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Monday, April 16, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Visiting an old friend
.Last weekend a cousin from Utah came to stay with us for a few days. As she isn't very familiar with this part of the world, we decided to take her to Brazos Bend State Park. We've been there so many times that it feels almost like an old friend - and it never disappoints us or any visitor that we take there. We were hoping to show to give our guest close-up views of alligators - and I was hoping that the park would produce one of my favorite Texas birds, the beautiful Purple Gallinule.
As we turned into the entrance road, we noticed that the park now has a new sign.
After seeing the sign, the first priority for our cousin was naturally to see an alligator. So we walked down to 40 Acre Lake and almost immediately spotted a medium-sized gator posing on a log.
A couple of minutes later we passed - in our cousin's case rather nervously - another medium-sized gator lying by the side of the path.
The walk around the lake produced ten more alligators and it also turned up plenty of birds.
The trees by the trail were attracting male Red-winged Blackbirds, who were busy singing for mates.
The sky overhead was criss-crossed by Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, White Ibis and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks while the edge of the lake had numerous American Coots.
There were also lots of Common Gallinules, until recently called Common Moorhen.
A few Pied-billed Grebes were swimming and diving.
A Green Heron was too secretive to photograph but a Black-crowned Night Heron was less concerned by our presence.
A few yards further along the path we came across a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
Then we saw our fifth heron species of the day, a Little Blue Heron.
By the time we reached the observation tower we still hadn't seen a Purple Gallinule. However, we had gone only a few yards down the path towards Elm Lake when one appeared in the marshland to our left. Purple Gallinules normally wander along quite slowly when they are feeding but this one was positively hurrying, moving quite literally in leaps and bounds.
Having seen more than enough to satisfy our guest, we headed to Elm Lake to have a mini-picnic before driving home. Since it was Easter Sunday, the Elm Lake section of the park was crowded with families enjoying lunch at the picnic tables and on the grass. Every parking space was taken but we managed to squeeze in among the scores of cars parked by the roadside. While Dee and our cousin had a quick tailgate lunch, I strolled down to the lake.
Faced with so many human visitors, most of the lake's birds had retreated far out into the water. A few Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were the exception.
As usual, our visit to the park had been very enjoyable and we had seen a range of interesting birds. We must remember to come back in a couple of months, though, when we'll be able to enjoy watching the Coots and Gallinules raising their chicks.
.
As we turned into the entrance road, we noticed that the park now has a new sign.
After seeing the sign, the first priority for our cousin was naturally to see an alligator. So we walked down to 40 Acre Lake and almost immediately spotted a medium-sized gator posing on a log.
A couple of minutes later we passed - in our cousin's case rather nervously - another medium-sized gator lying by the side of the path.
The walk around the lake produced ten more alligators and it also turned up plenty of birds.
The trees by the trail were attracting male Red-winged Blackbirds, who were busy singing for mates.
The sky overhead was criss-crossed by Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, White Ibis and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks while the edge of the lake had numerous American Coots.
There were also lots of Common Gallinules, until recently called Common Moorhen.
A few Pied-billed Grebes were swimming and diving.
A Green Heron was too secretive to photograph but a Black-crowned Night Heron was less concerned by our presence.
A few yards further along the path we came across a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
Then we saw our fifth heron species of the day, a Little Blue Heron.
By the time we reached the observation tower we still hadn't seen a Purple Gallinule. However, we had gone only a few yards down the path towards Elm Lake when one appeared in the marshland to our left. Purple Gallinules normally wander along quite slowly when they are feeding but this one was positively hurrying, moving quite literally in leaps and bounds.
Having seen more than enough to satisfy our guest, we headed to Elm Lake to have a mini-picnic before driving home. Since it was Easter Sunday, the Elm Lake section of the park was crowded with families enjoying lunch at the picnic tables and on the grass. Every parking space was taken but we managed to squeeze in among the scores of cars parked by the roadside. While Dee and our cousin had a quick tailgate lunch, I strolled down to the lake.
Faced with so many human visitors, most of the lake's birds had retreated far out into the water. A few Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were the exception.
As usual, our visit to the park had been very enjoyable and we had seen a range of interesting birds. We must remember to come back in a couple of months, though, when we'll be able to enjoy watching the Coots and Gallinules raising their chicks.
.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Nearer Home
.Saturday morning I made the short drive up to Kleb Woods, hoping to see migrating songbirds. After an hour I had seen only a couple of warblers and so I drove to the northern section of the woods to look for the Great Horned Owls that are nesting there.
There are two owlets but only one of them seemed to be standing up and looking around.
Then I noticed that the other had already ventured out of the nest.
Back at home, I cleaned and refilled a hummingbird feeder and hung it up in the front yard. It took less than five minutes for it to attract its first visitor. However, the latter wasn't a hummingbird but rather a male House Finch.
We have seen hardly any House Finches in our yards over the winter but a small group has now returned. They're always very welcome.
While I was weeding, I glanced up and was surprised to see three Anhingas circling high overhead. That was a new bird for our yard list.
Now that the drought has ended in our area, our yards are coming back to life and many plants that we thought were dead are growing again. With the arrival of spring, Anoles have re-emerged in larger numbers than we have ever seen before. Most of them are bright green but we occasionally see one that is brown.
Several years ago we put in a couple of passionflower plants in the hope that they would attract egg-laying Gulf Fritillary butterflies. Very few Fritillaries ever appeared and even fewer laid eggs. However, the passionflowers have flourished over the past few weeks and the butterflies have been busy. So now we have a score or more Fritillary caterpillars munching their way through the plants' leaves.
At least a couple of the insects have already changed into pupae.
