Waiting for spring birds…..

But aren’t we all, waiting for the spring birds?  We are never satisfied.  A few months ago we were waiting for the winter birds.  So it goes, year after year, watching the changing seasons and migratory trends.

But since the spring birds haven’t arrived, Ann and I decided to go look for the winter residents that are still here.  Unfortunately, we picked a very windy day.  It was sunny and the temps were moderate, but the strong breezes kept the birds at a minimum.

We at first, thought of heading out on the nearby country roads, as we had heard of some nesting Golden Eagles about twenty some miles south of us.  Now, that would have been something, but with the high winds, and the fact that the directions we had to the location were wrong, it turned out to be a bust.  We have new directions so maybe soon we can be successsful.

So we head to our usual haunts, the local parks near Lake Nasworthy.  As was the other areas, the 25 mph winds and stronger gusts kept most of the avian population down.  However, there we did see a few that gave cause to some nice photographs.

A couple of Great Blue Herons, in two different locations.  Usually we see a combined total of around 6-8 when going out there.  This one was hunkered down out of the wind next to the lake bank.

Great Blue Heron

This one was in a more sheltered area.

Great Blue Heron

This Pied-billed Grebe unperturbed in a calmer area of water.  He was far off and the image is very tightly cropped, so the image quality has suffered.  I show it because it was the only duck on the open water, except for a few Double-crested Cormorants.

Pied-billed Grebe

Back in the trees this Cooper’s Hawk thought he was out of sight of me.  I had seen him a few minutes earlier in the open and he took flight to this location.  I actually had to search for an opening that I could focus between some trees.

Cooper’s Hawk

I, at first, considered that it might be a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and I really hoped that that was what it was as I could have added it to my 2015 list.  But, alas, and I am an honest man, but to me the large size and the flatish head tells me it is indeed a Cooper’s.

Cold wet days are in store again for us so I don’t know if I will have a post by the weekend.  We shall see.  After that we are heading west to Fort Davis Mountains on Monday with hopes of getting some fine photos and seeing some of the winter birds there.  We will be returning next Thursday so it may be a week before my next post.  Until then, stay warm and dry and, Happy Birding!

Migration is getting closer…..

I have been getting out and watching around for the fall arrivals.  Not too successful but did see the first Spotted Towhee of the fall out at San Angelo State Park.  We drove to Middle Concho Park and spotted two Pied-billed Grebes and a large flock of Black-crowned Night Herons.  I did not get any usuable photos of these because of the distance involved, so I will show you the two below from previous posts.  But it is a sign that migration is getting under way, albeit very late.

adult Black-crowned Night Heron – published in a previous post.

Spotted Towhee with an attitude.  Published in a previous post.

Here are a few photographs I managed to get the past few days.

Common Nighthawk on mesquite branch at San Angelo State Park.

Northern Cardinal, female

Yellow-crowned Nigh Heron at nearby K-Mart creek.

We can’t forget our four-footed friends.

White-tailed Deer at Spring Creek Park.

Enjoy the pics until I get back with some more.  Click on any of them to see enlargements.

Birding a record-breaking day.

The weather here has been great lately, as I have mentioned before.  Ann and I got out yesterday for a few hours, and birds, along with spring, were in the air.  Our birding exploits netted us 45 species, which broke our daily record of 44  set last year.  It was hard to believe for a January day.  But when the temps get to the mid 70s, even the birds are happy.

Photographically, it was somewhat of a bust.  Oh, I got photos, but I am, as a photographer, always looking for presentable, saleable images, i.e., photos that are good enough for my Fine Art Gallery, but none of those were to be had.  However, strictly for birding bragging images, here are a few that I captured.  Click on any of them to see an enlargement.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Above, this Ladder-backed Woodpecker was enjoying himself.

Brown Creeper

As was this Brown Creeper.  It seems they love to work the underside of the branches.

Greater Yellowlegs

This Greater Yellowlegs was feeding along the river’s edge.  Really hustling, and paying no mind to anything around him.

