Tag Archives: White-winged Dove

Two more from Middle Concho Park

by

Friday opened cool and cloudy, but by 11:00AM it was bright and sunny.  We decided to return to Middle Concho Park where we had seen so many species the day before.  Again there were an abundance of birds.  We birded there for an hour or so, then we drove over to the adjacent Spring Creek Park.  Here are two photographs that I captured there.  A Blue Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), and an American Robin (Turdus migratorius).

Blue Jay

American Robin

As I said the good news was that it was bright and sunny.  On the downside I didn’t have the best light that I would have had if it had remained cloudy.  Boy, I sure am hard to please, aren’t I??  But it did make it difficult to expose properly for the Blue Jay.  As you can see, it worked out okay, though.  The American Robin was in open shade where the light was more even, so the job was easier.

During our birding, we saw a couple of hawks, several herons and egrets and others.  In all, we saw 21 species, as I have listed below.

I hope you enjoyed the photos and narrative about our birding exploits.  Have a great weekend.

A Better Day for Photography – And Birding

by

Ah, the pleasure of it all.  The showery, foggy, drizzly weather finally left the building for a bit yesterday.  The temp reached 70 degrees, however it stayed cloudy, and that was perfect for me.  The better to make photographs.

Shortly after lunch, Ann and I decided we had enough cabin fever and decided to drive to Middle Concho park and see what was hanging out around there.  Here are two photos that I managed two capture. A Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and a Great Egret (Ardea alba).  Co-incidentally they were both high in a tree (separate) when I photographed them.  Actually we had counted 3 egrets and about 6 herons flying up and down the river as we drove through.

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

I photographed these in the RAW format and post editing was in Photoshop CS5.  I used my Canon 7D with 500mm lens and 1.4 converter.  Tripod mounted.  The cloudy skies made for excellent light, as there were no harsh shadows.  Both birds were across the river, about 100 yards away and about 20 feet above the ground.  Both images have been cropped.

As for our birding, we saw a total of 20 species during our two-hour stay of mostly doing photography.  We were surprised to see one lone Bufflehead swimming along in the river.  And of course, the place was over-run with American Coots.  But as they say, ’tis the season.  Here is our total list.

  • Great Blue Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Cinnamon Teal
  • American Coot
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Northern Shoveler
  • White-winged Dove
  • Black Vulture
  • Grackles
  • American Robin
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • House Finch
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Bufflehead
  • Golden-fronted Woodpecker
  • Gadwall
  • American Goldfinch

Hopefully, we can make it out again before the weather changes this weekend.

Mourning Doves: Hunting Season

by

The second in my series about the various dove species in west Texas.  Today is about Mourning Doves. (Zenaida macroura).   Slightly larger than the White-winged Dove, it is grayish-brown in color, with dark spots on the wings towards the tail.  There is a pale blue orbital ring arount the eye.  It is a slender bird, with long, pointed tail.  Fairly narrow body, with pointed wings held close while flapping.

Mourning Doves

  • Photograph taken   May 18, 2007
  • Canon EOS 20D
  • Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
  • 1/400 sec. @ f9 – ISO 200
  • Lens focal length – 400mm
  • Metering – partial
  • Aperture priority

Mourning Dove

  • Photograph taken  December 28, 2010
  • Canon EOS 7D
  • Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
  • 1/1600 sec. @ f6.3 – minus 1/3 EV adjustment – ISO 1600
  • Lens focal length – 400mm
  • Metering – partial
  • Shutter priority

Click on either image to see an enlarged image.

White-winged Doves: Hunting Season

by

Since the dove hunting season has begun here in west Texas, this would be a good time to bring you up to date on the different species that you can find here.  I will do a post each day covering all the different ones.

First up:  White-winged Dove. (Zenaida asiatica).  Medium sized, but larger than the Mourning Dove, it has a short square tail and broad wings.  It is an unmarked pale brown overall color with broad white streaks along the edges of the folded wings.  A bluish hue surrounds the orange eyes.  It sports a long thin bill, slightly down-curved.

White-winged Dove

  • Photographed on September 10, 2010
  • Canon EOS 7D
  • Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
  • 1/400 sec. @ f8  ISO  640
  • Lens focal length – 340mm
  • Metering – partial
  • Aperture priority

White-winged Dove

  • Photographed on June 7, 2009
  • Canon EOS 40D
  • Canon 100-400mm zoom lens
  • 1/400 sec. @ f6.3 – ISO 400
  • Lens focal length – 340mm
  • Metering – center weighted
  • Aperture priority

Click on either image to see an enlargement.  Enjoy.

