.Yesterday I took my lunch up to Paul D. Rushing Park on the Katy Prairie in hopes of finally seeing the Baird's Sandpipers that have been hanging out there for a couple of weeks. They're a species that I've never seen.
I pulled into the parking lot, trained my binoculars on a group of 5-6 birds in the grass, and I was looking at the Baird's.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirs6oGKb_zcTAiojbP4FQbAeSYIP83CjM6nbvhBVVMop53OPGAuz7MP7gQMynnRRpYhaeNuEh_O8N3URYfr4Uja-2g5VGW2jwrruNfu9N_p2W22EsAqG0VQwQyDgekKr6ErHJa/s400/DSC09431.JPG)
A friendly birder pulled his car up alongside mine to tell me that I should watch out for Nighthawks. He had just spotted both Common and Lesser near the parking lot. (I hadn't yet seen a Common Nighthawk this year and I'd never seen a Lesser.)
Sure enough, a little later both birds flew by and I even got a couple of decent shots of the Common. ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICrhd6QgQRWvvOpsjsoMoC9VruQhqhF9IwrygwZXDSYQVhjHJTPay3p9i6lBKvXvkIrSK0eY3CPzGXb2HcmQ8JUyPKwZs5ImqgI528dmwPo0cgOo50FyrZ4unogIVTNWlhdcU/s400/DSC09494.JPG)
So in just a few minutes I'd seen two life birds. That's pretty good lunchtime birding.I took a quick walk around the nearest of the park's several lakes and came across a Common Nighthawk resting on the ground. They really are odd-looking birds!
The other birder had also told me that there was a pair of Fulvous Whistling Ducks around. I wasn't lucky enough to spot them but I did run into a pair of their Black-bellied cousins. ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIULFt5d2-Ygc7jZ9QfXlPiT4pg0uAQ94cwAjZJ2uBhBHFWxFiGg2BRjUHqZo5AcauCH9N9Oy9AJ-BeTXOu3jrACefP434eR60q2sHT6fwnrRSofIThV_n7GHj8l84up0VuVj/s400/DSC09441.JPG)
There were plenty of other birds, too: 70 Buff-breasted Sandpipers, a score of Savannah Sparrows, a pair of Crested Caracaras, a White-tailed Hawk and lots of Black-necked Stilts, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitchers, Greater Yellowlegs, Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks and Barn Swallows. A Horned Lark came close enough for me to attempt a photo.
My lunch break almost over, I decided to drive back to work via Longenbaugh Road. If I were lucky, I might just see a Dickcissel to add my year list.
I turned onto Longenbaugh and the first bird I saw was a Dickcissel, looking very pretty against the blue Texas sky.
Now I really had to hurry back to work. But wait. A hawk was flying above the road. I pulled over and watched a Swainson's Hawk circle overhead. That was year bird #179. ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu2h6fqCJbN9L_7S3F_ka80dD_EmH2DNG6XhyjBDJchHbjKU8JZ5zlT8gsnqzraXhHd0F1luPps3SvyFRpkeFmnP5sGPKHiJyA1wH0CFg3ejza6vYcpPi-cTZAwuuFAjRM3k11/s400/DSC09542.JPG)
As this is nesting season, I wasn't surprised to see it being chased away by a Blackbird.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FGxrdUrWQYRI_IyKs7BYS1tE1iwMjC_G-qHOujSWjGNUrUrYcesXNrc6hjLMJe0Mxl7TE6Y6cSh2w_TvyfnnJ1vg9fQ-BvOVIXbjrL-paQ9DLKBDOLGQjt4QjUm2dE9JPoYN/s400/DSC09549.JPG)
My lunchtime birding foray had turned out to be very worthwhile. I just love the Katy Prairie!.
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ftiXSPwL05a1f3BgXGcahZVBprX2uYBiGB-Wa3py8-MFd1RCGy9vYfXzUtC0BndAVJKzC5hiLmeZRYO5sAGnGqLSbDyFGZidd_PMnf_v1SDfHhR6cGK0GKt0dU0U959pkHY7/s400/DSC08615.JPG)
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I had to go to north Houston on Friday and so I fitted in an hour's visit to Jesse Jones Park. As it was a dark and wet morning, I wasn't expecting to see much in the way of birds but I thought it would be a good place to look for snakes.
I focused on the area around the boardwalk which crosses a large pond containing cypress trees. If I was going to find a Water Moccasin anywhere, surely it would be here. Besides, I like this area because the cypress trees' "knees" sticking up through the water make the pond look positively primeval.
I carefully searched the ground and water along the boardwalk but all I saw was a solitary Green Heron. I was surprised to see that it had a very prominent crest.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7loMONBoKEXg5ued4URhx17A7O7gh8HxDqBPb7RoKMauWKhbeEfIj5qBQ3gNPqP2a0njg4szYo4RzAWbaMn4oGAgIiCZ9mh-duL4JBJ7gkJDfgxFYDTltJT6-qACcIJJWYfoJ/s400/DSC08894.JPG)
Juvenile Green Herons have a very slight crest but this bird's deep red throat showed clearly that it was an adult. Plus the feathers on the top of its head were really sticking right up. I wonder if the raised feathers were because I had startled the bird. Or perhaps I had just caught it before it had had time to groom itself.