We also saw an American Goldfinch.  I was unable to get an image of it, as it was too quick for me.  However, I will show you one that I shot at an earlier date.  Below that is a photo of a Lesser Goldfinch, that I came across in my files during my search for the previous mentioned American.  I thought you’d be interested in the comparison.

American Goldfinch – female

Lesser Goldfinch – male

For you birders that are interested in the birds that are found around this west Texas city, here is a complete list of what we saw.

1. Northern Mockingbird
2. Double-crested Cormorant
3. Eastern Bluebird
4. Western Meadowlark
5. European Starling
6. Oranged-crowned Warbler
7. Killdeer
8. Belted Kingfisher
9. Pied-billed Grebe
10. American Coot
11. Northern Shoveler
12. Bufflehead
13. Vermilion Flycatcher
14. House Finch
15. Great Blue Heron
16. Golden-fronted Woodpecker
17. Yellow-rumped Warbler
18. Black-crested Titmouse
19. Black-bellied Whistling Duck
20. Mute Swan
21. Great Egret
22. Mallard
23. Red-tailed Hawk
24. American Goldfinch
25. Great Horned Owl
26. Northern Cardinal
27. American Robin
28. White-crowned Sparrow
29. Brown Creeper
30. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
31. Gadwall
32. Green-winged Teal
33. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
34. Eastern Phoebe
35. Greater Yellowlegs
36. Wilson’s Snipe
37. Northern Flicker
38. Bewick’s Wren
39. Wild Turkey
40. Ring-billed Gull
41. Black Vulture
42. Spotted Sandpiper
43. White-winged Dove
44. Great-tailed Grackle
45. House Sparrow

2013 – And so we begin………..

Well, Ann and I decided not to dwell on last year anymore, but get back in the saddle and head off into the new year.  Birding -wise, we got off to a great start yesterday.  The temp only reached the mid 40s, but with not much wind it wasn’t all that unpleasant to be out.

We spent a little less than three hours and we saw a total of 37 species.  With a goal of reaching the 200-plus figure for the year, that is always a nice psychological beginning.  I also got a couple of nice images, including one of my best Belted Kingfisher photos to date.  I like it even though the tip of the bill is close to being nipped off.

Belted Kingfisher

I followed that up with this image of a Greater Yellowlegs.  I am always amazed with the Canon 7D and the Canon 500mm F4 lens and 1.4 TC set-up.  This bird was across the river about 150 yards away or more, and showed up as just a tiny spot in the viewfinder.  I had figured there was no way that I was going to get a good usuable photo.  The camera, with it’s 18MP, gave me a great file to work with.  I was able to crop it and still have this sharp image.

Greater Yellowlegs

Click on either image to see an enlargement.

If you are interested in the total species we saw, here is a complete list.  By the way, we only saw 194 species during 2012.  I had thought that surely we could have made the 200 mark.  Maybe this year……  We have a bit more experience now, and hopefully we plan to visit some east Texas areas that are teeming with new birds.

1. Black-bellied Whistling Duck
2. Gadwall
3. American Wigeon
4. Mallard
5. Northern Shoveler
6. Ring-necked Duck
7. Bufflehead
8. Mute Swan
9. Pied-billed Grebe
10. Double-crested Cormorant
11. Great Blue Heron
12. Great Egret
13. Northern Harrier
14. Red-tailed Hawk
15. American Kestrel
16. Merlin
17. American Coot
18. Killdeer
19. Greater Yellowlegs
20. Ring-billed Gull
21. White-winged Dove
22. Belted Kingfisher
23. Golden-fronted Woodpecker
24. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
25. Eastern Phoebe
26. Black-crested Titmouse
27. Bewick’s Wren
28. Eastern Bluebird
29. Northern Mockingbird
30. European Starling
31. Yellow-rumped Warbler
32. Northern Cardinal
33. Red-winged Blackbird
34. Western Meadowlark
35. Great-tailed Grackle
36. House Finch
37. House Sparrow

Big Birding Saturday with Sue Oliver

Who is Sue Oliver you might ask.  She is a friend of ours and one of the best birders in this area.  We had been talking about doing this for the past several months.  I also promised that I would put her name in headlines.  (Hence the title of this post).  She works at her job all week and only has time to get out on Saturdays.  We set it up to leave about 8:15AM, and we should have decided on going after a “Big Day” number.  We ended up seeing 51 species, and it could have been more, had we done a better job of deciding the route that we would take.

