The Daily Bird: Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

The Daily Bird: Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Wednesday Wings: Baytown Bald Eagles

Featuring a pair that nested this past spring in Baytown, Texas, just southeast from here (and not far from where I grew up).

In the Bleak Mid-Winter

Okay, so it's a little past "mid-winter," but with all the rain and sleet we've had lately and the temperatures hovering just barely above freezing, I'd say the bleakness wins out.

Luckily, I did catch a break in the steady drizzle long enough to make a run over to Bear Creek Park at lunch. Most of the park is currently closed — due to being underwater at the moment — but I was able to find a few objects of interest lingering on the outskirts of the flooded areas.


Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
This Red-shouldered Hawk was hunkered down against the wet and cold, and nothing and nobody was going to make him move.

On the other hand, there were dozens of warblers flitting about, heedless of the inclement weather conditions.


Pine Warbler (Dendroica pinus)


There were harbingers of the coming spring already in place as well, mobs of robins scouring the soggy green groundcover for sustenance during the cool spell.


American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
And as always, the waders were out and about, treading slowly through the standing floodwater and along the water's edge.


Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

I look forward to the end of this rainy season, to heading back onto the trails at Bear Creek once the water goes down and things dry out just a bit.

Watching the Texas Skies

Just wanted to share a few insights into the ever-changing Texas skies from the past week.

We've gone from clear, almost spring-like deep blue skies ...



... to the beginnings of thunder storms rolling slowly in ...



... to puffy cotton ball clouds in a bright pastel sky ...



... and back to crisp, clear breezy skies that have the birds all awake and ready to soar!


They always say that if you don't like the weather in Houston, just wait a few minutes and it'll change...


For more intriguing images of the skies above our world, check out the SkyWatch Friday home page.

SkyWatch: Hawks and Kites

I've had a couple of really nice raptor encounters this week over at the neighborhood park where I often spend my lunch break. The first happened on Monday, when I sat and watched several Red-tailed Hawks wheeling lazily around the sky and in and out of the treetops. The skies were blue and cloudless, and the day seemed perfect as these noble birds celebrated the warmth and beauty of spring.


(Click any image to enlarge)
Yesterday, I returned to the park just as the storm clouds began moving in for the weekend. After a half hour of watching egrets and herons wading about in the pond and swallows performing their aerial acrobatics all around me, I happened to notice a small group of large birds flying high above.

I pushed my zoom lens to its maximum length and grabbed a few quick shots as they passed straight above me. Even though the picture quality is pretty dismal due to the distance and the bright glare of the overcast sky, I had to share these shots of the newest addition to my life list:




Mississippi Kites (Ictinia mississippiensis)
nearing the end of their spring migratory flight from South America
You just never know what wonders you might find waiting for you in these vast, rich Texas skies!


For more intriguing images of the skies above our world, check out the SkyWatch Friday home page.

San Bernard Revisited

It's been three weeks now since I returned to San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge with three separate memory cards full of photos. I've simply got to work on getting a better turnaround for getting pics downloaded and posted!

(Note: You can click on any of the images in this post to see the full-sized, detailed versions on Flickr.)

The morning sun rose unseen behind a dense fog that had settled in from the coast to well north of Houston, but the weathermen swore it would clear out by mid-day. As luck would have it, the skies had just about cleared by the time I made it to the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory in Lake Jackson, just a couple of miles from the refuge. Stopping over briefly at the GCBO, I started the morning watching cardinals, chickadees and titmice taking turns at the feeders and a tree full of roosting night-herons.


Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea)
By the time I turned down the gravel and dirt road leading into San Bernard, the fog had finally burned off, revealing a beautiful expanse of crisp blue Texas sky chocked full of life.


Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
I started with the drive around Moccasin Pond, which was not quite as crowded as on my previous visit but still had plenty of waterfowl enjoying the spring weather. There were Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers and American Coots aplenty.


While I saw fewer Red-winged Blackbirds than expected, there was an abundance of Boat-tailed Grackles on hand. Males and females alike perched briefly on branches, reeds and roadside posts all along the drive.


Boat-tailed Grackles (Quiscalus major)
I also saw plenty of ibises, with both adults and a few juvenile White Ibis present. The White-faced Ibises were even more numerous than on my last visit, and they seemed especially active and vocal this day.


White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi)
The egret family was well-represented...


Great Egrets (Ardea alba)


Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
... as were the herons.


Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)


Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)


Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor)
There were also a handful of Black-crowned Night-Herons, both adult and juvenile birds that had not yet lost their youthful plumage. The glowing orange of these night-herons' eyes were absolutely stunning.


Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
I have already posted several pictures of the kingfisher, grebes and bitterns that I saw, all of which were especially exciting finds.


American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)
A trio of cormorants rounded out the highlights of the trip. One perched gracefully within fifty feet of my truck, its clear aqua blue eyes keeping a close watch as I crawled slowly by.


There were at least a dozen or so more birds on hand, including gulls, several shorebirds, Tree Swallows, sparrows, kinglets, mockingbirds and cardinals. Plenty of Red Slider turtles, a sleeping snake and a pair of alligators also made appearances. All in all, this was one fantastic outing.