After a fruitless 20 minutes of looking for snakes, I abandoned the pond and did a quick walk through the woods. As the light improved, so did the volume of bird calls. The calls of a Pileated Woodpecker and several Red-bellied Woodpeckers echoed around me but I couldn't see the birds making them. I could hear a Northern Parula, too, but again didn't get to see bird itself. In fact, the only birds I actually managed to see were several Red-headed Woodpeckers high in the trees and lots of Northern Cardinals.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1zCrcxog0xU41MEKnJ8EnGj0bGmRqgzuGgSGH5byH5lm_VMsx-v3NxiIqEbFnLn8B_hRtMSbeU9WFfJGF6n6wp4aPMG77RtpprANCdCAQkK5YKVE8wp_M68Dk5HaWwjWx7fS/s400/DSC08909.JPG)
I'm always a little surprised to see Cardinals when I'm out birding. I am so used to seeing them at our feeders that I tend to think of them as yardbirds and to forget that they really are wild birds.
Walking back towards the parking area, I crossed the boardwalk again. The Green Heron was in the same place but this time it looked more normal with its head feathers neatly in place.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcaRkBNGWjFuxe1ant83wIiB5FHFEeHl3lZo8w2AwbCAjJs8XrSjdde0HDN_4SqORfLSkq0gzu0PadoRSd411EN3q8LNugUQ9ttuUq5X1vYB86Rd2Pndzq8Hoe9raNVPAgA1H/s400/DSC08902.JPG)
There were still no snakes, though. Bummer! I consoled my self by taking a photo of an interesting flower near the end of the boardwalk.
That's when I noticed a movement in the water. Yes! A Water Moccasin was swimming quietly around, its tongue out to test the air as it went. It was a very pretty sight, although you can't tell this from my rather blurry photos.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5tBweIOZMDeF8IlqO6uHA0h6XpFrMrqU2BkB_RKZsTltoh77vUhuTlLnFG7G5ZF-Lvr10-W927l8XrwnM59TWNLpRKfUVkoFkXM1BTIMDfTCpzAvEcZes8nJSRIItnjLP0Zp_/s400/DSC08921.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMQ1MjPobY0M1bYdpruFk0Bg_z65u-kFgaXNBoxhHSEsBSZQpOThKK-U45O7jdlaI5ogtGmQ0Z2zwlZ-pOz6E-NHdcG_lcX_FWjbDrJC3zwqFeM0RWz_JDfEdu5rAkEFKMe8r/s400/DSC08925.JPG)
As my available time had run out, I hurried back to the car, stopping only to take a couple of photos of some insectivorous Pale Pitcher plants and stunning Irises near the visitor center.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIshtViSPtwBm6za8OsivARLfR04Hy0ftcUaH7fajt0cRmYcLB-PZWdU-8q3ZU2xX3JvGesqa9W32WjPLaXbge9fzLu9uCpZt-Yp-mlRoIZNbMiLR_iD1o9pjMD5xwO0AsCCc/s400/DSC08932.JPG)
So not a great morning but at least I had a good look at a Water Moccasin..
.Whenever I'm out birding in long grass - even around the CyFair campus - I try to remember to watch out for snakes. However, I sometimes forget. Just as I sometimes forget that snakes don't hang out only in long grass.
When I was walking along a trail last Tuesday morning, I noticed a sudden movement under my feet. It was a large Water Moccasin. Before I had time to react, it slithered away into a nearby puddle and then swam off.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq27S2H1CXb3ntV-td3NlgRww5ESOSZhK0-_Xcq-J3CPNNg0hf6c-y9WaEpLaG5ViPEQJEJAH63PMMYDN6B8PPWMbSPQaVRWHTMBKggy5Le0NlwFZ-iGUiCSibVpJhKyk0WcZ9/s400/DSC08686.JPG)
After I had grabbed a photo, I turned back and - nearly stepped right on another, smaller Moccasin lying on the trail. Given that this is springtime, I suppose the snakes were a pair and I had interrupted them while they were sharing some quality time.
Unlike its larger partner, this snake didn't try to flee, perhaps because I was between it and the water. It let me take a few photos.
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Then it decided I was getting too close and warned me off by opening its mouth wide and showing the white that gives the animal its common name, Cottonmouth.
As she closed her mouth, I was struck by how beautiful the patterning is on the underneath of the lower jaw was. I'd never noticed that before.
Cottonmouths have a reputation for being aggressive but I suspect they don't deserve it. In my experience, they generally react like other venomous snakes: They either make a hasty retreat or they go into defensive mode.
Of course, there are always exceptions. A few years ago I was videoing a Water Moccasin swimming along a small stream on Bolivar Peninsula. I walked along beside it for maybe 20 yards. Then suddenly it came out of the water and headed straight for me, hissing with mouth wide open. I had to back up very quickly. I imagine that the snake felt I was stalking it and so felt threatened.
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