Bulletin #98 – Misc birds of upper Texas coast

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
December 21, 2009

Bulletin #98 – Misc birds of upper Texas coast

Hello friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

First of all, I have a correction from the last Bulletin #97. The bird listed as a Chipping Sparrow is actually a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow. Thanks to guide Darrell Vollert for pointing out my mistake. Let me try and explain the subtle difference between these birds. Here is a Chipping Sparrow - juvenile. Notice the black line goes through the eye to the bill. That area in front of the eye is called the lores. In a Chipping Sparrow, the lores are dark or black. In the photo posted, which was actually a White-crowned Sparrow, the lores are light gray. I have relabeled the photo correctly.

One of the other birds on my to do list for this winter, is the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (or just Nelson's Sparrow) (Ammodramus nelsoni). This bird is very similar to the LeConte's Sparrow highlighted in Bulletin #97. However, the differences include a gray midline crown stripe and gray back of neck. The habitat in winter is also different, with the Nelson's strictly in salt marsh and the LeConte's in fields.

Here are 2 photos of a Nelson's Sparrow taken on Crab Road, Surfside Beach, Texas.

I arrived at Surfside Beach in the early morning to find the sparrows when they became active at daylight. There were a number of other marsh birds, that photographed beautifully in the early morning light.

Here are a couple of photos of an adult Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris). I was only 15 feet from this bird, my closest encounter yet with a rail. The photos are full frame. The gray cheek differentiates this rail from the closely related and very similar King Rail.

The juvenile birds are almost completely gray. This was my first time to see one. Also, these rails swim at times as shown in Sibley, and I caught this juvenile swimming.

Another bird was the Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus). This bird was practically at my feet.

On the way back home, I drove through Brazoria NWR. One of the special birds there is the White-tailed Hawk (Buteo albicaudatus). This large hawk (23") is a resident of the Texas coastal area from Houston to the Rio Grande valley. The adult has a snow white breast, gray back and rufous shoulders. The tail is white with a terminal black band.

In contrast, the juveniles are often completely brown with just a white spot on the breast. Here is an old photo from my files.

Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) have bare pink heads. I was unaware, until Joe Kennedy posted some photos on Texbirds, that the juveniles have black heads just like a Black Vulture, but they gradually turn pink. I looked for such a bird and found one beside the road at Brazoria NWR.

I gave 2 talks in November on the subject of winter birds along the upper Texas coast. One of the items I mentioned was the chance of getting a wintering hummingbird in your yard, if you take the time to leave your feeder up and change the food regularly. I have had the pleasure of a Buff-bellied Hummingbird in my yard last winter and once in the mid 1990's at my previous house in Seabrook, Texas.

As everyone who lives here knows, we had a freeze and snow on Friday December 4th. This killed many of the flowers in our gardens that the hummers depend on, so they are even more likely to come to your feeder.

The fates have smiled upon me as I had 3 different birds in my yard the week of Dec 9-13th. I had my first ever Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus). This was a beautiful male, who is still here. He is roosting on a wilted hibiscus bush, which is their preferred plant in winter.

I also had a female Archilochus species (either Ruby-throated or Black-chinned) as I haven't been able to differentiate yet.

The third bird was a Buff-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia yucatanensis) again. I did get a good look at him on the feeder and he appears to be banded on his right leg. The one I had last year was also banded, so I think it is likely the same bird. Hummingbirds have excellent memories and will often return to the same place, year after year. The bird disappeared for a while and reappeared yesterday, when I was able to get a photo. What a beautiful creature!

