A new week, a new day……

April 15, 2013 by Bob Zeller

I am sitting here at my computer pondering the day, and wondering what I am going to write about. I sometimes never decide until I am actually here with my fingers on the keyboard. Ann and I had a pretty nice weekend, but now it’s time to get after it. “It” being doing something constructive.

On Friday we decided to make a birding run through our local parks in the Lake Nasworthy area. We actually came away with seeing 43 species in about three hours time. I didn’t get any photos that were in an award-winning fashion, but here are a few images from the morning.

Eared Grebe

The Eared Grebe was the first we had seen this year, and we were fortunate to do so, as they usually have all left by this date except for a few hangers-on.

Blue-winged Teal

The Blue-winged Teal was feeding pretty near the grebe, as was the Great Egret pictured below.

Great Egret

Sparrows are difficult to photograph, because of the small size and also because it is hard to catch them still enough when they are in the grass. I got lucky with this Savannah Sparrow.

Savannah Sparrow

So photographically the day wasn’t a complete waste. I have to admit, though, that sometimes I get caught up with the birding aspect, and sub-conciously forget the cameras. Then I have a ‘V-eight’ moment, slam myself in the forehead about possibly missing a great shot.

Speaking of great birding here is a list of our sightings, which included our first Bullock’s Oriole of the year.

Blue Jay 1
White-winged Dove 7
House Finch 9
Great-tailed Grackle 11
House Sparrow 5
Mourning Dove 3
Neotropic Cormorant 15
American Coot 25
Gadwall 5
Pied-billed Grebe 3
European Starling
Killdeer 1
Turkey Vulture 5
Eastern Bluebird 3
Red-winged Blackbird 7
Northern Shoveler 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 4
Bewick’s Wren 1
Northern Cardinal 5
Ash-throated Flycatcher 2
Eared Grebe 1
Blue-winged Teal
Common Grackle 7
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Chipping Sparrow 7
Vermilion Flycatcher 2
Lark Sparrow 7
Black-bellied Whistling Duck 25
Barn Swallow 5
Great Blue Heron 4
Savannah Sparrow 3
Great Egret 1
Black-crested Titmouse
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Bullock’s Oriole 2
White-crowned Sparrow 3
Wild Turkey 1
Belted Kingfisher
Cinnamon Teal 1
Rock Pigeon 1
Northern Mockingbird 7

I hope you enjoyed the images. Click on any of them to see enlargements.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker and more

January 12, 2013 by Bob Zeller

Since we had better weather for a couple of days we have been to our local parks a couple of times. Today, Saturday, of course, the weather has changed, getting cooler then downright cold for the next six days or so. Anyway, I managed to get a few photos of some of the smaller birds, plus a pretty nice shot of a Great Blue Heron. I will show them here starting with three images of a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, which I think is one the most photogenic of that species.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

This Savannah Sparrow flew from a tree into the edge of the water. It is one of my better shots of one of these. It usually is difficult to get such close-ups of them.

Savannah Sparrow

The same goes for the American Goldfinches such as the one pictured below. I was lucky with this image. The bird was in dense brush, inside a fence line. I think I took 30 shots, before I got one that showed nearly the whole bird in focus.

American Goldfinch

There was still a lot of water standing in the roadways and this Western Meadowlark decided that it wasn’t too cold for a bath.

Western Meadowlark – taking a bath

I have always had difficulty getting decent photos of swans. Usually the ones around here are on open water, making getting good compositions hard to come by. Also there is the problem of getting the exposure good because of the whiteness of the feathers. I believe this image of the two Mute Swans is a bit more interesting with the rocks in the background.

Mute Swans

What can I say about the Great Blue Herons. I always enjoy trying to get interesting images of them. We ate at the ‘Golden Arches’ for breakfast early Thursday morning. It was cold, drizzly, and a bit dark. When we left the restaurant, Ann noticed the heron in the little arroyo adjacent to the parking lot. Of course, I just happened to have my camera in the car, so I got it out and managed to get several images in the very low light. I like the photo especially the way the wet weather saturated the colors.

Great Blue Heron

Click on any of these images to see enlargements.

By the way, I still have copies of my highly acclaimed book, “Birds, Beasts and Buttes”, available. To order autographed copies, contact me at bobzeller1@aol.com.

Hooded Merganzers – New Winter Arrivals

November 26, 2011 by Bob Zeller

One of my favorite winter water birds is the Hooded Merganzer (Lophodytes cucullatus). Thanksgiving Day morning, while Ann was cooking our holiday meal, I decided to stay out of her way, and out of the house. First I went to San Angelo State Park, the first time I had been there in a couple of months. More on that a little later. After I left the park, I decided to go by a small lake a few blocks from our house. I don’t know if it has an official name, but because it is near Sunset Mall on Sunset Drive, I will call it Sunset Lake.

It is a regular place where a lot of waterbirds hang out. I stopped at a favorite viewing spot on Huntington Street and walked down to the shore. There more than a hundred Hooded Merganzers, Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers, and I think I saw some Lesser Scaups. I was walking and traveling light, so I had my Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400mm zoom lens. Perfect for the situation. From my position, though, all of the birds were back-lighted in the morning sun. But I had to live with it as, because of the residental homes, this is probably the only place that I could get close to the water.

Hooded Merganzer

female Hooded Merganzer

Hooded Merganzer

female Hooded Merganzer

Now back to the subject of San Angelo State Park. I was very disappointed in the condition of the bird blind. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Ann and I took upon us the care, maintenance and feeding the blind for a couple of years. We retired from the job at the end of June 2011.

When I arrived there Thursday morning, I saw one, and only one Savannah Sparrow, and that was the only bird that I observed. There obviously hadn’t been feed put out in several days (weeks?). One feeder was broken. A window in the blind was broken out. No water was flowing in to the water basin. Weeds were tall. I walked around for about 15 minutes and saw not a sign of any other bird, save for that one and only sparrow.

I don’t know what the problem is. It seems to me that know one really cares about the birding prospects for the park. The powers-that-be haven’t grasped the fact that birding is getting to be a very, very popular past-time in Texas. Texas is one of the leading states for birding, as it is in the migratory paths of most species. All of the other state parks, are taking advantage by erecting new blinds for photographers and birders. Therefore, they are getting a lot more revenue that is sorely needed.

So unless San Angelo State Park wakes up, they are going to lose out on a very good source of income. In the past I have always bragged about the park, but now I have to say that is not the park that it used to be.

So now I have vented, and I feel good about it. Now, I’ll probably get letters. So be it.