Bulletin 188 - Anahuac NWR winter birds

I have made several trips to Anahuac NWR recently and found some great birds.

A first for me was to see and photograph Krider's color morph Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) Sibley lists the Krider's as a 'scarce' prairie variant. It is very pale, almost white. One was found at Anahuac and I went to see and found a second bird as well.

Here is the first one that was seen and photographed. It has a bit of brown on the cheeks. There is also a bit of reddish wash on the tail. The eye color is yellow. This is probably a sub-adult bird as adults have brown eyes and red tails.

Krider's Red-tailed Hawk - subadult

The second bird is definitely a juvenile as it has no red on its tail and a yellow eye. This one is almost pure white on its head.




Krider's Red-tailed Hawk - juvenile

Here he is from above. Notice how light the end of the wings are, and how they are sharply demarcated from the central wing. This is exactly like the illustration in Sibley of the juvenile.



Krider's Red-tailed Hawk - juvenile

Another hawk was this juvenile White-tailed Hawk  (Buteo albicaudatus). They are almost completely brown, but have a white spot on their chest. But from the back as in this photo, it is just a big brown hawk. So how do you know this species form the photo? It has very long wings that project beyond the tail.

White-tailed Hawk - juvenile

Merlins (Falco columbaris) have always been a tough bird for me to find and photograph, but I found 2 in the past week at Anahuac. This small (10") falcon has a gray to black colored back and streaked breast. This one was perched on a fence post.

Merlin

The second one I found first thing in the morning on a low branch. The sunlight at dawn gave it a brown coloration.



Merlin

A female American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) stayed perched in a tree long enough for photos. Usually they fly off as soon as the car stops beside them. Kestrels are our smallest falcon at 9" in length. The female is all rufous - wings, back and tail and has 2 vertical black facial stripes. She even fanned her tail for the photo.

American Kestrel - female

A pair of Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) atop a bare tree completed a wonderful group of raptors.

Crested Caracara

An interesting sight was scores of migrating Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) perched on a fence.

Tree Swallows

A beautiful male Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) gave me some beautiful eye-level shots on 2 different days. These are the best ever for me of this species.

Vermilion Flycatcher - male



Vermilion Flycatcher - male

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

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Bulletin #98 – Misc birds of upper Texas coast

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
December 21, 2009

Bulletin #98 – Misc birds of upper Texas coast

Hello friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

First of all, I have a correction from the last Bulletin #97. The bird listed as a Chipping Sparrow is actually a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow. Thanks to guide Darrell Vollert for pointing out my mistake. Let me try and explain the subtle difference between these birds. Here is a Chipping Sparrow - juvenile. Notice the black line goes through the eye to the bill. That area in front of the eye is called the lores. In a Chipping Sparrow, the lores are dark or black. In the photo posted, which was actually a White-crowned Sparrow, the lores are light gray. I have relabeled the photo correctly.

One of the other birds on my to do list for this winter, is the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (or just Nelson's Sparrow) (Ammodramus nelsoni). This bird is very similar to the LeConte's Sparrow highlighted in Bulletin #97. However, the differences include a gray midline crown stripe and gray back of neck. The habitat in winter is also different, with the Nelson's strictly in salt marsh and the LeConte's in fields.

Here are 2 photos of a Nelson's Sparrow taken on Crab Road, Surfside Beach, Texas.

I arrived at Surfside Beach in the early morning to find the sparrows when they became active at daylight. There were a number of other marsh birds, that photographed beautifully in the early morning light.

Here are a couple of photos of an adult Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris). I was only 15 feet from this bird, my closest encounter yet with a rail. The photos are full frame. The gray cheek differentiates this rail from the closely related and very similar King Rail.

The juvenile birds are almost completely gray. This was my first time to see one. Also, these rails swim at times as shown in Sibley, and I caught this juvenile swimming.

Another bird was the Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus). This bird was practically at my feet.

On the way back home, I drove through Brazoria NWR. One of the special birds there is the White-tailed Hawk (Buteo albicaudatus). This large hawk (23") is a resident of the Texas coastal area from Houston to the Rio Grande valley. The adult has a snow white breast, gray back and rufous shoulders. The tail is white with a terminal black band.

In contrast, the juveniles are often completely brown with just a white spot on the breast. Here is an old photo from my files.

Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) have bare pink heads. I was unaware, until Joe Kennedy posted some photos on Texbirds, that the juveniles have black heads just like a Black Vulture, but they gradually turn pink. I looked for such a bird and found one beside the road at Brazoria NWR.

I gave 2 talks in November on the subject of winter birds along the upper Texas coast. One of the items I mentioned was the chance of getting a wintering hummingbird in your yard, if you take the time to leave your feeder up and change the food regularly. I have had the pleasure of a Buff-bellied Hummingbird in my yard last winter and once in the mid 1990's at my previous house in Seabrook, Texas.

As everyone who lives here knows, we had a freeze and snow on Friday December 4th. This killed many of the flowers in our gardens that the hummers depend on, so they are even more likely to come to your feeder.

The fates have smiled upon me as I had 3 different birds in my yard the week of Dec 9-13th. I had my first ever Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus). This was a beautiful male, who is still here. He is roosting on a wilted hibiscus bush, which is their preferred plant in winter.

I also had a female Archilochus species (either Ruby-throated or Black-chinned) as I haven't been able to differentiate yet.

The third bird was a Buff-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia yucatanensis) again. I did get a good look at him on the feeder and he appears to be banded on his right leg. The one I had last year was also banded, so I think it is likely the same bird. Hummingbirds have excellent memories and will often return to the same place, year after year. The bird disappeared for a while and reappeared yesterday, when I was able to get a photo. What a beautiful creature!

So if you haven't put up a hummingbird feeder, and want to try to attract one, this winter would be ideal. I have only had 2 birds in winter in 20 years, and now 3 this year already! Good luck, and if you do attract one, I would love to photograph it, if it is an unusual bird. Please email me with the details. Thanks.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2009 David McDonald

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