Belted Kingfisher – female

In the birders jargon, a “Big Day” is one where you try to see as many birds as possible.  Ann and I have, or had a record of 44 in one day back in 2011.  That was just she and I, and we were not really trying for a big number.  It just happened that way.

Pyrrholoxia – female

The weather was pretty cold when we started.  It was around 40 degrees and very cloudy, but not really uncomfortable unless we rolled the car windows down at higher speeds.  But as you probably know, birders do not travel at high speeds.

Northern Cardinal

We decided to head for Mertzon, Texas, a little town only about 20 miles southwest of San Angelo.  We took a round-a-bout way, through ranch country on some dusty caliche roads, and after three hours,(yes that’s right, three hours) of not many birds, we arrived in Mertzon.  We promptly stopped at a convenience store to answer nature’s call.  At that time, we had only chalked up about a dozen birds.  They were mostly sparrow types, grackles, and a few doves.  We were disappointed the way our birding exploits were going because we had wasted our time on those backroads.  Of course, we had now way of knowing that there would be such a shortage of birds on that route.

Red-tailed Hawk in flight

There was a little county park there in Mertzon, with a dam and a low-water crossing.  We decided to check it out as we had heard that it would be a great place for birds.  We were really correct on that score.  There were Cardinals, Finches, Pied-billed Grebes, Pyrrholoxia and a Great Blue Heron.  But the star of the show was a Ringed Kingfisher, a rarity here in this area.  It was apparent that it had invaded the territory of two Belted Kingfishers.  Those two were not making the Ringed KF welcome.  All the time we watched they were constantly chasing one another.  Patiently waiting, I did get a couple of photos when it happened to perch for a few seconds.

Ringed Kingfisher

Ringed Kingfisher

We stayed around for a bit to see if there were any more surprises.  Nothing more exciting showed up, except some American Goldfinches, American Kestrels, and another Red-tailed Hawk.  I think that by then, we had seen 35 different species.

By then it was only about 2:00 PM.  We decided that we would head for Eldorado, a drive of about 35 miles.  We thought that we could add a bunch to our list at the Water Treatment Plant ponds.  And we did.  Plenty of birds there, however, some of them were duplicates of birds that we seen in Mertzon.  But we added a Wilson’s Snipe and a Northern Harrier, and several others including an American Widgeon.

American Wigeon

On the way home, entering San Angelo, we saw the first two Ring-billed Gulls of the season, and some European Starlings.  So all in all it was another fun day of birding here in the Concho Valley.  Click on any image to see an enlargement.

Here is a complete species list for you who may be interested.

1. Red-tailed Hawk
2. Mourning Dove
3. Common Raven
4. Western Meadowlark
5. Common Grackle
6. Savannah Sparrow
7. Vesper Sparrow
8. American Kestrel
9. Northern Mockingbird
10. Loggerhead Shrike
11. Red-winged Blackbird
12. Green-winged Teal
13. Turkey Vulture
14. Northern Cardinal
15. Pyrrholoxia
16. Golden-fronted Woodpecker
17. Black Vulture
18. House Sparrow
19. Ringed Kingfisher
20. Eurasian Collared Dove
21. Belted Kingfisher
22. Pied-billed Grebe
23. Great Blue Heron
24. Pine Sisken
25. American Goldfinch
26. Brown-headed Cowbird
27. Northern Shoveler
28. Eastern Phoebe
29. House Finch
30. Eastern Bluebird
31. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
32. Great-tailed Grackle
33. Lark Sparrow
34. Western Scrub Jay
35. Wild Turkey
36. Double-crested Cormorant
37. American Coot
38. Gadwall
39. Ruddy Duck
40. Northern Pintail
41. Northern Harrier
42. Ring-necked Duck
43. Redhead
44. Great Egret
45. Spotted Sandpiper
46. Lesser Scaup
47. Wilson Snipe
48. Blue-winged Teal
49. Ring-billed Gull
50. Rock Pigeon
51. European Starling

Pied-Billed Grebes – Cuties of the lakes

Pied-billed Grebes are the real cuties of the waters around here.  Ron Dudley wrote a post on his blog about the behavior of them and it is very enlightening.  He was writing about the Western Grebes, but they all have the same habits.  You will rarely see one in flight, and they migrate at night.  Because of the way their legs are attached to their bodies, they are very awkward on land, so you rarely see one walking.