I've uploaded more photos from the trip to my Flickr photostream, in case you haven't had enough. (The first six in that set are from my previous visit to San Bernard, all others are from the more recent trip.)

SkyWatch Friday #34

Yesterday's sunrise in Houston was almost completely obscured by the dense cloud cover, with only a few scattered rays peeking through the gray.

(Click any image to view full-sized)
But as the morning progressed, the sun let loose, scattering the clouds and clearing the Texas skies for a gorgeous near-spring day. Who could help but soar through the heavens when you've got such beautiful blues like this?

By sunset, only enough wisps of clouds lingered above to help paint the horizon with the golden fires of evening. What a perfect way to end the day!



For more intriguing images of the skies above our world, check out the SkyWatch Friday home page.

Stymied Again!

Help! Help! Somebody, help!

Okay, so I'm flaunting my newbie ignorance once again, but here goes. I recently saw this beautiful hawk in flight, waaaaaaaaaaaay over across a field, and I snapped a few quick shots before he ducked out of sight.

The primary problem is, my first onsite attempt at identifying him went way astray once I had a chance to look at the pictures. My first guess was a Swainson's Hawk (mostly due to size, the light belly and patch between the wings and tail, and also due to the location). But once I compared my shot to other images I could find of Swainson'ses (Swainsons'?), it didn't look like the same bird.


Please click to see larger image

Second problem: that was the only one of my quickly snapped shots that was even close to decent. The rest were a lot more like to this one (which I include here only because it at least sort of shows the coloration of the tail and wings):


One of these days maybe you guys will be able to learn me my birds. In the meantime... help?

UPDATE: For those few who (like me) didn't know, it turns out I found me a female Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus), also known as a "Marsh Hawk." (White rump = Harrier. Gotta remember that!)

Thanks so much to my quick responders / teachers (Dawn, Kathie and Susan) for the help on this one! I'm learning, guys! Slowly, but I'm a'learning.

Lunch at Bear Creek

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day at the office, as is normal for the week between Christmas and New Year's. And since the few hearty souls who were there all had diverse lunch plans, I snuck out at noon for a quick jaunt over to Bear Creek Park.

I figured it was a good sign when I saw my first notable before I even got there. This hawk was perched atop a telephone pole just north of the park, and I snapped a quick shot through the truck window while I waited for the light to turn green.


Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
When I reached Bear Creek Park I found the playground areas quite busy, but the rest of the park was almost empty. I picked a quiet area alongside Langham Creek and headed out. The trees and underbrush were busy with warblers (basically unidentifiable with no binocs and my limited ID-ing skills), cardinals and chickadees.


Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
Walking along the edge of the creek, I found mockingbirds, more chickadees, and this busy little Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), who just refused to sit still long enough for me to get a better picture.


(Click on any image to view a larger version)
As the creek turned away from the clearing to double back into the trees, I came upon a stand of sycamore trees, bare except for their seed balls and peeling bark.


There was activity going on high up in those branches, but it took a few minutes to finally spot just exactly who it was that kept hopping around from trunk to branch and tree to tree. Unfortunately, this fellow was also too shy (or maybe just too hungry?) to let me get a better shot.


Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
All in all, it was a good outing, if abbreviated. Final list of (identified) birds for this trip:

• Red-shouldered Hawk
• Great Egret
• Common Grackle
• Carolina Chickadee
• Eastern Phoebe
• Northern Cardinal
• Black Vulture
• Northern Mockingbird
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• American Crow

Commuter Hawks, part 2

As I posted yesterday, I happened upon an exciting opportunity on my way to work last Friday morning: a pair of red-shouldered hawks hunting in a nearby field.

Leaving for home that afternoon, I decided I would swing by that same location — just in the off chance that I might get so lucky again. And as I turned down the two-lane road, my hopes were rewarded. Perched atop a streetlight across the way was the unmistakable outline of a large hawk.

Driving slowly up from behind the dark figure, silhouetted by the late afternoon sun, I first assumed it was one of the hawks I had watched earlier that day. I quickly started looking around for his mate. But as I turned a corner and got a good look at his profile, my mouth fell open in surprise and excitement. It was immediately obvious that this was a different breed altogether!

Red-shouldered Hawk from morning

afternoon hawk — totally different!

Considering that only that very morning I'd had my first opportunity ever to photograph a hawk in the "wild," and here I had found my second hawk the very same afternoon... Well, "excitement" doesn't begin to describe my feelings.

But what kind of hawk was this new fellow?


Moving past his manmade perch, I was able to turn around and get some better shots of this beautiful raptor.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

The pale reddish streaks on his bib and the barbed streaks on his undersides had me guessing. Wrong coloring for a Swainson's hawk. Wrong shape for a Sharpie. Too big for a Broad-winged Hawk. Hmm... could it be?


After about ten minutes of ignoring my quiet admiration, he suddenly launched from his metal roost and my suspicions were immediately confirmed.


Bingo! Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).


Okay, so it was probably painfully obvious to most from the very first picture. But give me a break — I'm still pretty new at this!