Bulletin 169 - Winter birds

The Upper Texas Coast (UTC) never ceases to amaze me with the rarities that show up here. In the last few years, we have had Ruff twice, first ABA record of Tropical Mockingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, and 3 birds usually found in the arctic and Alaska that I missed on my Alaska trip in 2010. The first was lifer Smith's Longspur at New Years 2012, then a lifer Black-tailed Godwit last June and last month a juvenile Rough-legged Hawk on Galveston Island for my second sighting of that species.

The Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus)  is a large (21") buteo of the high arctic tundra in Canada and Alaska. It is listed as occasional in the UTC. However, I cannot remember in my 20 years birding, another mention of one, and there was no photo of it on the Houston Audubon web site. The males have dark streaks on the underside, but the juveniles and females have a black belly. This bird was easily seen over several weeks, as it hunted in the same area and returned to sit on top of a telephone pole. It was IDed as a female with the black belly, but when I posted my photos on Texbirds, an expert who has banded these hawks in Montana, sads it was a juvenile as the dark band was not on the underside of the tail. Notice the small bill and feet, an adaptation for the cold tundra. The legs have feathers and these can be seen in this photo.



Rough-legged hawk - juvenile on Galveston Island

Many ducks are found here in winter. I haven't shown many photos in the past couple of years, so yesterday I went out and took some.

Here is a male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata). The green head and brown and white body along with the huge bill make this guy an easy ID. However, in the photo, I had never seen the blue-gray feathers before. I checked Sibley and these are the upper wing coverts that usually are hidden unless the bird is in the air. So I always learn something new.

Northern Shoveler - male

In the last Bulletin, I showed and talked about the Redhead (Aythya americana). I had never seen them in the ponds at LaFitte's Cove on Galveston, but yesterday, there were almost a dozen birds. This male had his head stretched upwards in an unusual pose.

Redhead - male

Now look at this pair, swimming towards the camera. They have really fat cheeks, reminding me of chipmunks! I don't know whether all ducks have this peculiarly shaped head. I will have to watch more closely in the future.

Redhead - male

 Here is a female Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis). She is all brownish except for the white spots behind the bill. Notice the small black spot on the end of the bill. This is called the nail and is very narrow like this in the Lesser Scaup and wider in ther Greater Scaup. Although some overlap occurs, it can be a good field mark to separate these species. It also happened to be my first photo of a female of this species.

Lesser Scaup - female

The last duck is probably my favorite, the smallest North American duck, the Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola). The males have black back, white body, dark iridescent head with a large white occipital quadrant.

Bufflehead - male

One of my favorite photos of ducks is when they rise out of the water and flap their wings. Here are a couple of photos of this duck doing just that.



Bufflehead - male

And another. In this one, despite the overcast day, you can get a hint of the iridescent purple on his head.



Bufflehead - male

So how do you get these neat action photos? If you have ever watched ducks for any length of time, occasionally they will bathe by ducking their head repeatedly under the water. After several times, they will always rise up like this and flap their wings back and forth a couple of times to dry off. So if you see a duck bathing, get ready to take some of these action shots.

Lastly as spring is here in Houston, our waders are getting their breeding plumage. For herons, they often change the color of the bare skin around the eye, as well as the bill getting very bright.

Here is a Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) with a bright blue patch of bare skin, and very pink base of the bill.

Reddish Egret - breeding

I just noticed that I crossed the 50,000 hits mark on this blog.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gail.com

photos copyright 2013 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 168 - South Padre Island area

There was an exceptionl find of a rare bird on South Padre Island in January. This was a Flammulated Owl (Megascops flammeus). This small (6.75") migratory owl is likely the most difficult owl in North America for birders to find and see. One was located in a clump of bushes and trees at the South Padre Island Convention Center.

Lisa and I flew down for a weekend to try and see and photograph this bird that would be a lifer for both of us.

We did see the bird, but unfortunately, he kept himself very well hidden in the middle of the thicket and was almost totally obscurred by leaves.

Occasionally you could see the outline of the bird and perhaps 1/2 the body.  He is identified by the gray color with reddish streaks on his face and body. I did catch some red streaking a couple of times, so I know this was the bird. Also, there were dozens of other birders there, as this was only the second winter record for Texas of this species.

So here is the best of my photos which shows about 1/2 the bird. If you look at the blue sky in the middle, the gray feathers of the bird can be seen immediately to the left of the blue and below.

Flammulated Owl - South Padre Island

While we were waiting and hoping for the Flammulted Owl to come out of hiding, a female Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) foraged in the thicket as well. This bird is yellow with 2 white wing bars. It was my first photo of a female. It was quite an unexpected find as this species normally winters in Central America.

Western Tanager - female

There is a very nice nature and birding center adjacent to the SP convention center. Lisa and I saw an American Bittern right under the boardwalk and too close to photograph. We watched it skulk through the reeds for at least 15 minutes. It was another lifer for her and so close too!

Here is a cute Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) in the marsh at the nature center. It is in the winter plumage and has lost the ring around his bill.

Pied-billed Grebe - winter

Redheads (Aythya americana) are colorful ducks with the male exhibiting a very rounded red head. The similar Canvasback has a reddish brown head and a very sloped forehead . 90% of the North American population of Redheads winter in the Laguna Madre, the bay between South Padre Island and the mainland. Thus, large rafts of these birds can be seen in this area. Here were a few at the nature center on SPI.

Redheads

Northern Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) are distinctive raptors tha belong to the falcon family. Even though I have photgraphed them numerous times, their coloration, bare facial skin, and huge beak always make them an ideal subject.

The adult has a black head and body, with orange face and yellow feet.

Northern Caracara - adult

He allowed me to approach in my car, right beside him, for an extreme close-up portrait. Notice the fluffy neck feathers and shaggy crest.

Northern Caracara - adult

A while later I found this juvenile. He has a pink face, brown body and gray legs. Sibley shows the first year juvenile with a black head. I guess this might be a very young bird, as the head is obviously brown.

Northern Caracara - juvenile

 There was a butterfly enjoying some flowers while we were looking for the Flammulated Owl, so I had to photograph it as well. It superficially looked like a Monarch, but I knew the wing shape wasn't quite right. Here it is on a flower.



Queen - male

And here it is with his wings spread out.

Queen - male

I looked in my butterfly book and it is a Queen (Danaus gilippus). This is the same genus as the Monarch. Notice there are no black veins in the top of the wings above. Also, the 2 black dots in the hind wing seen in the second photo identify it as a male!

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2013 David McDonald

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