David McDonald Photography

Bulletin #150 - Rio Grande Valley, Texas

2012-01-19T21:04:00.004-06:00

I got away for a weekend in the RGV of Texas. This area along the Mexico border hosts a number of species and occasional tropical vagrants that occur nowhere else in the USA.

One of my target species was the Black-vented Oriole (Icterus wagleri). This species had been present for most of last winter but I wasn't able to get away to see it. Fortunately, the bird came back to Bentsen Rio Grande State Park in Mission Texas again this winter. The adults of the species are similarly colored with black hood, back, wings, undertail, and tail. He was very cooperative, coming frequently to the feeders and providing all the appreciative birders great views. Notice also there is no white on the wings.

Black-vented Oriole - adult

2 other orange and black oriole species are regulars in the RGV. The large (10") Altamira Oriole (Icterus gularis) is a favorite of everyone. They are orange with black throat, back, wings and tail. They wings also have white bars. This bird can be seen in many parks across the valley. It has an orange shoulder patch that differentiates this species from the next.

Altamira Oriole - adult

The immature of this species still has some orange feathers on his back.

Altamira Oriole - immature

The Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus) is smaller but similar. It lacks the orange shoulder patch.

Hooded Oriole

The 4th oriole in the valley is the yellow and black Audubon's Oriole (Icterus graduacauda). This bird has black head, wings and tail. The back is yellow.

Audubon's Oriole - adult

The Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) is another colorful tropical species that causes oohs and aahs from the spectators. Again, this bird is widespread across the valley and readily seen at any park with feeders. Is is green bodied with yellow tail and black and blue face. It has to be seen to be believed and the guide books don't do it justice. Here is a group of 4 on a feeder at Bentsen Rio Grande State Park.

Green Jays

And here is one that took a bath in the water feature at Laguna Atascosa NWR and then perched 15 feet away to preen.

Green Jay

Another jay is the Brown Jay (Cyanocorax morio). This crow sized (16") jay was at Salineno for the first time in 5 years. Many years recently, it hasn't appeared in the USA anywhere. It isn't a showy bird, but a needed bird for listers in the USA. It has a cream belly and the rest of the bird is dark brown. This is an adult bird with the dark beak. The juveniles are similar, but the beak is yellow.

Brown Jay - adult

The last bird is another very colorful (and noisy) bird, the Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus). Despite seeing it coming to bird feeders, it is a member of the flycatcher family. It has a striped head, reddish brown back and wings and incredible yellow underparts. Seeing a half dozen of these almost 10" birds together in a tree, is a real treat.

Great Kiskadee

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com
photos copyright 2012 David McDonald

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

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 1-2-12

2012-01-02T21:16:00.002-06:00

It was a beautiful sunny cool day with a moderate north wind. The wind kept some of the birds hidden in the woods. Sparrows were the most common birds present with Savannah, Harris's, Field and Chipping seen. Winter birds included a single Cedar Waxwing, American Robins, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and this stunning male Black-headed Grosbeak that was first found last week. To locate the bird, it is feeding just behind the yellow rope on Jibstay Court just before the loop at the end of the street. There are some wispy bushes with white and pink flowers. It is eating the flowers and buds on these bushes. Here are 3 photos of this very cooperative bird.

The ponds had a pair of Lesser Scaup, 7 female Buffleheads and numerous Northern Shovelers. I just saw a single Green-winged Teal today.

Raptors were Red-shouldered, Red-tailed and Northern Harrier. As I was looking for the grosbeak, this Osprey struggled againt the wind with a large fish.

Osprey with fish

As he came overhead he showed yesterdays lunch as well as todays.

Osprey with yesterdays and todays lunch

Elsewhere on the west end of the island, there were only Savannah Sparrows seen on Settegast Road. 8 Mile Road had a flock of 44 Sandhill Cranes.

Bulletin #149 - 2011 the year in review

2012-01-01T18:44:00.001-06:00

At years end, I have always provided a top 10 of my favorite photos of the year. 2011 was a lot different as I was unable to travel and only made a single trip to Tucson AZ in November. Consequently, I added only 6 species to my photo list. I did get a number of rare species in the local area.

So my favorite photo has to be this Costa's Hummingbird. It is the same photo that I cropped and showed in an earler bulletin, but this one is very artistic to me. It looks like a watercolor. It was amazing to me that the whole flower stem was in focus as the depth of focus of my 500mm lens is only about 3 inches.

Costa's Hummingbird

Several Mexican strays appeared in the Houston area this year. The first was this Fork-tailed Flycatcher in January.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

In March, a Yellow-faced Grassquit showed up at Goose Island State Park.

Yellow-faced Grassquit

At the end of the year, a couple of northern migrants showed up that were unexpected. This Harris's Sparrow on Galveston Island gave me my best photos of this species.

Harris's Sparrow

Yesterday, I ended the year with a lifer, a Smith's Longspur. This was a target bird on the 2010 Alaska trip, but we missed it. A small flock was found just before Christmas, about 20 miles from home. Normally they don't appear this far south and they are not even on the Upper Texas Coast bird checklist.

Smith's Longspur

Among the most difficult birds to photograph are the nocturnal birds - owls, nightjars etc. One has to be lucky to find them in daylight. Thus I consider this photo of a Chuck-will's-widow a very lucky capture. I happened to have my camersa ready when the bird flew into view and perched for a few moments before seeing me and flying off.

Chuck-will's-widow

I got a number of good photos of hawks and falcons this year that made my cut into the top 10. This beautiful Peregrine Falcon was having breakfast on a pole in Tucson.

Peregrine Falcon

The Prairie Falcon was a target bird for the Tucson trip and this was one of about 10 birds seen.

Prairie Falcon

Another falcon, a Merlin was finally seen and photographed in 2011. This dark taiga morph bird was also seen on the Tucson trip.

Merlin

Lastly, this adult and juvenile pair of Red-shouldered Hawks were photographed in my yard. Each has a foot in the air and the juvenile is looking over at the adult. I called this photo 'Learning to Dance' as it appears the juvenile is following the lead steps of his parent.

Learning to Dance
Red-shouldered Hawks

I am looking forward to 2012 and being able to travel more frequently. Thank you to all of you for all your comments last year. It makes worthwhile the time and effort to put these newsletters together.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #148 - local birds

2011-12-26T13:57:00.001-06:00

I have had a few good photos of local birds over the past month.

(Click on the photo to enlarge it)

This winter has seemed to have an influx of western birds into the Houston area. There have been several Sage Thrashers, Green-tailed Towhees and Harris's Sparrows. I have only seen Harris's Sparrows (Zonotrichia querula) on 2 occasions, both times in the far west Houston area. I can never remember reports of them on Galveston Island. So I was very surprised to find this adult at LaFitte's Cove in November. This 7.5" bird is our largest sparrow. He is IDed by the black face and pink bill.

Harris's Sparrow - adult

A flock of 6-7 birds was found a short distance away. The 1st winter bird has a white throat.

Harris's Sparrow - 1st winter

Also at LaFitte's Cove was this very pale American Robin (Turdus migratorius). I suspect this is probably a first winter female.

American Robin

Another bird I had not previously seen in Galveston was the Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus). Usually one sees their bulky stick nests on transmission towers and the birds perched on wires. I was surprised to see a flock of about 20 birds on a grassy median in the road, as I drove through Galveston. I stopped and got out to take a photo, but the flock spooked and flew away. I couldn't refind them. 2 hours later as I drove back the same way, the birds were back on the ground in the same place. Fortunately, it was Sunday morning with no traffic and I just stopped the car and took some photos through the open window. This bird is IDed by the gray face and breast and bluish wings.

Monk Parakeet

Fortunately, the fall has brought us a normal amount of rain and all the usual wet areas and ponds have filled up again. I had 2 duck species at LaFitte's Cove that were unusual. The first was 2-3 female Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola). Buffleheads at 13" in length are our smallest ducks. The females are IDed by the small size, and brown head with a horizontal white patch.

Bufflehead - female

The other was a small group of Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis). The females are brown with a white patch at the base of the bill. The bird in front shows a peak or corner at the rear of the head. This is the most reliable field mark to differentiate Lesser from Greater Scaup.

Lesser Scaup - female

For only the second time in 14 years, I had some Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) in my yard. I happened to look out and see 3 birds in the bird bath. I got my camera ready and they returned several times to drink over the next couple of hours. Unfortunately they didn't stay around, but I did see one bird again several weeks later.

Eastern Bluebird - male

Eastern Bluebird - female

Happy birding and photography,
David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #147 - Southeast Arizona#3 - other birds

2011-12-15T22:02:00.003-06:00

I spent a weekend in the Tucson, Arizona area with guide Melody Kehl. I was attempting to finish photographing the local birds, that I had missed on 3 previous visits.

I got some nice photos of the red-shafted form of the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). I had not realized until I saw these birds that the red was under the tail as well as the wing linings. The male has a red malar stripe and the female in the second photo does not.

Northern Flicker - male

Northern Flicker - female

The two Meadowlarks occur in the Tucson area and it gave me a chance to get better photos and compare the differences. The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) has a bright yellow throat and only has white on the edges of the tail. It took over an hour to finally get a closeup photo of this bird.

Western Meadowlark

The Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) that occurs in Arizona is known as Lillian's Meadowlark and may in fact be a separate species.In any event, the voices are different between the 2 species. The throat is white rather than yellow. Also, when the birds fly and fan the tail, it is mostly white with just a few central brown feathers. This is my best photo of a Lillian's subspecies.

Eastern Meadowlark (Lillian's)

A cute tiny (4.5") bird of the arid southwest is the Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps). This bird is all gray except for a yellow head and small red shoulder patch.The sexes are similar.

Verdin

This photo shows a bird eating the fruit of a prickly pear cactus.

Verdin

The western race of Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) was formerly known as Audubon's Warbler. It differs from the eastern race by having a yellow throat.

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Audubon's

The only other warbler we found was a stray from the east - a Chestnut-sided Warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica). This is a first winter female bird as she has no brown sides at all.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Several species of thrashers make their home in the arid southwest. The most common of these is the Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre). This large (11") bird is gray with a spotted breast, curved bill and yellow eye.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Lastly we had 2 species of goldfinches. The male Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) has a black face, wings and tail, green back and yellow underparts

Lesser Goldfinch - male

The male Lawrence's Golfinch (Carduelis lawrenci) is mostly gray with black face and yellow breast on wings.

Lawrence's Goldfinch - male

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald
To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 12-11-11

2011-12-11T20:15:00.001-06:00

Today was mostly sunny & cool with moderate breeze. I spent about 3 hours this morning at LaFitte's ansd elswhere on Galveston.

LaFitte's Cove was quite quiet. The woods had the usual resident birds including the Brown Thrasher. The male Downy Woodpecker was seen, but not the female Ladder-backed. Winter birds were Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Flicker was heard and seen flying away. Several Sandhill Cranes were heard also. Raptors were Sharp-shinned Hawk and Northern Harrier. This very pale female American Robin was the most unusual bird in the woods.

American Robin - female

The ponds were also quiet except for many Green-winged Teal. There were also Northern Shovelers, Blue-winged Teal and 3 each of Bufflehead and Lesser Scaup. This is an increase of 1 each from last week. There were scarcely any shorebirds..about 12 yellowlegs and 2 peeps only! No dowitchers or willets were seen.

The resident Loggerhead Shrike posed on one of the signs by the gazebo.

Loggerhead Shrike

Elsewhere on Galveston Island today, Settegast Road had a flock of 6-7 Harris's Sparrows. Mostly they were 1st winter birds with the white throats like this one on a fence post.

Harris's Sparrow - 1st winter

This adult on the ground has a black throat and blacker face.

Harris's Sparrow - adult non-breeding

The flock enjoyed eating weed seeds.

Harris's Sparrow

A moment later he craned his neck up to look down on the weed.

Harris's Sparrow

Eight Mile and Sportsman's Road had usual birds. The docks had just 2 American Oystercatchers when I was there. The most unusual bird for me was a Spotted Sandpiper. I can't recall seeing one so late, but the checklist shows that they are here in small numbers in the winter.

Bulletin #146 - Southeast Arizona#2 - hummers and sparrows

2011-12-06T20:55:00.006-06:00

I spent a weekend in the Tucson, Arizona area with guide Melody Kehl. I was attempting to finish photographing the local birds, that I had missed on 3 previous visits.

One of my target birds was the last common North American hummingbird that I had not yet photographed. Melody took me to an arboretum with lots of flowers. She always found the bird here and we were not disappointed. The male Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae) is a real stunner with purple crown and throat extending onto the breast. He is a magnificent bird.

Costa's Hummingbird - male

The long extensions of the purple gorget are just long feathers as they stick out when the bird changes positions as can be seen in this male, while grooming.

Costa's Hummingbird

The female has a clean white throat, but grayish cheeks. Notice she has some yellow pollen on her bill.

Costa's Hummingbird - female

The juvenile male is starting to get some throat feathers. He also has pollen on his bell.

Costa's Hummingbird - juvenile male

As you all know, the beautiful gorget feathers of a male hummingbird appear gray or black until they catch the sunlight and then the color flashes. I assumed that when I started to photograph them, that using a flash would cause the gorget to show its color. Unfortunately, this doesn't usually happen. In most photos, the gorget appears dark, unless it is flashing when the photo is taken. This makes hummingbird photography even more challenging. Here is the male in shade with flash. the gorget just appears black.

