Catch of the Day

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Taken over Burnett Bay at the Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas.

Soaring High

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Taken on Tri-City Beach Rd in Baytown, Texas.

#200

Last Saturday was an odd day, with nothing on the calendar until late morning. So I took advantage of the free morning, sneaked out of the house before the sun came up and headed for Bear Creek Park. My mission: the Rusty Blackbirds and Purple Finches that had been reported there for the past two weeks.

I arrived not long after the park gates were opened and began checking the reported hot spots. Maybe it was the temperature (I know 28F is nothing compared to what many of you tolerate every winter, but down here that's almost unheard of!), or maybe the recent lack of rain, or maybe just the luck of the draw, but there was not a single rusty or finch to be found.

Not that the morning was completely birdless. There were handfuls of crows and pine warblers, a couple of Caroline Chickadees, a little Downy Woodpecker and several Red-bellieds. I even watched as several dozen robins flew over, some lighting briefly in the treetops far above and filling the otherwise quiet morning with bursts of sound. But none of the stars, the celebrities that I had ventured out into the frozen morning in hopes of seeing.

As it neared my predetermined cut-off time — when I absolutely had to leave in order to make it home and shower before the kids' basketball games — I decided to make one last pass around the inner loop of the park. Coming upon a couple of birders with a scope, my hopes began inching up. Had they found the Rusty Blackbirds I had been seeking all morning? But no, their scope was trained on a tree full of starlings and grackles; it appeared my slow morning was being shared by all. But then ... "Oh, did you see the Merlin perched on the snag at Brandt Road?"

"Waitaminit. So you guys are standing here in the cold looking at starlings when there's a freaking Merlin a half mile away?!?" This of course was kept to myself as I sprinted back to my truck and headed across the park. And there she was, just as they had said. Life list #200, and what a beauty!




Merlin (Falco columbarius)
What can I say? Some days life gives you lemons, other days it send you Merlins!

The Daily Bird: Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

The Daily Bird: Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Life Bird #150: The Elusive Osprey

It pays to take your camera along when making a pit stop.

Hmm... That didn't sound quite like I meant it, but I stand by the statement. There have been numerous occasions when I've been out birding, either by foot or in my truck, and emerged from a rest stop or port-o-potty to find birds that I've been watching for (or didn't even know to expect) perched outside just waiting for me. It's as if they've been carefully avoiding me as I moved through the area, but when I disappear for a few moments they have to stop by to see where I've gone.

Such was the case last week as I visited the Baytown Nature Center. I had one primary goal, one target bird that had eluded me both in the local coastal sanctuaries and in last summer's trip to Colorado — the Osprey.

I had tried all the suggested locales in the park to no avail, and after two hours of driving, walking and freezing I was about to give up on finding any ospreys. No sightings at the (completely deserted) Duck Pond or the Brownwood Marsh Pavilion, nothing moving on the promisingly-named Osprey Island, nary a sign of any perched in the trees by the Y-intersection. Finally I was running out of time and decided to head once more down the thin peninsula to San Jacinto Point for a final quick check for waders and cormorants near the fishing piers. I took my camera and binoculars and walked over to the little birders' room.

When I emerged from the cramped, plastic cave — Why are those things never tall enough for a person to stand up straight, anyway? — there he was, not thirty yards away, sitting primly atop a wooden piling near the water's edge.


Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
I moved slowly to a nearby park bench and sat, taking pictures, until this magnificent creature lifted suddenly into the air and headed across the bay. I followed his flight with my binoculars, but within seconds he was only a dark spot against the hazy background of the opposite shore.


Minutes later I found him again, wheeling back towards me with a trophy clutched tightly in his talons, the triumphant fisher returning with his lunch.




Click any image to view full-sized version
I stayed in my spot as he returned to his former perch, taking a few more snapshots. But since he seemed somewhat reluctant to begin eating his catch with me in such close proximity, I decided to ease myself up and move on.




Click any image to view full-sized version
More to come from last week's trip to Baytown...


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #78.

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.

A Comparison of Kestrels

From a windy day out on the Katy Prairie, a big stretch of farmland due west of Houston.

After the torrential rains and destructive winds we received with a direct hit from Hurricane Ike last fall, the upper gulf coast of Texas has been experiencing a drought for the past few months. The farmers and landowners along the Katy Prairie normally flood many of their fields during the winter months, providing a nice haven for migrating waterfowl and waders that come our way. But the lack of water this year has made it hard to find many of these seasonal visitors.

Luckily, there are plenty of other beautiful things to watch in the area, even when many of them are hunkered down against a beating wind.


American Kestrel, female (Falco sparverius)
This female Kestrel was quite content to sit on her wire perch overhead. As I drove toward her, she turned to peer at me once or twice, but didn't seem to be bothered by my slow progression.

A quarter mile farther down the road, however, I spotted this slightly smaller, rufous-backed male that was not nearly so settled. He launched repeatedly from the metal cable, hovering over the fields for brief periods before battling his way against the wind to perch again in a new spot.


American Kestrel, male

For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #23.