If you follow me on my personal blog, Hootin' Anni's, you know that the week prior, I took my last trip to the islands for a while since the next two weeks will be College Spring Break here on our beaches. I wanted to go before the reported Whooping Crane Family of three leaves for the northern breeding grounds. I heard that they were filling up on blue crabs [that's a sure sign they're getting ready to migrate for their summer home]. Where they were reported at Port Aransas, I didn't find them the day I was there. I saw many other birds tho, included below. As I got ready to go home to Corpus after about 3-4 hours walking and birding, I decided to stop at a residential area that has canals and low lying fresh waterways that butt up against the homes. Before I even got into the area that the subdivision began, I saw the family!! I arrived on the right day at the right time. The three were nearly arms' distance from me at times. The male, when upright, he stood a good 1/2 foot taller than I am!! Needless to say I was thrilled beyond measure!!
...They were busy dining. Follow me to Paradise Pointe...
WHITE FACED IBIS [snowy egret in background]
[not glossy]...white faced have red eyes, glossy ibises have black eyes
Habitat map: Ibis
ROSEATE SPOONBILL
Habitat map: Spoonbill
AMERICAN AVOCET
Habitat map: Avocet
ROYAL TERN
Habitat map: Tern
COMMON TERN
Habitat map: Tern
COMMON GALLINULE [aka moorhen]
Habitat map: Gallinule
WHOOPING CRANE[s]...male, female and juvenile
Habitat map: Crane
Spotting the Cranes in their winter habitat, made my winter birding complete! Now, I can concentrate on Spring Migration!!
The Linking is now closed. Come back and share your birds with us on Saturady [March 20th at NOON, Central DST]
What great luck to find the cranes at the last minute. We had two immature Whooping Cranes from the captive breeding program in Wisconsin suddenly show up in a residential area next to ours. They even entered our area and were seen on a front lawn only about 4 doors from our home. They had been released as a group of 7 to fly free with a group of migrating Sandhill Cranes which winter in northern Florida. They overshot all the way to the south tip of Florida and then moved north to our neighborhood They had leg tags and one had a radio locator. The only adult Whooping Cranes I have ever seen were on the boat trip out of Aransas NWR. They are so impressive!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite - the Royal Tern
Have a wonderful weekend!
Fantastic photos Anni and I'm so glad you were able to see the Whooping Crane family up close and personal!
ReplyDeleteHello Anni,
ReplyDeleteYou did see great birds during your outing. I am so glad you were able to see the Whooping Cranes, they are a cool sight to see. I have seen one in Florida, they are big and beautiful. Great variety of birds and photos. Thanks for hosting. Have a happy weekend.
It is always significant to see Whooping Cranes, both because of the sheer joy they bring, and also to recognize that if we really have the will to do it, we can bring birds back from the brink of extinction. Now if only we could become smart enough not to push them so close to the edge in the first place......
ReplyDeleteWOW!!!!!!!!! Awesome and stunning! I am so glad I returned in time to see this special post!! And your photos are just glorious. In the last photo, it looks like the one is walking kind of like a human. I also love the Avocet reflections and the screaming Royal Tern.
ReplyDeleteThe Whooping Cranes are such a neat sighting and I didn't realize they were so TALL! WOW! I am always surprised at the Sandhill Cranes and how tall they are up close. I love the Roseate Spoonbill SO much! I don't even remember how long it has been since I saw one! Glad you got out when you did. The area I live in is not 'popular' so there are never many at the preserves or trails. I wonder why more people don't at least drive over there and look around. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteI listened to the Whooping Crane on YouTube! They can make some special sounds.
ReplyDeleteAlso did not know that they are rare and in danger of extinction.
Your fotos are beautiful, Anni!
Great pictures! Thanks for hosting.
ReplyDeleteSome might say you got lucky there Anni. I would put it down to you knowing your birds, your local patch and the timings of migration. And then to see the cranes just yards away must have given you great satisfaction. Not to mention seeing all those other birds on your local patch walk. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your Sunday and thank for the link today.
ON WOw and wow. I have never seen a whooping crane, they are stunning. i like the females best. now i am wondering if we have them over here... for sure you found paradise point... walking for that many hours is not something i could do. the white face ibis is new to me also.
ReplyDeleteI would have been in 7th heaven to see them that close. You sure got a lot of nice captures.
ReplyDeleteHi Anni, thank you for visiting my blog. Beautiful photos. I think the terns will come soon to the Netherlands. Greetings Caroline
ReplyDeleteWhat fabulous photographs.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing them all.
All the best Jan
These are great bird pictures again, Anni!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the photo "AMERICAN AVOCET" with the reflection - beautiful! And I'm very grateful to you for the ROYAL TERN photo: We saw these birds in Cuba and couldn't identify them. (I thought this was a kind of seagull) ...
Best spring greetings from Austria
Traude
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