During their first week of life, they spend their time on the back of their mother.  Then after that they are always on the water, diving in the presence of danger.  These three images were taken at our nearby Middle Concho Park.

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

It is always so entertaining to watch them.  They have an innocent presence about them.  They will disappear while diving for aquatic insects, tiny fish and crayfish.  They may resurface several yards away.  So watch for these little creatures when you are around lakes and rivers.

Click on any image to see an enlargement.

Birding Eldorado Water Ponds

One place that Ann and I always enjoy visiting is the Water Treatment Ponds at Eldorado, Texas.  About forty miles south of our home in San Angelo, it is consists of five huge ponds, each about 200 feet by 300 feet.  I think one of them is even larger.  Anyway, you never know what you will find when you visit.  We have had times when the birding was scarce.

This time proved to be a bit different.  It was cool, overcast and windy when we left and didn’t really expect to see much, but we felt that it may be worth the trip.  We sometimes tire of the routine birding locally and just like to get away for awhile.

Savannah Sparrow on fence.

By the time we arrived it had warmed a bit, and the wind had abated somewhat.  The clouds were still overhead, and I really don’t mind that as the light is softer for photography.  Some of the winter duck types have arrived there, such as Gadwalls, Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers.  These we haven’t seen in San Angelo yet, but I guess they are on their way.

There were numerous Savannah Sparrows on the fences, and we saw several overflights of other birds that we couldn’t identify, however there were several Blue-winged Teal arriving.

At one point we were were driving slowly and watching the close shoreline, looking for Wilson’s Snipes.  They are difficult to see and we were not successful in sighting any.  However we saw an American Bittern, a few yards ahead with it’s familiar head stretching upward.  Wanting to get a photograph, I crept a slowly as I could, but it still managed to detect me.  By the time we reached the location where we had seen it, it had nearly disappeared.  Upon close examination, though, I spotted it in the grasses, nearly invisible.  I managed to get several photos of it.

American Bittern – trying to be invisible.

A few yards farther along was one of two Great Egrets that we had seen.

Great Egret at Eldorado Water Treatment ponds.

One of the highlights of the day was spotting this Merlin.  I got several images of it and I wasn’t sure of the identification until I got home and could get a closer look at it in the computer.  It is very similar to the Prairie Falcon.  But when it spread it’s tail, I could see the wider, bolder stripes.

Merlin

But this gives you an indication of the variety of birds that can be seen there.  We also saw about three Great Blue Herons, a Double-crested Cormorant. an American Kestrel, a few swallows and some other un-identified birds.  In all, according to Ann’s list that she always keeps, we saw twenty-four species in about two hours.  Here is a complete list.

1. House Finch
2. Great Egret
3. American Coot
4. Northern Shoveler
5. White-winged Dove
6. Northern Mockingbird
7. American Kestrel
8. Turkey Vulture
9. Yellow-headed Blackbird
10. Ruddy Duck
11. Eared Grebe
12. Double-crested Cormorant
13. Pied-billed Grebe
14. Wild Turkey
15. Blue-winged Teal
16. Savannah Sparrow
17. Gadwall
18. American Bittern
19. Barn Swallow
20. Great Blue Heron
21. Killdeer
22. Merlin
23. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
24. Red-tailed Hawk

Tuesday Great Day Birding

I just got home a couple of hours ago and have been going through over 300 images that I took today.  Of course, about 280 of them will be trashed, but I did get a few good ones.  In all, the three of us, Ann, Carl Williams, my neightbor, and I saw/or photographed 43 species of birds.  We never left the San Angelo city limits. 

