Back to Anahuac

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Sunday morning we headed back to our favorite wildlife site in southeast Texas, Anahuac NWR. The water level was high in Shoveler Pond again and most birds were far away from the road.

We caught glimpses of two Purple Gallinules and had distant views of Common Gallinules, Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebes, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and several Fulvous Whistling Ducks. 

An American Coot near the boardwalk seemed unconcerned by our presence.

A Snowy Egret, too, let me take photos as it hunted.

Eastern Kingbirds were everywhere.

Red-winged Blackbirds were even more ubiquitous.

Orchard Orioles popped up in a few places.

The Neotropic Cormorants at Anahuac seem to love perching on the road signs.

This makes it possible to get good looks at their rather pretty eyes.

White Ibises were unexpectedly absent but there were a handful of White-faced Ibis.

Killdeer love to nest on the gravel edges of the auto-loop road.

Alligators appear to be becoming more common in the refuge. A few years ago we would think ourselves lucky if we saw two or three. We saw ten on a visit earlier this year and twelve during this visit.

After a pleasant hour or so at Anahuac, we headed down to the coast. I wanted to check out Rollover Pass and other Bolivar sites for terns and shorebirds.
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