Bulletin 211 - winter birds and herps

I have been birding several times since Thanksgiving and here are some of the local wintering birds.

The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) is a large (17.5") brightly colored shorebird that is readily IDed by the bright orange bill.



American Oystercatcher - adult
 

The juvenile has a black tip on the bill. This is the first time I have photographed a juvie.



American Oystercatcher - juvenile

The Willet (Tringa semipalmata) is a large (15") sandpiper, who is just dull gray in winter. There are 2 subspecies, eastern and western that are likely to be split soon as separate species. The birds in the winter on the Texas coast are the western birds. They have a completely gray bill. The eastern birds breed here in the summer and they have some pink at the base of the bill. Here is a winter western subspecies.

Willet - western

Another shorebird that was my most exciting find so far this winter is the Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus). This 9" plover breeds in the mountains of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. It winters in Mexico and extreme southern USA. It occurs on the upper Texas coast perhaps once or twice per decade. I have only seen it once before in the mid 1990's in Galveston. Since I started doing photography 8 years ago, I have looked for it several times in south Texas and once in California without success. So to have one show up on Bolivar flats, the famous shorebird location, across from Galveston was fantastic. In the non-breeding plumage, he is IDed by the brown back, no breast bands, grayish legs, and white all around the eye.

Mountain Plover - non-breeding

In the sun, he appears even a warmer brown color.

Mountain Plover - non-breeding

Have you ever had a fish bone get stuck in your throat? You know how uncomfortable that is. Well I can't imagine what this Brown Pelican must be feeling with a whole fish stuck sideways in his throat. I saw this pelican with a pink swelling in his neck and couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at the photo.

Brown Pelican

These is a very tame Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) at Anahuac NWR who perches on the road signs around the Shoveler Pond loop drive. He allows one to approach closely in your car. The guide books do not show that he has a crest, but in certain positions, he has a really great bushy crest.

Osprey

And in this photo, he appears very menacing, as his preening was interrupted.

Osprey

The next group of pictures are for my herp-loving friends. I got some up close and personal photos of a Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus). This pit viper is also known as a Water Moccasin. This is only the second I have found on the road to photograph. This guy was only about 24" long so I wasn't too afraid of him. They can get to 7 feet in length. I was surprised to see how thin his tail is compared the rest of his body.

Cottonmouth

When I approached him, he opened his mouth and showed the white lining. I had not seen that before. But I had my long lens, so when I backed up to get him in focus, he closed his mouth. However, I was able to get a couple with his mouth partially open to show the white 'cottonmouth' lining. One can also see the 'pit' in front of his eye, and the vertical slit pupil.

Cottonmouth - detail

The common turtle at Anahuac NWR is the Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta). The subspecies here is the Red-eared Slider. They can 5-11 inches in length.

Pond Slider

A short distance away I saw another turtle but he lacked the red ear. I asked a Texas reptile expert for the ID and it is a River Cooter (Pseudemys concinna). They can  range in size from 6 to 16 inches.

River Cooter

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2014 David McDonald

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Bulletin 195 - early migrants

I need to take a break from Panama as spring migration is underway along the Texas coast.

In the latter half of March, I had a new hummingbird species in my yard, and not one but 2 individuals, as the plumages were different. The Calliope Hummingbird (Stellula calliope) at 3.25 inches in length is the smallest bird in North America. Both birds were juvenile males starting to molt to adult plumage. The first one had a long single red feather on the left side of his throat. Notice that the wings project beyond the tail. This is the fifth species of hummer in my yard!


Calliope Hummingbird - juvenile male

He stayed around for about 10 days and was replaced by a second bird. Notice he has a few central feathers sprouting, but nothing on the left side of his throat.



Calliope Hummingbird - juvenile male

I spent some time on the coast the last 2 weekends and picked up some migrants. The Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina) is very common. The male has the black hood and yellow face. 

Hooded Warbler - male

The female has just the outline of the black hood, but is still easy to identify.



Hooded Warbler - female

A perennial nemesis bird for me was the Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica). It took several years before I saw one after starting photography, but this year, I have seen 2 already. Again, this black and white bird with bright yellow throat is an easy ID. The sexes are similar.

Yellow-throated Warbler

The Prothonotary Warbler (Prothonotaria citrea) is another favorite of mine. This bright yellow bird with a long bill and blue-gray wings is an easy ID. The sexes are similar, but the female is duller and has a more olive crown. This is the first one I am convinced is a male. This guy also gave us 10 minutes of photo enjoyment as he hung out at the drip at LaFitte's Cove.

Prothonotary Warbler - male

I also had my first beautiful male Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra).

Summer Tanager - male

I went to Bolivar Island twice last weekend attempting to see and photo a rare gull. I missed that gull both times, but did get some interesting photos of other birds. The most amazing was a pink plumaged gull. This is the Franklin's Gull (Larus pipixcan) in breeding plumage. Sibley's describes this bird as having a 'pink tinge'. Well this bird is not tinged, it is pink! The other ID mark is the white spots on wing tips.

Franklin's Gull - breeding

Here is one of the pair with Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls to show the contrast.

Franklin's Gull

The Least Tern (Sterna antillarum) at 9" long is the smallest tern. It is IDed by the yellow bill and white forehead.

Least Tern - breeding

On Bolivar Flats, the famous Houston Audubon shorebird location, I got photos of 2 small plovers. The Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) is smaller at 6.25" in length.  It is IDed by the dark legs, thin bill, and black on forehead, behind eye and incomplete breastband. I had not noted the beige crown on this bird previously and it caught my eye in the field.

Snowy Plover - breeding

The slightly larger (7.25") Piping Plover (Charadrius melodius) has orange legs and bill. It has the black forehead and an almost complete breast band. However, the face is plain.



Piping Plover - breeding

An unusual sighting was an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) sitting on the ground. It was a very windy day and he might have been trying to get out of the elements.

Osprey

Lastly, some of you may know that Galveston Bay had an oil spill about a month ago when a ship collided with a barge in the fog. There were some oiled birds rescued and cleaned, but this White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) must have not been senn or escaped capture to clean him. He was at the Bolivar ferry landing.

White Pelican - oiled

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2014 David McDonald

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Bulletin #144 - miscellaneous birds

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.