Back to Baytown

.
Sunday morning I drove down to the Baytown Nature Center. I have visited the site a lot this year, mainly because it's a good site for watching and photographing wading birds and shorebirds.

I didn't time this visit well, though, because the tide was high and very few of my target birds were present in the wetlands areas. In fact, the only birds I saw in the wetlands were a couple of Snowy Egrets and American Avocets (below).

Luckily, there were a few more birds in and around the site's various ponds and channels.

The only bird actually in the water was a Neotropic Cormorant.

The banks of the ponds and channels were more productive, having several each of Great Blue Heron, Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers.

I was watching a male Downey Woodpecker climb to the top of a snag when an Eastern Phoebe decided to flycatch from a neighboring tree.

I think of Loggerhead Shrikes as solitary birds but all the ones I saw on Sunday seemed to be hanging out in pairs.

Surprisingly, all of the normally gregarious White-winged Doves that I saw were on their own.

As always at Baytown, Ospreys appeared at several points alog the trails.

A flock of 18 American White Pelicans circled overhead, too far above for me to get a photo. So I settled for taking a picture of one of the innumerable Brown Pelicans that I saw.

Towards the end of my walk I did see a much more interesting bird. But I'll leave that until my next post.
.