Costa's Hummingbird - male

I took some photos of other hummers that we found. Here is a male Broad-billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris). This bird is IDed by blue throast, green back and breast and red bill.

Broad-billed Hummingbird - male

The Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is the only North American hummer with a red crown. This juvenile male has a start on his red throat and crown.

Anna's Hummingbird - juvenile male

Another target bird was the Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii). This genus of sparrows all are distinguished by having flat heads and being very secretive and hard to see. The Baird's Sparrow nests in the southern prairie provinces of Canada as well as Montana and the Dakotas. It winters in west central Mexicao as well as the borders area from Big Bend in Texas to Arizona. This was a lifer for me as I had missed it on my Big Bend trip 2 years ago. It is IDed by the flat head, a necklace of black streaks that has a horizontal lower border - doesn't extend down onto the breast and some tan coloration under the streaks. I would have had a tough time figuring out this bird without Melody finding it for me.

Baird's Sparrow

Now, compare that bird to this Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) that was seen in the same location. This very common sparrow can be very darkly streaked on the breast to fairly lightly streaked as this one is. It appears quite similar to the sparrow above, but the streaks extend onto the central breast and it lacks the tan color under the streaks. The head is more rounded as well.

Savannah Sparrow

The Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri) at 5.5" in length is the smallest North American sparrow. This drab bird of the southwest is difficult to ID except by voice. Both times I have seen it was with a guide.

Brewer's Sparrow

From the smallest, hard to ID sparrow to one of the larger (7") easy ID sparrows, the White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). This is an easy ID with large size, black and white striped crown, pink bill, and plain gray underparts.

White-crowned Sparrow

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald
To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 12-3-11

2011-12-03T15:12:00.000-06:00

LaFitte's Cove was quiet in the woods with just Yellow-rumped Warblers, a House Wren and several hummingbirds. Other birders have reported 2 Anna's Hummingbirds in the woods this week, continuing the string of western birds showing up. There weren't even any Kinglets or Gnatcatchers seen.

The ponds had the expected shorebirds - both yellowlegs, willets, peeps but no dowitchers. This Dunlin was a first for me this winter.

Dunlin

Green-winged Teal were the most numerous of the ducks. I have never seen so many before at LaFitte's Cove. Others were Blue-winged Teal, N. Shoveler, Mallard, Mottled, and 2 I had not seen at LaFitte's before - Bufflehead and Lesser Scaup.

Bufflehead

Lesser Scaup

A Peregrine Falcon made a couple of passes over the ponds and seemed to delight in scaring the shorebirds and ducks as he dove down twice, but never attempted to catch anything. A Red-shouldered Hawk drifted over the ponds as well.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 11-27-11

2011-11-27T13:25:00.001-06:00

I had a quick trip to LaFitte's Cove this morning. The most unusual bird was a Harris's Sparrow. There has been an iruption of western birds into the Houston area this winter including Sage Thrashers, Green-tailed Towhees and now Harris's Sparrows. This was the first one reported on Texbirds, and the first ever for me on Galveston. In the following days, several more were seen at other places on the island.

Harris's Sparrow

Bulletin #145 - Southeast Arizona - raptors and rare birds.

2011-11-26T20:36:00.001-06:00

I spent last weekend in the Tucson, Arizona area with guide Melody Kehl. I was attempting to finish photographing the local birds, that I had missed on 3 previous visits.

One of my target birds was the Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus). I had seen this bird only once before and that was soaring overhead. Melody was able to find about 10 of these birds, most of which were on telephone poles. Like most raptors, they spook easily and thus it is hard to get a good close-up photo. These birds are the same size as the Peregrine Falcon (16"), but they are brown overall, have a thin brown mustache, and the wing tips don't project to the tip of the tail as seen in the second photo.

Prairie Falcon - adult

In flight, this falcon has black axillae and underwings, which are diagnostic.

Prairie Falcon

Here is the similar sized Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). The adults are gray backed with creamy underparts, streaked with black. In the second photo, one can see that the wings almost reach the tip of the tail. The mustache is very wide, not just a streak as in the bird above. What a majestic bird this is!

Peregrine Falcon

2 weeks before I went to Arizona I finally got some good photos of the small (10") falcon, the Merlin (Falco columbarius). The color morph was the light prairie form. As usual with birding, once you finally find a bird, they seem to be everywhere. Here is the darker morph called the taiga race that we found in Arizona.

Merlin - taiga

The Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) is our largest buteo at 23" in length. 90% of the birds are the light phase with white chest, rufous belly and legs, and rufous back with heavy black streaking.

Ferruginous Hawk

The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) comes in all colors form almost white to almost black. Here is what Sibley calls the intermediate form or other authors call the rufous morph. The chest and belly are red-brown.

Red-tailed Hawk - rufous morph

The dark morph appears black, but you can see a reddish wash on the tail.

Red-tailed Hawk - dark morph

The first of the rarities for the trip was a Rufous-backed Robin (Turdus rufopalliatus). This rare visitor to the USA from Mexico is similar to the common American Robin, but the back and shoulders are reddish as well. This was a life bird for me. It was in view for only about 90 seconds, so I was lucky to get a good picture.

Rufous-backed Robin - Patagonia AZ

The other rarity was the Ruddy Ground-Dove (Columbina talpacoti). This small (6.75") dove is a sporadic visitor from Mexico to Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It has a gray head and reddish brown body with dark streaks on the wings. Here is a photo of 2 birds on a fence. The bird with less coloration may be a juvenile.

Ruddy Ground-Dove - pair

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald
To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 11-26-11

2011-11-26T20:02:00.000-06:00

It was a beautiful morning on Galveston Island toady. The mosquitos weren't a problem.

The woods were pretty quiet. Birds seen in the woods included Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers, Gray Catbird, Hermit Thrush, House Wren, Swamp Sparrow, Brown Thrasher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a couple of hummers. Locals were Mockingbird, Cardinal, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker.

The ponds were full of birds. Ducks included Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Mottled, Northern Shoveler. A few Am. Coots were present. Shorebirds were both Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitchers, peeps, Willets and the first ever seen by me in this location was an American Avocet.

There were several raptors hunting over the woods and ponds..No. harrier, Cooper's, Merlin, and Red-shouldered. If you add the Red-tailed, White-tailed Kite and Am. Kestrel seen on Stewart Road on the way to LaFitte's it was a 7 raptor day.

Here are some photos.

Merlin on house

American Avocet - male non-breeding

House Wren

Bulletin #144 - miscellaneous birds

2011-11-07T18:12:00.002-06:00

I have finally been able to get out and do some birding this fall. Winter birds are starting to arrive and the last of the fall migrants are about passed through the upper Texas coast.

I have had a number of good photos of hawks since the last bulletin

This beautiful Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) was perched in a low dead tree beside the road on Galveston Island as I was heading to LaFitte's Cove, early one morning. I stopped the car and took the photo out the opened window so as not to disturb him. A number of beginners or non-birders see the white head and think this is a Bald Eagle. However, notice the brown stripe through the eye. On a Bald Eagle, the head is entirely white.

Osprey - Galveston

On November 5th, on a trip to Brazoria NWR south of Houston, a White-tailed Hawk (Buteo albicaudatus) was in a small dead tree beside the road. This large (20") hawk is a specialty of coastal Texas. It is IDed as an adult by gray back, red shoulders and white underparts. The tail is white with a black terminal band as seen in the 2nd and 3rd photos.

White-tailed Hawk - adult

One of my nemesis birds to photograph is a Merlin (Falco columbarius). This 10" falcon is just slighly larger than the common American Kestrel. Last year I got my first photo of this bird (only a fair photo), but yesterday, I had one in a tree beside the road and got my best photo. The female is brown backed with brown striped breast. The male has a gray back.

Merlin - female at Brazoris NWR

The Northern Caracara (Caracara cheriway) is a common raptor in Mexico and south Texas. The adults have a black body and yellow legs, but the juvenile and 1st year birds have a brown body and gray legs. I found a family group of 3 birds yesterday and got a photo of the juvenile for the first time.

Northern Caracara - juvenile

I found this weird looking duck at LaFitte's Cove yesterday. I think it is a hybrid between Green-winged and Blue-winged Teals. No one has commented on Texbirds yet to refute my guess.

Hybrid Teal - ?Green-winged x Blue-winged at LaFitte's Cove, Galveston 11/6/2011

The drought all summer has caused most of the damp marshy areas to be bone dry. Thus any remaining wet areas have attracted the migrating shorebirds. One such area is El Franco Lee Park in SE Houston. They kept it wet by pumping water into the area from a creek. In any event, this Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) was spotted about a week ago and hangs out right in front of the observation gazebo. This is the second Ruff in the past 3 years in the Houston-Galveston area and the first record ever for the city of Houston. It is a Eurasion shorebird that does show up regularly in North America, but mostly on the east coast. This bird is IDed by the plump body, small head and short bill. I must admit, I wouldn't have known what it was. Usually they are found by birders from Europe who are very familiar with it. This particular bird is a juvenile because of the beige unstreaked breast.

Ruff - juvenile at El Franco Lee Park, Houston TX

Ruff

Lastly, the Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) is another shorebird. It usually is difficult to see and photograph as it stays hidden in wet grassy areas. However, with a shortage of marshy places this year, many have been forced to forage in the open. This has given us birders our best looks at numerous birds as well as good photo ops. It is IDed by the long bill, striped head and 3 long beige stripes down the back.

Wilson's Snipe

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 11-6-11

2011-11-06T14:50:00.000-06:00

Another overcast warm day on Galveston Island. On the way to LaFitte's Cove, there was a family of 3 Northern Caracaras. I was able to get a photo of the juvenile. They are brown backed and have gray legs.

Northern Caracara - juvenile

There were more migrants today than yesterday. A pair of Warbling Vireos were seen as well as 3 Indigo Buntings. The only species of warbler was FOS Yellow-rumped.

Indigo Bunting

The local Brown Thrasher is in the open more and allows good looks and some photos. This is normally a species that stays hidden in deep brush.

Brown Thrasher

A couple more winter species were found for the first time today beside the YR Warbler mentioned above. There were 2 House Wrens found as well as a single Cedar Waxwing in a flock of 3 robins?

Cedar Waxwing

I didn't see any new waterfowl or shorebirds in the ponds today but did see this unusual Teal that I think may be a hybrid Blue-winged x Green-winged. If anyone has any thoughts on it parentage or is it just a late molter. However, it seems to have blue feather above and behind the eye.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 11-5-11

2011-11-05T14:25:00.001-05:00

Today was still, overcast and quiet in the woods. I saw only 1 warbler species..Orange-crowned. Other birds were Am Robin, Brown Thrasher, BG Gnatcatcher, RC Kinglet. A late female plumaged Painted Bunting was also seen briefly.

There were a few sparrows in the bushes between the ponds and the only one I saw well enough to ID was a FOS Swamp Sparrow.

The ponds had the usual peeps, Killdeer, yellowlegs and Long-billed Dowitchers. Several FOS Wilson's Snipes were found and some were in the open allowing good photos of this normally hidden species.

Wilson's Snipe

The ducks were Mottled, Blue-winged Teal, and FOS Green-winged Teal and FOS No. Shoveler.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 10-29-11

2011-10-30T13:13:00.000-05:00

It was a beautiful day to be birding - sunny, cool, no wind and no mosquitos. The ponds have filled up finally with several rains and cooler temperatures. There were a lot of shorebirds and Mottled Ducks. The shorebirds included both Yellowlegs, LB Dowitchers, Willets, peeps, and a few Pectoral Sandpipers.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Winter species are arriving in greater numbers of species. In fact I saw 7 FOS winter birds there. These were Am. Coot, Lincoln's and Song Sparrows, Pine Warbler, Eastern Phoebe and 2 heard species - Am Robin and Flicker.

Eastern Phoebe

Including the Pine Warbler above, there were 5 total warbler species - Orange-crowned, Black-throated Green, Common Yellowthroat, Nashville.

I think I flushed a Whip-poor-will, but couldn't relocate it. Also a flyover of a Caracara was a good find.

I saw both the resident picoides woodpeckers.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - female

Downy Woodpecker - male

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 9-24-11

2011-09-24T15:59:00.000-05:00

It was a great day again at LaFitte's Cove. The weather was slightly overcast, warm and still. The mosquitoes were out in force, enjoying the half-dozen birders.

There were 10 species warblers seen or heard. I saw Northern Parula, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Prairie, Wilson's, and Hooded. Mike Austin also heard Black-throated Green, Yellow, Nashville and a possible Waterthrush.

Northern Parula

3 species of vireos were seen - Red-eyed, White-eyed and Warbling.

The only flycatchers were empids. Mike Austin IDed Yellow-bellied and Least.

Least Flycatcher

Other songbird migrants were Baltimore Orioles, Gray Catbird, BG Gnatcatcher, Blue Grosbeak and Indigo Buntings.

An accipiter, I think a sharpie, was hunting in the woods and seen 3 different times.

Just before leaving about noon, I found this Chuck-will's-widow roosting on a log about a foot off the ground. I was able to show him to Janet Rathjen and her 2 friends. He was hard to photograph due to lots of vines in front, but I was able to get about 20 feet away and get this one - uncropped. This was my 4th of this specoies to find at Lafitte's so far this fall.

Chuck-will's-widow

On Stewart Road just past 8 Mile Road on the way to LaFitte's Cove this morning, a cooperative Osprey was sitting just off the road.

Osprey

Bulletin #143 - hawks and fall migrant birds

2011-09-19T20:11:00.000-05:00

I finally have some available time to look at some of my photos for the past few months after a hectic summer.

