Bad Hair Day

This egret reminds me of one of those models on a shampoo & conditioner commercial, slowly slinging her long silky hair back and forth with a flick of the head.


Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

Taken on a very windy day out on the Texas City Dike.

Texas City Dike

I have wanted for quite some time to visit the Texas City Dike, near Galveston, but the dike had been closed for the past two year for repairs of damages sustained during 2008's devastating Hurricane Ike. I've heard nothing but good reports since the dike reopened late last fall. So when I discovered I was the only one in the family who got Presidents Day off last month, I leaped at the rare chance for an outing.


Royal Tern (Sterna maxima)
The dike itself is very nice, extending out about two and a half miles into Galveston Bay. There is a paved, two-lane road running the length of it, several piers and boat ramps and a nice stretch of sandy beach on the northern side (away from the gulf).


Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
Since spring migration was still several weeks away, there were not any unexpected birds to be seen. However, I still found almost twenty different species on and around the dike just in the short time I spent there. There were numerous Royal Terns, plus a lone Forster's Tern diving for food in the choppy waters of the gulf side of the barrier. As you would expect, gulls were everywhere, from giant Herring Gulls to the smaller Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls. There were also a handful of egrets, pelicans (brown and white), and lots of both Double-crested and the smaller Neotropic Cormorants.


Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) in winter/non-breeding plumage


Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

I was a little disappointed at the extremely low numbers of shorebirds to be found, but I expect that will pick up quite a bit over the next few weeks as migration hits the Gulf Coast. The only shorebirds I saw were a lone Willet, two tiny Sanderlings and a handful of Ruddy Turnstones.


Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla), with Ring-billed Gulls in the background
As I started to leave for home, I did make a very quick stop at the Bay Street Park, located just around the corner from the entrance to the dike. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the marshy pond running the length of this park held quite a few more birds, including Northern Shovelers, Gadwalls, Blue-winged Teal, American Coots and a couple of Pied-billed Grebes. A small pier overlooking the pond also gave some great photo opportunities with the dozens of gulls resting there.


Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis), with a Laughing Gull in the background
All in all, this was a nice day of birding. I will definitely be returning to Texas City whenever I get the opportunity!


Note: As always, you can click on any of the images in this post to see a larger version.

On the Wing

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Taken at the Smith Oaks sanctuary in High Island, Texas.


As always, you can click on the image to see a larger version. Also, check out World Bird Wednesday for more great bird photos from around the world.

Nesting at the Rookery

We are counting down the days until spring migration and nesting season hit the Texas Gulf Coast.






nesting Great Egrets (Ardea alba)
Taken last spring at the rookery at Smith Oaks sanctuary in High Island, Texas.


As always, you can click on any image to see a larger version. Also, check out Bird Photography Weekly #128 and World Bird Wednesday XII for more great bird photos from around the world.

Great Egret in Flight

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

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.

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.)

A Bunch of Old Coots

I spent last Saturday morning down at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge with a small group of Houston Audubon Society members. About a dozen or so of us were met outside the refuge office by our guides, Brad Lirette (current VP of the Texas Ornithological Society) and his four-year-old son Jason. Brad's knowledge of the area was remarkable, and young Jason bravely took on the responsibility of searching for man-eating alligators, poisonous snakes and sticks. (Fortunately, only the latter was encountered in any great numbers.)


Photo courtesy of Bill Saulmon
The day started out on an auspicious note, with two Sandhill Cranes (the first of several lifers of the day for me) and a small flock of White-fronted Geese standing in a field nearby, and a White-tailed Kite hunting overhead. Unfortunately, a cold front had moved through the night before, leaving heavily overcast skies and buffeting winds that blasted us throughout the morning. I'll blame the poor light and blustery weather for the uninspiring quality of my photos from the trip — that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

When all had arrived, we headed to Bobcat Woods to start our adventure. The walk through the trees shielded us from the wind, but it also kept all but a handful of cardinals, kinglets and warblers under cover.

Moving out of the forested area, we were assaulted full-force by the cold winds as we stopped at the Wolfweed Reservoir. The few scopes that were brought out were shaking so hard that they were only minimally effective, but we did manage to spot a few ducks, cormorants and dowitchers.

Oh, and for the record, the title of the post does not refer to the wonderful group of birders that attended this trip. Rather, it's a tip of the hat to these hardy fellows who alone did not seem to mind the wind and weather one bit:


American Coot (Fulica americana)
There were literally hundreds of American Coots dotting the wetland areas we visited, easily outnumbering any other species we saw.

