#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!

Back to the Birds

There's nothing like an awesome, spontaneous event to make you realize how much you miss a loved hobby. And quite by accident, that's just what made me realize last week how much I have been missing birding over the past several months.

A week ago Friday, I realized that my son's Cub Scouts camping trip was almost upon us and I had not yet started breaking in my new hiking boots. (When the third set of soles wore out on my old ones, I decided it was finally time to break down and get a new pair.) So I took them to work with the intention of going walking at lunchtime. I happened to still have my camera in the car after Cowboy's last soccer match, so when I got over to Bear Creek park at noon I grabbed the camera just out of habit.

Other than a handful of crows and a Red-tailed Hawk soaring high overhead, I hadn't seen anything of interest by the time I reached my halfway mark and began walking back toward the gravel parking area. Then I heard a familiar call overhead and stopped in my tracks. It took only moments to find them — a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers flitting from one tree to the next.


Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)


I followed the pair for a few minutes, trying to get a good shot or two, but was quickly distracted by a soft hammering just a bit further down the trail. Following the sound, I came across another, smaller woodpecker — this little downy female, drumming away on a small branch above me:


Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
Very shortly after this sweet find, yet another distraction flew right by the downy's tree. The third member of the woodpecker family within five minutes.


Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
What a day this was turning out to be! I was smiling broadly over my good fortune as I turned back down the trail in the direction of my truck. Three woodpecker species in one quick, unplanned outing, and it was the first time I'd been birding since spring migration. You just can't beat that.

Until those red-bellied fellows flew back into view, this time accompanied by what I first thought was a female of the breed. She was pretty elusive, but it had to be another red-bellied. Looked like she had red on the back of the head but none on the cap. About the same size. But the coloring was wrong. I'd never seen one that was more tan than black or gray on the back and wings.

Then I got my camera on her, and you could have knocked me over with a feather. A Northern Flicker feather, at that!


Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
Okay, so it's not much of a shot, but I couldn't care (much) less. Believe it or not, this fairly common resident of the area has been on my wish list for a long time. It's a lifer!

After that, I think I pretty much floated back to the truck. I hardly even remember the drive back to the office. So much for "no time for birding" — I've got the bug again! I may be limited to short lunch excursions for the most part, but I'll take what I can get. Which, as you can see, can be pretty awesome when you least expect it!

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.

Gone Fishin'

Houston summers are not always the best for noontime birding. Between the heat and ... well, actually the heat is pretty much the problem all by itself. Blistering 100° days with 90% or higher humidity and little or no breeze just sort of takes the fun out of lunchtime excursions. Especially when the birds themselves are generally too smart to venture out between the hours of sunup and sundown.

But every now and then we get a little respite, a brief relief in the form of a day or two of cooling showers, and for a time the world comes alive again. On just such a day, I recently headed over to nearby Bear Creek Park to try to get in a little "fishing." Or more to the point, to look for a little fishing.


Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
As luck would have it, I found just what I was looking for, in the form of a handsome Great Blue Heron who was enjoying the temporary rise in the water level of Langham Creek.


In just a matter of minutes, I watched as this majestic piscator caught and feasted on over a dozen small fish, a meal fit for a king.


Unfortunately, my lunch break wasn't long enough to enjoy the spectacle for long. But days like this are wonderful reminders of how fortunate we are to have several scenic parks and venues around the Houston area where we can observe and appreciate the beauties of nature. Bear Creek Park is one of those places where you can always find such hidden treasures. And it invariably is the perfect destination when I need to take a little lunchtime fishing trip.


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #54.

Personality Portraits: Cattle Egrets

One thing I have noticed while photographing birds over the past couple of years is that, like people, different birds quite often seem to exhibit different personalities.

Sometimes this is a reflection of mannerisms and vocalizations, other times it is simply a side effect of distinguishing markings or other physical characteristics. But once you begin to closely study a group of birds, it is quite easy to realize that not all birds — even of the same species — look and act the same. Of course, it is also a little too easy sometimes to begin to assign human "personality traits" to birds and animals, simply because of their different looks.

Take for instance this group of Cattle Egrets that I spent some time photographing a few weeks back. Looking back through my photos of the day, they each quickly stood out as a unique persona.

There was the cool bird, fit and trim, full of self-confidence:


There was the cranky old codger with what seemed a permanent scowl on his face:


There was the quiet loner who stayed off by himself, meekly blending into the background:


And then there was the tall, wide-eyed, gangly, gawky one — his hair never quite lying straight — who tried but just never quite fit in with the "cool" kids. You know, kind of a birdy version of me back in high school:


Of course, in reality all of these birds acted pretty much the same, too busy hunting for nourishment in the heat of a dry Texas summer to reveal much real personality. But that's part of the magic of photography: it can take a simple moment in time and feed the imagination into whatever wondrous revelations the mind can create.


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #53.

Bird Photography Weekly: Red-headed Woodpecker

Here are a few more pictures of the juvenile (immature?) Red-headed Woodpecker I saw at Bear Creek Park last week.

(You can see larger versions of each photo on my Flickr photostream by simply clicking on the image, then on the "All Sizes" button above the image on Flickr.)


Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)


Thanks to Larry, who pointed out that this is properly labeled a "juvenile" bird. Which brings me to a question I've often wondered about: what is the difference between "juvenile" and "immature" when labeling a young bird? I have seen both terms used in different field guides and on bird sites, often times seemingly pointing to the same features to mark the birds as one or the other.


The woodpecker's lunch time coincided nicely with my own this day. About every two or three minutes he would launch himself either down to the ground or toward a nearby trunk and return quickly nearly every time with some sort of tasty morsel: grubs, flies and who knows what else.


This young Red-headed Woodpecker's still brown head was just beginning to show hints of the brilliant red hood it will eventually flaunt.





For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #25.

Identification Milestone

I headed out to Bear Creek Park at lunch today for a little exercise and a quick bit of birding. I've been reading about the First Annual Rusty Blackbird Blitz, and thought I'd see if I could find the Rusty Blackbirds that have been reported at the park this week.


American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
The first thing I found was a whole horde of robins. They've been all over the Houston area for a week or more — a sure sign that spring is right around the corner. Several others made an appearance before a pair of the much sought after Rusty Blackbirds finally showed. Rounding out the small count for the half hour were an Eastern Bluebird, a few vultures and crows, and a pair of woodpeckers.

The first woodpecker I spotted was a Red-bellied Woodpecker. But soon after, my attention was drawn to a darker bird of similar size but much more aggression. It took me a little while to recognize what I was seeing.


Immature Red-headed Woodpecker
(Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
An immature Red-headed Woodpecker had staked its claim to a nearby tree and was busy venturing from trunk to ground and back catching bugs, grubs and tasty treats. Its brown head was just beginning to show hints of the bright red hood it will eventually flaunt.


Further evidence of its immaturity was demonstrated as it showed juvenile delinquent tendencies, repeatedly launching itself at its red-bellied cousin several trees away and finally driving the other woodpecker from the area.

But the highlight of my lunchtime excursion came from a pair of warblers that ventured down to the damp grass nearby, although it was not so much the sighting as the recognition of these two that got me so excited.


Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronate)
I mean, sure, one of them was a "butterbutt." But I recognized it! First time I've ever been able to identify a warbler on my own, and in the field at that. Definitely a milestone worth celebrating!

The second one took a little more work and cross-checking between my Peterson and Sibley guides, but I'm pretty sure I nailed this one, too. If not, I trust someone will let me know and give me another lesson on warblers...


Pine Warbler (Dendroica pinus)
I trust you will excuse the quality of these last two images, but I had to have some proof to share of my milestone.

The Further Adventures of "Beginning BirderMan"!

I made another brief trip out to Bear Creek Park earlier this week. The bad thing about Bear Creek is that it takes the majority of my short lunch break just driving there and back to the office. The good thing is that it's a beautiful place with a nice variety of bird life and plenty of wooded area, and it is virtually empty on weekdays (at least during this time of year).

This week, the work crews were busy around the park, noisily clearing away piled up brush and using tractors to spread heaping mounds of ground up Christmas trees. I headed down the nature / equestrian path for quite a ways before encountering any bird life bold enough to face the crashes and bangs coming from the treeline. (I doubt my slipping, sliding and crunching along the muddy and leaf strewn path had anything to do with it.)

Finally I started seeing life in the bare branches, starting with a pair of chickadees.


Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
After a bit, I locked onto a Downy Woodpecker further down the trail, and tried my best to approach within camera range without disturbing her. Twice I almost got a shot before she hopped around a trunk or flittered to a more obscured branch, but I kept hearing her rat-a-tat-a-tat and kept inching closer. Then the drumming sounds changed, coming from another direction entirely. I thought at first that the downy had flown the coop, so to speak. But this sound was different; deeper, louder, more "echo-y," if you know what I mean.

Then I heard it, and even with my limited experience I caught my breath. I'd heard that sound before, plenty of times up in the piney woods of East Texas, but I'd never seen the originator of that distinctive call. That wonderful, maniacal laugh (audio files borrowed from PileatedWoodpeckerCentral). And I immediately and totally forgot the little downy.

Slowly moving toward the source of the call, I saw a great flutter of black. At first I thought I was seeing a vulture back in the trees. Surely woodpeckers don't grow that big! Then I saw a flash of red and stopped in my tracks.


I waited a bit and watched as he moved slowly closer, still staying deep in the tangle of trunks and leafless branches. Finally I got a good view of him and snapped as many quick shots as I could get before he moved behind thicker underbrush.


Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
Glancing down at my watch, I realized I was almost twenty minutes late starting back towards the office. I scrambled back down the trail and into the car.

Luckily everyone was hard at work when I snuck back to my desk and no one seemed to notice my extended lunch break. It would have been worth it, though, even if I'd gotten caught. Chalk up another lifer for this new year!


For some great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #21.

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

Bird Photography Weekly: Whistling Ducks

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks resting on the bank at Bear Creek Park in northwest Houston.


Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)


According to reports by the Houston Audubon Society, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks have recently been expanding their range in Texas. They can frequently be found in and around neighborhood ponds and lakes to the north and west of the Houston area. I have seen them on several occasions this fall at Bear Creek Park and once up north in the Tomball area, usually in groups of two to four.


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #18.