I showed a photo of the adult Red-shouldered Hawk picking up the crayfish from early July. I went back and looked at some others, and some were also good. Here are 2 sequential photos 1/8 second apart as he is just about to pick the crawfish off the grass and just after as he is lifting off afterwards.

I also put those photos uncropped with the one before and 2 after in a slide show. The whole clip lasts less than a second. Click on 1 second below the photos to speed it up. Link

So here are some other fall migration birds I found the last couple of weeks.

First is an Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi). This large (7.5") flycatcher usually sits at the top of tall trees. He is IDed by the dark vest. Although he looks similar to an Eastern Kingbird, he doesn't have the white tip on the tail. I saw one of these the last 2 weekends at LaFitte's Cove in Galveston. Often, I don't see a single bird in a year.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

A favorite flycatcher of mine is the Great Crestyed Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus). Of the 4 myiarchus species in the USA, this one is the brightest yellow. I knew thisa bird from childhood, as they nested in a bird house when I was growing up in Ottawa, Canada. There have been about a dozen in the last 2 weekends.

Great Crested Flycatcher - LaFitte's Cove

And here is one from my backyard who caught a large grasshopper.

Great Crested Flycatcher

A common fall warbler is the Nashville Warbler (Vermivora ruficapilla). This was the first I have seen this fall at LaFitte's last Saturday. It is IDed by the gray head and yellow throat and underparts. The back is olive or green. It has a prominent white eye ring.

Nashville Warbler

This is also the first Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla) I saw this fall. It is all yellow and olive except the male has a black cap.

Wilson's Warbler

Lots of Baltimore Orioles (Icterus galbula) are also passing through. They tend to travel in small flocks and suddenly you will se 8-10 or more. Here is a fist fall male plumaged bird. This is the first photo of this plumage I have taken. The bright orange shows it is an oriole, and he lacks the any black on the head.

Baltimore Oriole - 1st fall male

The best bird so far this fall was this Chuck-will's-widow (Caprimulgus carolinensis). At 12" in length, this is our largest nightjar. These noctural birds, like owls, are tough to photograph as they aren't out during daylight hours. One can see them in migration as they tend to flush and fly off, when you approach them. You usually don't see them until they fly. I was fortunate to be standing at the drip at LaFitte's Cove when this bird flew in and perched abot 30 feet away on some low branches. This is only the third photograph I have ever taken of this bird, and by far the best. The diagnostic mark is the brown throat as well as the size.

Chuck-will's-widow - LaFitte's Cove, Galveston

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 9-17-11

2011-09-17T16:53:00.000-05:00

I spent 3.5 hours at LaFitte's Cove this morning. The weather was overcast with a slight breeze, but still hot. There are now quite a few mosquitos.

I saw 5 species of warblers including 2 new ones for the fall migration (B&W, Yellow, Ovenbird, Nashville and Wilson's). The latter 2 were FOS for me.

Nashville Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

There was only 1 species of vireo seen today - a Red-eyed.

The most common birds were Great Crested Flycatchers with perhaps 5-6 seen. Other flycatchers were Olive-sided, Least and Yellow-bellied.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Great Crested Flycatcher

The only other migrants were Baltimore Orioles.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 9-11-11

2011-09-11T16:07:00.001-05:00

It was only a fair day at LaFitte's Cove this morning. No drips were running.

There were 4 species warblers - the usual Black-and-white and Canada, but also an American Redstart, and an Orange-crowned (seemed pretty early for the OC). Here's the Redstart.

There were 2 pecies of vireos - White-eyed and Warbling. Here's the White-eyed.

There were several species of Flycatchers - Great Crested, Eastern Kingbird, several empids and an Olive-sided. The Olive-sided was perched at the top of a dead tree as is his custom.

He darted out and snagged a large bug and returned to the same perch.

After eating the bug, he flew to another tree and allowed a good photo of his olives sides.

This is an uncommon bird for me to find. I had one at LaFitte's in the same tree this spring, but these are the only 2 sightings so far this year.

Other birds were Brown Thrasher, 1 Chuck-will's-widow (seen only because he was harassed by a pair of Mockingbirds and flushed), and several Baltimore Orioles.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 9-10-11

2011-09-10T15:08:00.004-05:00

It was a beautiful day to be birding, sunny with a few clouds and light breeze. The drips were on today. The schedule is Wednesday and Saturday mornings due to water restrictions on Galveston Island.

The woods had lots of birds this morning. There were 4 species of warblers seen - 2 Black-and-white, 3-4 Canada, 1 Ovenbird and 1 Mourning. Here is a Black-and-white enjoying the drip.

There were several Warbling Vireos. There was a number of flycatchers including an eastern Wood-Pewee, an empid, a couple of Great Crested Flycatchers and maybe 10 Eastern Kingbirds. including this one.

There were numerous Baltimore Orioles with numerous juveniles. Here is a juvie male at the drip.

Other migrants included a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and best of all 2 Chuck-will's-widows. I was watching the drip when this one flew into the back of the drip area. Best photo ever for me (only the second one) of this species. I don't think I have ever seen the feet of any of this family of birds. His toes can be seen wrapped around the tiny branches. Talk about a stroke of luck!

It was so much fun today, I'll check it out again tomorrow.

PS - another birder was at LaFitte's before 8am and saw Veery, Dickcissels, Worm-eating Warbler and Red-eyed, and Philadelphia Vireos besides the birds I listed.

Bulletin #142 -fall birds

2011-09-05T14:57:00.003-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
9-5-11

Well my 'pet' hawks don't hang around anymore as I can't get any more crayfish. I don't know what happened to the juvenile, as I have not seen it since July 11th. I don't know hawk behavior. Perhaps the adults drive off the young to find their own territory? I certainly am going to hope that is the case rather than something bad happened to the bird.

There are currently 3 adults in the area, and I don't know whether they are trying to pair up for next years breeding season. While I still had some crayfish in mid July, I wantd to try and get an action shot of the adult swooping down to pluck the crayfish off the grass. I just used a 24-105 mm lens and focussed on the crayfish and then set the focus to manual. I managed to get a few photos and here is the best of them. These large birds are quite aerobatic!

Fall migration has begun. I have had several hummingbirds coming to the feeders since I put them up last week. At first there were just single birds, but now I have several in the yard at once.

I have been to LaFitte's Cove in Galveston to look for fall migrants. Here's a Black-and-white Warbler.

The next one is a Canada Warbler.

The last of the warblers I was able to photograph, was a Magnolia Warbler.

Several species of flycatchers were also seen. Here is an Eastern Kingbird.

Several species of empidonax flycatchers were found. They are a difficult ID problem, so I usually have to post them to Texbirds and ask for help. This one is a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

An unusual bird for LaFitte's Cove was this Magnificent Frigatebird soaring just above the trees last Saturday.

August was the hottest month in Houston history with 100 degrees or more for daily highs for 30 of the 31 days. It was just too miserable to be out birding, so I plan to make up for it as the cooler fall days bring us some relief.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 9-3-11

2011-09-03T14:10:00.000-05:00

Galveston Island finally has some water. The tide is very high from the tropical storm in the Gulf. Many of the low areas are flooded with sea water. (along Stewart Road, 8 Mile Road etc) At least there will be some mud flats afterwards for shorebirds.

At LaFitte's Cove this morning, there was an osprey flying low over the entrance road on the way in.

The weather was windy and sllightly overcast, but a little cooler than last weekend.

The woods were free of migrants except for a single Black-and-white Warbler.

The sprinklers were on in the woods watering the trees and thus the drips were running, but no birds were around to enjoy the water.

The best bird was this Magnificent Frigatebird soaring just above the trees. A first for me at LaFitte's.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 8-28-11

2011-08-28T15:08:00.000-05:00

I spent a couple of hours at LaFitte's Cove his morning. Migration is heating up.

There were 5 warbler species - Yellow, Canada (at least 6), B&W, Magnolia, Yellow-breasted Chat (2).

Canada Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Black-and-whiteWarbler

Flycatchers included eastern Kingbird, Great-crested Flycatcher, this unknown one.

Unknown Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

Others were Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, numerous Baltimore Orioles, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 8-14-11

2011-08-14T13:47:00.001-05:00

I checked out LaFitte's Cove this morning to see if any early fall migrants were present.

The whole of Galveston Island is bne dry in the drought with many ponds along Stewart Road etc totally dried up.

The ponds at LaFitte's are 10% or less of normal area. There were s few shorebirds in the pond across the street from the parking area.

In the woods, neither drip was running and several of the small trees planted in the last year or two since Ike appear to have died.

There were 2 warbler species in the woods. A pair of yellow warblers were seen first.

Then I found a flock or perhaps 1/2 dozen Black-and-white Warblers.

The most common migrants were empids. There were perhaps 10-12 individual birds, but it is hard to count thses little guys. For those of you who are budding empidemiologists (to coin a word form ornithology and medicine) this is a great place to see several different species at one time.

I have tentatively IDed several of them but will confirm with Texbirds and correct the IDs if needed. here are a couple of Least Flycatcher photos.

This one is a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (the easiest to ID).

And this one may be a drab juvenile Yellow-bellied, but I'm not sure and will update the ID once the experts have passed judgement.

For people interested in going to LaFitte's for fall migration, the best time is 9-12 noon, as the birds migrate south in the early mornings. This is according to a Galveston Island birding guide.

Resident birds included 3 dove species (Inca, Mourning and White-winged) and Mockingbirds. There were no Cardinals or Woodpeckers seen.

Bulletin #141 - local wildlife

2011-07-10T15:17:00.003-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
7-10-2011

Thank you for all the comments on the last bulletin with the Red-shouldered Hawks. Everyone seems to love raptors and especially when there is a personal interest story in it. I asked if anyone had any experience feeding non-typical birds like hawks, herons etc like I have done on several occasions. No one responded, so I assume that it is rather uncommon.

I have read of 2 cases. One you have probably seen photos of. That is the person in Alaska who collects dead salmon during the spawning season, and freezes them. He puts them out for the Bald Eagles in winter. He has dozens of eagles sitting around his yard. This is fairly straight forward as it is basically carrion.

The other case was in David Quammen's book "Song of the Dodo". There is an endangered falcon on Mauritius (Mauritius Kestrel). A man fron Scotland went to study them. He was able to train them to come when he whistled. He would throw a piece of beef into the air and the birds would catch it in flight, as they would normally take their prey.

Well my 'pet' hawks are still coming to get crawfish. The adult is now coming regularly as well as the juvenile. She is allowing me to approach closer to her. This photo was taken from 25 feet away.

The juvenile allows me to approach to within 15 feet. This photo is uncropped.

What I really wanted as well was a family portrait. Usually the birds sit on different branches or more often in different trees. Occasionally, they have been together, but by the time I got my camera, they had flown off. Last week I hit the jackpot. They usually are waiting foor me to get home form work to feed them supper. I didn't see them when I drove in, but when I went out of the garage, the juvie started screaming. I looked up and found them side by side. I raced in and grabbed my camera and got a couple of photos.

I love this picture. I am calling it 'Learning to Dance'. They both have a foot in the air, and the juvie is looking at the parent as if to see which foot he needs to raise.

Unfortunately, crawfish seasons ends soon, and I won't be able to buy them at the grocery store any longer. If I can't think of some other thing to feed them, they'll be on their own.

Last weekend,as I was in the yard watching my hawks, a pair of Mississippi Kites (Ictinia mississippiensis) drifted overhead. This dark gray raptor has some brown flight feathers.

Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonata) are a very common swallow over much of North America. They normally nest along cliffs as their name suggests. However, they have adapted readily to overpasses and bridges. This photo was taken under a freeway overpass near my home. The mud nest is shaped like a gourd. The parent is at the opening and a baby can be seen inside.

Cliff Swallows come in 2 forms. The northern population has a pure white forehead. The Mexican population has a dark brown forehead. This adult has a beige forehead, so may be an intergrade between the 2 populations.

I visited Anahuac NWR last weekend. This is a large marshy wetland east of Houston, that serves as wintering grounds for huge numbers of waterfowl etc. It is also one of the 2 best places to see alligators in the Houston area. I wanted to see the extent of our extreme drought on this gem of a wetland. It is devastating how dry it is. For those who are familiar with Anahuac, there is an auto loop around a large pond called Shoveler Pond. The pond is completely gone and dried up. The ditches inside around the loop are 90% dried out and in places have no water at all. This is the only alligator I saw. He is in a ditch that normally would have 2 feet of water. Also, I saw that he was at an opening into the mud bank which suggested it was a burrow.

I saw several more of these burrows as I drove around. Here is another. This section of the ditch had some water. But notice the brown reeds. This should normally be lush green with our normal rainfall. Instead, it looks like California. When I got home, I looked up alligators and burrows. Sure enough, they dig these in winter to keep warm and summer to keep cool.

On the last leg of the auto loop, there was some water in the ditch, but with no rain to aerate the stagnant water, the larger fish are dying. What a shame. I'm sure that we will get some tropical storm rain soon, but many species are suffering in the meantime.

There are nesting Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) at Anahuac. Notice that the nest is also built from mud, but is an open cup like normal bird nests made of twigs. I find this very interesting, that the 2 swallow species use the same material to build their nests, but they have a completely different shape. How many babies can you see in the nest?

During spring migration at LaFitte's Cove on Galveston Island, this turtle walked into the drip. It is a Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis), the local subsecies of Eastern Box Turtle. I think it was a life reptile for me.