San Angelo State Park – Update

by

 I have been under the weather for a few days, but I am getting better.  However, my time in the field has been lacking, so I haven’t done much photography.  So today, I thought I would publish this rerun/update of this post from April of 2010.  I have updated it somewhat, and added a few more photos for your enjoyment.

Horned Toad

Since I do a large percent of my birding and photography at San Angelo State Park, I feel compelled to tell a little bit about it.  I imagine a large percentage of you readers have never heard of it, let alone visit it.

 

It was created in 1952 when O. C. Fisher Dam and Reservoir were completed for flood control.  In 1995 it was officially opened as San Angelo State Park.  It is comprised of 7,677 acres, mostly undeveloped land.  But the developed part is a gem. 

IMG_4660_blog_sasp Picnic site

 

There you can find wildlife of all types, white-tailed deer,  rattlesnake, javelina, bobcat, porcupine, jackrabbits, prairie dogs, and many more than I have space to list.  There is a herd of bison, and part of the Official Texas State Longhorn Herd  resides there. 

 

Did I mention that there many types of birds in the park.  There are 356 species of birds in the Concho Valley and you can see most of them in the park at various times of the year.

Eastern Bluebird

Also available are many campsites, some dry camps, other full-featured hook-ups.  Picnic tables abound for the day-trippers.  Air-conditioned cabins are for rent for visitors who don’t happen to own an RV or other camping gear.  And lest I forget, there are hiking trails galore.

Air-conditioned Cabin Air-conditioned Cabin

 

Kurt Kemp and his staff do a wonderful and efficient job of maintaining the numerous areas of the park.  At the South Entrance gate-house you can find maps, souvenirs, and get park information.

Bobcat

Plans for the future include additional bird-blinds for the birding enthusiast and bird photographers.  There is an ongoing project to eradicate the mesquite and salt-cedar to aid in water runoff for the Concho River and O. C. Fisher Lake.  The amphitheater, aptly named “Butterfield Stage”, has been completed and is now serving various functions.

Porcupine

So all in all, I would say that the future of San Angelo State Park looks rosy indeed.  Now if only we could get a little more rain on the North Concho River water-shed, the level of the lake would rise.  Then we could make use of the many boat ramps that are currently hundreds of yards from the shoreline.  At that time, boating can truly be added to the already long list of activities for park visitors.

Great Blue Heron and Roseate Spoonbill

Happy Birding!!

Diminutive Terror: The American Kestrel

by

This little raptor strikes terror in the hearts of field mice and other small rodents.  It is among the most colorful of the falcons.  Like the shrike, they are excellent mousers, and they also go courageously after small birds, bats, insects, reptiles, and even fish on rare occasions.  They perch on tall trees or posts for long periods and watch for prey.  They then swoop and pounce.  In poor light they may sometimes be mistaken for a Merlin.  These first two images were taken yesterday, where as the bottom two have been published before.  Click on any of them to see an enlargement.

American Kestrel watching for prey

American Kestrel enjoying the chase

American Kestrel enjoying the catch

American Kestrel feeling good

Happy Birding!!

Location:     San Angelo State Park
Observation date:     2/27/11
Number of species:     22

Northern Shoveler     50
American White Pelican     120
Great Blue Heron     1
Black Vulture     4
Turkey Vulture     1
Killdeer     4
Greater Yellowlegs     10
Ring-billed Gull     100
White-winged Dove     6
Mourning Dove     1
Great Horned Owl     1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker     1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker     1
Loggerhead Shrike     1
Black-crested Titmouse     2
Bewick’s Wren     2
Northern Mockingbird     8
Canyon Towhee     1
White-crowned Sparrow     6
Pyrrhuloxia     2
Red-winged Blackbird     30
House Finch     10

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Red-tailed Hawk and Birding results

by

First, I want to say that this may be my last post for about a week.  Ann, Jodie Wolslager and I are heading for New Mexico to visit some birding and wildlife areas there.  I hope to come back with some nice photos and new experiences to tell you about.

This morning we had our monthly Adult Birding Adventure at San Angelo State Park.  We had one of the largest participant turn-outs ever.  However, the bird activity left a little to be desired.  Plenty activity at the bird blind though.  By Ann’s count we had a grand total of 29 species.  Not bad for an off-day.  A total list appears at the bottom of this post.

Red-tailed Hawk

In keeping with my habit of including a photograph with each post, I submit this in-flight image of a Red-tailed Hawk, from my archives.  Did I ever tell you that I love to photograph raptors??  Click on the photo to see an enlargement.

By the way, I am overwhelmed by the comments to Holly’s Blog about in-flight photography, referring to the advice and tips that I gave her.  See   http://photobyholly.wordpress.com/2011/02/11/in-flight/    I thank one and all  for reading the tips.  I only hope that every one has good results from them.  I do need to clarify one thing.  My tips were based on my own experience with a Canon DSLR.  I remember that Holly shoots a Nikon, but I think that most DSLRs have a tracking type of auto-focus.

