Texas: The End

As my last day was quickly going to come to an end, I made one last visit to High Island.  The winds had changed direction and I was hoping that some more warblers might be dropping in that afternoon.  The Anahuac NWR has a much smaller areas known as the Skillern Tract about 7 miles east of the main location and it was on the way to High Island so I decided to make a quick stop to see what I could find and very glad I did as I picked up 2 new life birds in a short amount of time.  These 2 new birds were Couch's Kingbird and Red-bellied Woodpecker.  Neither one of them sat still for any length of time, so the photos were slim, but still good enough for an ID.

 Couch's Kingbird

Red-bellied Woodpecker

After about 40 minutes in this location, I continued on to High Island.  Once again started at Boy Scout Woods to see what new birds were being seen.  While watched the drip area a Brown Thrasher made an appearance.  This was another bird that I can recall from many years back in Nebraska, but this time I got to capture a couple of photos.  They appear to love mulberries as well as the Gray Catbirds.

Brown Thrasher

Next up was a Philadelphia Vireo and another new life bird.  Took me a while to finally convince myself that I had identified this bird correctly, but the black line from the base of the bill through and beyond the rear of the eye was the key field mark.  And down in the muddy area below the vireo was a Northern Waterthrush.

Philadelphia Vireo

Northern Waterthrush

From the main entrance, I headed down the path to another pond with a drip set up and as I was walking the pathway I caught a glimpse of a small bird foraging in the leaves in some deep brush and I was kind of dumbfounded because I did not think I would find an Ovenbird on my own.  Always thought this was a bird that I was going to need some help in finding and it has been high on my list for a long time.  Well it got my attention and I followed it for some time trying to get photos as it foraged in the deep shade of the trees.

 Ovenbird

 Ovenbird

Ovenbird

Finally I left Boy Scout Woods and headed to Smith Oaks where I spent the last of my time.  Visited the rookery one last time and got a photo of a Great Egret with babies.  Also found a Blue Grosbeak male nearby as well.  At Don's Drip in Smith Oaks I sat there for about 15 minutes with about 4 others watching the drip for anything and not finding anything.  But I looked up and into the distance quickly found a bird I recognized from Arizona, an Olive-sided Flycatcher, which I quickly pointed out to the others that were sitting there.  

 Great Egret with chicks

 Blue Grosbeak

Olive-sided Flycatcher

I suppose the Olive-sided Flycatcher was the sign that it was time to think about heading back to my suite and start the packing process.  Probably good I left when I did, as my rental car had developed a slow leak in the right front tire.  I got back to Wnnie in time to get it repaired so I did not have a flat tire in the morning which probably would have made me miss my flight back to AZ.  Great place to visit for birding and I definitely want to go back and maybe catch some of the birds I missed.  However, there are many more places to visit as well.  If I had the time and the funds I would plan a trip like this at least once a month.  

Adios to Texas for now; next visit to Texas, will probably be the Lower Rio Grande River Valley.

Texas: 2nd Day, Part 2

Too many birds in one day to include all in one post, so this second part is going to focus more on waterbirds and another previously mentioned bird.  At noon, the Houston Audubon Society had another field trip and this one took us to the actual Gulf Coast and some great water birds.  First stop was Rollover Pass and the first birds we found up close and personal, were some Ruddy Turnstones.  This is one gorgeous shorebird and can really stand out in a crowd of other shorebirds.  We were so close we could see the awesome coloration of the legs and feet.  Love the black lines on the feet and the black 'knees'.

Ruddy Turnstone

Additional shorebirds included Black-bellied Plover and Wilson's Plover.    

Black-bellied Plover

Wilson's Plover

We had a total of 7 species of terns at this location, plus a Black Skimmer and of course some gulls and a few other shorebirds.  All of them were resting quite comfortably on the sand bar until an unexpected Broad-winged Hawk decided to make a brief appearance in the sky and that created pandemonium with all the birds taking flight but to return very shortly after the hawk disappeared.  

