Bulletin #109 – Spring Migration #4 - warblers

David McDonald Photography

Friendswood Texas
April 27, 2010

Bulletin #109 – Spring Migration #4 - warblers

Hello friends,

As April comes to an end, spring migration peaks. The past week has been exceptional, with 35+ species of warbler reported from High Island and Sabine Woods (near Louisiana border). A strong front and westerly wind brought many western birds to our area including Bullock’s Oriole, Lazuli Bunting, Western Kingbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird and a vagrant Fork-tailed Flycatcher.
I visited LaFitte’s Cove on Galveston, afternoons from Friday to Sunday and was rewarded with lots of wonderful birds.

The highlight was a cooperative male Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca). This striking orange, black and white bird normally stays high in the canopy, but this one fed in some small saplings at eye level. All the birders and photographers were rewarded with their best views of this bird.

In this photo, he is hanging sideways on a branch. I marvel at the relative strength of his leg muscles to assume this posture!

Kentucky Warblers (Oporornis formosus) were well represented and I was able to compare plumage differences. Here is a male with the black ‘mustache’.

The female has a dark shadow on the cheek rather than a black area. She is also not as bright yellow on the breast.

There were also several plumages of the Northern Parula (Parula americana). This bird has a yellow throat and lower mandible, green back, gray head and white breast. The adults have a brown breast band. The also have white eye arcs.

This 1st year female lacks the breast band.

This interesting bird must have eaten a spider and has a long string of the spider web over her head.

The Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) is all yellow without any white marks. Even the wing-bar is yellow. This is a male with the red streaks on the breast. The female would lack these streaks.

 The Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus) is all yellow with blue-gray wings and 2 white wing-bars. There is a black line through the eye.

                                                                                                                                                                                               

This male Chestnut-sided Warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica) is an easy ID with the yellow cap, chestnut stripes and yellow tinged wings.

Lastly, there are several drab brown warblers. The first of these is the Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorus). It is IDed by the striped head as this bird clearly shows.

And one of the more difficult warblers to see is the secretive Swainson’s Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii). It is the only bird of this genus. It is IDed by the rufous cap on the head and pale stripe above the eye.

I will be leading a 9 day bird photography tour to Costa Rica in conjunction with Lillian Scott-Baer of Baer Travel March 3-11, 2011. We have worked out an itinerary to visit La Selva Preserve, Savegre Mountain Hotel in the central mountains for Resplendant Quetzal and other montane species and Wilson Botanical Gardens (Las Cruces). We have also retained the services of local guide Rudy Zamora to accompany us and locate and ID the birds for us to photograph. We will also have beautiful flowers and hopefully some mammals - tamanduas, monkeys etc.

I will be giving several talks in the evening on bird photography, Photoshop etc.

The price will be $1960 double to $2380 single. This includes hotels, all meals, guide, transportation in Costa Rica etc. The only other cost will be airfare and personal purchases (alcohol, souvenirs etc) . Space is limited to 10 persons to maximize our opportunity to see and photograph the birds. I have birded in Costa Rica previously. It is a wonderful country to visit and the bird life is exceptional. I hope that you can join us.

Here is the schedule of payments for the trip.

$ 25 reservation fee (not refundable)
$ 575 due April 30, 2010
$ 600 due July 30, 2010
$ 740 due January 15, 2011
Please send deposits to:

ScoBar Inc.
34 Galway Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382

Note - we will try to pair up singles and triple would be $1890 per person.

There are only 2 spaces left for this trip as of today, so please email me, if interested.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #108 – Spring Migration #3

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
April 20, 2010

Bulletin #108 – Spring Migration #3

Hello friends,

Spring migration has generally been slow for the first part of April. There were a number of birds of different species, but not a lot of birds and one had to work diligently to find them.

However, things changed dramatically on Sunday the 18th. The skies were literally raining birds all along the coast from South Padre Island to High Island. This was a wonderful day showing spring migration birding at its finest with a good fallout. High Island reported 29 warbler species for the day and I saw most of them in 3 hours. Even rarities such as Cerulean and Blackburnian were present in multiples. One large Live Oak had at least a dozen species in the single tree!

For photography, however, LaFitte's Cove remains my favorite location as the trees aren't so tall, and the water drips are close to the path.

On Friday afternoon, everyone's target bird, the male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) was abundant with at least a dozen birds in the brush. They would periodically come to the water and posed for photos.

