Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Showing posts with label Katy Prairie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Katy Prairie. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Little Lark on the Prairie
Not the greatest shots, but the best I have been able to manage so far from the roadside out on the Katy Prairie.
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
World Bird Wednesday: Savannah Sparrow
It's been a year since I have visited the Katy Prairie, but I'm hoping to get out there one Saturday morning before the kids' winter basketball season starts up in mid-January. One of the treats from last winter's visit to the area was this little guy:
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
I pretty much missed fall migration this year, but I am going to try to start posting pics of some of the great birds I saw and never got to blog about from last spring's migration and from the little bit of birding I did over the summer. In the meantime, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
I pretty much missed fall migration this year, but I am going to try to start posting pics of some of the great birds I saw and never got to blog about from last spring's migration and from the little bit of birding I did over the summer. In the meantime, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Little Shrikes on the Prairie
A few weeks ago, I headed out to the Katy Prairie to see what birds might be lingering after the rush of migrations had passed through. There were no big surprises to be found: Grackles, Mockingbirds, fields of Cattle Egrets, a couple of hawks, one lone Crested Caracara. But by far the biggest treasures of the day were a pair of fledgling Loggerhead Shrikes I spotted by the roadside.
The first one I found was staying as still as could be in the tangle of twigs and vines that lined the edge of Longenbaugh Road. The parents were nowhere in sight, and this little shrike was not taking any chances — the only part of him I saw move as I rolled by was his little head, swiveling slowly to make sure this big creature was not coming any closer.
Farther on down the road, I spotted an adult shrike perched on the telephone lines overhead. He/she was keeping a careful eye on something in the bushes below, so I paused a short distance away to watch.
Sure enough, a minute or two later this young shrike darted out of the bushes and winged its way up to the telephone line, just a few feet away from its watching parent.
The adult flew off just seconds later, with the youngster following shortly after.
For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #43.
The first one I found was staying as still as could be in the tangle of twigs and vines that lined the edge of Longenbaugh Road. The parents were nowhere in sight, and this little shrike was not taking any chances — the only part of him I saw move as I rolled by was his little head, swiveling slowly to make sure this big creature was not coming any closer.
Farther on down the road, I spotted an adult shrike perched on the telephone lines overhead. He/she was keeping a careful eye on something in the bushes below, so I paused a short distance away to watch.
Sure enough, a minute or two later this young shrike darted out of the bushes and winged its way up to the telephone line, just a few feet away from its watching parent.
The adult flew off just seconds later, with the youngster following shortly after.
For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #43.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Bird Photography Weekly: Savannah Sparrows
Sparrows wintering on the Katy Prairie, just a few miles west of Houston:
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
(Click any image to enlarge)
For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #24.
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
(Click any image to enlarge)
For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #24.
Monday, February 2, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Caracara Surprise
Or perhaps more correctly, a surprise caracara. Crested Caracara, that is.
I was looking back through my pictures from my semi-recent drive along Longenbaugh Road (same trip I saw the enigmatic Northern Harrier), trying to make sure I had my Savannah Sparrows distinguished from my Song Sparrows ... when all of a sudden I ran across four consecutive shots of a Crested Caracara in flight. The photos are embarrassingly poor in quality (along the lines of that second Harrier pic), but very easily good enough to identify the caracara.
The crazy thing is, I don't even remember seeing that guy!
On a separate note, and in an attempt to make up for that fuzzy Harrier shot I posted on Friday, here's a little teaser from the weekend's Houston Audubon Society field trip to the Greens Bayou Wetlands Mitigation Bank.
My first good look at a Tri-colored Heron.
I was looking back through my pictures from my semi-recent drive along Longenbaugh Road (same trip I saw the enigmatic Northern Harrier), trying to make sure I had my Savannah Sparrows distinguished from my Song Sparrows ... when all of a sudden I ran across four consecutive shots of a Crested Caracara in flight. The photos are embarrassingly poor in quality (along the lines of that second Harrier pic), but very easily good enough to identify the caracara.
The crazy thing is, I don't even remember seeing that guy!
On a separate note, and in an attempt to make up for that fuzzy Harrier shot I posted on Friday, here's a little teaser from the weekend's Houston Audubon Society field trip to the Greens Bayou Wetlands Mitigation Bank.
My first good look at a Tri-colored Heron.
Friday, January 23, 2009
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