 Various terns

 Royal Tern

Broad-winged Hawk

At one brief stop near the shore, we had another 'Common' Nighthawk sitting on the ground.  Having never seen this species before this trip, now I had seen one the day before in flight, one in the morning at High Island on a wire, and now a third one resting on the ground in broad daylight.  (Be prepared to see more on a couple future posts as this was not the end of seeing this very unique bird.)

Common Nighthawk

So now back to High Island and this time my focus was to check out the rookery in Smith Oaks Woods in the afternoon.  This spot is a photographer's dream in late afternoon in spring with all the nesting and breeding birds.  They have built some great platforms that gives photographers great viewing with an abundance of subjects for your photography skills.  Here is a sampling of what I was able to capture.

 Cattle Egret

 Great Egret with chicks

Neotropic Cormorant with chicks

 Purple Gallinule

 Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron

 Roseate Spoonbill

 Roseate Spoonbill on nest with egg

Roseate Spoonbill

By the time this day had come to a close for me and my birding I had added a total of 15 new life birds.  Some were not photograph-able, but I did get some good looks at some.  When birding with a group, photos are always not going to happen as it is quite enjoyable to let others see these birds as well.  List for the day includes; Dickcissel, Tri-colored heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Broad-winged Hawk, Tennessee Warbler, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Red-eyed Vireo, Ovenbird, Golden-winged Warbler, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Hooded Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler.  Not a bad day at all.  

A 'Wedgie"???

Had a day of birding that was wedged between 2 CBC's, and could not think of a better name than a 'Wedgie'.  On my previous posts I covered the CBC in Carefree on January 2nd and also the CBC in Payson on January 4th, and that day in the middle, January 3rd, just happened to be another day of birding on my own.  I started the day out early at the Gilbert Riparian Water Preserve and finished the day in Payson, Arizona. 

 

I had not been to the Gilbert 'Water Ranch' for sometime and I got there early and as the sun rose in the southeast, it enhanced the photography opportunities much more than I could have hoped for.  This is a magical place for photographers and the birds.  I arrived just a few minutes before the 200+ Canada Geese took flight and they took off in small flocks, some before the sun arrived, and some after the sunlight washed everything in a warm gold tone.  Obviously, my photo came later instead of earlier!

 

Canada Goose

 

A stop at Pond 5 was where I ran into another Facebook birder friend, Pam Barnhart and some birds that really did not care that we were standing on the side of the pond and they practically attempted to get as close as possible to us, almost like 'Pick me, Pick me!' for our photos, specifically, American Avocet, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great-tailed Grackle, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, and of course the elegant Northern Pintail.  In fact a Great Egret was so close, that my zoom lens could only focus on its head!

 

 

 American Avocet

 

 Black-crowned Night Heron

 

 Great Egret - close up

 

 Great-tailed Grackle

 

Green-winged Teal

 

 Mallard

 

Northern Pintail

 

Other birds that presented themselves well, were Anna's Hummingbird, Red-winged Blackbird, and the European Starling, which is a much despised bird by many people since it is not a native species to the United States.  But one does have to admit that their iridescent plumage does have a bit of a wow factor to it.

 

 Anna's Hummingbird

 

 European Starling

 

Red-winged Blackbird

 

After returning home and packing the car I headed for Payson so I could be there early on Saturday morning for the CBC.  On the road up, I decided to make a stop at Sunflower a favorite birding spot in the summer.  This place was practically overrun by American Robins.  Growing up in Nebraska, these birds were always a good omen every spring as the winter started to fade.  In Arizona, they are a winter resident except in the northern and higher elevations where they also breed in the summer.