A number of warblers were available for close-ups over the weekend. As you know, I like to be able to see the feather detail in my photos.

The secretive Kentucky Warbler (Oporornis formosus) popped out of some brush for all of 30 seconds, but I had the camera ready and got him. He is IDed by the olive and yellow body and black 'whisker'. The sexes are similar.

Also, the American Redstart (Septophaga ruticilla) put in an appearance at the drip. All warblers are very active when feeding and thus are hard to photograph. However, this bird is hyperactive, flitting around in the branches. Thus, it was nice to have him still for a moment at the drip. Notice, he is on the same log as the Painted Bunting in the first photo. This is a male. He is IDed by the black, orange and white pattern. No other small bird is like this.

After his drink, he flew up to a branch right over me.

Here is another bird in a tree. They fan their tails constantly when feeding giving a flashing orange pattern. Here is one with his tail spread.

The next warbler is a female Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens). She is IDed by the black on the throat, yellow face and green back. Notice the white in the center between the black patches. The male has a solid black throat.

The Tennessee Warbler (Vermivora peregrina) is a drab bird with green back and white line over the eye. This is a male with a gray head. The female would have a green head.

Shorebirds also migrate through here in the spring. Although generally not colorful, they offer an identification challenge to birders.

Here is a Red Knot (Calidris canutus). This 10" bird is IDed by the gray back, reddish breast and short bill. If you have been watching the 'LIFE' series recently on Discovery Channel, this bird was discussed as having one of the longest migrations in the bird world. They summer in the Canadian arctic and winter in Argentina.




Here is a Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria). It is IDed by the dark wings, spotted back and bright white eye-ring.

The Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotis) is a bird that I never saw well until this weekend. There were several birds at LaFitte's Cove. It is IDed by the sharp demarcation on the breast/belly of the streaked upper part and plain lower part. In the breeding plumage here, there is a bit of rust on the face and head.

The last sandpiper is the breeding Dunlin (Calidris alpina). This bird has rufous feathers on his back and black patch on the belly. The bill is slightly downcurved at the tip.

Now for an ID quiz. I photographed this bird on Galveston Island last weekend. I’m sure the experts will get the correct species. However, how about others? It can be IDed from this head on view. Email me with your guesses. I’ll post the answer in a couple of weeks.








I will be leading a 9 day bird photography tour to Costa Rica in conjunction with Lillian Scott-Baer of Baer Travel March 3-11, 2011. We have worked out an itinerary to visit La Selva Preserve, Savegre Mountain Hotel in the central mountains for Resplendant Quetzal and other montane species and Wilson Botanical Gardens (Las Cruces). We have also retained the services of local guide Rudy Zamora to accompany us and locate and ID the birds for us to photograph. We will also have beautiful flowers and hopefully some mammals - tamanduas, monkeys etc.

I will be giving several talks in the evening on bird photography, Photoshop etc.

The price will be $1960 double to $2380 single. This includes hotels, all meals, guide, transportation in Costa Rica etc. The only other cost will be airfare and personal purchases (alcohol, souvenirs etc) . Space is limited to 10 persons to maximize our opportunity to see and photograph the birds. I have birded in Costa Rica previously. It is a wonderful country to visit and the bird life is exceptional. I hope that you can join us.

Here is the schedule of payments for the trip.

$ 25 reservation fee (not refundable)
$ 575 due April 30, 2010
$ 600 due July 30, 2010
$ 740 due January 15, 2011
Please send deposits to:

ScoBar Inc.
34 Galway Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382

Note - we will try to pair up singles and triple would be $1890 per person.

There are only 2 spaces left for this trip as of today, so please email me, if interested.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #107 – Spring Migration #2

David McDonald Photography

Friendswood Texas
April 13, 2010

Bulletin #107 – Spring Migration #2

Hello friends,

Most, if not all, birders have some species of birds that seem to be very difficult for them to find. The popular term is a nemesis bird. For the most part, they are rare birds. However, sometimes, even a reasonably common bird, just seems to be invisible. It almost feels as if they have some diabolical plan to disappear when we go to look for them.

There are at least 3 common spring migrants on the Upper Texas Coast (UTC) that are nemesis birds for me. These are 2 warbler species (Prothonotary(PROW) and Yellow-throated (YTWA)), and Yellow-throated Vireo (YTVI). I have only found 1 YTWA on my own and never found a YTVI. I do occasionally find a PROW. This is in 20 years of birding! I did get a photo of a YTVI 2 years ago with a guide, but they were not very good, and I wanted to improve on them. Also, I need better photos of the YTWA.

