Bolivar Sanctuary

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When we went to the Bolivar beach bird sanctuary on Friday, we were the only people around. As usual, though, there were plenty of birds.




I spent a lot of time trying to photograph Black Terns fishing in pools left by the ebbing tide.






Among the terns and gulls, there were several groups of Black Skimmers. Although much larger than the Black Terns, they were just as hard to photograph.












If you look in the top right corner of the photo below, you will notice one of the Skimmers lying fully prone on the sand. According to my Sibley guide, this is a typical behavior of first year birds.

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Wordless Wednesday - A Day Late

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Beach Birds

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One of the highlights of our recent vacation was being able to drive along the beach for several miles eastward from Surfside. This allowed me to check out different sections of the seashore for birds - and to get much closer to birds than I could have done on foot.

The beach was beautiful in the mornings.






Flights of Brown Pelicans crossed the sky every few minutes.




Small Sandpipers were very common. I think this one is a Semipalmated.


I took a lot of pictures of American Oystercatchers!


Most of the larger Terns were Royal Terns, but there was the occasional Caspian Tern.


All along the beach Brown Pelicans were diving constantly into the sea.




Laughing Gulls outnumbered all other bird species. I wasn't going to bother photographing them but then I started watching how they ran through the surf to launch themselves into flight.


Brazoria NWR

On two mornings, I drove over to Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. This site has not yet totally recovered from the effects of Hurricane Ike in 2008 but I still always enjoy visiting it.

My early-morning arrival at the pond near the visitor center scared off a Great Egret and several Roseate Spoonbills.


Some Black-necked Stilts and Dowitchers were less skittish.

Dowitcher

On a later visit, a Swainson's Hawk circled high above the same pond.


Elsewhere on the autoloop, several Clapper Rails were very audible but very difficult to see.

A Least Bittern flew over too fast to photograph, while this young Yellow-crowned Night Heron decided the best thing to do was to stand still as I passed.


On my way out of the refuge I spotted a Great Horned Owl.


It was my first Great Horned of the year and a good sighting with which to finish the visit to Brazoria.
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Surfside

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It will take me a while to sort out the photos from our recent time on the coast but here are some initial comments and pictures.

Surfside didn't have as many shorebirds as I was expecting but the beach certainly had enough birds most days to keep me occupied.

Brown Pelicans were among the most common birds and I spent a lot of time watching them fishing. Unfortunately, the ones that were fishing were always too far away to allow good photos. However, on their way to and from the sea they frequently passed right over our heads.




The beach had scores of Royal Terns, including this youngster begging for for food.


Black Terns were plentiful also.


Willets, Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones were everywhere.

Ruddy Turnstone and Sanderling

Juvenile Ruddy Turnstone

Mixed in among them were a few Black-bellied Plovers.


I was pleased to get daily opportunities to watch one of my favorite birds, the rather comical-looking American Oystercatcher.


Great Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets appeared now and then.

Snowy Egret

There were Great-tailed Grackles a-plenty, too, including many molting males.

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Away Again

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I won't be blogging for a few days because I'm going to be away until Friday. My daughter has arrived from Barcelona and we're spending the week in a beach house at Surfside, just along the coast from Galveston.

We all went to Surfside once before, in September 2008. That time we got just one day there before having to evacuate because of Hurricane Ike. So we're glad that there currently no hurricanes in our forecast.

While we're at the beach, I'm hoping to see lots of migrating shorebirds. I also hope that I'll be able to do some birding at nearby sites, including Brazoria NWR, Quintana and Bolivar. If everything turns out as planned, I should have some interesting photos to post when I return.

See you soon!
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Back Home

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After my recent trips to Utah and Mexico, I thought it was time to visit some local sites and get re-acquainted with some of our local birds. So Tuesday morning I drove to work via the Katy Prairie.

A utility post on 290 had a fine Red-tailed Hawk, while posts along the Katy-Hockley Cutoff had Black Vultures. A Crested Caracara flew ahead of me for a while before disappearing off across the fields.

I decided to visit Paul Rushing Park to see if any migrating shorebirds had dropped in there.

I had gone only 50 yards from the car when I flushed a Green Heron. It fled to the safety of a small tree, from which it dislodged a Common Nighthawk. The Nighthawk moved to another tree, in turn displacing a Northern Mockingbird. A Loggerhead Shrike watched nervously as I passed while Barn and Tree Swallows swooped overhead. A minute later, a pair of Common Nighthawks rose into the air and circled above me, their distinctive white wing stripes flashing in the morning light.



The lakes had a few larger birds: a dozen Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, five Great Egrets, two Yellow-crowned Night Herons and a Little Blue Heron. The only shorebirds I spotted were the usual Killdeer, plus a Black-necked Stilt and a Greater Yellowlegs.

A few Mourning Doves skittered away when I drew near them, as did three Eastern Meadowlarks. For once there was no sign of Horned Larks.

The next stage in my short trip was a drive along Longenbaugh Road, mainly in hopes of seeing Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. Unfortunately, the utility wires had just really common birds: scores of White-winged Doves, dozens of European Starlings and a scattering of Northern Mockingbirds and Loggerhead Shrikes. My spirits were raised by a group of Dickcessels - only to fall when I realized the Dickcissels were actually House Sparrows.


Then, just as I was leaving Longenbaugh, I finally got lucky when three Scissor-tailed Flycatchers posed on a wire. One of them had particularly beautiful plumage.


I wasn't expecting to see anything of interest on my drive back to work along FM529. However, a flock of Cattle Egrets lifting off from a field caught my eye. As I watched, a hawk swooped through the flock. From its dark chest, light belly and distinctive wing patterns I had no problem IDing it as a Swainson's Hawk. A good bird to see on the way to work!
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Wordless Wednesday

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Cuernavaca

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I had a good time in Cuernavaca. It's a beautiful city, surrounded by spectacular mountains and with great weather year-round.

Unfortunately, though, I wasn't able to rent a car for my one free day (Saturday) and so couldn't fit in any birding trips. Instead I had to settle for looking for birds in the neighborhood where I was staying and in the city's botanical gardens, the Jardin Borda.

Although there were lots of birds around, they were mainly species that are also common in Texas. The street outside my hotel was always busy with House Sparrows, Inca Doves and House Finches.

House Finches

Great-tailed Grackles were everywhere.


For some reason, I had real problems getting my camera to focus well, as you can see from this photos of a pair of Golden-fronted Woodpeckers.


In the mornings and evenings, flocks of incredibly noisy Red-lored Parrots filled the treetops but they were always too far away for photos.

The hotel gardens were surprisingly empty of birds. The only large bird was a very shy Rufous-backed Robin.


I spent a lot of time trying to photograph a pair of Violet-crowned Hummingbirds that hung out mainly in a pomegranate tree, but I could never manage a good photo.




I did a little better with the Barn Swallows that populated the nearby ruins of an ancient pyramid.


While the botanical gardens were very picturesque, the only birds I saw there were Great Kiskadees. One of the Kiskadees seemed puzzled, not to say upset, by its reflection in the gardens' lake.




So, not a good trip as regards birds. However, the Mexicans' love of gardening at least insured that there were plenty of of plants and flowers to look at!







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