Category Archives: Texas birding

Winter Trip Plans

We are planning to stay at one place this winter for about six weeks since we’ll be returning early to go on a birding trip in late March. We have reservations in the Rio Grande Valley at a funky little RV park called Americana The Birding Center RV Park.

I have stayed there before and while not really into all the “activities” offered, I like the fact that you can bike to the Bentsen- Rio Grand Valley World Bird Site and it’s a short drive or a day trip to eight others:

It’s easy to get up to Salenino and Falcon Lake State Park and dozens of other RGV hotspots. Sitting here in cool rainy Vermont, I’m getting itchy.

Here are some shots off the web of the park — it’s old school and very birder-friendly.

 

Park entrance

Tree-lined streets offer shade and onsite birding.

The pool is a popular gathering spot

The park, like most, has modest wifi. It is strongest here.

While we will miss hitting Arizona and California this winter, we’ll see how ‘staying put” works out. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Peeps

While staying at Galveston Beach State Park on the way home, we walked the beach several times seeing hundreds of shorebirds — mostly peeps — but a number of Ruddy Turnstones, Willets, and Laughing Gulls as well.  Here are some of the peeps that I saw one evening.

Sanderlings are fun to watch as they run back and forth with the waves.

Who’s the guy in the mirror?

A banded Piping Plover — did not see the bands until processing the photo.

A Willet and Sanderling for comparison.

These tiny shorebirds, often in big skittish flocks, are a joy to watch, especially when you know that you won’t see them again until this summer in New England.

Thursday-Friday Birds

Rather than stress out over RV issues, we are focusing on some nice birds here in the Rockport area.

Today on the bird walk, we saw 40 species including several terns. Carrot beak – Caspian?

Sitting in our campsite mid-day, we heard the call of a Northern Parula and watched this guy for ten minutes work through the thick foliage. Sorry it’s a bit out of focus.

And the air is alive with the calls of cardinals. We have one building a nest right in front of the van. This guy was foraging under the van and apparently is camera-phobic. Wet snow in Vermont, breezes and birds here. But in less than two weeks, reality time and waiting for the Northern Parulas to visit us.

Desert Birds

Two of our last camping stops have been at Texas state parks (Seminole Canyon and Davis Mountain) with a nice variety of desert birds. Here are some that we saw starting with a Cactus Wren.

A House Finch (not really a desert bird per se)

A Loggerhead Shrike

A Canyon Wren

A Lark Bunting, I believe. Another shot of similar bird in winter plumage follows.

A Woodhouse’s (formerly Western) Scrub-jay

We’ve had a chance to take several hikes at these parks but after several great Mexican meals, feel the need for more walking and fewer tacos/enchiladas. Adios Amigos.

Some Birds From Salenino

I first wrote about Salineno, Texas a few years ago and my recent visits to this wonderful site were just as satisfying. It is easy to see, as you sit in lawn chairs watching colorful birds flock to the feeders, why this little patch on the Rio Grande attracts birders from all over. Merle and Lois, the long-time volunteers, do a great job of hosting neophyte to expert visitors.

Here are some shots I took the other day.

The first three shots are an Altimira Oriole, a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, and an Audobon’s Oriole. (The Hooded Orioles have not shown up yet this winter. Here is an Orange-crowned Warbler.

The Green Jays were everywhere as were the Great Kiskadees, like this one.

The Rio Grande is higher than often but still rather narrow. That is Mexico in the background.

Next – some birds of the desert as we head toward New Mexico.

Reds

We are at Falcon Lake State Park, just across the Rio Grande from Mexico, and on the first evening were greeted with this splendid sunset – and have had several more since.

The birds here are wonderful. The Northern Cardinals, like this one, have a vibrant vermillion color – seemingly much more "red" than our pretty ones in Vermont.

At the campsite, we are treated each day to the aerial antics of several pairs of Vermillion Flycatchers. Here is a long-range shot of one of the handsome dudes.

We are heading west but I’ll be showing you some of the other neat birds that have graced our lives the last few days. Stay tuned.

Farewell to Goose Island

After a nice eight day stay, we bid adios to Goose Island State Park where we had enjoyed camping amongst the bird-filled oaks and seeing nearly 100 different bird species. We sampled some of the cuisine, hit some birding hotspots, and got in some good walks and bike rides, in shirts, shorts and sandals.

Several days before we left, we went back to visit the Whooping Cranes. They were there feeding but suddenly they were heading off to roost. I spun the dial to what I thought was "action" and fired away. I still am not sure what setting I ended up at but it resulted in some interesting photos. Here are a few – a farewell to the cranes and this wonderful part of Texas.

More Port A Birds

We had just stepped on to the boardwalk at the Port Aransas Birding Center when these two birds greeted us: a Snowy Egret and a Tri-colored Heron side by side.

Just ahead, a Green Heron posed and then did a little hunting while we watched.

This Common Gallinule was fun to observe.

The little walk, full of looks at good birds, ended with this American Bittern almost close enough to touch.

When I lowered the camera, he struck, got a small fish, and gobbled it as we watched only yards away. I think the head of the prey is visible in his beak.

We extended our visit an extra three days to enjoy the birds and the nice temperatures. Come on down, you-all!

Feet

The Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center at the Port Aransas Wastewater Treament Facility is one of the hotspots along the Texas coast. Not only are the birds plentiful, they are accustomed to visitors and allow pretty close access. So these amazing feet belong to a bird I see in the hundreds – but never knew about about their spectacular feet.

You can see that it is an American Coot – a bird that is easy to take for granted.

This Pied-billed Grebe was grooming away in a variety of poses. We really liked to see his feet in action.

Sorting out herons and egrets can be challenging but when you can see the black legs and the yellow "slippers" you know you’ve got a Snowy Egret.

It’s a great experience to see wild birds, who normally flush when you raise a camera, stay around and act like avian models. You’ll see some nice stalking shots on the next post.

Companions

While I record each species we see and use eBird to track birds as we travel, my birding partner is more interested in "slow birding" – taking time to "smell the flowers" – to mix metaphors. It’s got me seeing more and enjoying birding even more.

We came upon these gulls just after a lesson from a local bird walk leader. So we paused and sorted them out into Laughing Gulls, Ringed-billed Gulls, and Herring Gulls. Right now,those are the three species here so it is fun to sharpen ID skills by just going over groups – and when they line up on a pier it’s even more interesting.

Just up the road we saw these Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. Can you see what they were looking at?

Yes, it was an Anhinga, a relatively rare bird here. We watched it as it fished with snake-like movements and then strolled back up to the larger group of ducks, spreading its wings to dry out, and hanging out with the kids with bubble-gum legs.

In the next field we saw an odd couple – a young Crested Caracara and an adult Turkey Vultures. I know that they are both carrion eaters and sometime soar (kettle) together, this seemed almost like a foster mom situation.

A second juvenile joined the group as we watched entranced by what appeared to be flying lessons.

There were three juveniles, one of whom could barely fly, several Turkey Vultures, and everyone seemed at ease with the scene. No adult Caracara seemed present. We loved what we had seen but were a bit bewildered about what was going on. Anyone have any suggestions? Leave a comment if you do.