I've been enjoying the cool Autumn days this past week. We've had some overcast skies a few mornings, but the sun came out by late afternoon and it's been near perfect, temperature-wise, for me. One morning this past week I walked to Pollywog Ponds. This trail is all natural, and the city has not been in there to mow the grass, so I was traipsing through knee high grasses and getting a good work-out. I saw very few birds...a flock of pigeons flying overhead from a nearby barn I think, two golden fronted woodpeckers, three great kiskadees calling back and forth from high branches in the heavily wooded area, and two water birds on the smaller pond...a grebe and a blue winged teal. Other than that, no activity at all. So, back to the car I went and drove to the nearby park in Calallen. There, I sighted many birds. Another green kingfisher, short billed dowitchers, teals, stilts, egrets, cardinals, sparrows, green jays, mockingbirds, grackles, doves, hummingbirds, and hawks. While I was on the hawkwatch platform [well, not on it, 'cause it's cordoned off for covid reasons for hawkwatch counters only] I, for the FIRST TIME EVER experienced an actual migratory fly over of two species...by the hundreds! Now I understand the fascination of counting them. You really need to experience this, the thrill of it all. At first sight by eye only, I thought I saw white ibis by the hundreds...but on closer look of the distant photo I took, they were a squadron of American White Pelicans. The other fly over I got to witness was a kettle of black vultures [also near 100]. Of course their flight patterns are so easily identified, I had no question of them being anything other than vultures.
Here are some I saw at Calallen, Packery Channel, Port Aransas, Oso Bay Wetlands, Charlie's Pasture, Padre Island - and photographed...
LITTLE GREEN HERONHabitat map:
Heron
OSPREY [with catch]
Habitat map:
Osprey
GREATER YELLOWLEGS [same bird, but the beak size with photo angles throw me off, could be LESSER]
Habitat map:
Yellowlegs
TURKEY VULTURE [two, side by side on rooftop]
Habitat map:
Vulture
SPOTTED SANDPIPER [non-breeding plumage]
Habitat map:
Sandpiper
I spotted the one on the lower arm of the power pole, solo. Then, as I took photos a 2nd one flew in and landed on top!!
RED SHOULDERED HAWK[s]Habitat map:
Hawk
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