Quintana Concluded

Besides the enthralling hummingbirds and abundance of wildflowers featured in my two previous posts, there were plenty of other wonders to enjoy at the Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary.


Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
There were cardinals and mockingbirds, ever present and always enjoyable.


Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
There was a surprising number of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in and around the area — surprising to me anyway, since I'd never seen them in the area before.


Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus)
This was my first opportunity to photograph these slender beauties or even to observe them close up, and I was amazed both at how graceful they were in the hard winds blowing in from the gulf and at how quickly they moved in flight. I've decided that I'll need quite a bit more practice and familiarity with these tyrant flycatchers (or a good helping of luck) if I want to capture any shareable pictures of them in flight.

Another treat of the morning's trip was the opportunity to watch five Common Nighthawks wheeling and diving overhead. I climbed to the top of the sanctuary's observation tower and spent a good twenty minutes trailing them as they moved down the island until they finally passed beyond the range of my binoculars. New addition to my life list!


Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)
There were also plenty of dragonflies and butterflies on hand, busily enjoying the bounty of this small paradise.




Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
I ended the day with a quick drive down the road to nearby Bryan Beach, where the tidal pools hiding behind the dunes often attract a variety of shorebirds, herons and such. This particular morning, two lonesome Willets comprised the total count of shorebirds and no waders were in sight, but the sandbars and the far edges of the water were teeming with Laughing Gulls and terns, including Caspians, Royals and even a couple of Sandwich Terns.


Juvenile Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla)
However, these three young gulls seemed to be the only ones not taking a midday siesta; they were busy cackling and playing in the water like their human counterparts just on the other side of the dunes, enjoying the beautiful weather while the grown-ups lazily soaked up the early summer sun.


"What, you're still here?"

More from Jones State Forest

After leaving all the activity at the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers' nest on Saturday, I only had to turn around to find another nesting pair.


Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
The Red-headed Woodpeckers were every bit as active as their endangered cousins, and I got several good looks at both adult birds as they flew to and from their nest cavity. As soon as one would complete a few trips, the other would fly out to begin a new round of foraging, leaving room for the first parent to enter the nest and take over babysitting duties.


After watching these birds for a short while, I gave up my prime viewing spot to another birder who had joined me and headed deeper into the pine forest. The trail was lined in several places with wildflowers of all sorts. I can only imagine how beautiful the area must have looked a month ago when the spring flowers were in full bloom.


A volunteer organization has placed a number of bluebird nestboxes around the area, and I saw at least three that are in use.


Eastern Bluebird female (Sialia sialis)
The woods were full of life, from the cawing of crows and the happy calls of cardinals, mockingbirds and pine warblers to the fluttering of a myriad of butterflies and dragonflies.


And while I didn't see any of the other woodpecker species that normally summer in the area, like the Downy and the Red-bellied woodpeckers, the nesting Red-cockadeds and the abundance of Red-headed Woodpeckers that were all over the park were more than enough to satisfy my woodpecker cravings.


All in all, a fantastic morning of birding to kick off the summer season!

Non-Birding Photos

Pulling some more "old" photos out of my hat, this time from last week's lunchtime trip to Woodland Trails West Park.

All the good birding shots made it into last week's post. Here are some of the "rest of the trip" captures.

(Click on any image to enlarge for more detail.)

Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
And an action shot...


I was also able to capture a couple of cool autumn-colored dragonflies. (I'm going to have to invest in a decent insect guide to help in identifying dragonflies and such.)



That last one has to be my favorite of the batch.

UPDATE: That second dragonfly has been identified as a Carolina Saddlebag (Tramea carolina). Thanks for the help, Susan!

Flower Garden Safari

Since I don't get too many opportunities to go out for extended birding or photo excursions, I take what I can get. I made the commitment to myself at the end of August to take my camera to work with me every day for the next month, just so that I have it on hand. If I get a chance to take a "field trip" at lunch, or just happen across something interesting or intriguing during the drive to or from the office, I've got my trusty Canon at hand and ready to shoot.



The other day on the way to pick the kids up after work, I noticed a bed of tall yellow flowers lining the parking lot of a local dentist's office. Since the place was closed and the parking lot empty, I decided to pull in and snap a couple of quick pictures. I had no idea that flower garden would end up being a two-day safari full of insect life.


[WARNING: If you are at all squeamish about insects, you might want to stop reading right about now...]

