Great Plains Birding

Recently, (well actually more like 6 weeks ago) I made a trip back to Nebraska to visit family.  Being from southwestern Nebraska, the most convenient airport to use, is Denver International and then renting a car.  So I took advantage of the time spent driving in northeastern Colorado and checking out a few birding hotspots on my way to Nebraska.  This was the first time that I got to actually enter reports on eBird for the state of Colorado. Of course I hit the area during part of the annual fall migration.  

It is always nice to find a Black-bellied Plover, even if it is not in breeding plumage.  Discovered one at a reservoir along with some other nice shore birds, including Semipalmated Plover, Willet, and Baird's Sandpipers.

 Black-bellied Plover

 Baird's Sandpiper

 Semipalmated Plover

  Semipalmated Plover

Willet

Shorebirds were not the only birds that made their presence known.  I was able to finally capture a decent photo of a Blue Jay.  I have found that they can be a bit skulky and not pose for photos even though they are very noisy.  

Blue Jay

 Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Ring-necked Pheasant

Crossing the state line into Nebraska, gave me some different birds, of which a Sanderling was probably the most unexpected for me. 

 Sanderling

Sanderling

 American Goldfinch

 Ring-billed Gull

  Ring-billed Gull

White-breasted Nuthatch

The worse part of the trip was the fact that we had 3 full days of straight strong southerly winds while in Nebraska.  Wind and birding do not always go hand in hand.  It can make it tough looking for birds, however, a few made it all worthwhile, including a couple of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at the Sunken Gardens in Lincoln, Nebraska.  All the years I have lived in Nebraska and I had never seen a hummingbird of any kind in that state, until now.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

 American Robin

'Yellow-shafted' Northern Flicker

 'Red-shafted' Northern Flicker

Pied-billed Grebe

Black-capped Chickadee

House Wren

Along with all the birds, a few butterflies, insects, and mammals were nice to see and observe.  

 Cabbage White

 Common Checkered-Skipper

Two-striped Grasshopper

 Dainty Sulphur

 Pearl Crescent

 Painted Lady-upper left, Sachem-lower right

Sachem - This was a lifer butterfly for me.

 Clouded Sulphur

Monarch

 Eastern Comma

 Oblique-lined Tiger Beetle

 Oblique-lined Tiger Beetle

Black-tailed Prairie Dog

Black-tailed Prairie Dog

It is always great to explore new locations to see what a person can find in nature.  This world is full of so many wonderful things and they are so fascinating to observe and learn about their lives.

Texas: Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

Day 3 and this time I had decided to visit Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge which is located a bit west of Highway 124 that connects Winnie and High Island.  Then also head south to the Bolivar Penisula and the Bolivar Flats Bird Sanctuary.  This is a huge area with a lot of marshy areas full of reeds, cattails and grasses but also with open areas of water.  One of the nicest assets to this area is the Shoveler Pond Loop; a paved one-way road that is about 2½ miles long around it and there are places to pull over to view and even a boardwalk or two going out into the marsh.  I fell in love with this place and was so glad I took the advice of another Texas birder, Sheridan Coffey, to pay a visit. I liked it so well that I came back the next day as well and found some more special birds and creatures.  But for day number 3, this is a brief synopsis of my findings and most of the photos were taken driving on the Shoveler Pond Loop.

One of my key life birds that I wanted to find on this trip was the Boat-tailed Grackle.  Now that I look back on this idea, I find it was a little absurd.  Not only did I find it, but I got to know it so well that I really became a bit annoyed with it; very common and very obnoxious! Very similar to the Great-tailed Grackles so common in Arizona in appearance and behavior.  Some other birds provided some decent photo opportunities along the way.

Boat-tailed Grackle

Eastern Kingbird

 Marsh Wren

Orchard Oriole

Blue Jay

While driving very slowly along the road, at one point I glanced in my rear view mirror and noticed a strange looking bird cross the road behind me.  I immediately stopped the car and headed back to where I last saw it disappear, which was a small area of grass and shrubs on the edge of the water.  Then it showed itself for a brief moment, (where I tried for photos and failed on the focus part) and when it called, I knew it was a King Rail.  This family of birds can be difficult to see as they tend to be very secretive so it was a great feeling to actually see one even if the photos left a lot to be desired.  This was a life bird I had not expected to see.

King Rail

Yellow-crowned Night Heron was another new addition to my list and I was able to see both adults and juveniles.

 Yellow-crowned Night Heron - adult

Yellow-crowned Night Heron- juvenile

Taking the road south from the visitor's center, I veered off from the paved road to take the road to the boating landing, and along the way, I discovered some more new found 'Common' birds; the Common Nighthawk which has been featured in just about every post from this trip, so here is one more.  This one appears to be sleeping on a post.

Common Nighhawk

Nearby were a pair of Forster's Terns taking a rest on posts.

Forster's Tern

Just as I reached the parking area of the boat dock I happened to see another strange looking bird walking in the grass.  This was my first view of a Clapper Rail and I was stunned to find one in full view and allowing me to take photos.  A bit like the King Rail, they are most generally a secretive and elusive bird.

 Clapper Rail

Clapper Rail

My last photo is one of a Laughing Gull.  This was the most frequently encountered gull during my visit to Texas and are actually probably one of the most smartly dressed gulls there are.

Laughing Gull

After having such a successful visit to Anahuac NWR, I now turned my attention to the Bolivar Penisula and the Bolivar Flats Bird Sanctuary.  This will be covered in the next blog post which will probably be delayed due to assisting in the North America Migratory Bird Count this coming weekend.