One of the highlights was to see a Western Grebe in the Middle Concho River.  It is an unusual bird to be seen around here.  It usually abides further west.  Then when we were driving throught Spring Creek Park, Ann pointed up into a tree where a Great Horned Owl was sitting on a branch.  It was back-lit by the sun, but somehow I was able to come up with a barely acceptable print.  Below is a complete list that we reported to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

1. White-crowned Sparrow   12
2. Brown-headed Cowbird   4
3. Bullock’s Oriole   4
4. House Sparrow   10
5. House Finch   14
6. Northern Mockingbird   22
7. Red-winged Blackbird   12
8. White-winged Dove   29
9. Pyrrhuloxia   1
10. Orange-crowned Warbler   1
11. Northern Cardinal   3
12. Golden-fronted Woodpecker   5
13. Mourning Dove   4
14. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher   24
15. Lark Sparrow   10
16. Barn Swallow   8
17. Chipping Sparrow   4
18. Bewick’s Wren   1
19. Black-throated Sparrow   1
20. Turkey Vulture   12
21. Great-tailed Grackle   36
22. Common Grackle   12
23. Vesper Sparrow   6
24. Black-necked Stilt   4
25. Northern Shoveler   12
26. Ash-throated Flycatcher   4
27. Red-tailed Hawk   1
28. Pied-billed Grebe   3
29. Inco Dove   2
30. Curve-billed Thrasher   2
31. Double-crested Cormorant   10
32. Neotropic Cormorant   3
33. Black-crested Titmouse   2
34. European Starling   3
35. American Coot   3
36. Western Grebe   1
37. Great Blue Heron   3
38. Savannah Sparrow   2
39. Yellow-rumped Warbler   1
40. Black-crowned Night Heron   1
41. Osprey   1
42. Eastern Bluebird   1
43. Great Horned Owl   1

I hope you enjoyed this post.  I will have more photos later in the week.  I was somewhat rushed to get this done to publish it today.  Don’t forget to vote in my weekly Bird ID quiz at this link:   https://bobzeller.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/birding-quiz-of-the-week/ or at the “Birding Quiz of the Week”  post on right side of this page.  Results will be published Friday.  Then on Saturday I will have a brand new quiz for you.  I have already written it, and can’t wait for you to see it.

Great Blue Herons and a Ladder-backed Woodpecker

I haven’t posted for a few days, but that is because the weather has been so danged nice, I just couldn’t sit at the computer.  I’ll probably be posting only about three or four times a week now, instead of my nearly daily doses during cold weather.

Ann and I went out yesterday, with the goal of hitting our favorite birding spots with a couple of little short stops along the way.  We ended up seeing 44 species during an approximately 4 hour span.

Great Blue Heron

We started off with spending about a hour at the bird blind at San Angelo State Park.  We wanted to see if the Green-tailed Towhee was still hanging around.  It was.  After we left there to head to Spring Creek Park, we stopped briefly at a pond in the Bluffs Addition, and saw our first American Wigeon of the year.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

After stopping at that pond, we then proceeded to Spring Creek and then the Middle Concho Park.  Among the highlights was the spotting of two Western Bluebirds, a specie that is normally found west of San Angelo.  Actually, the previous day when visiting the park with a neighbor friend, we saw seven of those.   Aside from the pictured Ladder-backed Woodpecker, we also saw six Great Blue Herons, one of those is pictured above.

All in all, it was a very fun day.  If you’re interested, here is a complete list of our species for the four hour adventure.  Click on either image to see a glorious enlargement.

