§ Spring Has Arrived....Or a Promise of a Good Season....

Okay...it's March again. You know what that means here on our beaches, right? Stay away!! And I always get a hankering to go and do some March birding there.  Figures!  Traffic Jams, College Students, crowds, Drunken drivers...and added this year, some road and bridge construction.  Nope, nope, not gonna go there!!  But, I did make sure I headed to the islands this past Sunday...before the month of March made its entrance! LOL Big mistake tho for my timing. The areas I stopped at were packed with more humans than birds it seemed. I walked the newly opened South Trail [damaged heavily during the Hurricane]. Nice! Then I opted to see if I could find the Whooping Cranes before they left for the North climes and breeding. This year, the two that were here last year returned....but with TWO juveniles instead of one. When I finally spotted them, they were at such a long distance, even my zoom lens wasn't powerful enough to get close-ups. Oh well, I can make record of their sighting.  And I did take some photos that I will share in a post or two in the future.

Before Sunday, I drove to Calallen, Texas and stopped by one of my favorite parks for birding...along the river. And from the Hawk Platform I saw many different species. As I drove through the 'gate' to enter the park, a hawk was atop a power pole. I pulled off, got out, and got some photos all the while listening to one lone bird singing across the road. Not too many on the ponds other than a few ducks and some stilts. As I said, the platform was "the" place to be...

Top to Bottom [with habitat map links]

Red Tailed Hawk

Black Crested Titmouse

Green Jay

Golden Fronted Woodpecker

Long Billed Thrasher

Brown Headed Cowbird

I sighted on others also, vultures [both black and turkey]

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§ This Week...

LONG BILLED THRASHER

Habitat map:  Thrasher


WHITE IBIS
Habitat map: Ibis


AMERICAN WIGEON

Habitat map:  Wigeon


AMERICAN AVOCET

Habitat map:  Avocet


REDDISH EGRET -white morph

Habitat map:  Egret


OSPREY

Habitat map:  Osprey

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§ Park Walk...

With my last birding trek around the Park and River banks on a nice clear, balmy, morning, I saw most of the birds shared here at the Hawkwatch platform and drip system. The park is located about a 20 minute drive from Corpus Christi, in Calallen, Texas.  Photos of the park grounds, seen HERE..


BROWN HEADED COWBIRD
Habitat map:  Cowbird


AMERICAN KESTREL
Habitat map: Kestrel


WHITE TIPPED DOVE
Habitat map: Dove


NORTHERN CARDINAL [female]
Habitat map: Cardinal


GREEN JAY
Habitat map: Jay


LONG BILLED THRASHER [?]
Duller in color than Brown Thrasher
brighter white breast with black streaks
-also, curved beak while Brown Thrasher beak is straighter.
Habitat map: Thrasher


NORTHERN CARDINAL [male]
Habitat map: Cardinal


GREAT KISKADEE
Habitat map: Kiskadee

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§ Oso Bay Wetlands...

Early, this past Sunday, instead of my usual drive to the islands, I chose to walk my walk along the many trails within the Oso Bay area. I first stopped at the learning center which is part of our city's school district, where school aged children can take classes and attend nature trail walking to learn about our environment. I saw a few Purple Martins at their newly erected condos, watched birds around the waterfall and the lily pond...then "hit the many pathways" to see what birds I could find at that hour of day. It seemed every where I walked, the thrashers, mockingbirds, and buntings were happy to have another beautiful morning. As I was.  At least before the heat built up. Unfortunately I can't fly up to the tops of the trees or nestle in the shade of the leaves on the branches and sing.   I had to stay on the ground with the hordes of mosquitoes that are thick as molasses since a week of days with heavy rainfall. Besides, I sing off key anyway, I'd scare the bird-life away. Here are some I spotted along the way....

...the first one, by the waterfall was one flitting about and talking to its mate perhaps. I was only able to get one not-so-good photo with branch obstruction:



ASH THROATED FLYCATCHER  or Brown crested?
habitat map: Flycatcher
Length:  8.5 inches
Wingspan:  12 inches

A young Northern Mockingbird watched me with suspicion...


NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD
habitat map: Mockingbird
Length:  10.5 inches
Wingspan:  15 inches

Serenading me with a mockingbird-like repertoire, from high atop a mesquite tree, I finally spied this one.  It is a close relative of another similar bird [the other is more rusty than dull brown seen here].  This particular species is found in  South Texas and Old Mexico...

