I'd Rather B Birdin': HOODED Merganser

Showing posts with label HOODED Merganser. Show all posts

§ More Archives after Thanksgiving...

HOODED MERGANSER
Habitat map: Merganser

NORTHERN CARDINAL
Habitat map: Cardinal

REDDISH EGRET
Habitat map: Egret

RUDDY TURNSTONE
Habitat map: Turnstone

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§ Pearl Harbor Day Outing...

It seems everywhere I want to go these days, to check for any bird life, there is road construction. I sat during my breakfast one morning to figure out where I could go with the least amount of detouring or, delays in traffic flow. Sunset Lakes? No! Bridge work. But, hopefully I can venture there on a Sunday when no work is being done on the 'day of rest'. The islands? No. More bridge work on the causeway here! Downtown to parks? Nope, road construction. Drive 50+ miles to Refugio Texas to the awesome park there? Ummmm, the Nueces River section of interstate is torn apart and getting a facelift! Oso Bay Wetlands? Ya, it's possible. There are two ways of getting there from home...both "under construction". In fact, in our own neighborhood, there is repaving residential streets! I guess I could go to Bazemore Park in Calallen Texas. Yes, a new highway is being built, but that has been going on for 3 years now, I know where to detour and get around it for the most part. Calallen Texas it is!!

Once I arrived around 6:45 or so in the morning, I drove the parkway around the circle drive, looking for early deer that normally feed on the grasses. I saw four. Two does and two yearlings. No bucks that day. It was fun to sit and watch the young ones at play. At the ponds, the larger pond was filled with widgeons, blue winged teals, and a few egrets on the banks. The smaller pond, several mergansers. One belted kingfisher.

Here are my photo shares for the day...

HOODED MERGANSER
Habitat map: Merganser

AMERICAN WIGEON
Habitat map: Wigeon

SNOWY EGRETS
Habitat map: Egret

As I climbed down the embankment, among the willow trees, I reached the nearly dilapidated deck to wait for the kingfisher. She stopped and perched on the tree "knees" that jut out of the water's surface. I snapped some photos and left. Returning on the roadway, walking, she flew out of one willow tree and landed on the deck I had just left!!

BELTED KINGFISHER
Habitat map: Kingfisher

SAVANNAH SPARROW[?]
Habitat map: Sparrow

I then climbed up the Hawkwatch Tower. No bird activity there, but birdsong...grackles, mockingbirds, and in the distance, a cardinal. I scanned the horizon to see if I could relocate the deer. Way off I found two in my viewfinder. Then, I saw something as I moved my camera side to side using the zoom as my scope....could this be just a fence post? Or a bird? I kept watching for more deer. Then, going back the direction I saw the post, it was gone. Nope, couldn't be a fence post afterall. But, even with the zoom lens it was way too far away...I snapped my shutter button anyway, before it left for a better environment...

I never saw it in flight, but I will guess it's a red tailed hawk!

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§ Country Roads & Park Lanes...

These past couple weeks, there has a lot of birding from the car since a few light frosty mornings [with temps in the mid 30's to freezing]. Factoring in the humidity here, and other days foggy and wet; it's kept me inside the vehicle when I DID go out. On good days, it's been chilly in the morning, but nice and sunny enough to be out walking the park trails and coming upon the ponds with water fowl, and seeing birds in flight out in the fields...groups of dozens together, some couples, some individuals. These were seen recently at Oso Bay Wetlands, Bazemore Park, Paradise Pond, and Lakeview Park...

SANDHILL CRANES
Habitat map: Cranes

NORTHERN HARRIER
Habitat map: Harrier

WHITE IBIS
Habitat map: Ibis

YELLOW BELLIED SAPSUCKER [junvenile]
Habitat map: Sapsucker

HOODED MERGANSER [1st image, male and female]
Habitat map: Merganser

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§ 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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Participating blogs:

Linda
Birds in Europe and Africa
Christina
Rosyfinch Ramblings
Jidhu Jose
Arun
Sallie
Lea
Nature FootStep
Lavender Dreams
Eileen
Travels With Birds [never uses hyperlink!]
Phil
Jean

§ the Call of the Wild....