To begin, the bees were out in full force, zipping from one tall bloom to another.


(You can click most of the images to see a close-up version of the featured critter.)

There seemed to be two or three different varieties of wasps on hand as well, although this is the only one I was able to capture on film.


I spotted three different butterflies flitting about the garden, including a yellow one that had to have been almost as big as my palm. Unfortunately, this little Gray Hairstreak is the only one I managed to catch (in focus — gotta work on my action shots!).


I love how the red spot and the scissortail-like extensions on his wings make it look like a two-headed creature of some sort.


I also spotted these insects on one bulb only. They were larger than an ant, red with black legs, and little black spiky things along their backs. (Click the image below for a better view.) I have no idea what these were, but they weren't mixing with any of the other wildlife. Even the bees were staying clear of that bloom.


Yesterday, Cowboy had a doctor appointment right after school, and we stopped back by the same garden on the way to pick up Cat. He had a blast helping me find even more bugs to photograph.

Our first catch was a couple of love bugs. With emphasis on the "love."


We also saw a different kind of wasp than I had captured before. This one was lighter and more reddish in color, with thin bands of yellow along his abdomen. My guess is it's a paper wasp of some sort, but I can't get any more specific than that.


We also found more of the red and black mystery bugs from my previous visit, this time with a better range of size and color.


Another wasp, this one more of a solid brown thorax darkening to black on the abdomen. This looks more like what we have always called "red wasps" (except it's maybe a little darker), but I don't have any idea of the actual name.


We got a better shot of the thread-waisted wasp from before. Click on the image below for an even better view of the extremity of the long, thin waist stretching from thorax to abdomen. This may be some kind of mud dauber, but I don't know for sure.


We found another unknown, this small orange and black critter that seemed to be carrying around (and possibly snacking on) a smaller love bug.


We almost missed this stink bug that was hiding under the dead lower petals of one of the stalks. At a different angle, he actually looked more like a dead leaf than anything else. Good camouflage.


The funny thing is that after all those different kinds of insects, and all the fun we had looking for them, the one picture that Cowboy got the most excited about was this one:


Go figure.

Wile E. Coyote

(With apologies to ol' Carnivorous vulgaris of Loony Tunes fame.)

We were driving back home from lunch last Sunday when we spotted what we first thought to be a stray dog running along beside the road up ahead. As we got closer I slowed, half expecting it to dart across the road in front of us.

When it did turn, though, we got a big surprise. This was not just a stray dog, but a coyote. It took one look at our car and then dashed across the road and into the field beyond. He quickly hid in the knee high grass, with only his head visible as he cautiously watched us slowly pass by.

As soon as we were past, I sped back up and hurried the half mile or so back to the house. While WW and the kids headed inside to clean up and start the afternoon activities, I grabbed my camera and rushed back to the edge of the brush where we last saw him. Unfortunately, other than a few tracks in the mud alongside the bayou, I was unable to find any sign of that wily coyote. He was long gone, likely headed "upstream" in search of better hunting grounds.

Of course, I already had my camera out and had put on a pair of old tennis shoes, so I didn't let the chance go to waste. I got a few decent shots of the only wildlife available: the birds and the bees (plus a butterfly or two).

This Northern Mockingbird was quite interested in my search, but stayed just out of sight of my lens for most of the excursion. We tend to see mockingbirds pretty much year round here along the gulf coast (they are our state bird, you know). But I have yet to get a decent picture of one in flight, showing off that distinctive white wing stripe.


I was surprised at how many pollinators were out and about in the heat of a midsummer Texas afternoon. I found quite a few carpenter bees, among other insects, hovering happily around the flowers that were soaking up the results of our recent rainfalls.

Carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica, I believe):




I also got close enough to get a few decent shots of this handsome fellow, a Gulf Fritillary.


Although the residential areas around our neighborhood are growing like weeds, there are still quite a few sections of natural growth nearby where we can occasionally spot deer, raccoons, skunks and armadillos — or more often just the tracks and traces (or scents) of them. And we've had a late night visiting possum or two in the back yard. But that coyote was a first for us, and it was an even bigger surprise seeing him on the prowl in broad daylight. I hadn't seen a wild coyote since I was working summers and weekends on the farm back in high school and college. It was exciting to see, and to point it out to the kids, even if I didn't get to capture it on "film."