Dove

AMERICAN WIGEON
Habitat map: Wigeon

WHITE WINGED DOVE
Habitat map: Dove

FORSTER'S TERN
Habitat map: Tern

PYRRHULOXIA
Female...difference of this species compared to Cardinal is: beak color [yellow & curved instead of pink/red on female] and crest coloring [gray instead of reddish]
Habitat map: Pyrrhuloxia

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Linking is closed until this Saturday at noon!

§ Indian Point

At North Bay in Corpus Christi, between the city and a small town of Portland, Texas there are two areas I frequent .... one, Indian Point Park [with a fishing pier and an observation deck for birding]. The other area is connected via a walkway along Sunset Lakes [Portland, Texas]. On a foggy morning, I drove there and walked the distance; seeing quite a few birds. Herons, ibis, osprey, godwits, curlews, sandpipers, gulls, pelicans, egrets, a few newly arriving ducks [mergansers and buffleheads], spoonbills, willets, sandpipers and more. At one time the sun tried to break out of the misty air, but not for long as the fog continued to linger throughout the couple hours I was there. Here are some of them I photographed....

Red Breasted Merganser [female]
habitat map: Merganser

FORSTER'S TERN [winter, non-breeding plumage]
habitat map: Tern

TRI COLORED HERON
habitat map: Heron

MARBLED GODWIT
habitat map: Godwit

WHITE IBIS [and a snowy egret]

habitat map: Ibis

AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN
habitat map: Pelican

LONG BILLED CURLEW [note the similar marking and color with above Godwit]
habitat map: Curlew

OSPREY [feeding]
habitat map: Osprey

...and a very special one off the pier, feeding on crabs! A Winter Texan!! This is the only area I've ever seen them. I've HEARD them at Copano Bay near Rockport, Texas; their haunting, beautiful, mournful calls. I found a 5 second mp3 audio....listen HERE

COMMON LOON
habitat map: Loon

- - -

I got myself an early Christmas present. I have been using my old and scratched pair of binoculars for years, birding, and wanted a larger magnification and viewing range at 1000 yards. Going to Academy Sports here in town, I inspected all the displayed binoculars on the counter and thought these were ideal for what I wanted. I've tried 'em out a couple of times while out birding already. It will take some 'getting used to the weight' for now, my vision is super, but after a while, my hands shake....making them a bit cumbersome. Yet...I can see much further, more clearly, AND a with a much wanted, wider range-view. Here is one review screenshot I found online...

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§ Coastal Birds...

As I frequently do, I check the hot spots of birding within a 50 mile radius to read what birds have been seen in a 5 day time frame. Recently, a couple of popular birding areas at Port Aransas have been listed. They're open? Well, kinda sorta!! The two in this area are getting cleaned up, but so much damage from the August, summer's hurricane! I drove there last Sunday morning, early. Yes, they are accessible for the first time in three months....but, PARTIALLY. At Leonabelle Birding Center, the boardwalk goes only a few feet into the pond area....the observation tower is in disrepair, hundreds of feet of the boardwalk no longer exist. Several trees that was a popular place for the migrant birds in the Spring and Autumn are gone....In fact, see for yourself; the damage, by clicking HERE [before Hurricane Harvey & after]. Paradise Pond, further down the road from Leonabelle's is slowly being cleared out of the debris, but oh....the downed trees!!

Anyway, I thought I'd just post an eclectic page from my photo album folder, some of the birds I've seen in the last week:

LAUGHING GULL
photo taken: Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi
habitat: Gull

WHITE PELICAN
photo taken: NAS, Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Pelican

INCA DOVE
photo taken: Hans Suter Refuge, Corpus Christi, Texas

habitat map: Dove

BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERON
photo taken: Paradise Pond, Port A, Texas
habitat map: Heron

TRI-COLORED HERON
photo taken: Leonabelle Birding Center, Port A, Texas
habitat map: Heron

WHITE IBIS
photo taken: Lakeview Park, Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Ibis

AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS
photo taken: Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Oystercatcher

FORSTER'S TERN
photo taken: Port A, Texas
habitat map: Tern

LITTLE BLUE HERON
photo taken: Hans Suter Refuge
habitat map: Heron

RING BILLED GULL
photo taken: Port A, Texas
habitat map: Gull

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§ Flight Patterns...

Bud and I took a day trip to Goose Island [near Rockport/Fulton/Lamar, Texas] the other day. There was a reported Bald Eagle in the vicinity. Tho we didn't spot the eagle, we were surprised to see three Whooping Cranes in the field, feeding along with the Sandhill Cranes and Cattle Egrets!! While taking a series of photos of a Red Tailed Hawk on a power pole, I sighted above my left shoulder two of the three Whooping Cranes flying in to land. I decided to go through my bird photos and 'collect' for this post birds throughout the year; in flight...

OSPREY
photo taken: Sunset Lakes - Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Osprey

WHOOPING CRANES
photos taken: Goose Island State Park - Lamar, Texas
habitat map: Cranes

GREAT EGRET - FORSTER'S TERN
photos taken: Leonabelle Wildlife Refuge [Port Aransas, Texas] -- Padre Island National Seashore - Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Egret, Tern

LITTLE BLUE HERON & WHITE IBIS
photos taken: Charlie's Pasture - Port Aransas, Texas -- Indian Point Park, Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Heron, Ibis

BROAD WINGED HAWK & ROSEATE SPOONBILL
photos taken: Rose Hill Cemetery - Corpus Christi, Texas -- Leonabelle Wildlife Refuge - Port A, Texas
habitat map: Hawk, Spoonbill

BROWN PELICAN & BLACK SKIMMER
photos taken: Packery Channel - Corpus Christi, Texas -- Indian Point Park - Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Pelican, Skimmer

AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER & PIGEONS
photos taken: Sunset Lakes - Portland, Texas -- Lakeview Park, Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Oystercatcher, Pigeons [everywhere]

NORTHERN PINTAIL & [Harlan's ?] RED TAILED HAWK
photos taken: Sunset Lakes - Portland, Texas -- Chapman's Ranch - Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map: Pintail, Hawk [Same as Red-tailed...but this I found]

Range: Migratory - breeds in Alaska and northwestern Canada and winters from Nebraska and Kansas to Texas and northern Louisiana. This population may well be a separate species.

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§ Last Week of March...

§ Indian Point

§ Coastal Birds...

§ Flight Patterns...

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