Well, last weekend April 9-11, I hit the jackpot with 2 of them. I went to LaFitte’s Cove in Galveston ( #68 on UTC Birding Trail) in the late afternoon on Friday. There were probably a dozen Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) in the woods, and at times, they sat in the wide open on the path. This bird is IDed by the bright yellow head and body and gray wings without wingbars. The sexes are similar, but the female is a little duller yellow. These are probably males. What a stunning bird!

I also saw several more on Saturday and Sunday, for a total of 20 or so birds. This is more birds of this species than I had seen in 20 years previously.

The other nemesis bird to finally break my jinx was the Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons). I went to LaFitte’s Cove early Saturday morning and found a single bird. I managed a couple of fairly good photos. Sunday I saw another YTV at LaFitte’s Cove where it was high in the trees (their usual habitat). Next I went to Corps Woods sanctuary on Galveston Island (#61 on UTC Birding Trail). I walked into the woods and immediately saw another YTV. It disappeared before I could take its picture. However, I found a 4th bird, who was low down in a tree and I was able to get quite close to him for some decent photos. He is Ided by the green head and back, yellow spectacles, yellow throat and breast and 2 wing bars. Thus I found 4 birds this weekend, which is probably as many as I have seen in total previously, and never had I found one myself. The sexes are similar.

I also saw him catch and devour a caterpillar.

There were a number of other migrants this past weekend.

Here is a Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceous). He is named for the red iris in his eye. Like a number of birds, he was named for the most obscure field mark. One almost never sees this feature. But in this photo, he was in the sunlight and the red iris was visible in binoculars. So how do you ID this bird if his red eye can’t be seen? It is IDed by the brown back, gray head and light eyeline between 2 black stripes. The sexes are similar.

2 species of thrush were at LaFitte’s Cove on Friday afternoon. The more numerous one was the Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus). He is a brown backed thrush with a prominent eye-ring and a few spots on the breast. The sexes are similar.

The secretive Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). Normally this is a difficult bird to find as it prefers deep woods. There were at least 4 at LaFitte’s Cove on Friday and several were momentarily in the open to have their photo taken. This bird is IDed by the rufous head, brown back, large breast spots. In this photo he appears to have a bushy crest, but that is not normally the case. Perhaps he was startled by all the people watching him. The sexes are similar.

I found a single breeding male Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerula) on Friday. He is normally completely blue on his head and body. This bird hasn’t quite finished molting and still has a few spots of brown. The ID marks are the all deep blue body with 2 brown wing bars. The upper wing bar is rufous color. The beak is also blue. The female is brown with the 2 wing bars.

The last of the colorful migrants this weekend, were both species of tanagers. There were 12-15 male Summer Tanagers (Piranga rubra) Friday. This bird is all bright red. He has a large bill. The female would be yellow.

There were just a few Scarlet Tanagers (Piranga olivacea). The male is an easy ID with dark red head and body and black wings and tail. The female in the second photo is yellow-green with darker wings.

I will be leading a 9 day bird photography tour to Costa Rica in conjunction with Lillian Scott-Baer of Baer Travel March 3-11, 2011. We have worked out an itinerary to visit La Selva Preserve, Savegre Mountain Hotel in the central mountains for Resplendant Quetzal and other montane species and Wilson Botanical Gardens (Las Cruces). We have also retained the services of local guide Rudy Zamora to accompany us and locate and ID the birds for us to photograph. We will also have beautiful flowers and hopefully some mammals - tamanduas, monkeys etc.

I will be giving several talks in the evening on bird photography, Photoshop etc.

The price will be $1960 double to $2380 single. This includes hotels, all meals, guide, transportation in Costa Rica etc. The only other cost will be airfare and personal purchases (alcohol, souvenirs etc) . Space is limited to 10 persons to maximize our opportunity to see and photograph the birds. I have birded in Costa Rica previously. It is a wonderful country to visit and the bird life is exceptional. I hope that you can join us.

Here is the schedule of payments for the trip.

$ 25 reservation fee (not refundable)
$ 575 due April 30, 2010
$ 600 due July 30, 2010
$ 740 due January 15, 2011
Please send deposits to:

ScoBar Inc.
34 Galway Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382

Note - we will try to pair up singles and triple would be $1890 per person.

