Bulletin #111 – Spring Migration #6

David McDonald Photography

Friendswood Texas
May 11, 2010


Bulletin #111 – Spring Migration #6


Hello friends,


Spring migration is winding down here on the upper Texas coast. However, last Saturday was still pretty exciting.


I am going to highlight various birds that I photographed over the course of the spring that I didn’t have an opportunity to include in previous bulletins.


Here is a Yellow-throated Warbler (Dendroica dominica). It is an easy ID with gray back, black and white breast and bright yellow throat. This is another of my nemesis birds. It is a common early spring migrant, but I have not seen a single bird in the last 3 years until last Saturday.

Next is an even better photo of a male Bay-breasted Warbler (Dendroica castanea) than the one in the previous bulletin.

This is the best photo I have ever obtained of a male Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula). This well known bird has a black head and wings with white wing-bars. The rest of the body is bright orange.

The female is duller orange with just a smattering of black on the head. This bird is disheveled as she had just finished bathing.

The male Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) is all blue without wing-bars.

The Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) is a brown backed flycatcher with gray throat and yellow belly. It is a long time favorite of mine as they nested in a birdhouse in our yard when I was growing up in Ontario. I still remember their harsh song and I can ID this bird by voice (one of the few bird songs I know).

Another flycatcher is the dapper Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). It looks like he is wearing a tuxedo. The white tip on the tail confirms the ID.

Lastly, we have a non-passerine migrant, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). It is a long-tailed slender bird with brown back, white breast and yellow lower mandible. When flying, the rufous color on the wings is visible.

Now, to identify the Quiz bird from Bulletin #108, we need look closely at the few parts of the bird that are seen. It has a thin bill, some black on the face, yellow cap and a white wing bar can be seen on the right wing. The bill suggests a warbler rather than vireo or finch. There are only 2 species (golden-winged and chestnut-sided) that have yellow caps. Both can have black on the face, but the golden-winged has bright wide gold wing patches, while the chestnut-sided has white wing-bars. This bird however, has no chestnut bands along the flanks. But if you look at the first winter female in Sibley, she lacks these chestnut stripes. So, our bird is a first winter female Chestnut-sided Warbler. Thank you to those who responded to the Quiz. Almost everyone, who answered, got the correct ID – congratulations.

So here is a new Quiz. This bird puzzled me at first when I saw it last weekend. Please email me with your answers.

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

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


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


Here is the schedule of payments for the trip.


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


ScoBar Inc.
34 Galway Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382


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


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


All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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

Bulletin #91 – Fall Migration #2

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
October 2, 2009

Bulletin #91 – Fall Migration #2

Hello friends,


I have had the most disappointing fall migration with numerous visits to various birdy locations and nothing to see or photograph. Last Saturday, I spent 6 hours at various locations in west Houston and the Katy prairie and took not a single bird photograph.

Here are a few of the birds I did find over the past few weeks.






Here is a male Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula). The orange body with black head and wings makes this bird a rapid ID.






















His cousin is this female Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius). She is yellow with gray wings and wing bars.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerula) was the most common bird. I had several photos of them in the previous bulletin, but one of the characteristics to separate gnatcatchers in the field in the undertail coloration. This is the best photo I have obtained of this feature. He has white outer tail feathers with black interior feathers.

I saw this Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) on top of a tree. These birds are flycatchers. As I watched him, a dragonfly flew above him and landed on another bare twig within 3 feet of the bird. I thought this s little strange that the kingbird didn't take it for lunch.Here is a photo of the bird with the dragonfly over his head.

LaFitte's Cove nature preserve on Galveston Island produced a few good photos for me.

Here is a Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotita varia). These birds are usually numerous in the fall, but I saw only 2 this year.

Also, I refound the female Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris) in LaFitte's Cove. This is about 50 miles east of their normal range. I had first seen a female of this species here in late 2006. I had seen her annually until this year. I was afraid that she might have died or been displaced during hurricane Ike in Sept 2008. This was my first encounter with her in 2009, so it must be the same bird, as woodpeckers in general are non-migratory.

I am interested in all wildlife and will photograph other animals, insects etc if the opportunity presents itself.

I was at LaFitte's Cove at dawn one morning and found a pair of Coyotes (Canis latrans) in the marsh. This was my first encounter with coyotes since starting to do photography. One was actually lying on the ground. Here are a couple of photos.

At the end of August, there were swarms of small white butterflies in LaFitte's Cove. These are Great Southern Whites (Ascia monuste). The male in the first photo has black edges on the forewing. The female in the second has brownish wing edges. Notice however, the aqua tips on their antenna. This feature struck me instantly when I looked at them through the binos and is a field mark.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2009 David McDonald

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