Happy birding and picture taking!!  🙂

Location:     San Angelo State Park
Observation date:     2/12/11
Number of species:     29

Mallard     3
Blue-winged Teal     20
Northern Shoveler     18
American White Pelican     12
Great Blue Heron     2
Black Vulture     6
Turkey Vulture     3
Red-tailed Hawk     1
American Coot     2
Killdeer     2
Greater Yellowlegs     3
Least Sandpiper     10
Ring-billed Gull     100
White-winged Dove     2
Mourning Dove     4
Ladder-backed Woodpecker     2
Black-crested Titmouse     2
Rock Wren     1
Bewick’s Wren     1
Northern Mockingbird     6
Curve-billed Thrasher     1
Canyon Towhee     1
White-crowned Sparrow     24
Northern Cardinal     6
Pyrrhuloxia     4
Red-winged Blackbird     12
Western Meadowlark     10
House Finch     18
House Sparrow     6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Red-naped Sapsucker and Meadowlark

by

The weather is starting to warm up again.  However, it got down to 16 degrees again this morning.  We checked out the San Angelo State Park, though, as the sun is starting to heat up.  No wind, very nice.  However we didn’t see much bird activity, but we didn’t stay long.  I have to get photo equipment sorted out and then wash the van for our trip to Bosque Del Apache NWR, in New Mexico.   We saw several Western Meadowlarks.  They were just about the only thing stirring, except for some cardinals, sparrows, etc.

Western Meadowlark

Tomorow is our monthly Adult Birding Adventure at the park.  It is lead by yours truly, and we usually have a good turnout of participants.  It consists of spending a little time at the bird blind, then the balance just driving slowly through the park, to see what we can see.  The reason for this is that several species don’t ever frequent the bird blind, and vice versa.  So we never know what we will come across.  Last year one time, we were surprised by a Burrowing Owl sitting on an old Prairie Dog mound.  More recently we saw what we at first thought was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  I managed to get a photograph (below) and that was when we discovered that it was a Red-naped Sapsucker.

Red-naped Sapsucker

Click on either photograph to see an enlargement. 

Happy Birding!!

Birding San Angelo News and Photos

by

I haven’t posted to my blog for a couple of days.  It just got so bone-chilling cold today, that I decided to stay in.  So I haven’t decided on anything special to write about.  I did get my life list up to 220.  I added an American Pippit last week, thanks to Sue Oliver.  We ran into her at O. C. Fisher Lake and she pointed one out.  I haven’t gotten close enough to get a decent photo yet, but now that I know what they look like and where they are, I should be able to come up with a nice image soon.

Blue Grosbeak

The monthly Adult Birding Adventure is coming up this weekend.  I hope to see some more of you out there.  The number of birders that are participating is increasing, but always room for more.  The weather forecast looks good, too.

Bald Eagles - Llano, Texas

The Phainopepla that hung around for about a month has left the building.  He certainly kept to the same area while he was here.  Almost always in the same tree, but alternated with a couple of nearby ones.  He will be missed.

The O. C. Fisher Lake level is drastically decreasing, and therefore the shorebirds are getting harder to see.  But there are plenty to see if you have binoculars or a spotting scope.  A huge number of American White Pelicans have left, but there was still around two dozen yesterday.  We have been seeing at least one Herring Gull. 

White Ibis

Since plans for a second bird-blind has been put on the back burner, Ann and I have expanded the feeding area at the present one.  On the east side, we have added a couple more feeders so the viewing experience has been enhanced.

Nest week on the 15th, Ann and I, along with Jodie Wolslager are heading to New Mexico to spend a couple of days.  We plan on visiting the Boxque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.  I hope to bring back some new photographs, hopefully of some Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and I hope to get lucky and see a Bald Eagle.

Ringed Kingfisher

By the way, these photos have nothing to do with today’s subject.  But I can’t resist not putting photos with my posts. 🙂  Enjoy them, and click on either image to see an enlargement.

Here’s Woody, the Woodpecker

by

Whenever I see woodpeckers, I am reminded of the Woody, the Woodpecker cartoons that I used to see when I was a child growing up.  As I remember it, though, I believe Woody was a Pileated Woodpecker.  These pictures that I have here today are of a Ladder-backed Woodpecker.  The male, I photographed yesterday morning.  Both images of the female I captured earlier today.  All were at San Angelo State Park in San Angelo, Texas.  Enjoy the photos, and as usual, click on any of them to see enlargements.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - male

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - female

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - female spreading her wings

Happy Birding!!