Great winter birds

A new year, lots of birds to see! 

Today I stopped in a park in Bellaire Tx (a city surrounded by Houston).  Lots of great birds there, including this Wilson's Warbler.

 This little Calliope hummingbird was sticking out its tongue!

 There were at least 3 of these Rufous hummingbirds in the park!

 This one I am still not sure as to the id - either Rufous or perhaps a Broad-tailed hummingbird.

Whoops, how did these gulls get in here?  This is from my backyard, every afternoon there is a flyover of several hundred  Ringbilled gulls. Today I noticed one was much larger so it must be a Herring Gull.

Yesterday I went to Anahuac NWR where some swans had been seen a few days ago - I didn't see the swans but did find a Vermillion Flycatcher,

 and this White Crowned sparrow.

 This red tailed hawk was fussing at me I think!

There were thousands of geese at the refuge - mostly Snow Geese and a few Greater White fronted geese.

 I shot a video of this, which is below at the end of the post.  It was amazing to see and hear.

 The goose next to the mallard may be a Ross as it is small.

 This Brown Pelican looked a little too comfy on this pier.

 Is this bird regal or what!

 Back closer to home, I am doing a personal challenge to see how many birds I can find this year within a 7.5 mile radius of my home.  I found Black Bellied Whistling ducks.

This is a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker in a park near my house.

 I like the Eastern Phoebe's song.

Any day with an Eastern Bluebird is a great day.

 This Yellow-rumped Warbler was really looking cute.

Savannah sparrows really are beautiful birds.

 I thought I had discovered a new species here but I guess it was just a bad camera setting.

Green winged teals are in my local patch too.

Kind of rude for the gadwalls to moon everyone!

 Ruddy ducks in my patch!

 I never knew Coots were afraid of the water.

 Orange Crowned Warbler in my yard!

Anyway, I am having fun, burning up camera batteries and learning!  By the way I have 66 birds in the local patch, so far - and 90 for the year .  This is the best start I have ever had, so who knows what the year will bring?

Here is a short video taken with my iphone of what Anahuac NWR looked and sounded like.  I will definitely head back there soon.

A few birds from Galveston

Had fun last Friday taking some dear folks to see the ocean for the first time...so we headed to the Bolivar Ferry in Galveston.  I was surprised to find a Ruddy Turnstone also hitching a ride on it!

He sure is a cutie!

As usual, lots of birds follow the ferry so you can get some decent pictures of Herring Gulls, 

Forster's terns, 

and Brown Pelicans dodging all the Laughing Gulls.

I really love the detail on these Brown Pelicans.

Back on land, I noticed a huge "conspiracy" of Black Skimmers...hundreds of them, 

until some kid's dog ran up and chased them   :-( 

Over on the beach I found a Ring billed Gull,

Notice the tiny Sanderling...

 

Here is what Ruddy Turnstone's are supposed to be doing, foraging on sand for food.

Hmmm, I think this is a juvenile Ring Billed Gull.

I need to spend more time down here and hope to in the near future.