With any luck we'll get to see the amazing transformation of some of the pupae into butterflies over the coming weeks.
.
There are two owlets but only one of them seemed to be standing up and looking around.
Then I noticed that the other had already ventured out of the nest.
Back at home, I cleaned and refilled a hummingbird feeder and hung it up in the front yard. It took less than five minutes for it to attract its first visitor. However, the latter wasn't a hummingbird but rather a male House Finch.
We have seen hardly any House Finches in our yards over the winter but a small group has now returned. They're always very welcome.
While I was weeding, I glanced up and was surprised to see three Anhingas circling high overhead. That was a new bird for our yard list.
Now that the drought has ended in our area, our yards are coming back to life and many plants that we thought were dead are growing again. With the arrival of spring, Anoles have re-emerged in larger numbers than we have ever seen before. Most of them are bright green but we occasionally see one that is brown.
Several years ago we put in a couple of passionflower plants in the hope that they would attract egg-laying Gulf Fritillary butterflies. Very few Fritillaries ever appeared and even fewer laid eggs. However, the passionflowers have flourished over the past few weeks and the butterflies have been busy. So now we have a score or more Fritillary caterpillars munching their way through the plants' leaves.
At least a couple of the insects have already changed into pupae.
With any luck we'll get to see the amazing transformation of some of the pupae into butterflies over the coming weeks.
.
Monday, April 09, 2012
Galveston
.
After spending a little time at Bolivar Flats, we headed west to catch the ferry to Galveston. The port area didn't have any Ruddy Turnstones but it did have a few White Pelicans.
As our time was very limited, I decided to focus on Sportsman Road because it almost always has White Ibis and Tricolored Heron, two birds that we hadn't yet seen. Sure enough, we almost immediately came across White Ibis grazing by the roadside.
We had great views of a Reddish Egret, too.
A Red-breasted Merganser wasn't pleased to see us but was a nice addition to our list.
Then, just as I was starting to abandon hope, we were lucky and spotted a Tricolored Heron, looking splendid in its breeding colors.
We never got to see a Turnstone but a Greater Yellowlegs consoled us by putting on a bathing display.
.
After spending a little time at Bolivar Flats, we headed west to catch the ferry to Galveston. The port area didn't have any Ruddy Turnstones but it did have a few White Pelicans.
As our time was very limited, I decided to focus on Sportsman Road because it almost always has White Ibis and Tricolored Heron, two birds that we hadn't yet seen. Sure enough, we almost immediately came across White Ibis grazing by the roadside.
We had great views of a Reddish Egret, too.
A Red-breasted Merganser wasn't pleased to see us but was a nice addition to our list.
Then, just as I was starting to abandon hope, we were lucky and spotted a Tricolored Heron, looking splendid in its breeding colors.
.
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Back to High Island
.
On Thursday I took a day's vacation to drive a colleague's dad around some birding sites.
Our first main stop was at the rookery at High Island. As on Sunday, the main birds there were Great Egrets, Neotropic Cormorants and Roseate Spoonbills.
However, this time there were also several Anhingas, including a female and male perched near each other on a snag.
Sunday's large alligator in the parking area had moved on but a 3-foot youngster had taken its place.
After the rookery we tagged along with the noon guided bird tour of Bolivar, stopping first at Rollover Pass. As usual, the birding was excellent and this time most of the birds were on the beach rather than further away on sandbars.
The most numerous species was probably Black Skimmer.
Mixed in with the Skimmers, Terns, Short-billed Dowitchers, Marbled Godwits and American Oystercatchers were Laughing Gulls.
A pinkish reflection in the water resolved itself into the pink breast a Franklin's Gull in breeding plumage.
A Black-bellied Plover and a Wilson's Plover scuttled around on the sand.
Some Willets, a Yellowlegs and a Dunlin wandered nearby.
A small flock of American Avocets fished in the shallows.
The next stop was the shorebird sanctuary on Bolivar Flats. Among the comparatively few birds here were several Reddish Egrets, busy fishing in the shallows.
We left the group at the flats while we headed west to the Bolivar ferry and Galveston Island. There were still a few species I wanted my companion to see, including White Ibis, Rocky Turnstone and Tricolored Heron. Surely we would spot these if we drove along Sportsman Road!
.
On Thursday I took a day's vacation to drive a colleague's dad around some birding sites.
Our first main stop was at the rookery at High Island. As on Sunday, the main birds there were Great Egrets, Neotropic Cormorants and Roseate Spoonbills.
However, this time there were also several Anhingas, including a female and male perched near each other on a snag.
Sunday's large alligator in the parking area had moved on but a 3-foot youngster had taken its place.
After the rookery we tagged along with the noon guided bird tour of Bolivar, stopping first at Rollover Pass. As usual, the birding was excellent and this time most of the birds were on the beach rather than further away on sandbars.
The most numerous species was probably Black Skimmer.
Mixed in with the Skimmers, Terns, Short-billed Dowitchers, Marbled Godwits and American Oystercatchers were Laughing Gulls.
A pinkish reflection in the water resolved itself into the pink breast a Franklin's Gull in breeding plumage.
A Black-bellied Plover and a Wilson's Plover scuttled around on the sand.
Some Willets, a Yellowlegs and a Dunlin wandered nearby.
A small flock of American Avocets fished in the shallows.
The next stop was the shorebird sanctuary on Bolivar Flats. Among the comparatively few birds here were several Reddish Egrets, busy fishing in the shallows.
We left the group at the flats while we headed west to the Bolivar ferry and Galveston Island. There were still a few species I wanted my companion to see, including White Ibis, Rocky Turnstone and Tricolored Heron. Surely we would spot these if we drove along Sportsman Road!
.
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