So if you haven't put up a hummingbird feeder, and want to try to attract one, this winter would be ideal. I have only had 2 birds in winter in 20 years, and now 3 this year already! Good luck, and if you do attract one, I would love to photograph it, if it is an unusual bird. Please email me with the details. Thanks.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2009 David McDonald

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Bulletin #97 – Attwater PC NWR - Sparrows and others

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
December 5, 2009

Bulletin #97 – Attwater PC NWR - Sparrows and others

Hello friends,

There are several families of birds which are very confusing and challenging to birders, especially beginners. These would include warblers, gulls and sparrows. I am comfortable now with identifying warblers in the spring, but the other 2 groups still give me problems. But that is probably because I haven't spent enough time just looking for them and identifying them myself.
For many birders, sparrows are just LBJs (little brown jobs) and they all look alike. However taking the photos really helps, as it allows me to ID a bird at home even if I couldn't in the field. Part of the problem is the field guides. Peterson Eastern Birds has all the sparrows looking pretty much alike - LBJs. Sibley seems to be the best in showing the actual colorations, and National Geographic is also good. But as you can see from these photos, many of the sparrows have distinctive plumages and can be IDed with some practice.

On the upper Texas coast, we have 1 resident sparrow species, the Seaside Sparrow, a large grayish sparrow with a yellow spot in front of the eye. it lives in salt marshes only. I highlighted it in Bulletin #96.

However in winter, we get an influx of sparrow species. 3 of them I have not photographed. All are members of the Ammodramus genus. These sparrows tend to be skulkers and hard to see. These three species are on my to do list for this winter, so I started over Thanksgiving weekend looking for them. Fortunately, Texbirds is an online resource where birders report their sightings and I was able to find locations for all 3 of them.

On Thanksgiving morning I went to Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR west of Houston, where 2 of the 3 had been seen. It is a great place for sparrows.

To see the sparrows, you have to go early in the morning (before 10am) as they become inactive at that time and hide in the tall grass.I immediately found my first target bird on the entrance road. This was the Le Conte's Sparrow (Ammodramus leconteii). This is actually a beautiful bird with mostly orange face and breast with a white belly and buffy orange flanks with dark streaks. The early morning light, as photographers know, has a reddish cast and the bird just glowed in the sunlight. Notice the flat head on the bird.

Later in the day, I found another Le Conte's Sparrow sitting on a fence post and the light was behind the bird, so I used the flash. The colors aren't nearly as dramatic.

Another related sparrow is the Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) I already had photos from Florida of this bird, but this was my first time to see them in Texas and ID them myself, without a guide.

This bird has rusty color above the eye and below the eye with the rest of the face gray. This makes the white eye-ring very prominent. The bill is large and he has a flat head. The breast and flanks are rusty too, but this bird has no streaks on the underside at all. Notice the back has some rusty red feathers as well.

The first photo is an adult and the second has less dramatic colors and is probably a 1st winter bird.

The next bird is the Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii). This bird has a gray face and head with several brown stripes. But the ID mark is the caramel colored breast band with streaks.

The next one is an LBJ, the Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sanwichensis). It is probably the most common winter sparrow here and is IDed by the brown face with a white or sometimes yellow streak above the eye. The white breast with brown streaks is also part of the ID package.

Next is a very distinctive large (7") sparrow, the White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). This bird is an easy ID with the black and white striped head and plain gray throat and underparts. Note that juveniles may have beige rather than white stripes on the head.

The last sparrow from this trip is the Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina). This sparrow has a gray face and underparts. There is rufous cap on the head, pink bill and most importantly, a black line through the eye.

When looking for sparrows, you have to be careful of LBJs that aren't sparrows. Here is a Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis) that was in the same grassy field with the sparrows.

The last bird I photographed on this trip was a Northern Caracara (Caracara cheriway) This large (23") black and white raptor was sitting on one of those small steel fence posts. His ID is easy with huge bill, red/orange face and a bushy crest.

When flying, they are also easy to ID as they have white on 'all 4 corners'. They have white head, tail and wing tips.







Quiz answer - I asked if there were any other birds with scientific names that had the same genus and species name. I received 1 answer, the Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia). The one I was thinking about was the Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus).However, I found 2 others; Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) and Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus).

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2009 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.