 

American Robin

 

Another winter resident that we see lot in the lower elevations is the Dark-eyed Junco.  Technically, this species is made up of several sub-species and they can and do hybridize from time to time.  The various sub-species can be a bit tricky for those that are interested in identifying them, and I have seen at least 5 of the sub-species in Arizona, but after this visit to Sunflower, I can add a 6th sub-species to the list.  My first reaction at seeing this bird, was to quickly ID it as an 'Oregon' Dark-eyed Junco, but when I started looking at my photos at home, I quickly decided it was not quite right for an 'Oregon'.  A few posts on some Facebook ID pages and the general consensus came back that this was a 'Cassiar' Dark-eyed-Junco.  From what I have read, it is a hybridized bird of the Oregon and the Slate-colored sub-species and it breeds primarily in Alberta, British Columbia and as far north as Alaska, so finding one in Arizona is a bit unusual.

 

'Cassiar' Dark-eyed Junco

 

To finish out my day of birding, I stopped in Payson at their ponds and actually had a good time with some birds there as well.  Birds included a quizzical female Brewer's Blackbird, a Song Sparrow, a vocal female Redhead, and just before leaving an adult Bald Eagle high on the ridge above surveying the entire scene below.

 

 Brewer's Blackbird - female

 

 Song Sparrow

 

 Redhead - Female

 

Redhead - Female

 

Bald Eagle

 

An overall great day of birding with a lot of different habitats and different birds in each place.  This was a day that will not soon be forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tres Rios Wetlands - 16 Dec 2012

Ellen and I were supposed to take part in a CBC (Christmas Bird Count) in Payson, AZ this past weekend and due to snow in the Payson area, it got postponed, so instead we opted to go out to Tres Rios Wetlands once again and walk the entire 2½ miles out and back for a 5 mile hike to see what we might find.  This place is an amazing spot for birding with lots of birds everywhere you look.  We had only been there about 10 minutes when some birding friends also arrived and joined us in our walk, Scott and Fonda Christopher.

 

On this trip, the Sora was probably our best showing bird.  It is a bird of the marshes and spends most of its time in the reeds and rushes and are more often heard than seen.  Of all the Rails, it is probably the one seen most often, but even then, they are usually quite secretive and do not often make themselves visible.  On this day we had 2 of them put on quite a show for the 4 of us and we all observed their nervous habit of flicking its tail.  It was fun to be able to capture some photos of these birds.

 

 Sora

 

Sora

 

With such a diverse amount of bird life in this place, it was not hard to find more birds to photograph.  Other birds that were quite plentiful were Song Sparrows, Marsh Wrens, and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  We also found a couple of Loggerhead Shrikes, which are always an exciting bird to find and watch as they perch out in the open looking for their next meal, almost like a miniature raptor!

 

 Song Sparrow

 

 Marsh Wren

 

 'Audubon's' Yellow-rumped Warbler

 

Loggerhead Shrike

 

And just to add challenge to the photography, of course I had to try my hand at 'in-flight' shots of some of the birds that were constantly on the wing.  These included 2 Osprey, (1 with its catch of the day and 1 in search of its catch of the day), a Northern Harrier, constantly soaring low over the area in search of a meal, and another American White Pelican.  This is one of the best places to find this species in Arizona.  We saw over 50 of these birds in the sky over Tres Rios that day.  This pelican has a wing span of about 9 feet so they are very impressive when flying over.

 

 Osprey

 

 Osprey

 

 Northern Harrier

 

American White Pelican

 

The water birds include the Common Gallinule (an adult and also two juveniles) and a male Cinnamon Teal, which is one of the best looking waterfowl in Arizona.  Also had a Great Egret fly onto the road where we were walking, so it appears just a little out of its element, which of course is the water.

 

 Common Gallinule- adult

 

 Common Gallinule-juvenile

 

Cinnamon Teal

 

Great Egret

 

And to keep things interesting, we did see a small herd of Javalina running on the other road and they were not stopping, so the best I got was a rear end fading into the foliage.  Always nice to try to add a photo of something other than an avian species.

 

Javalina

 

What a great day the 4 of us had.  We did miss a couple of birds we were looking for, but the cooperative Soras made up for our misses.  Thanks to Ellen, Fonda and Scott for making it a great outing!