There were a few interesting sights to be seen at Wolfweed. A lone juvenile Little Blue Heron made its slow way along the water's edge, off to one side of us. Everyone perked up at the sight of an immature Bald Eagle in the distance; I believe the consensus of the group put him down as a third year bird. We also had near flyovers of several White Ibis, Turkey Vultures and a lone Crested Caracara.


White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)
Retreating to the refuge of our vehicles, we made our way to the drive around Moccasin Pond. This, finally, was where most of the birds had taken shelter, hunkered down among the reeds and small islands that littered the area. Here were more coots, candy-corn billed moorhens, Boat-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds. Here, too, were spoonbills, ibises, night-herons and egrets.


Great Egret (Ardea alba)
There were also ducks aplenty, including Shovelers, Pintails, Gadwalls, and both Blue- and Green-winged Teal. One of the highlights (and another lifer for me) was a small group of twenty or so Fulvous Whistling-Ducks huddled together near a floating gator.


Fulvous Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna bicolor)
Another bit of excitement came when we spotted a Peregrine Falcon actively hunting, diving in an attempt to stir up the ducks on the surface of the lake. Not far away, one of several Northern Harriers that we saw throughout the morning was also hunting, and it almost seemed for a short time that the two were working together to herd the waterfowl between them.

We did see a few shorebirds, although not as many as we expected. There were a handful of Yellowlegs (both species) running across the mudflats, and a small flock of Black-necked Stilts.


Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus)
We also found two more lifers for me, a pair of Grebes. There actually were quite a few Pied-billed Grebes swimming along, not far from the roadside bank of the pond.


Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
But the bird that many in the group were hoping to see was the Least Grebe that had been reported several times recently at the refuge. To everyone's delight, we finally found the grebe near the opposite end of the loop. Unfortunately, he was actively diving and moving quickly away from us, and between his constant motion and small size and the choppiness of the water, I was unable to get a decent picture of this tiny water bird. (See BirdingBev's recent post for a great capture of the Least Grebe from her visit to San Bernard NWR.)

Although I was very disappointed with the majority of the photos I came away with, I can't complain about any other aspect of this trip. The weather could have been a little more cooperative, but all in all it was an outstanding excursion. I came away with several new additions to my life list, and a total of somewhere around sixty species overall. You can bet that I will gladly go back to San Bernard NWR at the earliest opportunity.

Rodents of Unusual Size

When we last saw our fearless adventurers, we had made it back to the final stop in our excursion to Meyer Park: the duck pond. Our path was quickly blocked by the guardian of the lake, but our courageous Cowboy quickly leapt to the forefront to challenge the menacing beast.


With eyes of steel and a handful of stale bread, our hero was able to gain us safe passage to the bountiful waters beyond.

The duck pond was teaming with life this day, with a half dozen or so Swan Geese actively competing for our bread crumbs with the Mallards that regularly inhabit the place.






Also visiting were this dandy duck-with-a-'do and his companion.


Wading slowly near the opposite bank was a Great Egret, casually wandering back and forth as he searched the water for something a bit more lively to eat.


Near the bank where we were standing, Cowboy spotted this three-foot-long snake taking a siesta in the cool water.


At first I was afraid it was a water moccasin, but the markings didn't look right for that. We never did figure out exactly what kind it was, but after a few minutes it tired of being a spectator sport and quickly swam out of sight.

Just then, Cat grabbed my arm. "There they are, Daddy! Quick, take a picture!"

I looked across the pond and spotted them — the Rodents of Unusual Size. All I could think to say as I lifted my camera was, "As you wish."


It was the "giant beaver things" that had prompted this weekend adventure. Nutria. (Or "neuter rats," as my high school buddy Cliff Gammill used to call them.) There were two or three of them swimming along without a care in the world, completely unconcerned with the noise of the people nearby. One of them even ventured out on the shore, just a few yards from where we stood.


I love those wonderful little hands, which they use to pick up and hold food as they eat, very much like raccoons do. If you are unfamiliar with nutria, they are a bit smaller than beavers but larger than a muskrat, with a long thick tail that flows gracefully out behind them as they swim.


They have webbed feet and rather sharp claws, and have lips that can be closed to allow them to chew while swimming without letting any water in.


After we watched the various inhabitants of this small pond for a while, the air turned cool and the rain we had been expecting all morning finally began to fall. So we bade the critters goodbye and headed off to enjoy a hot lunch before finally returning home.

Unfortunately, the dirty dishes and the laundry were still lying right where we left them.