Anahuac Yet Again

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On the way back from High Island we took our friends for their first visit to Anahuac NWR, our favorite nature site in southeast Texas. We didn't get there until mid-afternoon and so there were fewer birds visible than usual. However, there was still enough to see to make for a very pleasant afternoon.

We started by driving down to Frozen Point. The Burrowing Owl didn't appear but the field where it lives had plenty of Black-necked Stilts and Willets (below).

Killdeer were much in evidence, too, looking for tasty morsels in the cow pats.

 
We had lunch in the old Visitor Center. Unfortunately, no swallows had yet arrived to nest there and the Vermilion Flycatcher was a no-show again. However, we did run into a very pretty bullfrog. Although I've heard thousands since we moved to Texas, this was the first one I'd actually seen.

A slow drive around Shovelers' Pond turned up nothing except some of the most common birds.

A Great Blue Heron was the only heron we spotted.

Most birds that we saw were Common Gallinules and American Coots (below).

Great-tailed Grackles were also present in large numbers.

Our final bird was this Pied-billed Grebe.

I'm hoping that more birds will be around when we visit the site in April on our way to look for spring migrants in High Island.
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