§ When It Rains Here, It Pours!!!

It took two days for the bird activity in our yard and neighborhood to return to normal after Hurricane Hanna made landfall just a few miles from our house [Sunday July 26]. The morning before the storm came in to shore, I did notice all the grackles and seagulls heading in a easterly direction over-head from the Kingsville area. So, I knew that the storm was headed farther south...they were all getting to safe areas. At least that's what I think. You can tell by the bird activity what the weather is going to do. They are good predictors if you pay attention. [my opinion]  I guess you can say I'm part of the "old wives" club.

Anyway, needless to say, I have not been out doing my birding for another week.  Still a lot of flooding [one area north of us got a reported 19 inches of rain in a 24 hour time period]...no use trying to drive anywhere since all beaches are closed for cleanup and flooded [or soon to be muddied] parks, etc.  That makes it three weeks in a row! But, I have gone out along the beaches to check out the damage. Some areas, heavy damage to structures and even erosion at the dunes while other nearby areas, minimal damage. It depends on the surge and the fact of which side [clock-wise or counter-clockwise] of the hurricane the wind was.  Hanna did most damage with the SURGE before the 90MPH winds came in, I think.  Twenty foot high surge is bound to rip down structures, etc.

So, more photos from my archives never published:

LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE
photo taken:  South Bay Park
habitat map:  Shrike
Length:  9 inches
Wingspan:  13 inches


TREE SWALLOW
photo taken:  Bazemore Park
habitat map:  Swallow
Length:  6.5 inches
Wingspan:   12.5 inches


Fledged GOLDEN FRONTED WOODPECKER
photo taken:  Bazemore Park
habitat map:  Woodpecker
Length:  9.5 inches
Wingspan:  17 inches


YELLOW CROWNED NIGHT HERON [young]
photo taken:  Lakeview Park
habitat map:  Heron
Length:  25 inches
Wingspan:  45 inches


GREAT BLUE HERON
photo taken:  Hans Suter Refuge
habitat map:  Heron
Length:  48 inches
Wingspan:  50 inches

...and times when I am cooped up indoors, from boredom, I sketch.  Sometimes I draw, freehand, birds.  Results are not always accurate, but I try to get as close to 'real' and proportionate as I can:

A colored pencil sketch of a Hooded Merganser [male]



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§ Texas Birding...

The first two images I share this week are of a bird that I am still not exactly sure I've id'd it correctly. They were photographed in the city park here in town, while it was bathing in the small running creek,  and the month was early May [2013]. It has a tanager's beak, and it's the color of an immature [or female] Scarlet Tanager. Any suggestions? I am pretty sure...but not 100% sure!! LOL

YOUNG SCARLET TANAGER

photos taken:  Blucher Park - Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range:

GREEN  HERON

photos taken:  Hans Suter Nature Reserve - Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range:

This next one, I almost walked right on by without seeing it. If it hadn't flown out of the tall cat-tail/reed grass and darkened shadowed area, I truly would have missed it entirely. It's quite blurred, for I had to quickly press the shutter button before it disappeared!!

LEAST BITTERN

photo taken:  Hans Suter Nature Reserve - Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range: 

TRIVIA: John James Audubon noted that a young captive Least Bittern was able to walk with ease between two books standing 1.5 inches (4 cm) apart. When dead, the bird's body measured 2.25 inches (5.7 cm) across, indicating that it could compress its breadth to an extraordinary degree.

EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE

photo taken:  Marine Science Institute - Port Aransas, Texas

Habitat Range:

WHITE MORPH STAGE [Reddish Egret]

photo taken: Charlie's Pasture Reserve - Mustang Island, Texas

Habitat Range:

BLACK TERN

photo taken:  Gulf of Mexico Beach - Port Aransas, Texas

Habitat Range:

TRIVIA: The Black Tern is very social. It breeds in loose colonies and usually forages, roosts,and migrates in flocks of a few to more than 100 birds, occasionally up to tens of thousands.

WOOD STORK

photo taken: Tule Lake - Outskirts of Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range:

PS...this week I finished another pencil sketch [and added some color]...of an American Redstart.

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§ Black, White and Red-READ all Over...

ANHINGA

Photos taken: Hans Suter Wildlife Refuge - Oso Bay in Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range:

BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER

Photos taken 1] Blucher Park - Corpus Christi and 2] Port Aransas, Texas

Habitat Range:

NORTHERN CARDINAL

Photos Taken: City Parks - Corpus Christi, Texas

Habitat Range:

- - - *** - - -

Just an update on last week's unidentified bird:
I sent my photo thru email to another birding society, and the response was "Indigo Bunting but afflicted with the absence of melanin" and that I was very lucky to have spotted it. And later responses on the Bird ID forum I utilize had these notations...

"I don't think it's a young Indigo -- that color and patterns don't make sense in that context. I think it's a leucistic adult indigo bunting. The blue color is structural, but it needs a back layer of melanin to absorb the non-blue wavelengths. If a bird were mostly lacking in melanin, this is the sort of thing you'd see."

and

"Indigo Bunting.  It may be luesistic [sic] like posted."

I am more inclined to think it's like Ken stated in his comment.  But, I did some research...I guess it's possible with a Leucistic conclusion.  I'm not agreeing, but I'm certainly not disagreeing either. If I try to change temperature of the image I don't think that's the answer since all the other photos I take with the same camera has the correct coloring of all other birds.].  All in all I learned some valuable info!! A LUESISTIC bird is often found with patches of white, faint color markings,...and/or nearly albino. If interested, read more...

And if you'd like to view several birds that are afflicted with this [I especially was impressed with the white hummingbird!]  ...follow this link

I've had an interest in birds long before now. For decades in fact. My first book I bought - before the internet came around for us all - was a small, hardcover, carry-with-you book. "Birds of North America", a Golden Field Guide published in 1966!! I still have it. Within its pages, I have been marking off which ones I've seen in Colorado and in Arizona, long before I began taking pictures to record my sightings...and I continue to mark the ones I've spotted, and where, here in Texas. I also have a 'coffee table' large bound book of "Birds of North America" by Ashley Knight. It's a great book, very large, and some things written in this particular book, I've not read in others. Also, in my binocular case, I have a book on TEXAS BIRDS that ID birds by color. This past week I found another edition of birding in North America - published in 2012 with over 600 birds. It too is quite a nifty find. Especially the price!! I found it at our local "Half Price Books" on the clearance shelf for $1.00!! Brand new and the cover price was $19.99! As stated on the book jacket - it's become quite a complimentary favorite of my other bird guide books! The more info I find and read on a certain bird, the better!!  The more I study, the more knowledgeable I can be out in the 'field'.  Needless to say, I have 'em, the reference publications, on my desk in the computer room, in the car, and/or on the bookshelves just behind me---

Also, over the last few years, I've begun a new interest in an old fetish...sketching and painting birds I've seen around this part of Texas. I just finished a pencil sketch of an OSPREY --before this one I've painted using the watercolor medium, a BROWN PELICAN and GREAT BLUE HERON. Also, a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, and an INDIGO BUNTING. Years ago, in Arizona, I painted a the male NORTHERN CARDINAL. Also, a colored pencil sketch of a CARACARA.  I'm thinking my next pencil sketch will be another water bird.

...if you wish to view my artwork, the all capital titles are links that will open in a new window.

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