I mentioned David Quammen's book 'Song of the Dodo' above. The subtitle is Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions. It was published in 1996. It is a fascinating account of species diversity around the globe. He visited many islands on a MacArthur Foundation scholarship and this book was the result. I have read it several times. Despite the academic sounding subtitle, it is eminently readable and enjoyable. I would highly recomend it as a natural history read. I found a place where you can download the complete book on pdf for free.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #140 - local birds

2011-06-22T20:12:00.003-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
June 22, 2011

With the summer doldrums upon us, I have to look for local birds of interest to photograph. Of course, this is nesting season, so common birds can provide some interesting opportunities.

The first photo is of a Northern Cardinal nest with eggs. As you know, cowbirds are parasitic. This means that they lay their eggs in nests of other birds and the foster parents raise the cowbird chicks, often losing their own young in the process. This nest has 3 different types of eggs in it.

At 12 o'clock is the large spotted cardinal egg. The 2 smaller, but similar eggs at 3 and 9 o'clock are from a Brown-headed Cowbird. The plain white one at 6 o'clock is that of a Bronzed Cowbird. I rarely get to see birds nests with eggs, but this is a first for me to have 3 different species of birds eggs in a single nest.

This next photo is of a bird house outside our kitchen window. I bought this bird house about 14 years ago. It is made of resin to resemble an old straw hat. In all this time, we have never had any occupants until this year, when Carolina Wrens took up residence. They nest on our patio in hanging baskets etc anyway, so I didn't pay much attention to them until I heard some babies chirping and discovered that they were in the bird house. On Memorial Day weekend, I took a few photos out the window. I wanted to get more photos, but they fledged and were gone several days later. Here is a baby waiting at the entrance for food.

I am fortunate to have a large yard with many trees. Thus, I have the pleasure of having a family of Red-shouldered Hawks that spend a lot of time in my yard. They don't bother the small birds and seem to eat mostly lizards, crawfish etc on the ground. We are in the midst of the worst drought in the 34 years I have lived in Houston. Normally, we have 1" rain per week all year, but with La Nina in the Pacific, we have not had any rain since January, and are about 20" below normal for the year.

My bird bath with a drip is used constantly by birds and squirrels. Several weeks ago, I looked out to see the juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk in the bird bath. He really enjoyed himself and splashed around. I took these photos through the kitchen window.

Next to my amazement, an adult flew down and joined him in the bird bath. In the second photo, it looks like the parent is whispering in his ear or giving him a kiss.

Since then, I have seen the juvenile most days go to the bird bath, but I haven't seen and adult return for a drink.

The juvenile is quite tame and I can approach him to within 20 feet. The adult flies off when I'm 50 feet away. I was able to get a close up of the juvie on a branch over the bird bath on a day when it was 105 degrees and he had his mouth open like a panting dog. Notice the ridges on the palate inside to mouth!

Two years ago, we had another milder drought and the local ponds, ditches etc were dried up. I had Yellow-crowned Night-Herons walking around my yard looking for food. So I thought to but some live crawfish and put them out to see if I could feed them. It worked and I had a bird come every evening to feast on the crawfish and take them back to the nest. You can see these photos here.

This year, I decided to try my luck at feeding crawfish to these hawks. Sure enough, I put out 4-6 crawfish in the evening and they come down to catch and eat them. The juvenile usually just eats them on the lawn, but the adult catches one and flies into a tree to eat it.

Anyone can feed small birds with seed etc, but how many of you have been able to feed more unlikely customers like herons and hawks? I would be interested to hear of any stories you may have.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 6-4-11

2011-06-05T09:45:00.001-05:00

Doldrums for sure. Even the ponds are almost dried up in the worst drought in years.

The ponds along the boardwalk and on the sidewalk to the gazebo are completely dry.
The pond across from the parking lot had water but not a single bird of any variety.
The pond beyond the gazebo had a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Snowy Egret, and a Killdeer with a chick.

The woods had several doves (mourning, inca), cardinals, mockingbirds (including a spotted juvie) and surprisingly a Catbird. This is latest I have seen one, but the checklist shows them as occasional birds all summer. They don't breed here.

I didn't see or hear any woodpeckers or the resident Blue Jays.

(c) 2011 David McDonald

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 5-30-11

2011-05-30T19:55:00.000-05:00

I spent an hour at LaFitte's Cove this morning from 10-11am.

The weather was warm and overcast with a strong southerly breeze.

The ponds along the boardwalk are almost totally dried up. Across the raod from the parking area, the pond had 6 Spoonbills, 2 Neotropic Cormorants and no ducks at all.

There were no migrants at all.

Birds in the woods were 3 species doves (Mourning, Inca, White-winged), Cardinal, No. Mockingbird, Blue Jay, and Common Grackles.

Waiting for the birds to come back in the fall!

(C) 2011 David McDonald

Bulletin 139 - other migrants

2011-05-29T12:50:00.001-05:00

David McDonald photography
Friendswood TX
5-29-11

Here are some of the other migrants seen over the past few weeks.

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) is by far the more common cuckoo that we have in Texas during migration. This one flew down to the drip at LaFitte's Cove and sat there while we clicked away with our cameras. This is full frame photo. One can see the lower mandible and part of the upper is yellow. The bird is also supposed to have a yellow eye-ring, but this may be a young bird as there is just a hint of a few yellow feathers around the eye.

The Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) is a summer resident here. Often we find them during migration in the woods. Notice that they characteristically perch along the branch rather than across the branch. This family of birds including Whipoorwill etc are usually dull brown with some white spots. One can tell that this is the Common Nighthawk as the wings are very lomg and extend beyond the tail. Nighthawks catch insects in the flight. The other birds in the family perch and just dart out to catch their bugs, so don't need as powerful wings and their wings are short.

The Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) is one of 4 kingbirds that are similarly colored with green backs and yellow bellies. This is not a usual bird along the coast. It can be differentiated form the other 3 by voice or by the tail. Notice the dark tail with a white lateral edge. None of the other 3 have the lateral white edge. The bird was at LaFitte's Cove.

The Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philadfelphicus) is similar to the Red-eyed Vireo in coloration, but the colors are more muted. It is differentiated by the yellow throat.

The Tanagers are the bright red migrants. The male Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) is all red in breeding plumage. This bird was at LaFitte's Cove and is the best photo I have ever taken of this magnificent bird.

His cousin, the male Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) is red with black wings and tail. This stunning bird along with the male Painted Bunting, are the 2 birds that most beginning birders want to see.

Shorebirds are another attraction on the upper Texas coast during migration. The ponds at LaFitte's Cove are a good place to look for many of them. They are often a difficult identification problem for begining birders, but with study, most can be sorted out. After 5 years, I can now confidently ID most of them in the breeding plumage that we find in spring migration.

The Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) is IDed by yellow legs, bicolored bill and the clean demarcation of the breast streaking from plain belly.

The Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) is a long legged bird that has very dark streaking and a rufous top of head and cheek. They often don't obtain the dark streaks until May, so earlier birds are quite pale.The first photo is a bird that is still molting. The second is one in full breeding plumage with bright rufous cheeks and very dark streaking. This was the first time I have seen this bird in full breeding plumage.

Lastly, the tiny (0.11 oz) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) also makes the 500 mile trans-Gulf flight from the Yucatan to the Texas coast. These little jewels are also seen in good numbers in the usual migrant traps. This year I saw them drinking water at the drip for the first time. Normally they just drink nectar, but I guess they are dehydrated for the flight and need to quickly replace their lost fluids.

Here is a female drinking from the puddle under the drip.

The next week I saw this male sitting on a pebble in the drip to take a drink. Amazing! I had never seen a hummer on the ground before.

So the spring migration is over and we are left with the summer doldrums, until the birds head our way in the fall migration. However, many wonderful memories and photos remain to remind us of the beauty and wonder of this annual act of nature.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 5-21-11

2011-05-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX
5-21-11

It was overcast on Galveston Island today. I checked out LaFitte's Cove to see if any very late migrants were still passing through.

The pond across from the main parking lot had 9 Mottled Ducks, 1 Blue-winged Teal and 5 peeps (?semi-palmated) but I wasn't sure.

In the woods, I found only 2 migrants, a Scarlet Tanager and a Thrush.

The most unusual sighting was a Purple Gallinule in the pond to the right beyond the gazebo. This is a first for me at LaFitte's Cove and I would expect them to be breeding at this time. I'll have to watch in the coming weeks to see if I can refind the bird and perhaps some chicks.

Here are 2 photos of the peeps. Any ID help would be appreciated

The Purple Gallinule.

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 5-15-11

2011-05-15T12:33:00.001-05:00

I birded the woods for 3 hours this morning. The weather was sunny with a north breeze.

A few migrants were still present, but fewer numbers than the last 2 days.

Warblers seen or reported were - Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Black-throated green, Black-and-white, Am. Redstart, No. Waterthrush - total 8 species

Other migrants were a few empids, catbirds, YB Cuckoos, Red-eyed and Philadelphia Vireos.

After lunch another birder found Yellow and Tennessee Warblers (total 10 now), Blue-headed and Yellow-throated Vireos, Baltimore Oriole and Indigo Buntings. Thanks Lynn.

An unusual sighting in the woods was a White Ibis probing under the sidewalk. I have seen a Great Egret in the woods several times, but the White Ibis was a first for me.

The last 3 days have been as good as any 3 consecutive days during the whole spring, but I'm afraid this is the bitter end and we will have to wait for August to see the warblers coming south.

(C) 2011 David McDonlad

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 5-14-11

2011-05-14T13:16:00.002-05:00

I birded from 10am to noon.The north breeze kept some birds in the woods from yesterday. It was as busy as some days during this years peak migration.

Warblers seen were - No. Parula, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Magnolia, Black-and-white, No. Waterthrush, Am. Redstart - 9 species in all

Several YB Cuckoos including one that came to the drip.

Other migrants were Red-eyed Vireos and 1 Philadelphia Vireo, Indigo Buntings, Swainson's Thrush

A pair of Bronzed Cowbirds was also in the woods.

Photos from today...

Blackburian Warbler - female another photo same bird

Black-throated Green Warbler - female

Yellow-billed Cuckoo flew down to the drip. This photo is uncropped.

The same bird looking at the camera - he almost looks like a raptor with the curved yellow bill.

(c) David McDonald

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 5-13-11

2011-05-13T20:29:00.003-05:00

I checked out LaFitte's Cove for a couple of hours mid-afternoon today.

I was hoping that a few late migrants might have dropped in with yesterday's rain and I wasn't disappointed.

Warblers seen or reported were Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Magnolia, Black-and-white and Am. Redstart - 6 species in all.

2 vireo species - Red-eyed and Philadelphia were also seen.

Other migrants were numerous Eastern Wood-Pewees, both orioles, Swainson's Thrush, YB Cuckoo.

There were still some shorebirds in the pond across the street from the main parking area. Also, a pair of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks as well as the Mottled Ducks were in that pond.

Altogether a pretty good day for mid-May!

PS - Stephan Lorenz reported an additional 6 warbler species in the morning as well as both tanagers

A few photos...

American Redstart - 1st year male Chestnut-sided Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo Swainson's Thrush

(c) David McDonald 2011

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 5-6-11

2011-05-06T19:26:00.003-05:00

I checked out LaFitt'e Cove late afternoon today to look for any stragglers.

Weather was sunny, warm and still.

2 warblers were present - Magnolia and Black-and-white.

Other migrants were several Red-eyed Vireos, 2 Scarlet Tanagers, 1 Baltimore Oriole, 3-4 YB Cuckoos, several Gray Catbirds, 3 RB Grosbeaks, several thrushes - GC and Swainson's, a few unIDed empids.

The ponds are almost gone but a remnant pool under the boardwalk had Pectoral, Stilt, Least Sandpipers; Greater Yellowlegs, and LB Dowitchers.

We will be soon into the summer doldrums.

(c) David McDonald

Bulletin #138 - migration #4 - warblers

2011-05-04T12:00:00.006-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX
5-4-11

(Click on image to see larger photo)

The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) is a very widespread warbler in North America. It lives in marshy areas. I noted how brown the breast and belly were, so looked in Sibley. The eastern form is like this, but western birds are more yellow - white on the breast and belly. Also, the shape of the black mask and white line above varies. There are many subspecies in North America (about 13).

This male Bay-breasted Warbler (Dendroica castanea) was very cooperative by staying in a dead leafless tree for about 1 hour and allowing everyone to get good looks and photos.

The male Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia) is another widespread species in North America. This was my first opportunity to get a photo of this bird at the drip. It is IDed by being all yellow, and the male has the reddish breast streaking.

American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) were everywhere the last few days. The male is black with orange wing and tail patches and orange flanks.

The female is gray with yellow patches. These birds are perhaps the most active warblers when foraging, so the best way to get a photo is at the drip. They fan their tails constantly flashing the colorful patches, as shown here.

There were also many Magnolia Warblers (Dendroica magnolia) recently. This bird is IDed by the yellow underparts with black streaks, gray head and back and white wing and tail patches. Here are 2 photos, with the second showing the white on the tail.

In an earlier bulletin, I showed the male Kentucky Warbler (Oporornis formosus). Here is the female. Notice that the black 'mustache' doesn't extend onto the breast.

The first year female Northern Parula (Parula americana) lacks the breast bands.

Lastly, I obtained my best photos of an Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus). This terrestrial warbler walks along the forest floor, foraging in the leaf litter. Thus it is drab brown above. It has a streaked breast, bright white eye-ring and orange stripe on top of its head. The sexes are similar. This photos shows the profile of the bird.