We are now under "house arrest" here in Corpus Christi, some areas are closed for safety precautions of the virus. Our county now has ten reported cases, and they are in quarantine...nine of the ten are travel related Tsk, tsk. If people would just stay close to home and use the distance safety tips, it'd help with the pandemic. The good thing about birding is you don't have to be out in the open; in crowds...in fact, drive by birding is an acceptable pastime these days. Much better than resorting to cleaning house!!

The first bird I am sharing, I can't help it...I think they're pretty and they have a wonderful, soft, soothing song. Even if they're 'the impalers'...they are one of nature's wonders. Of course, each of the species of birds is, in my opinion. Except for the vultures, but they serve their purpose on earth, so you still have to appreciate them. It's the individual features of each bird [and their survival capability] that never ceases to astound me.

LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE
photo taken: South Bay Park
habitat map: Shrike
length: 9 inches
wingspan: 13 inches

At the hightower for observation [click here for tower photo], the black vultures were gathered in large groups [called committee], and singly spotted here and there in the undergrowth....

BLACK VULTURES
photos taken: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
note: this refuge along the coastal bend is nearly 120,000 acres with hundreds of species of birds/wildlife
habitat map: Vulture
length: 25 inches
wingspan: 60 inches

I am thrilled to capture this with its 'hood ornament' exposed!

HOODED MERGANSER
photo taken: Bazemore Park
habitat map: Merganser
length: 18 inches
wingspan: 25 inches

Another bird that gets a bum wrap like the shrike [for different reasons] is the American Coot. Again, I marvel at its adaptability to conquer the different terrains along the ponds' edge and walk through quagmire without loosing its footing...

AMERICAN COOT
photo taken: Caribbean Drive [Flour Bluff, Texas]
habitat map: Coot
length: 15 inches
wingspan: 25 inches

This bird is quite easily identified...it is aptly named ...

NORTHERN PINTAIL DUCK
photo taken: Indian Point Park
habitat map: Pintail
length: 20-26 inches
wingspan: 28-36 inches

When I spotted this hawk, I was in awe of its beautiful plumage! Such wonderful colors and pattern. And for a few minutes it posed for me before flying off. I was on foot, and just under by a marginal few feet from its perch...

RED SHOULDERED HAWK
photos taken: Lakeview Park
habitat map: Hawk
length: 17-22 inches
wingspan: 32-45 inches

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Participating this week:

Little Wandering Wren
Rosyfinch Ramblings
Lintuilua-Birding
Linda, Virginia, USA
The Early Birder
Lavender Dreams
Phil UK
Lea's Menagerie
Tomthebackroadstraveler
Sallie
Birds Seen in Europe and Africa
Eileen
Wren Nest Building
Traveling With Birds

§ Learning Something New Over the Holiday...

Just when I think I have seen and know by sight, and often sound, a specific bird...I then witness something new of the same species!!! A few weeks past, I spotted a family of Hooded Mergansers. Of course, they're easy to identify; even at a distance. The male and its handsome black and white crest and golden yellow eyes. The female with rusty plumage and crest with their deep brown-red eyes. Watching how they dive and use their saw-like bills to come up from the depths with their catch. Then, all of a sudden, as I watched this family of sawbills =mergansers=, I spied something unusual. A couple of the males [distinctly males] with no black! Where the black should've been, the colors were a rich chocolate brown with a taupe crest instead of bright, clean, white!! So, once home I again found myself in search of the hooded mergansers and their colors. Well, the 'new' revelation I witnessed was in fact a male...but instead of 'adult', they were 1st winter mergansers!! The brown eventually morphs into black plumage. Without a doubt, being that the mergansers are a very common water bird in South Texas during the winter, I would have to say they're my favorite. At least ones that are COMMON. I do like the Wood Duck most of all, but they're kinda rare in my neck of the woods...

1st winter...

By the way, they have a third pair of transparent eyelids, called a 'nictitating membrane', which act as protection for their eyes, very similar to what we would use; goggles.

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