There are only 2 spaces left for this trip as of today, so please email me, if interested.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #106 – Spring in Texas

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas

April 6, 2010



Bulletin #106 – Spring in Texas

Hello friends,

There are 3 birds that inhabit the pine forests of Southeastern USA from east Texas to Georgia. One of these, the Brown-headed Nuthatch is rather common and can be readily seen.

The other two have specialized requirements within the pine forests. These birds are the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker and the Bachman's Sparrow. I had not seen the sparrow before, so I went on a tour, led by guide Darrell Vollert, to east Texas.

We saw several of the Bachman's Sparrows (Aimophila aestivalis) and heard their beautiful song. The specialized habitat of this bird is a section of forest that has been recently burned to wipe out the underbrush. After a few years as the brush grows up, the birds move to different breeding sites.

They have rufous head and back, dark wings and buffy breast. This was a lifer for me. Here are 2 photos.

We did also see several of the tiny (4.5") Brown-headed Nuthatches (Sitta pusilla). We think of nuthatches climbing down the tree trunk in the search for insects in the bark. However, unlike the larger Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, the Brown-headed gleans insects from the pine needle clusters at the ends of the branches. We saw a pair at a tiny nest hole in a dead stump. I estimated the hole to be about 1.5" diameter from the size of the bird.

The best birding on the upper Texas coast is spring migration and it has started. It will build in number and variety of birds to a peak at the end of April and early May.

Here is the beautiful male Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina). The ID is easy with the black hood and yellow face

There were many Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers (Dendroica coronata). This is a common non-descript warbler in winter, but breeding plumaged males in spring get quite handsome with the black facial mask and black on the chest. Many years ago, this was considered two species in the USA (Myrtle and Audubon's). The western Audubon's form has a yellow throat. Just recently, I read that they will likely be split once again into the two species.

One of my favorite warblers is the Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia). This bird has nuthatch like feeding habits, climbing up and down the tree trunk or large branches, taking insects from crevices in the bark. It is all black and white striped with a striped top of the head as well. This would be a male with the black cheeks.

Shorebirds are starting to arrive in numbers as well. Here is an American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica). They are still in winter (basic) plumage when they pass through Texas on their way to the arctic. The small bill, prominent white line over the eye and brownish plumage IDs this bird. Normally they also have a black cap, but this bird had been scalped somehow and lost all the feathers on top of his head. This is only my second time to find this bird.

Another fascinating phenomenon in breeding season is the color change of facial skin on some of the wading birds. As you all know, herons and egrets grow long plumes for breeding season. But the hormones produced for breeding season, also cause a change in the color of the bare skin between the eye and bill (lores). Normally this patch of skin is yellow on the Great and Snowy Egrets.

Here is a breeding Snowy Egret (Egretta thula). The lores are now bright red.

In the Great Egret (Ardea alba), the lores turn an olive green as in the first photo. However, at the High Island rookery, I saw several birds in which the lores were more blue-green or aqua as in the second photo.

Roseate Spoonbills (Ajaja ajaja) by the scores were also at the rookery. These pink birds have orange tails! Also, when flying, they keep their neck extended, unlike herons and egrets.










I will be leading a 9 day bird photography tour to Costa Rica in conjunction with Lillian Scott-Baer of Baer Travel March 3-11, 2011. We have worked out an itinerary to visit La Selva Preserve, Savegre Mountain Hotel in the central mountains for Resplendant Quetzal and other montane species and Wilson Botanical Gardens (Las Cruces). We have also retained the services of local guide Rudy Zamora to accompany us and locate and ID the birds for us to photograph. We will also have beautiful flowers and hopefully some mammals - tamanduas, monkeys etc.

I will be giving several talks in the evening on bird photography, Photoshop etc.

The price will be $1960 double to $2380 single. This includes hotels, all meals, guide, transportation in Costa Rica etc. The only other cost will be airfare and personal purchases (alcohol, souvenirs etc) . Space is limited to 10 persons to maximize our opportunity to see and photograph the birds. I have birded in Costa Rica previously. It is a wonderful country to visit and the bird life is exceptional. I hope that you can join us.

Here is the schedule of payments for the trip.

$ 25 reservation fee (not refundable)
$ 575 due April 30, 2010
$ 600 due July 30, 2010
$ 740 due January 15, 2011
Please send deposits to:

ScoBar Inc.
34 Galway Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382

Note - we will try to pair up singles and triple would be $1890 per person.

There are only 2 spaces left for this trip as of today, so please email me, if interested.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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