This photo of its head shows the breast streaking and orange crown stripe.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

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

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 5-3-11

2011-05-03T18:59:00.001-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX

I spent the late afternoon at LaFitte's Cove. The weather was breezy form the north. There were many birds flitting in the trees, but few at the drips for the photographers.

Warblers seen and reported - Tennessee, Golden-winged, No. Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Cape May, BT Green, Blackburnian, Prairie, Bay-breasted, Black-abd-White, Am. Redstart, Ovenbird, Mourning, Hooded - 16 in all that I am aware of.

Lots of other migrants - both orioles and tanagers, Indigo Buntings, several empids, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, loads of catbirds, Wood and Swainson's Thrushes, Veery

(c)2011 David McDonald

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 5-2-11

2011-05-02T20:31:00.003-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX

I spent 2 hours at LaFitte's late afternoon today. The winds were calm and a brief shower occurred in Galveston mid afternoon that caused a lot of birds to drop in.

Warblers seen or reported were - Tennessee, 2 Golden-winged, Blue-winged, Nashville, No. Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, female Cape May, BT Green, Blackburnian, Bay-breasted, B&W, Am. Redstart, Ovenbird, No. Waterthrush, YB Chat - total 17 species!

Other migrants were Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Empids, both orioles, both tanagers, Indigo Bunting, RB Grosbeak, YB Cuckoo, Wood Thrush, Veery, Swainson's Thrush, White-eyed, Red-eyed, Philadelphia, Warbling, and Yellow-throated Vireos
There were birds flying around everywhere. This was certainly the birdiest I have experienced this spring.

Good birding,

David McDonald
(c) 2011 David McDonald

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 4-30-11

2011-04-30T20:02:00.002-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas

I spent 6 1/2 boring hours at LaFitte's today trying to find some birds. The strong winds from the south indicated a slow day and it was fulfilled. This was perhaps the slowest day in April.

Warblers seen or reported were few - Tennessee, Magnolia, BT Greeen, Common Yellowthroat, Am Redstart, No Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Yellow, Blackburnian - 9 in total and most of these were single birds.

No vireos or tanagers at all. No orioles or Indigos until 4pm. There were several Gray Catbirds and Swainson's Thrushes

You know things are slow when the highlight was a turtle in the drip!

A few photos...

Magnolia Warbler Yellow Warbler Tennessee Warbler - female

An unusal sight was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird sitting on the ground in the drip.

Here is the highlight - and Eastern Box Turtle subspecies Three-toed in the drip. It can be called Three-toed Box Turtle as well. Thanks to Cody Conway for confirmation of the ID.

Better Birding hopefully,

David McDonald
(c) 2011 David McDonald

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 4-29-11

2011-04-29T21:55:00.003-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas

I arrived at LaFitte's Cove about 2pm and spent 5 hours there. The weather was windy from the south, so I knew it would be just an average day.

As it was slow in the woods initially, I checked out the ponds for sandpipers. As well as the usual yellowlegs, dowitchers and a few peeps, there were Solitary, Stilt, Pectoral Sandpipers as well as a single Wilson's Phalarope. The Stilt Sandpipers were mostly still molting but 2 were in full breeding plumage - see photos below.

Warblers I saw or reported by others were Tennessee, Golden-winged, No. Parula, Yellow, Magnolia, BT Green, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, Prothonotary, Ovenbird, No. Waterthrush, Kentucky, and Common Yellowthroat for a total of 14 species.

Other migrants were both Tanagers, RB Grosbeak, both buntings, Eastern Kingbird, Gray Catbird, YB Cuckoo, 2 thrush species - Swainson's, Veery

Photos from today....

Bay-breasted Warbler        Kentucky Warbler female     Ovenbird

Pectoral Sandpiper    Stilt Sandpiper - molting    Stilt Sandpiper - breeding     Wilson's Phalarope - male

Swainson's Thrush    Indigo Bunting needing to preen after bathing

Good Birding.

David McDonald
(c) 2011 David McDonald

LaFitte's Cove Bird report 4-28-11

2011-04-28T21:57:00.005-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX

I birded the woods at LaFitte's Cove in Galveston from 5:30 - 7:30pm this evening.

There were good numbers of warblers seen or reported.

The highlight was a male Black-throated Blue Warbler at the drip at 7:20pm. It had been seen earlier in the day as well.

Others were Tennessee, Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Nashville, No. Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Cerulean, Magnolia, female Cape May, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, Bay-breasted, Black-and-white, Am. Redstart, Worm-eating, Ovenbird, Kentucky, Canada, Hooded and Common Yellowthroat for a total of 23 species!

Other migrants were Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Orchard Oriole, Swainson's Thrush, Philadelphia Vireo.

A few photos from today...

This male Common Yellowthroat has extensive brown on the breast.

American Redstart - male

American Redstart - female

Magnolia Warbler - male

Philadelphia Vireo

Good Birding,

David McDonald
(c) 2011 David McDonald

Bulletin #137 - migration #3 - warblers

2011-04-28T12:26:00.004-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX
4-28-2011

(Click on the photos to see a larger image)

The Worm-eating Warbler (Helmithiros vermivorus) is a plain brown warbler with a neatly striped top of the head, which makes an easy ID. It one of my favorites because it is uncommon. I still remember seeing my lifer at High Island years ago. This photo was taken at LaFitte's Cove, Galveston.

The Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca) is my favorite due to its vibrant coloration. The male is black and white with a brilliant orange face and throat. Here are 2 photos of a bird at Quintana. The first is in a tree above the drip and the second on the rocks around the pool at the base of the drip.

The Kentucky Warbler (Oporornis formosus) is another secretive bird that is easiest to see during migration. The bird is yellow below and olive above. He has no wing bars, but has a unique black mustache on the face. In the male, shown here, the mustache extends onto the breast. He was found at LaFitte's Cove.

The Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera) is a bright yellow bird with blue wings and 2 white wing bars. He aslo has a black line through the eye to the beak. The sexes are similar. This has been one of nemesis birds over the years, but this year I finally saw several birds and obtained my best photos of this species. This photo was taken at LaFitte's Cove.

Here is a great side by side comparison of the 2 predominately black and white colored warblers. The male Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) has a striped top of head, and a black cheek and throat.

The female of the same species has the similarly striped crown, but the cheek and throat are white.

The other species is the Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica striata). The male of this species has a solid black crown with white face. He also has a faint yellowish wash on the wings. Also, the legs are orange-pink. This is another good field mark for this species. These 3 birds were all photgraphed at LaFitte's Cove.

In the last bulletin, I showed the different field marks for the 2 species of waterthrushes. However, if you look in the field guides, there are 2 color variants of the Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia novaboracensis). Note, the scientific name has changed for this species. The genus was previously Seiurus. The 2 color variants are white and yellow. I found both of them this year. The first is the whiter bird. It has a white eye stripe similar to the Louisiana Waterthrush and is thus a more difficult ID problem, but look at the leg color.

Here is the more familiar yellowish bird. The eye stripe and flanks are a buffy yellow color.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

LaFitt'e Cove Bird Report 4-27-11

2011-04-27T21:23:00.000-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX

I wasn't able to get to LaFitte's Cove today, but Tad Finnell reported an exceptional day of birding.

The winds finally cooperated and large numbers of birds dropped in.

He reported 22 warblers species including No. Parula, Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Canada, Cerulean, Blackpoll, Kentucky, and Blackburian.

3 species of thrush were found - Swainson's, Gray-cheeked and Veery

Several western species were also reported including Western Kingbird and Clay-colored Sparrow.

Good birding,
David McDonald

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 4-24-11

2011-04-24T17:52:00.001-05:00

I was at LaFitte's Cove from 1-4:00pm. There was a strong south wind and thus few birds.

There were only 3 warblers seen or reported - female Cape May, Blackburnian and Northern Waterthrush. The waterthrush stayed in the drip for about 1/2 hour and caught several worms. He was the yellowish type described in Sibley.

Other birds were Bronzed Cowbird, both orioles, Blue Grosbeak, Gray Catbird, Indigo Buntings, YB Cuckoo. No tanagers or vireos were seen during this time.

Maybe a front this week will bring in some birds, but the last week has been dismal for birders, but good for the birds.

David McDonald
(c) David McDonald 2011

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 4-22-11

2011-04-22T20:45:00.003-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas

I went to LaFitte's Cove in Galveston in the morning from 9-11:30am and again in late afternoon from 5-6:30pm. The weather was overcast with occasional sun and calm to south winds.

There were few birders and few birds.

A total of 6 warbler species were seen - Tennessee, Nashville, Orange-crowned, Yellow, B&W, and Blackpoll. The most surprising to me was the 3 Blackpoll seen this evening. I have never seen 3 of this species in the spring. In fact, it was the only warbler that came to the drip, that I saw.

Other birds were Bronzed Cowbird, both Orioles, both Buntings, both Tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, White-eyed Vireo and Eastern Kingbird.

The ponds had numerous shorebirds and waders. The sandpipiers were Least, Solitary, LB Dowitcher, and both Yellowlegs.

I'm sure that the woods will be full of birders on the weekend. I hope that the birds are there as well.

David McDonald
(C) David McDonald 2011

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 4-20-11

2011-04-20T20:29:00.002-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood TX

I spent a little over an hour at LaFitte's this evening and it was the quietest yet this migration season.

There were only 7 birders! And not many more birds.

4 warbler species found - Blackpoll, Tennessee, Common Yellowthroat, N. Parula.

Other migrants were 1 Painted Bunting, half-dozen each of Indigos and Orchard Orioles, 2 Easten Kingbirds.

1 each Catbird, Summer Tanager, Eastern Wood-Pewee

The most unusual sighting was the Brown Thrasher walking along the sidewalk as there were no people there! Photo1 Photo2

As I was leaving someone pointed out this FOS Common Nighthawk on a branch of the large dead oak in the center of the woods.

Hopefully better birding on the weekend.

David McDonald
(c) David McDonald 2011

Bulletin #136 – migration #2

2011-04-19T07:38:00.001-05:00

David McDonald Photography

Friendswood Texas

April 18, 2011

(Click on the photos to see a larger image)

I will be posting the reports of the birds found on my various outings on the blog now. I posted the first one Sunday April 17th from LaFitte's Cove, Galveston. Please feel free to check in often to the blog to find my field reports.

Last weekend provided better birding and we actually had a fall-out on Friday, with a front that came through before noon and the winds shifted to the north. I birded at Quintana on Friday and LaFitte’s Cove on the weekend.

The rock-star bird in the spring is always the gaudy male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris). I had good looks at several of them at Quintana and here are 2 photos.

There were many Indigo Buntings (Passerina cyanea) all weekend. The male is all blue, but sometimes some will not be completely molted and still showing some brown feathers during spring migration. This one at the water feature in Quintana was all blue.

The female Indigo Bunting is light brown, with a slight bluish wash on the wings and tail. Also, there is some streaking on the breast. This streaking, on the breast, is an important field mark to differentiate the female Indigo from the female Blue Grosbeak who lacks the breast streaks.

In keeping with the colorful birds, here is my best photo ever of a breeding male Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra). It is a simple ID as it is the only bird in North America that is all red (even the cardinal has black on the face).

A nice treat was a pair of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (Tyrannus forficatus) that landed in the Quintana sanctuary. This spectacular bird has the longest tail of any songbird in the

USA

. The male has the longer tail.

The female has a tail about 1/3 shorter.

Now I turn from the beautiful non-warblers to the plainest of warblers. I got my best photos of the waterthrushes. These 2 species are difficult if not impossible for beginners to separate in the field. I still have trouble myself and I like when an expert is present to call the correct ID. With these photos, I think it should be easier to see the differences in the species.

So here is the Louisiana Waterthrush (Seiurus motacilla). The field marks are the wide white eye-stripe that goes a long way down the back of the neck, the buffy flanks best seen in the second photo, and the pink legs as seen in the first photo.

Here is the Northern Waterthrush (Seiurus noveboracensis). The differing field marks are the narrower eye-stripe that doesn’t extend as far down the neck, the flanks are white to slightly yellowish, and the legs are grayer.

Happy Birding and Photography,

David McDonald

davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 4-17-11

2011-04-17T21:26:00.002-05:00

David McDonald Photogrphy
Friendswood TX

I spent time at LaFitte's Cove in Galveston from 12:30 TO 3PM
The weather was poor for a fallout with gusty south winds.
A few birders were there and a few birds were still to be found.

The Golden-winged Warbler was refound from Saturday and glimpsed briefly by several of us, but again no photos were obtained.

Other warblers were Hooded, B&W, Kentucky, Tennessee, Am Redstart, Blue-winged, Northern Waterthrush. Another birder reported Blackburnian

Other migrants included Catbird, Scarlet & Summer Tanagers, Swainson's Thrush, many Indigo Buntings, Orchard Oriole

Good birding
David McDonald
(C) David McDonald 2011

Bulletin #135 – migration #1

2011-04-14T10:32:00.003-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
4/14/11

Spring migration has been slow so far, but is starting to pick up as we near mid-April and the peak time for large numbers of birds to show up. There have been some birds, but usually only 1 or 2 of each species.

However, while looking for migrants, some other interesting birds have been seen.

The most exciting bird for me was a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) at LaFitte's Cove in Galveston. This is the first time I have ever seen this bird perched. It is a juvenile with the brown back and orange-brown breast streaks.

