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.  

Glendale Recharge Ponds--15 Sept 2012

Migration time is here and if one is serious about seeing some different birds, one must get out and check out some of the regular hot spots to see what might be passing through.  Ellen joined me once again and I wanted to check out the Glendale Recharge Ponds again to see if one of the local rarities might still be hanging around, a Roseate Spoonbill.  This is bird that is most seen as a regular species along the gulf coastal areas of Texas and Florida.  Occasionally, it seems that a juvenile gets off course somewhere and ventures into the desert of the American Southwest.  A juvenile showed up at the Glendale Recharge Ponds back in 2010 and hung around for a few months, but did not spend all of its time at the ponds but further west in the valley in the Buckeye/Arlington area.  This new one first appeared in August of this year and had been seen off and on by several birders in the few weeks since it was first spotted.  When we arrived at the Ponds, we were surprised to find another couple of birders that we know very well, Keith and Lindsey Story.  So we ended up being a four-some and we counted well over 45 species on this adventure. 

 

As we were checking the ponds, sure enough the target bird came flying in and landed at the southern end of the pond to our south.  We were getting really good views of it through Lindsey's scope (thank you Lindsey!) when it decided to take to the air and it headed right in our direction and flew over us giving us one of the best views I had ever seen of this unusual but gorgeous bird.  It landed in the pond just to north of us and I got photos of the fly-over and also in the water.  Definitely a rare bird for Arizona.

 Roseate Spoonbill

 

 Roseate Spoonbill

 

Roseate Spoonbill

 

The first bird that I actually photographed that day was a Green Heron that thought it was hiding from us under a clump of grass.

 

Green Heron

 



Also making the rounds looking for fish was an Osprey, which had found a perch on an electrical pole and looks like it was having a 'bad hair day', but in reality was just dealing with the wind.

Osprey

 

As we worked our way to the west side of the ponds toward the riparian area of the Agua Fria river, we came upon this Roseate Skimmer.  Not too many creatures with the word 'Roseate' in their name, but we found 2 at the same place on the same day. 

 

Roseate Skimmer

 

We also found many Wilson's Phalaropes busy feasting, but I have decided to feature them in a separate post as they are one of the most enjoyable water water birds to observe.  Another bird that had been reported at this location recently was a Marbled Godwit, with a bad leg.  This was the bird that Lindsey had come to try and find as it would be a new life bird for her.  We searched and searched, but could not find it.  Then as we stopped and were visiting a couple of biker riders, we heard Lindsey remark, 'I got it!'  Sure enough, she had found it in her scope.  We got some good views of it along the water's edge and also flying and we could clearly see that it did have something wrong with its right leg.  My photo shows that the right leg is bent backwards as if it is severely dis-jointed or possibly broken.  We have no idea what might have happened to it, but it is a sad feeling to see a bird handicapped like this. It hobbles arond on one leg when working the shoreline feeding, but when it has to fly, it has no trouble at all.  Really going to be a tough life for it and its survival rate is definitely in question.

 

Marbled Godwit

 



Our visit to the look over into the riparian area added several species of birds, many of them too far away for photos, but we did see a couple of Greater Roadrunners, and although they were quite a distance away, I did capture a good enough photo of one to post in this edition of my blog.  Always a fun bird to find and observe.

Greater Roadrunner

 

Going to have to go back to this place as there are a couple of other species out there that I missed on this trip.