San Jacinto Monument

Today was just a beautiful day to get out and enjoy the cooler weather. I headed out to the San Jacinto Battleground to check out the birds. A Little Gull had been reported there, and sure enough it was out there with a Ruddy Duck, dwarfed by the massive White Pelican.
It had beautiful wing markings.
Hope it can find food as it is obviously very lost!
I loved the way the White Pelicans swim and feed like a synchronized swim team.
How can something so big (may be over 9' wingspan!) fly so effortlessly?
This Little Gull is just the tiniest thing. It was a delight to see!
Along the edge of the road, one can find Yellow-rumped Warblers.
This is a first winter Yellow-rumped Warbler. Very lovely!
On to the ponds, and the Eared Grebes! This one was very busy feeding, it would come up just for a moment then disappear!

There were several Orange Crowned Warblers flitting around in the thickets.
I think this is a Lesser Scaup, with a squarish head.
The Ruddy Ducks were the most abundant bird in the water today.
Seems that there is always a Kestrel near the marsh area!
I was excited to get fairly close to the American Avocets. What an amazing bird!
It uses the bill to sweep back and forth through vegetation to find food.
The only trouble with fall birding is that it gets dark too early... but with the sun low on the horizon you can have the Great Egret spotlighted. Today was such fun!

Enjoying sparrows and other birds

Yesterday I was dodging rain, hail and tornados in a state with an extreme drought....go figure! I started at El Franco Lee, enjoyed watching both the blue and green winged teal scatter when a Harrier got too close! (I would too). It is beautiful to watch the whole group take off.There were several loggerhead shrike around the marsh.
The yellow-rumped warblers have returned in force!
Here is the Texas state bird enjoying a feeding frenzy.
There were a few Vesper Sparrows foraging on the ground. They have great camouflage.

The colors in the Savannah sparrows seemed extra brilliant.
Watch out for the Cooper's Hawk!
No these are not lovebirds, they are a pair of Crested Caracaras. (UGH)
Off to the San Jacinto Monument to find a Ruddy duck!
See how much bigger the White Pelicans are than the Brown!

October birding

I am sure enjoying the cool weather (in the 70's)... so I had to go birding! I found a piping plover down in Galveston.The fish inside this Reddish Egret's mouth is saying "You think you are having a bad day?"
The Snowy Egret is one of my favorite birds!
Here is a Marbled Godwit.
In a Houston park I found a hungry Vermilion Flycatcher.
American Kestrels were patrolling the marsh.
Here is an out of range Say's Phoebe, the first in the county!
Back to Galveston, here is an interesting sequence I digiscoped of a Red-tailed Hawk.

Birding amidst a mosquito plague

We have been experiencing a mosquito plague of biblical proportions but one can still go birding if armed with deet spray and gloves. So I went to a local marsh and found it teeming with birds as well. This Northern Harrier was on patrol.

There is a tiny Least Sandpiper here in front of the Killdeer.
Nothing like a squadron of Teals - Blue-winged and Green-winged.

The Eastern Phoebee's were enjoying all the bugs!
The Snipes are perfectly camouflaged!
Look closely for the 2 types of teals.
Here is the amazing Snipe taking off.
A Merlin was perched out in the distance.
I wasn't expecting to see the Red Shouldered Hawk near the marsh.
Lots of Snipes today.
What funny little guys!
Hmmm. Off on another distant post was this American Kestrel.
Well, not for long.
Nice bird!

Seems like the Snipes would come out of the woodwork.
The Cattle Egret's were eyeing me!
It was a nice way to spend the afternoon!

wild here in Oklahoma

A quick post.... woa, just before a cold front came through, birds and bugs were foraging like crazy. This is the Giant Red-headed Centipede, trying to make its way into the garage. It is venomous and very aggressive. Did I mention it was maybe 7" long??!?!?@?!?@?The same evening I thought my brother was teasing me when he said there was a tarantula in the road... but sure enough there was a tarantula crossing the road. NOW HE TELLS ME that they migrate in Oklahoma. This was the most impressive spider I have ever seen (just when you thought it was safe to go in the street...)