The difficult ID problem of this bird is with its cousin, the Cooper's Hawk. The adult birds are virtually identical, but at least the juveniles are slightly different in that the Cooper's Hawk has dark brown breast stripes as shown here for comparison.

Here is an unusual bird I photographed at LaFitte's Cove (Galveston) last weekend. It is a quiz bird. What is the species of this bird? I'll give the answer at the end of the bulletin.

One of my friends, who receive these bulletins, called me recently to say that there was a bird sitting on eggs in the parking lot behind a Mexican restaurant near my office. So of course I had to check it out.

You can see the eggs surrounded by bark mulch. The green is a ground cover used here in Houston. Notice how the mottled eggs blend in. There is no nest at all, the eggs are just laid in a depression in the mulch. Anyone have an idea of the species of bird that laid these eggs? Most of us rarely get to see nests and eggs.

Well the bird is one of my favorite and more beautiful shorebirds. Here is the parent doing the broken wing routine to draw the intruder away from the nest. The orange rump and breast stripes are visible.

And here it is on the concrete curb. Obviously, it is a Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). I find it amazing that she would nest in a parking lot with people coming and going all day when there is a 20 acre field about 30 yards away!

The American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica) is an early migrant through Texas, such that the birds are still in non-breeding plumage. I saw this bird for the first time 2 springs ago. But like all things, once I saw one and realized what it was, I have seen several more the last 2 years including 5 so far this year. It is the typical plump plover shape like the Killdeer above, but has a small thin bill, black cap and white line above the eye. The location was

Yacht Basin Road

on Bolivar, just west of Rollover Pass. That seems to be a good location on the coast to find them.

Here is a female Northern Parula (Parula americana). This small (4.5") warbler is IDed by the yellow throat, gray back with a green patch and yellow lower mandible. The female has incomplete or absent breast bands. Also, the broken white eye-ring differentiates this bird from its cousin the Tropical Parula (no eye-ring at all)

All the birds this day seemed to want to face the camera to make sure I saw their field marks. This Nashville Warbler (Vermivora ruficapilla) has a yellow breast and throat, olive back and gray head. It also has a prominent white eye-ring.

Lastly, this White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) made sure that I saw the 'whites of his eyes'. Seldom is one close enough in the field to see the white iris of his eye, so you have to use other field marks. He is IDed by the 'yellow spectacles', gray throat and 2 white wing-bars.

Answer to the ID of the quiz bird above. First we need to figure out which family the bird belongs to. All black songbirds, in North America, are either crows or icterids. It is black with some brownish tones and has a conical bill. The size and bill don't fit for a crow. This looks like an icterid or blackbird. We can rule out meadowlarks and orioles as none of them are all black. It isn't a grackle as the tail is too short. There are no wing patches either white, red or yellowish, so it can't be a Bobolink, Red-winged or Yellow-headed Blackbird. Tricolored Blackbird is a CA bird and never seen here, but it also has the wing patches. Two more, Brewer's and Rusty Blackbirds can be seen here but they both have white or yellow eyes, so we can rule them out as well. So what we have left are cowbirds. It isn't a Brown-headed Cowbird as the male has a brown head and this is lacking in our bird. So it must be either a Bronzed or Shiny Cowbird. Both are rare visitors here. Everyone knows that the field mark for Bronzed Cowbird is a red eye. Our bird has a brown iris. So when I looked this bird up in the field guide, I noticed that both the juvenile Bronzed Cowbird and the Shiny Cowbird have dark irises. Only the adult Bronzed Cowbird has the red eye. Notice the back of the neck with the ruff of feathers sticking out. This ruff of feathers is a characteristic of the Bronzed Cowbird. The juvenile Bronzed Cowbird is brown, so this bird is a 1st spring Bronzed Cowbird, as he still has a few brown feathers that haven't molted to black, nor does it have the red eye. It was an interesting identification problem for me. I assumed it was a Bronzed Cowbird with the neck ruff of feathers, but the brown eye threw me off at first, when I saw it at home.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #134 – Misc. local birds

2011-03-31T19:50:00.019-05:00

David McDonald Photography

Friendswood Texas

March 31, 2011

Bulletin #134 – Misc. local birds

(Click on the images to see a larger photo)

There were a few birds over the last month that didn't get mentioned due to my revising the warbler and shorebird ID guides for 2011. I thought I would put them in a newsletter before migration begins in earnest.

The most famous example in North America of bringing a bird back from the brink of extinction is the famous Whooping Crane (Grus americana). The world population was only 18 individuals in the 1930's. With careful management and captive breeding, there are now more than 300 of these birds. These birds are the most famous 'winter Texans' as they return to Aransas NWR near Rockport every year. They are the tallest birds in North America at 52" in length.

The adult bird is all white with a black face and a red forehead.

The juveniles have a brownish head and neck and some brown on the wings. They gradually molt to adult coloration the first year. This 1st year bird wouldn't raise his head out of the water for me to see his face, but you can see the brown neck coloration.

The House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) has just populated my yard in the past year. The males are usually red on the face, breast and rump, but a few have yellow instead of red. It perhaps pertains to their diet and fruits that they eat. Anyway, I had a yellow variant bird show up at my birdfeeder on December12th last year. I got a fair photo of him through the kitchen window. I have been waiting for his return and on Sunday he came back. I got my camera ready and was able to get this photo on the feeder again.

Another interesting photo I took last weekend was a Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, side-by-side. Even their bills are pointing the same way, so the difference in size and bill shape can be appreciated. I have been waiting for 6 years to get this shot!

LaFitte's Cove in Galveston had a half dozen Golden-crowned Kinglets (Regulus satrapa). This is the most of these birds I have seen at one time.

There was also a Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum). This bird is still in winter plumage as he is just starting to get the rufous crown on his head. This bird is IDed by the rufous crown, and yellow rump and undertail coverts.

Also, a cooperative Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata) produced the best photo yet of this species. The bird is IDed by overall drab olive back and yellow underparts. Faint streaking can be seen on the breast.

Several Roseate Spoonbills (Ajaja ajaja) were always a delight to see. The adult has intense pink on the wings.

This second year bird is just light pink.

High Island had a lingering male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyapicus varius). His sap trees were right beside the boardwalk. He had become so used to people that you could almost walk close enough to pet him. What a beautiful bird!

Anahuac NWR had this Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) in breeding plumage. He shows the white bill with black band and the black throat. It showed up nicely in the reflection as well.

Spring migration begins this weekend. I hope to see you 'on the Texas coast'.

Bulletin #133 – Upper Texas Coast shorebird ID guide - spring migration

2011-03-23T20:21:00.000-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
March 23, 2011

Bulletin #133 – Upper Texas Coast shorebird ID guide - spring migration

(Note - click on the images to see a full size photo)

The shorebirds comprise 4 families of birds in our area- Oystercatchers, Avocets & Stilts, Plovers, and Sandpipers. The first three are easy. It is the last one that gives people fits. However, in spring the sandpipers are in their breeding (alternate) plumage can be sorted out.

There is only 1 Oystercatcher on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

The American Oystercatcher is a large (17-21") bird with black head, brown back, white belly and bright red bill. This ID is easy. This unfortunate bird has some fishing line wrapped around his right foot.

There are 2 members of the Avocet and Stilt family in the USA. Both are found in Texas.

The American Avocet is a long legged tall (18") bird with gray head and neck (non-breeding), white body and black wings with a prominent white wing patch. The bill is upturned. Again, no other bird is similar. In breeding plumage, the head and neck become tan colored.

The Black-necked Stilt is a very long pink legged wader about 16" tall. It is a classy black and white pattern. The black bill is slightly upcurved. No ID problem at all. The sexes are similar. The second photo shows the interesting facial pattern.

There, we are 1/2 done with the shorebird families - too easy! LOL

The next family is the Plovers. We can divide them into larger (> 9") and smaller (8" or less) birds. They are generally plump with short thick bills. The sexes are usually similar in color.
The first is the easiest. The Killdeer is a 9-11" brown bird with white underparts and 2 black chest bands. The tail is rufous when it flies or fans it as in the 2nd photo. You can find this bird on beaches, mudflats or short grassy fields. It is a permanent resident.

The Black-bellied Plover is a winter resident and the largest of our plovers at 11-13". In the winter and spring, you usually find the non-breeding (basic) plumage (1st photo). Notice in the basic plumage that the face is grayish and nothing is distinctive. Compare that with the next species. You usually find this bird on seacoast, but can find it in fields at times. When they fly, you will see a black axilla (armpit). In the 1st photo, a couple of black feathers are poking out under the wing. By mid-April, you may find one in the distinctive breeding plumage with the black belly as in the 2nd photo.

The last of the large (9.5 - 11") plovers is the American Golden Plover. It prefers short grassy fields. They migrate through very early on their way to Alaska breeding grounds (from early March to early April) and thus are seen in the basic plumage only on the Texas coast. Notice the shorter, thinner bill than on the Black-bellied Plover. Also, look at the face with the black stripe through the eye and white line above. A good location to see this bird is Rushing Park in Katy, Texas west of Houston. On the coast, the classic location on Bolivar is a cow pasture across from the Joy Sands Motel in Crystal Beach. I have also seen them in 2010 and 2011 on Yacht Basin Road, off Hwy 87, which is just west of Rollover Pass. Also, check at High Island as the guides there have often located them and can direct you to the location. They also lead tours to Bolivar area for shorebirds, so check at Boy Scout Woods for times.

The 4 small plovers all have a single black breastband either complete or partial. But the easiest way to sort them out is leg and back color.

The Wilson's Plover has flesh colored legs and a thicker bill. This leg color is unique. The breast band is complete and wide.

The Snowy Plover is the palest color of the group, but has gray-black legs and the dark patch behind the ear. The dark legs are unique. The breast band is only partial.

The next 2 birds both have yellow legs and yellow bills with black tips.

The Piping Plover has a light tan colored back (color of dry sand). Notice there is no black spot behind the ear.

The Semi-Palmated Plover has a darker brown back (color of wet sand). It also has more black on the face including behind the eye.

The Mountain Plover is seen very rarely on the upper Texas coast, but I don't have a photo of it. I saw it once in 20 years of birding here.

So now we come to the sandpipers. I will start with the ones that are unique and easy to ID and then work towards the rest of them. The sexes are generally similar coloration, except as noted.

The Wilson's Snipe is an 11" shorebird that is has a dark brown back with longitudinal tan stripes and a striped head. It has a long bill. It will be found in muddy areas and tends to be secretive and not seen until flushed. I took this photo at Anahuac NWR in spring 2008.

A similar shaped dumpy sandpiper is the 11"American Woodcock. It prefers wooded areas and forages in the leaves. It is very secretive and I have only ever seen it once. I have no photograph, so look at your field guide. It is more of a winter bird than s spring migrant here.

Curlews are sandpipers with long downcurved bills and are an easy ID. There are 2 species seen here.

The Long-billed Curlew is our largest sandpiper at 23" in length. It has a very long (7") bill. It is buffy brown color and has cinnamon underwing as shown in the 2nd photo.

The other curlew is the Whimbrel. It is still a large bird at 17.5" in length, but smaller than the bird above. It is gray brown, but is IDed by the striped top of head along with the downcurved bill.

The sandpipers with upcurved bill are called godwits. We also have 2 species of those on the upper Texas coast.

The more common, by far, is the Marbled Godwit. It is 18" in length and buffy brown color. It is a winter resident, as well as being present during the spring. It has a long bicolored upcurved bill. Unmistakable.

The other godwit is the smaller Hudsonian Godwit. It is 15.5" in length and a very rare bird here. It is usually found in flooded rice fields, in spring, in the Anahuac and Winnie area. The male (1st photo) has ruddy breast and the female (2nd photo) is gray. They also have a long bicolored upturned bill. To locate this bird, check with the information desk at Boy Scout Woods at High Island. The guides have usually located them and you can drive there to see them.

Now lets look at several sandpipers that have unique coloration or features that make them easy to ID in breeding plumage, as will be seen during spring migration. We will work from larger to smaller.

The very common Willet is the largest gray (15") sandpiper to be encountered on the upper Texas coast. In winter it is just a soft gray, but the summer birds (1st photo) have some dark streaking. It is a very loud bird and calls when startled. It has the brightest wing pattern (2nd photo) of any local sandpiper. You will see in Sibley, that there are 2 differing populations. the summer birds here are the eastern subspecies. However, they leave in the fall and the western subspecies arrives to winter over. These 2 subspecies may eventually be split, but as for now, even the IOU still regards them as a single species.

The Upland Sandpiper is a 12" sandpiper of grassy fields where it might be seen sitting on a fence post. It is beige backed and pale breasted with yellow legs and short yellow bill tipped with black. The head is small and face pale with a large dark eye.

The Red Knot is a large (10.5") plump short billed bird with a red breast and greenish legs. No other sandpiper has a red breast and short bill.

The Wilson's Phalarope is the largest of the 3 phalarope species at 9.5". It is essentially the only one of the 3 that occurs on the upper Texas coast. Unlike other birds, the female (photo) is the brightest color and leaves the nest after laying the eggs. The male incubates the eggs and feeds the young. The ID is the overall gray bird with needle like bill, black on face and neck and rufous stripes on the back. The male is very plain with just a little rust color on the neck (no photo). Phalaropes may swim at times unlike other sandpipers.

The breeding (1st photo) Ruddy Turnstone is a plump 9.5" long sandpiper with rufous back, black and white patterned head and neck and orange legs. I added the non-breeding plumage (2nd photo) to highlight the orange legs. The facial pattern is muted, but still identifiable. This bird is a winter resident here.

