Baytown Again

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On Sunday morning I persuaded Dee to go with me on a trip to Baytown Nature Center. I wanted to show her the Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers I had seen the previous week and I was also hoping we would see some of the uncommon birds that have been reported from there lately: Brown Booby, Groove-billed Ani, Least Grebe, Western Grebe and Eared Grebe.

Although the weather was good, birds were few and far between. We dipped on Mergansers and have to settle for several Ospreys instead.

This one was finishing off a fish meal when I spotted it. 

It stopped and gave me a good, hard look as I approached.

But then it went back to eating.

We spotted another Osprey as it was carrying its half-eaten prey to a convenient perch.

After quickly checking out the surrounding area, the bird went back to feeding.

We scanned the water for grebes but most of the birds we could see were too far away to ID without a scope, something I can never be bothered to carry. All we could see clearly, though, was a group of four Horned Grebes.

We were luckier at Turtle Pond, where the reported Least Grebe was visible, paddling about with four Pied-billed Grebes. As we couldn't get good looks from the hide, I followed a rough trail round the side of the pond and managed to get a recognizable if very poor photo of the Least.

The trail also gave me a look at two Black-crowned Night-Heron, a common enough bird in our area but one that I don't see very often.

As our visit to Baytown didn't turn out to be as productive as I had hoped, I may try to get down there again on Saturday to see if I have more luck then.
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A Good Morning at Baytown

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Sunday morning at Baytown Nature Center was cold and windy! (When I arrived at 7:30, the temperature was 39F and the wind was well over 10 mph.) So I wasn't expecting too much bird activity.

I started by looking for the Brown Booby on the utility pylons that stretch across the bay. No luck! In fact, there were no birds at all on the pylons, although the end of the promontory did have an obliging Osprey.

When I first spotted it, it was on the grass, perhaps sheltering from the wind.

 

A few minutes later, it moved to a series of different perches along the water's edge.

 

I scanned Crystal Bay for Grebes, Loons and Hooded Mergansers. Again, no luck. However, I did get some good looks at a Red-breasted Merganser, always a nice bird to watch.

A walk around the loop trail turned up only common birds, such as Northern Mockingbirds, Blue Jays and Red-winged Blackbirds (below).

A Spotted Sandpiper was the only shorebird.

Brown Pelicans looked impressive against the rich blue sky.

The pond near the gazebo had a nice group of Roseate Spoonbills.

A White Ibis was hanging out with the Spoonbills.

While I was watching, it caught several small crabs.

Back at the Egret Tidal Flats a great Blue Heron was looking very stately as it prowled through the water.

A Snowy Egret flew to the other side of the road when I stopped by the pond.

Surprisingly, given how skittish they normally are, four Great Egrets seemed unconcerned by my presence.

So, too, did a Spoonbill.

As I was photographing the Egrets, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Yes! It was a group of eight Hooded Mergansers, the males looking spectacular with their black and white hoods.

Several of the males were competing for the attention of one of the females. Their display consisted of raising their chests out of the water, throwing back their heads and bobbing forward, while calling loudly.

Sad to say, the female didn't seem to be impressed.

After leaving Baytown, I headed north towards Highlands, where there is a birding site that I'd heard good reports of but had never visited. But I'll blog about that in a few days.
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Down by the Bay

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This weekend I thought it was about time I added some birds to my year list for Harris County. (As I haven't birded much this year, my list on Saturday stood at only 172 species.) So on Saturday morning we headed over to the Baytown Nature Center, where I expected to see a good range of large waders, plenty of gulls and terns, and perhaps several shorebird species.

In the event, there were fewer birds visible than on any of my (many) previous visits. After half-an-hour, we had seen only a couple each of Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and Cattle Egrets, and a few Yellow-crowned Night Herons (below).

As we walked back to the car, we did get to see a flight of five Wood Storks, a welcome addition to my county list.

We decided to drive home via the San Jacinto Monument, which I thought was bound to be buzzing with birds.

Sure enough, our visit to the Monument grounds started off well when we passed a group of a dozen Black Vultures near the road and then spotted three more Wood Storks.

However, my hopes the boardwalk didn't produce a single bird except for a flyover Great Heron. 

At first glance, the main bay area seemed fairly empty except for a few Egrets on small islands and a few gulls and terns fishing far out in the water. But then I noticed a large number of birds were stretched out in a long line at one end of the bay.

While the smaller birds turned out to be mainly just Laughing Gulls, the bigger birds were of several different species. Brown Pelicans, Neotropic Cormorants, Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets predominated.  

An American White Pelican was tucked in among the Browns. 

A single Black-bellied Whistling Duck was barely visible but here and there I caught sight of some juvenile and adult White Ibis (below).

A Little Blue Heron and a Great Blue Heron refused to let me photograph them, while a Green Heron and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron were out of camera range.

While none of the birds were new for the year or in any way unusual, their presence certainly made the visit worthwhile.  
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Baytown Nature Center

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If Spoonbills and Ibis were the most obvious birds at Baytown on Sunday, they certainly weren't the only ones there, although they were among the easiest to photograph.

My first-of-year Black-crowned Night Heron absolutely refused to come out of the shadows or to let me approach it.

Only one of several Yellow-crowned Night Herons was more obliging.

I did just a little better with the first Tricolored Heron that I spotted.

However, a second one let me watch it fishing.

Great and Snowy Egrets were everywhere. Some Snowy Egrets were competing with each other for food.

Others had found their own patches.

Although ducks were generally scarce, there were a few Blue-winged Teal.

There were several Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, too.

Shorebirds were much less abundant than I had hoped, with the most common being Least Sandpipers.

I was surprised to see only a single Black-necked Stilt, a bird I always enjoy watching.

I was pleased to see my first White-rumped Sandpiper of 2015.

My final birds were also first-of-year ones: Baird's Sandpipers.

So, as usual, Baytown had produced a nice variety of birds and some good photo opportunities.
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