This Morning's Birding

Skip and I went to the Birding and Nature Center this morning to see if we could see anything new.

Northern Mockingbird

It is sunny and warm today so lots of critters are out sunning themselves.

Red-eared Slider

Baby Alligator

This group of roseate spoonbills was out in the open for once.

The male belted kingfisher was in his usual spot.

This great-tailed grackle didn't seem bothered that we walked within a couple of feet of it.

The reddish egret was hunched down. The main part of its bill was really pink this morning.

 It didn't seem to be bothered by these redheads that were preening.

This female blue wing teal was in her usual spot.

Far off, I zoomed in to get this shot of a black neck stilt with juvenile roseate spoonbills in the background.

By one of the bird blinds, this green heron was hunkered down.

Just as we were leaving the boardwalk - very close to where we saw the Wilson's snipe two days ago - this little blue heron was standing atop a tuft of grasses.

The Eurasian Collared-Dove was introduced in North America in the 1980s and has made its way quickly to the north and west. We see a lot of them in this part of south Texas.

Just as we were heading back to the car, I spotted what is probably a Couch's kingbird.

It always seemed to be facing to its left.

The sea grapes are in bloom.

Both these blooms were from the same plant.

Although we didn't seem anything new today, it is always nice to spend a couple of hours in the sunshine and fresh air taking in what nature has to offer.

Birding Two Days Later

Just outside the condo yesterday, this colourful fellow (great kiskadee) was making a lot of racket.

Later in the afternoon Skip and I popped into the Birding and Nature Centre yesterday just an hour or so before closing time. There was the normal amount of activity.

We usually see a spotted sandpiper.

I just can't not take photos of these beautiful birds every time I visit the centre. I like the shots with a reflection.

There are always yellow-rumped warblers flitting about.

There was about a dozen black neck stilts that took flight just as I was trying to get a shot of them wading together.

Tricolour herons do a very interesting dance when they're fishing. I'll shoot a video one of these days.
 About halfway along the boardwalk, I took this panoramic shot. Visible is the continuing boardwalk (almost a mile of it) through various habitats. The taller building to the right of the water tower in the centre is the 5 storey Birding and Nature Center.

In another spot, this tricolour heron was hunched down, soaking up more of the sun's rays.

A couple of birders pointed this green heron out to us.  They aren't as common here as the great blues and tricolour herons.

We then saw this great blue heron with this very wide fish halfway down its gullet.

It spent several minutes trying to figure out it was going to eat the whole thing.

Here, in this rear view, you can see how wide the fish was.

For some reason, there were large groupings of various birds - willets, roseate spoonbills, white ibis (not visible in this photo).

Just as we were exiting the boardwalk, we spotted a Wilson's snipe wading in a little waterway. It hid behind some grasses before I could get a picture. For me, that was the bird of the day and the first time I've seen one at the center this year.

The yucca palms are really starting to bloom in the Rio Grande Valley. This one is always an early bloomer beside the parking lot.  Those spines are REALLY sharp.

One has to be very careful when trying to get a macro shot of the waxy blooms.

February 17 Birding

Skip and I went to the SPI Birding and Nature Center this morning.

The long-billed curlew we remembered from last year finally appeared.

I have a new camera so am enjoying taking lots of photos. I need a better editing program so I can darken some of the over-exposed shots.

I like that I can clearly see the yellow feet of this snowy egret. I like the descriptive name in Spanish, Garza de dedos dorados = golden-toed heron.

The spotted sandpiper was in its usual spot.

Way out in the Laguna Madre, we saw this marbled godwit, our first one this year.

At first sight this could be mistaken for a snowy or great egret, but the greenish legs and black tip of the beak confirm that it is an immature little blue heron.

There have been a couple of belted kingfishers in the area. This one was on a post quite far out in the laguna.

This is a random shot to give an idea of how many redheads are in the area right now. They'll be heading back north in a couple of weeks.

A couple of pairs of American wigeons isolated themselves well enough for me to get a shot (with a dabbler's butt).

The male has the white pate and greenish feathers around and behind his eye.

Down in the reeds beside the boardwalk, we could hear a moorhen (common gallinule) making all kinds of noise. On closer inspection we noticed a teen aged gator (1.5 years old) making its way onto the dried reeds to soak up some sun.

I can't resist taking pics of birds that pose so nicely. In this case, it's a tricolour heron with one foot tuck up to its breast.

I took a panoramic shot from one vantage point on one of the boardwalks. The white building in the centre is the Convention Centre which also has a couple of boardwalks that are free to the public. There is also a good beach area where it is good for watching shore birds.

We caught up to a birding tour run by volunteers from the Birding Center. The kingfisher kindly flew in and posed nicely for us.

The tricolour egret has a very spirited way of fishing. I liked that I could see the stiff feathers out from the back of its head.

Conveniently, a green heron flew in and posed for us in several locations.

This is the same female blue-wing teal that we see in this spot at each visit. She is quite small.

The snoozing black neck stilts were not bothered at all by this roseate spoonbill that flew in.  The stilt on the right had a brownish back which (depending on the birding guide you look at) indicates that it is either a juvenile or a female.

I'm pretty happy with my new point and shoot camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40 with its 30x zoom Leica lens. I lucked out and got a clearance sale at Costco. My previous Lumix (ZS10 with 16x zoom) was full of dust and it would cost almost as much to get it cleaned out as it cost me to replace it. I bought a ZS35 a year and a half ago and was very disappointed with it as it didn't have a Leica lens. This one is MUCH better.  I know I could get even better images with a fancier camera but when I'm birding, a point and shoot is much more convenient when I'm also juggling binoculars and sometimes a spotting scope and tripod.