The Pectoral Sandpiper is 8.75" long. It has a streaked breast with a sharp demarcation of the clean white belly. The legs are yellow.

The breeding Dunlin (8.5") is an easy ID with the reddish back and large black patch on the belly. No other sandpiper has a black belly in the east. Notice the bill droops a little at the tip. This is an important mark for winter birds.

The breeding Solitary Sandpiper is also 8.5". it has a dark back with small white spots. This is unique. It also has a prominent eye-ring and olive legs.

The Stilt Sandpiper (1st photo) is also 8.5". The books show it to be more darkly barred than it appears in the field. The important field mark is the brown on the face and white eye-stripe above. It has dull yellow-green legs. It feeds like a dowitcher and may entirely submerge its head as seen in the 2nd photo.

The next easy sandpiper to ID is the Buff-breasted Sandpiper. It is a 8.25" long with short bill and completely buffy brown underparts. No other small shorebird is like this. It may be found on beaches or short grassy fields. Again, Rushing Park in Katy is perhaps the best location to find this bird. It is an elusive bird for me as I have never seen it in Texas. This photo was taken in Carmel, CA where this bird is a real rarity.

The Sanderling is an active 8" sandpiper that is best identified by its feeding habit of running out with the retreating wave and then running back onto the beach with the next wave. The breeding male (1st photo) is rufous on back and chest. The breeding female 2nd photo) is grayer. Once you have seen these birds in action feeding, you won't forget it. It is a winter resident here and very common.

The last of the readily identifiable sandpipers is the 7.5" Spotted Sandpiper. It has a characteristic 'teetering' gait in which it looks like it is about to fall over. When once seen, this characteristic gait is instantly recognizable. But, even without that, the breeding plumage bird (1st photo) is the only sandpiper with spots on the breast. The non-breeding plumage (2nd photo) which may also be seen in the migration period has a plain brown back, yellowish legs and the white shoulder patch is the ID mark.

So now we come to the last 9 sandpipers that are the ID challenges. These are the 2 yellowlegs, 2 dowitchers and 5 peeps or small sandpipers.

Both yellowlegs have bright yellow legs.The Greater Yellowlegs is taller at 14" in length. It has a longer bill that appears to be slightly upturned. This is the best ID mark.

The Lesser Yellowlegs is 10.5" in length. The bill is shorter and straight. These size variations are no help if no other bird is around for comparison, so look at the bill shape.

The dowitchers are essentially the same length and although they are called short-billed and long-billed, there is overlap in the bill length, so we have to use other ID characteristics.

Here is the Long-billed Dowitcher (LBDO). The plumages are essentially the same, so we have to look at other attributes that can lead us to the correct ID. The Long-billed prefers fresh water to salt water. Also, the feeding flocks chatter incessantly among themselves, if you are close enough to hear them. The last item is the most important, the shape of the back of the bird, when they are bent over to feed.

Look at the bird in the black circle, the body forms a complete circle, as the back has a high arch when the bird is bent over. This ID point can be seen from far away.

Here is the Short-billed Dowitcher. The coloration is about the same. The differences from the Long-billed include it prefers salt water, and the flock is silent when feeding. Importantly, although I don't have a photo in the feeding position is that the back is almost flat or straight across rather than the high arch in the Long-billed. So, an easy way to remember this is 4S. The Short-billed likes Salt water, is Silent and has a Straight back.

The 5 smaller sandpipers (peeps) can be sorted out. 1 has yellow legs and the other 4 have dark legs. Look at length of wings, as the 2 birds that migrate the longest distance have wing tips that extend beyond the tail. Only 2, Least and Western, are winter residents, but all 5 may be seen during spring migration.

The Least Sandpiper is the smallest sandpiper in the world at 6" in length. It is the one with the yellow legs, so can be IDed easily. It is a winter resident.

The breeding Western Sandpiper has black legs, rufous on crown, face and wings. Notice the droop at the end of the bill. It is the other winter resident, so a peep in winter with dark legs is usually this bird. It is 6.5 " in length.

The Semipalmated Sandpiper is similar to the western above, but grayer. The bill is shorter and straight. It is 6.25" in length. It is listed as uncommon in spring.

The White-rumped Sandpiper is larger at 7.5". It is one of the long distance migrants and the wings can be seen to extend beyond the tail. It has streaked flanks and black legs, with some rufous on the gray back. Notice the red-brown spot on the base of the lower mandible. This is diagnostic, if it can be seen.

I don't have a photo of the last peep, the Baird's Sandpiper. However, it is also larger at 7.5" and has wings extending beyond the tail. There is no streaking along the flanks and no brown spot on the lower mandible. It prefers dry mud flats to feed.

There are a few rare sanpipers that show up in spring, but the only one I have seen is a female Ruff near Anahuac in the 1990s. I sure hope that the breeding male Ruff shows up here sometime, as it is the most beautiful and unusual sandpiper. Here is a photo of a male Ruff displaying that I took in Alaska, just to spark your interest.

I hope that you find this shorebird guide helpful to you. Get out and enjoy the birds this spring!

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.
Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
email davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2006-2011 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #132 - Upper Texas Coast Warbler ID primer (updated 2011)

2011-03-16T20:36:00.002-05:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood, Texas

Bulletin #132 - Upper Texas Coast Warbler ID primer (updated 2011)

March 16, 2011

(Note - click on the images to see a full size photo)

Spring is fast approaching and with it come the annual bonanza of bird migration. It gives us the chance to see most of the migrants of the eastern 1/2 of North America in our local hotspots and many in our yard.

The most popular places to see these migrants on the upper Texas coast are:

Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary - south of Freeport
LaFitte's Cove - Galveston Island
Corps Woods - Galveston Island
High Island
Sabine Woods - south of Port Arthur

The spring birds are in the breeding (alternate) plumage and thus most easily identified. As I now have most of them photographed, I thought I would provide a warbler ID guide for spring migration on the upper Texas coast.

I have included some juvenile plumages, if I photograhed them during the spring migration here, that may show up during March - May.

The warblers are the favorite of most birders who come to this area from all over North America and the world.

The warblers are perhaps the most confusing and difficult for beginners to master. In general, any small bird with some yellow is a warbler until proven otherwise. The main exception to this rule is the vireos and they are often confused. There are also a finch (American Goldfinch)and a member of the cardinal family (Dickcissel). Warblers in general are more active than vireos when feeding in the branches. and look at the bills of the birds. Warbler bills (1st photo) are thin, vireo bills (2nd photo) are thicker and the upper bill is hooked as shown in the photos below. The finch and cardinal family member are seed eaters and have larger bills to crack the seeds.

So now we know the bird is a warbler, but which one of the more than 30+ species that occur in the spring.

Lets look at the overall coloration of the bird. If the sexes are similar, I will show only 1 photo.

First, those that have all or mostly yellow head and body with a yellow or green back.

The is only 1 all yellow warbler without any white. This is the Yellow Warbler. Even the wing bars are yellow. The male has some reddish streaks on the breast, the female (2nd photo) doesn't. It shouldn't be confused with any other. The 1st year male in the third photo, just has a few red streaks in th ebreast.

The next group of 3 birds have bright yellow bodies with blue-gray wings and need to be differentiated from each other.

The Prothonotary Warbler is bright yellow with greenish back and bluish-gray wings with no wing-bars.

The Blue-winged Warbler is similar, but has 2 wing-bars and a black line through the eye.

The Pine Warbler has gray wings and tail with white wing-bars, but has a streaked breast. It is a winter resident of the upper Texas coast area and may be seen during spring migration. The female in the second photo, just has yellow on the breast. She is grayish above.

The next group of 5 birds are yellow bodied with green back and wings and varying degress of black on the head and face.

The first of this group, is the common Hooded Warbler. The male has a full black hood on head and neck, but preserving a yellow face. The female (2nd photo) has the outlines of a hood. This species has white tail feathers that flash when they fly. They tend to stay low down in bushes.

The next bird is the Wilson's Warbler. The male just has a black cap. The female (2nd photo) lacks the black cap.

The Kentucky Warbler is described as a skulker. It tends to forage on the ground. Look for it in dense brush. It has a black sideburns on the face. The male has dark markings, the female in the 2nd photo, has grayer marks that don't extend onto the breast.

The next of this group is the Common Yellowthroat. The male (1st photo) has a 'Lone Ranger' black mask across his face. The female (2nd photo) lacks the mask. Their habitat is marshes, so a plain warbler with bright yellow below and green above is likely the female of this species in that setting. The voice is described as 'witchety witchety'. They can be seen and heard at Anahuac NWR east of Houston.

The last of this group is the Prairie Warbler. The male is bright yellow below and olive above. He has 2 black marks on his cheeks and black streaking along the flanks. This bird has got to be quite uncommon on the upper Texas coast in spring, as I have never seen it during spring migration. It is confined to the east Texas woods, so Sabine Woods would be the most likely place to see it in spring.

The next of the mostly yellow and green birds is the Nashville Warbler. This bird is bright yellow below, greenish above but has a gray head and bright white eye-ring. The throat is yellow. This bird is more common in fall migration, but does show up in the spring on occasion.

The Yellow-breasted Chat is a large bird (7.5") that has formerly been classified as a warbler, but now may be put in a family of its own. However, most field guides still show it with the warblers. It has bright yellow breast, olive back and black lores with broken white eye-ring. The sexes are similar.

The Magnolia Warbler has a bright yellow breast with black streaking, black on the face and gray back and wings with large white wing patches. It is unmistakable. The female (2nd photo) is much plainer.

The last of the warblers with bright yellow underparts is the Canada Warbler. This bird is yellow below, all gray above, no wing-bars and bright white eye-ring. It has distinctive black streaks on the breast like a necklace. It is mostly found during fall migration rather than in the spring. The female in the second photo has a less distinct necklace.

Next is a group of 5 warblers that are mostly or completely black, white and gray. Two of them are only black and white.

The more common of these is the appropriately named Black-and-white Warbler. It has a striped black and white head and face. It climbs up and down the tree trunks like a nuthatch, rather than feeding among the leaves like most other warblers. The female in the second photo has a mostly white face.

The Blackpoll Warbler is an uncommon spring migrant. It is only black and white, but the face is white and the top of the head is all black, not striped like the previous bird. If you look closely, there is a slight yellow wash on the wings.

The Yellow-throated Warbler is all black and white below and gray above with a bright yellow throat. It is an easy ID.

The Yellow-rumped Warbler has a yellow rump that is seen when it flies, but also yellow shoulder patches.
The female in the second photo has gray cheeks rather than black in the male.

The Blackburnian Warbler is black and white with an intense orange throat and face. The female (2nd photo) is similar, but the orange color is muted. I think this is the most beautiful warbler in the USA.

The next group of 3 birds have orange or brown distinctive markings.

The Bay-breasted Warbler has a brown cap, throat and flanks with black face. This is the male in the first photo.. The female (2nd photo) is duller. Both are gray on the back. The first winter female in the 3rd photo lacks the reddish cap and has minimal brown on the flanks.

The Chestnut-sided Warbler also has the brown flanks, but the cap on the head is yellow and the back is green. The face is mostly white rather than black. As usual, the female in the second has muted coloration. The first winter female plumage in the third photo has a little black on the face but lacks the chestnut sides. The only way to ID this bird is the yellow cap.

The last of this group is the distinctive American Redstart. The male is black with orange patches on the sides of the upper breast, wings and tail. The female (2nd photo) is gray with yellow patches in the same locations. These birds fan their tails incessantly while foraging, thus flashing the colored patches on the tail.
The first summer male in the 3rd photo has female type coloration, but is starting to get the black head. They don't completely achieve adult male plumage until August.

The next is a large group of plain and/or predominately brown birds.

The Tennessee Warbler is white below and olive above. The important ID mark is the gray head and white eye-stripe. The only bird it might be confused with is the Red-eyed Vireo which is similar except it has a brown head and white eye-stripe.

The Orange-crowned Warbler is a plain dull olive colored bird. There are no distinguishing marks except for some faint streaking on the breast. It is a common winter resident of the upper Texas coast, but some may be still seen during migration.

The Palm Warbler has a brown back, gray breast with brown streaks on the flank. The important marks are the yellow undertail and rufous top of head.

The Worm-eating Warbler is dull olive above and buffy.gray breast but with a distinctive black and tan striped head. It is an easy ID when the head is visible. No other warbler has this pattern on top of the head. It forages in the branches and especially it explores dead leaves for caterpillars (hence its name).

The Swainson's Warbler is another skulker on the ground where the brown coloration blends in with the leaf litter. It has a rufous top of the head and buffy line over the eye as distinguishing marks.

The Ovenbird walks along the forest floor. It is gray below with dark streaking and olive above. The head is striped with a central orange stripe. The legs are pink. If you see a streaked brown bird on the forest floor with orange on top of the head, it is this bird.

The Northern Waterthrush is very similar to the next bird. It always occurs near water. It has a buffy stripe over the eye, that is rather narrow as it extends down the neck. Because it nests in northern USA and Canada, it tends to migrate through in the latter part of the spring season.

The Louisiana Waterthrush is similar to the bird above, but the eye-stripe is white and is wider as it extends down the neck. Also, the flanks have a buffy coloration. It nests in the southeast USA and thus migrates through earlier in spring migration. it is also always associated with water.

These next 2 species are distinctive, but don't fit into any of the above categories.