1. Great Blue Heron   6
2. Cinnamon Teal   7
3. Green-winged Teal   4
4. Gadwall   16
5. American Coot   22
6. Malard   7
7. Northern Shoveler   30
8. Northern Mockingbird   14
9. Eared Grebe   1
10. Western Bluebird   2
11. Pied-billed Grebe   6
12. House Finch   20
13. Red-winged Blackbird   10
14. Eastern Bluebird   12
15. American Goldfinch   4
16. Blue Jay   2
17. European Starling   12
18. Black Vulture   2
19. Forster’s Tern   5
20. Ring-billed Gulls   220
21. Double-crested Cormorant   6
22. Mute Swan   1
23. Northern Cardinal   2
24. Western Meadowlark   15
25. White-crowned Sparrow   30
26. Phyrrhuloxia   2
27. Belted Kingfisher   1
28. Golden-fronted Woodpecker   6
29. Yellow-rumped Warbler   3
30. Vermilion Flycatcher   1
31. Curved-bill Thrasher   2
32. Northern Flicker   2
33. Osprey   1  (flyover)
34. Ring-necked Duck   2
35. American Wigeon   4
36. Great-tailed Grackle   6
37. House Sparrow   6
38. Black-crested Titmouse   4
39. Canyon Towhee   2
40. Green-tailed Towhee   1
41. Mourning Dove   1
42. Ladder-backed Woodpecker   1
43. Savannah Sparrow   14
44. Eastern Phoebe   1

About the photos:  Both photos taken with my Canon 7D.

Great Blue Heron:  500mm lens with 1.4 tele-converter.  1/3200 sec. @ f8, -1.7EV, ISO 100.  I accidently adjusted the EV un-necessarily and had to correct in post processing.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker:  100-400mm zoom lens.  1/500 sec. @ f7.1, +0.3EV, ISO 500.

More birding formation.  I found out this morning that a Snowy Owl has been seen, photographed and verified, near Lake Ray Hubbard near Dallas, Texas.  Since it is about 300 miles east of San Angelo, I will not go to have a look.  Maybe it will head west…………. 🙂  Hey, we can always hope. 🙂

The Great Blue Heron – plus……Lifer 241

We took a run out to Middle Concho Park today.  One of the highlights was catching a photo op of the Great Blue Heron, (Ardea herodias).  The Great Blue is I believe my favorite of all of the herons to photograph.  This one flew up from the river and lit high in the top of a tree on the other side.  I love the way the light breeze was blowing his plumage.  He was about 125 yards away.

I was in the car, but I was facing the wrong way to get a shot from the drivers side.  I got out and hand-held my Canon 70D with 500mm lens and 1.4 tele-converter, resting against the hood of the car.  Exposure was 1/1250 sec. @ f8 with a ISO of 125.  Center-weighted metering and aperture priority.  Click on the image to see a beautiful enlargement.

Great Blue Heron

As I said above, that was one of the highlights.  There were others and one was the spotting of not one, but two Brown Creepers, (Certhia americana).  The Brown Creeper is another rarity for the San Angelo area, so I was very pleased to see these two.  And, by the way, since I had never saw one before this was lifer number 241 for me, if anyone is keeping count.  I did get photos for confirmation, but they are not publishable quality by my standards.  They are good enough for identification purposes.

It was a good birding day.  In all we saw these 35 species:

1. American Coots   35+
2. Northern Shoveler   50+
3. Gadwall   12
4. Northern Mockingbird   4
5. House Finch   12
6. Great Blue Heron   9
7. Pied-billed Grebe   6
8. Cinnamon Teal   11
9. Great-tailed Grackle   4
10. Belted Kingfisher   2
11. Ladder-backed Woodpecker   2
12. Common Grackles   6
13. Red-winged Blackbird   2
14. Golden-fronted Woodpecker   6
15. Great Egret   2
16. Green-winged Teal   8
17. Brown Creeper   2  (lifer)
18. Meadowlark   6
19. Yellow-rumped Warbler   2
20. Eastern Bluebird   2
21. Cooper’s Hawk   1
22. European Starlings   8
23. Black-crested Titmouse   3
24. Dark-eyed Juncos – slate   12
25. Mallard   2
26. Northern Cardinal   2
27. Blue Jay   1
28. Savannah Sparrow   1
29. American Robins   2
30. Forster’s Terns   2
31. Ring-billed Gulls   50+
32. Northern Pintail   2
33. Hooded Merganzer   1
34. Ring-necked Ducks   50+
35. White-winged Dove   1