§ Island Birds Seen...

It all boils down to a few "different birds" this week. Not new birds mind you, but ones I haven't seen for some time. Starting with the Yellowheaded Blackbird. It's usually seen here in mid-March. Early. And the Wilson's Snipe was ground feeding [naturally] out in the open. I had a good opportunity to follow it in action without going into hiding for quite a while. The Great Egret was spotted in a different area for me...Paradise Pointe [it's a residential area that has homes along the waterway]. The GRUMPY EGRET was a bit on the perturbed side of its morning. A Tri-colored Heron had caught a fish, and the egret was chasing after, to no avail...hence, the grumpy look [snowy egret]. And lastly, the Red Winged Blackbird was in amongst the others of his own kind, and the yellowheaded. All photos are from Port Aransas, Texas.

YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRD
Habitat map: Blackbird


WILSON'S SNIPE
Habitat map: Snipe


GREAT EGRET
Habitat map: Egret


RED WINGED BLACKBIRD
Habitat map: Blackbird


GRUMPY EGRET [aka Snowy Egret]
Habitat map: Egret


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§ Spring...

The weather has been mild, but very windy and dry the last week or two...which brought in several migrant birds into some areas nearby. Here are just a few photos I captured while on my morning walks...


WILLET
photo taken:  Magee Beach
habitat map:  Willet
listen for the pill-will-willet call that gives them their name


ROYAL TERNS
photo taken:  Port Aransas
habitat map:  Tern
their Latin name:   Thalasseus maximus, means greatest fisherman


GREAT BLUE HERON
photo taken:  Corpus Christi Ship Channel
habitat map:  Heron
Great blue herons get their name from the grayish blue coloration of the feathers on their upper wings, back, and tail.





YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRD [male]
photos taken:  Paradise Pond
habitat map:  Blackbird
The Yellow-headed Blackbird's scientific name, Xanthocephalus, means “yellow head




RED WINGED BLACKBIRD
[female in brown plumage, male in red and black]
photos taken:  Hazel Bazemore Park
habitat map:  Blackbird
One male may have up to 15 different females nesting in his territory.




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§ New Kids on the Block!

Migration Season is coming to a close once again around the Coastal Bend. Throughout the last couple of weeks, I've spotted four new bird species for my records. The most recent one was last Sunday [May 1st]. Of course it had to be a warbler. They play havoc with my stress level....being that they are very difficult to get into focus before they are bounding off to another branch or taking off to disappear completely. The 'new' warbler is the Blackpoll Warbler...which was 'out of its habitat range'; a vagrant. Altho, Bud's National Geographic Bird Guide shows that they migrate along the coastal Texas border.   The other two birds that I have never photographed before are the Grasshopper Sparrow [distinctive points to ID the grasshopper is the short tail AND the yellow coloration around the wing...no other sparrow has that. Plus the wing color pattern and the buff-non-striped breast.], the third bird being the one and only Yellow Headed Blackbird!!! Yes indeed, one bird I grew up with [so to speak] when I lived in Colorado. This is the FIRST time I've been able to get photos. Of course, when I was young, I thought they were 'cool' birds, but never was into photography OR birding.  The fourth new species I've recently photographed is the Clapper Rail...I will post photos of that at another time since I have a large number of photos to share already.

Here are the three species so far...fourth coming soon.:




YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRD
photos taken:  Packery Channel Park - Padre Island, Corpus Christi, Texas
habitat map:  Blackbird


GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
photos taken:  Charlie's Pasture North - Port Aransas, Texas
habitat map:  Sparrow


BLACKPOLL WARBLER
photos taken:  Leonabelle Birding Center - Port Aransas, Texas
habitat map:  Warbler


Now share your birding experiences:










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