The Northern Parula is a gray bird with white breast and yellow throat. It has a green patch on its back that is an important ID mark. The are 2 white wing bars and broken white eye-ring. The male shown here has gray and rufous breast bands. The adult female (no photo) just has a rufous band. The 1st year female (2nd photo) just has a plain yellow breast without and bands.

The Black-throated Green Warbler is another easy ID. It has a gray belly, green back and top of head with a yellow face. There is a black throat with black streaks extending down the flanks. The female in the 2nd photo has much less black on the throat and flanks. The 1st year male in the 3rd photo still has some white in the black throat. The 1st year female in the 4th photo is very pale. The breast and streaks are gray rather than black.

Lastly we have 2 species that are blue. Both are rare visitors to the upper Texas coast in spring.

If you have a blue backed warbler with a black throat, it is the Black-throated Blue Warbler. I don't have a photo of this bird yet.

If the blue backed warbler has a white throat, it is a Cerulean Warbler. The male has white underparts with a black stripe across breast, and blue upperparts with some black streaks on the flanks. The female Cerulean Warbler (2nd photo) has a blue-green top of head and back. This is unique.

So what is left? I don't have photos yet of the Golden-winged Warbler. This is a distinctive bird with a black striped facial pattern and yellow crown and wing patches. Look at a guide book to familiarize yourself with it.

Otherwise there are but a few very rare birds. These are the Cape May Warbler, and Mourning Warbler. The former is seen occasionally in spring and the latter is seen mostly in the fall migration. I don't yet have photos of them.

A few western USA warblers (Hermit, Townsend's, Black-throated Gray, MacGillivray's, Grace's, Virginia, are all on the checklist) are also seen sporadiclly during spring migration but they are extremely rare, as I have not seen a single one in 20 years of birding here.

I hope that you find this warbler guide helpful to you. Get out and enjoy the birds this spring!

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography

David McDonald

email davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2006-2011 David McDonald
To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

Bulletin #131 – Mexican Visitors and GBBC

2011-02-14T08:19:00.023-06:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas

February 14, 2011

Bulletin #131 – Mexican Visitors and GBBC

There have been a couple of Mexican vagrants in my area of Texas recently.

The first was a Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus savana). This handsome bird looks like a cross between an Eastern Kingbird and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. It normally occurs from Mexico to South America. However, it turns up regularly in the USA along the Texas coast and east coast. This was the first one I had an opportunity to see in the USA and photograph. It was in Galveston Island State Park in January and it may still be there.

In this photo he landed with his back to the strong wind that day and his tail feathers blew over his back.

The second bird was a Yellow-faced Grassquit (Tiaris olivacea). This is another bird that has an extensive range from Mexico to South America. It was at Goose Island State Park near Rockport TX. It is a small (4")sparrow like bird. The only US Field Guide that shows it, that I have, is National Geographic. In that field guide, it is listed in the same family as sparrows. However, the IOU (International Ornithologists Union) include it in Thraupidae family (Tanagers). This bird is a male. He IDed by the olive body and black face and breast with yellow stripes on the face.In the sunlight, he was beautiful and the book illustrations don't do him justice.

While waiting for the grassquit to appear, I photographed this Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla). It is IDed by the reddish crown, plain face with distinct white eye-ring. The breast is unstreaked.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual event in February, sponsored by National Audubon and Cornell University Ornithology to get people everywhere in North America to count the birds in their yards, local parks or anywhere else desired. The dates are Feb 18-21, 2011. All you have to do is count the most number of birds of each species that you see at any one time. Plan to spend at least 15 minutes in a location. Then you enter your data online. You can pick any time during those 4 days. Also, you can do several sightings in different locations or the same location on different days over those 4 days.

Hummingbirds are unusual in winter here in Houston, but I have been blessed to have several of these jewels in my yard, the last 3 winters. When I entered 3 different hummer species last year in the GBBC, I was queried by a screener to make sure I had identified them correctly. Currently I have just 3 of them, a female Black-chinned and this stunning Buff-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia yucatanensis). I showed his photo before Christmas when he first showed up. But he is still here and I took this photo of him last week hunkered down near the house to avoid the wind and 30 degree temperature. For a tropical species, he is quite cold tolerant.

This 1st winter male Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) showed up this weekend.

Other birds at my feeders that I hope to find and enter on the GBBC next weekend are the Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata). This drab olive bird has grayish head and no distinguishing features other than the faintly streaked breast shown here. All these photos are taken out my kitchen window.

The male Pine Warbler (Dendroica pinus) is the brightest winter warbler I have at my house. I have several pine trees to attract them and they readily come to the peanut butter mix on this feeder.

The female is less brightly colored with the yellow just on the breast.

The peanut butter mix even attracts the Ruby-crowned Kinglets (Regulus calendula) in my yard. This is the only feeder I have found that will attract the kinglets that normally eat insects.

So, if the Great Backyard Bird Count interests you, I hope that you will participate next weekend and survey your yard or a local park etc.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2011 David McDonald

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

For complete instructions, follow the GBBC link above. Last year, there were almost 100,000 lists submitted totaling 603 species and 11.2 million individual birds reported.

Bulletin #130 – local birds

2011-01-31T15:39:00.000-06:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
January 31, 2011

Bulletin #130 – local birds

In the 2010 year summary last bulletin, I omitted another guide who I had used last year. My apologies to him.

Darrell Vollert led a trip to east Texas for the elusive Bachman's Sparrow.

There have been a number of interesting birds in the local area recently.

The best one is a male Prairie Warbler (Dendroica discolor) at Corps Woods in Galveston. This species remains in breeding plumage all year, so this male shows all his stripes and color. This was only the 3rd of this species I have ever seen and the second in Texas. Here are 2 photos of this beautiful little bird.

This has been a great winter for Golden-crowned Kinglets (Regulus satrapa). They seem to be everywhere. I have seen about a dozen this year so far, when in most winters I may see 2-3 in total.

This bird was at Brazos Bend State Park. He is IDed by the white eye stripe and the gold median crown stripe.

Also at Brazos Bend SP was this cooperative American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) who perched on the end of a stump.

An unusual bird for December was this Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) still hanging around. It was a cold morning and he repeatedly rested on the dike at Brazos Bend SP. Notice that he also is leucistic, which means he has several white feathers.

Perhaps the best photo I have ever obtained of a flying Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) was this female at Anahuac NWR. One can see the white eye line as well as the diagnostic white rump.

The most unusual bird in a long time in my bird bath was a female Pileated Woodpecker (Drycopus pileatus). I was watching out the kitchen window when a huge bird flew in and landed on an oak tree beside the bird bath. I watched as she looked down at the water. Sure enough, she flew down and landed on the bird bath and drank some water. Fortunately my camera was close by and I got a few photos, through the window, before she flew off.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcdmd@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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Bulletin #129 – 2010 in review

2011-01-05T09:37:00.003-06:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
January 5, 2011

Bulletin #129 – 2010 in review

2010 was a spectacular year for me birding. As many of you know, I'm trying to photograph all the birds in North America. There are about 700 birds possible and this year I finished at 601 in total. I added 70 species this year compared to 80 in 2009. However, as I get closer to the end, it becomes harder to find new birds.

To get to 601 in 2010, I had trips to Alaska (30 species), Scandia Crest New Mexico (6 species), Monterey CA pelagic trip, and both Duluth MN in winter and Niagara Falls ON in winter for more northern species. Also within Texas locally, I added some neat birds - Bobwhite, Sooty Tern, and Black-billed Cuckoo that I had not found in the previous 4 years.

On my Pbase photo web site, I have 2200 photos posted, and am closing in on 1/3 million hits after 3 years. On the blog, where I post these bulletins, I had hits from 33 new countries in 2010 for a total of 79 in 2 years. I'm starting to get the South American countries now (Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Columbia, Argentina and Chile all in 2010). But many smaller countries showed up this year - Barbados, Armenia, Algeria, Dubai and Abu Dhabi (?US forces), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to name a few. The power of the Internet is amazing!

A special thank you to the guides I used this year on my trips. You guys were a big help finding the birds for me and getting them in close enough to be photographed.

• Sparky Stensaas in Duluth MN.

• Geoff Carpentier in Toronto ON

• Rick Fournier in Monterey CA

• Jim Hailey - the volunteer leader for the Texas Ornithological Society Alaska trip. Jim leads these TOS trips as a fund raiser for TOS.

At the year end, I like to review and post my 10 favorite photos for the year.

Hands down, my favorite photo was this displaying, breeding plumaged Ruff sandpiper. This photo was taken through the window of the van in Barrow Alaska last June.

I got super photos of a number of warblers this year. Perhaps it was due to the new camera, a Canon 7D. But the major part of my success was the new water feature at LaFitte's Cove Nature Preserve on west Galveston Island. These are all photos that I have framed for display, as they have nice clean uncluttered backgrounds.

My favorite warbler is the stunning Blackburnian Warbler. The male with his black and white body with flaming orange head and throat will amaze even the most jaded non-birder. In fact, in reading the life story of Phoebe Snetzinger, a women who saw the more bird species in the world than anyone else, it was this bird that launched her quest.

Another warbler that eluded me before to get a good photo was the Yellow-throated Warbler. It is usually an early spring migrant in late March or early April. I didn't see a single bird until this one showed up at the end of April. It was only the second bird of this species I found, in the 5 years I have been doing photography.

The next one is the Cerulean Warbler. This is a very uncommon warbler in Texas. The total estimated population has fallen 70% over the last 30 years through loss of habitat. I saw 2 males this year at LaFitte's Cove and this one posed nicely.

The male Bay-breasted Warbler is another beautiful bird. I see several of these each spring, but this is my best ever photo of this species.

The Alaska trip also produced some rare bird sightings. These aren't photos that I would frame for their artistic beauty, but for birders, they are great finds.

Here is the Great Gray Owl. This is the largest owl in North America. It is difficult to even see it, but to have it on the nest is extra special.

The December trip to Sandia Crest in New Mexico had this male Black Rosy-Finch. I wish the stick wasn't in the middle, but the black background, black and pink bird highlighted with flash is special. In fact, it was one of those flukes that happens. I was outside on the deck by the feeder when the flock of birds flew in to feed. My camera had been turned off. I had gloves on my hands to keep warm and when I turned the camera on, it must have rotated the dial from Av to Manual setting. All the exposures without flash were totally underexposed and black. But when the flash went off, I got this cool photo. There was no black backdrop to the photo!

The trip to Duluth MN in mid-winter with temperatures well below zero degrees found my lifer Snowy Owl.

2 mammal photos from Alaska were special as well.

This breaching Humpback Whale was so close that the barnacles on his jaw can be seen. I had been on several other pelagic trips, but only managed to get photographs of the splash as the huge beasts flopped back into the sea.

This Grizzly Bear came to within 50 feet of our van. This photo was taken through the window. What an experience to be that close to such a majestic creature.

Thanks to all who submitted comments in 2010. I appreciate the feedback.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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Bulletin #128 – Sandia Crest NM other birds

2010-12-21T15:14:00.001-06:00

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
December 20, 2010

Bulletin #128 – Sandia Crest NM other birds

Thank you to all who sent me responses to last weeks bulletin on the finches at Sandia Peak NM. As I assumed, these birds are not well known to most birders and certainly not known among non-birders. I received more responses than for any other bulletin, so I wasn't able to reply to everyone individually as I like to try to do.

I was asked for further info on the area, so here is the unofficial web site for Sandia Crest Rosy-Finches. This site tells you when the Rosies are present by the waving flag in the upper right corner. There is also a mile-by-mile guide to spots on the way to the summit where different birds can be found. I didn't find it particularly helpful, as it is historical information. The best web site is the New Mexico bird alert. It is up to date.

Also, they catch and band the rosy-finches on Sundays at the crest lodge from 9:30am to 1pm. You have an opportunity to see the birds in hand and have the experts show you the plumage differences etc.

There were other birds on the mountain that I found. The first is the Juniper Titmouse (Baelophus ridgewayi). This plain gray bird with a crest is found in juniper forests in the interior southwest. Formerly it was known as Plain Titmouse, but the populations were split into coastal Oak Titmouse and this one in the interior. The sexes are similar.

I found him at the base of the mountain and brought him into photo range by tape.

His cousin on top of the mountain is appropriately called Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli). He was coming to the feeder at the lodge. This typical chickadee has a black cap and bib, but is IDed by the additional white line through the eye.

The Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) is a member of the sparrow family. Sibley list 6 color variations. This is the 4th I have seen a photographed, the Gray-headed form. This one is all gray except for white belly and reddish patch on the back.

The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) was also frequenting the feeder at the lodge. I captured him in the typical head down on the tree trunk pose.

Next is the beautiful Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri). This crested jay has gray head, back and breast, with blue wings, belly and tail. These birds in the interior have white on the face and around the eye. He was also seen at the feeder at the summit lodge. Here are 2 photos with the second, a close-up of the facial pattern.

Finally, there were several Common Ravens (Corvus corax) who were riding the thermals up the mountain. They passed close to the lodge at eye level. One can really see the wedge-shaped tail of the raven.

The only mammal I found was the beautiful Abert's Squirrel (Sciurus aberti). This is a large squirrel with 12" body and 9" tail. It has tassels on its ears and is also known as Tassel-eared Squirrel. It is gray bodied with brown on the back and black belly. The tail is white underneath and gray on top. As most squirrels, it was at the feeder as in the second photo. The bird banders were not impressed as they kept going into the traps and scaring off the rosy-finches.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,
David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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