LONG BILLED THRASHER
habitat map: Thrasher
Length:  11.5 inches
Wingspan:  12 inches

On most all trails on this day, it seemed to have one male painted bunting. I saw a lot of them just about everywhere, but no females [they're pretty too...perhaps nesting?] Busy singing [some were preening AND singing].

PAINTED BUNTING
habitat map:  Bunting
Length:  5.5 inches
Wingspan:  8.5 inches

Once I arrived at the off the ground observation deck by the bay water, the only bird spotted was a stilt:

BLACK NECKED STILT
habitat map:  Stilt
Length:  14-15 inches
Wingspan:  26 inches

...the apartment complex on the grounds:



PURPLE MARTIN
habitat map:  Martin
Length:  8 inches
Wingspan:  16 inches

I feel like adding a partridge in a pear tree 'bout now, but no...I saw two turtle mourning doves! [one photographed]

MOURNING DOVE
habitat map:  Dove
Length:  12 inches
Wingspan:  17-19 inches

This area is usually abundant in Northern Cardinals...I only saw one!! Near the end of my time out and about. Near the student's playground:

NORTHERN CARDINAL
habitat map:  Cardinal
Length:  9 inches
Wingspan:  11.5 inches

And while I was walking to leave, another flycatcher alerted me. I stopped to get pics. Notice its tail above my watermark.  [also:  with adult males, the tail can reach lengths of 15 inches -38 cm, while the females are much shorter, by 30% or more] And also, for those that don't know this species, that rusty look above the wing in the close up is not blood or an injury - it's the wing color...

SCISSOR TAIL[ed] FLYCATCHER
habitat map:  Flycatcher
Length:  11-15 inches
Wingspan:  15 inches

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Participating this week:

A Quiet Corner
Cranium Bolts
Birds Seen in Europe and Africa
Linda, Virginia, USA
Arun
Jean@NotSoOrganized 
Travels With Birds [no hyperlink]
Tomthebackroadstraveller
The Early Birder
Phil UK
Lea's Menagerie
Lavender Dreams

§ Choke Canyon

NOTE, on Mother's Day, I drove over to Mustang Island to check on the rare Falcon. On that day, she was still there, and there was a lot of movement in the nesting platform!!

This week, Bud and I took a leisurely drive up north of Corpus about 70 miles from home. About halfway between here and San Antonio Texas. We ended up passing the Federal Prison located in Three Rivers, Texas and stopping to do a little birding at Choke Canyon Reservoir. This reservoir is where our city gets its tap water...the lake has a capacity of more than 695,000 acre feet (857,000,000 m3). And it's now at the point of 100% full. In fact, they've been opening the dam now and then to drain and keep it from breaking and flooding disasters. Anyway, Choke Canyon is a HUGE state park and known nation wide as a birding hotspot. Of course, the big attraction is the water, boating, and fishing. Also, camping and picnicking. There is a hunting lottery to the drawn winners to keep wildlife from over-populating. I, of course, go for the birds.  We stayed but a few hours, the drizzling rain kept us from really enjoying our outing, and being that the water was bank-full, the birds were scarce, except for in the campgrounds.  Last time we were there, we could walk along the reservoir shores and had bird caches in the reeds because of the drought at THAT time.  But, a few birds we saw.  Here are the photos:

COMMON GROUND DOVE
habitat map:  Dove


KILLDEER

Killdeer get their name from the shrill, wailing kill-deer call they give so often. Eighteenth-century naturalists also noticed how noisy Killdeer are, giving them names such as the Chattering Plover and the Noisy Plover.

habitat map:  Killdeer


LONG BILLED THRASHER
habitat map:  Thrasher


TURKEY VULTURE
habitat map:  Vulture


RED WINGED BLACKBIRD
habitat map:  Blackbird


SNOWY EGRET
habitat map:  Egret



HARRIS's HAWK [two]
habitat map:  Hawk


CRESTED CARACARA [THE MALE IS GROOMING HIS MATE]
habitat map:  Caracara

On the nature trail, I saw but was unable to photograph:

Green Jay - 1
White Winged Dove - 5
Mockingbird - 5
Carolina Wren - 2
Turkey Vulture - 1
Tufted Titmouse - 2
and at the water's edge at the end of the trail:
Crested Cormorants - 4
Snowy Egret - 2
Great Egret - 6
Barn Swallow - x
Golden Fronted Woodpecker [heard only]

As we were leaving the park, we saw one female bobwihte quail on the roadside.


Now, share your birding experiences:

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