From Port Arthur to Anahuac NWR

   What a wonderful day. We bundled against the cold and the wind and birded the marshes along the coast between Louisiana and Texas. I got a little dehydrated, getting blown by the wind in the cold, but we had a terrific time. This has been an amazing vacation so far. We observed three more "life birds", filling in a lot of the blanks from our first trip down the Texas Coastal Birding Trail five years ago.

   Our first new bird was the White Tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus). It was a bird we almost missed. We almost did not go down that road because of a smoldering fire in the underbrush. And that road was a dead end. When Berry first saw it, she thought it was a gull. There were two of them perched on a wire next to the road. The hooked bill and the characteristic feather pattern are diagnostic.

White Tailed Kite

   The second surprise was the Lesser Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens caerulescens). There was a large flock of them in a canal and an adjacent field, but right in front of them were a couple of the cutest red-beaked blue-eyed White Ibis' that you'd ever see, sunning themselves next to our car. We could not get our scope off them. It was only after we took the time to photograph and scope the White Ibis' exhaustively that we finally got around to wondering about the purple tinged morph of the Snow Goose.

Lesser Snow Goose

   The pair of Mottled Ducks we saw were the third "life birds" for today. They are identified by the color of the bill. The male has a sharp yellow bill; the female has an olive bill which makes her less obtrusive. The male and female were together when we saw them, making identification easy. We were interrupted here by a huge truck passing by our rental car and several Cormorants diving in the canal next to them.

Mottled Duck

  

• Brown Pelican
  
• American White
  
• Red Winged Blackbird
  
• American Robin
  
• Eastern Screech Owl
  
• Boat Tailed Grackle
  
• Killdeer
  
• Broad Winged Hawk
  
• Willett
  
• Great Egret
  
• Red Shouldered Hawk
  
• Great Blue Heron
  
• White Tailed Kite
  
• Osprey
  
• American Kestrel
  
• Belted Kingfisher
  
• Herring Gull
  
• Royal Tern
  
• Common Grackle
  
• Semi-Palmated Sandpiper
  
• Sanderling
  
• Ring Billed Gull
  
• Laughing Gull
  
• White Ibis with juveniles
  
• Northern Harrier
  
• Red Tailed Hawk
  
• Eastern Phoebe
  
• Turkey Vulture
  
• Western Meadowlark
  
• Snowy Egret
  
• Double Crested Cormorant
  
• Greater Yellowlegs
  
• Pied Billed Grebe
  
• Lesser Scaup
  
• American Coot
  
• Ruddy Turnstone
  
• Ground Dove
  
• Mottled Duck
  
• Killdeer
  
• Lesser Snow Goose
  

  

Robert

photo courtesy of rwolf, jpippen, rhamaguchi

Another Life Bird

   Last night the emergency announcement system told us to leave the hotel in an orderly manner. We dressed and walked calmly to the stairs, but we smelled smoke in the hallway. After a short time, the Dallas fire department came with sirens blazing, then the manager sheepishly admitted that it was burnt popcorn in a microwave on the ninth floor.

   We drove out of Dallas and visited several lakes in the foresty part of eastern Texas. This is "close" to where we saw the Red Cockaded Woodpecker several years ago. Tall hardwood forest turning into a huge pine forest just north of the coast. Berry and I search for birdically interesting habitats, places with clean water, food that birds like to eat, and shelter from the elements, where birds would find it amenable. This led us to a reservoir called Cedar Creek.

   We counted umpteen American Coot on the surface of the reservoir. Then Berry spotted a Lesser Scaup. When she saw another bird, we both thought it was a Redhead. But this one had a perfectly black beak. I looked in the Sibley's and was amazed to identify the unknown duck as a Canvasback. This was a "life bird" for us. A life bird is one which we had never seen before. The list to the right of this post is our "Life List". Please note that we have added this new bird at the bottom of that list. We are delighted.

Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)

   We birded several other lakes on our way south, Athens Lake, Lake Palestine, Sam Rayburn Reservoir and really enjoyed poking down some infrequently used country lanes on our way to Beaumont, Texas. Here is a list of the birds that we saw.

• Turkey Vulture
  
• Lesser Scaup
  
• American Coot
  
• Canvasback
  
• Field Sparrow
  
• Rock Dove
  
• English Sparrow
  
• Black Vulture
  
• Swamp Sparrow
  
• European Starling
  
• Northern Mockingbird
  
• American Crow
  
• Great Egret
  
• Red Tail Hawk (white morph)
  
• female Northern Cardinal
  
• White Throated Sparrow
  
• Carolina Chickadee
  
• Killdeer
  
• Eastern Phoebe
  
• Bald Eagle
  
• Mallard
  
• Yellow Rumped Warbler
  
• American Robin
  
• Eastern Bluebird
  

   In addition to birds, we observed two coyotes feeding on carrion by the road, two gray squirrels munching nuts beside the road, and two white tailed deer dodging our car.

Robert

photo courtesy of jkennedy

Otters and an Osprey

   After my workshop in downtown Dallas, Berry met me, circling the parking lot in a gray rental car. It was blisteringly cold and the wind was whipping around the building. At least it was not raining.

   We loaded up and went to nearby Lake Ray Hubbard, to see what we might see. We set up the scope and brought out the bins, found the Sibley's bird book and started our Trip List of birds. And when it was over, we had seen a handsome collection of birds. The only down-side was that I found it difficult to tolerate the cold weather.

Osprey

• American Kestrel, male
  
• Great Tailed Grackle
  
• Pied Billed Grebe
  
• Osprey
  
• Rock Dove, brown variant
  
• American Coot
  
• a domestic goose (anser cygnoides)
  
• Canada Goose
  
• American Crow
  
• Snow Goose
  
• Mallard
  
• Killdeer
  

   Berry caught sight of several River Otters, diving in and out of the water, and hiding under the large rocks on the levee. They could squeeze between the rocks and nothing could follow them there.

River Otter

Robert

photos courtesy of trapperran, prpdnews

Robins from the North

   Berry and I looked out the window and saw a whole flock of American Robins (Turdus Migratorius) feeding in the backyard. These arrive every winter, having fled the frigid icy north.

Winter Visitor

   She and I are heading to the Gulf Coast in a couple of days. It will be great to get back to Texas. We haven't birded there in about five years.

Robert

photo courtesy of pixdaus.com

Birding Trip to Radnor Lake

   I had business in Nashville, Tennessee. When I had some free time, we found a delightful natural area in southern Nashville, called the Radnor Lake Natural Area and Wildlife Refuge. Berry and I immediately felt at home. The autumn leaves were yellow and red, contrasted by the evergreen cedars along the bank. There was a small unpaved path around the lake. It took us about an hour to circumnavigate the lake. There had been a flood last year in the area and the paved part of the path was crumbling. Here are the birds that we saw.

• Pied Billed Grebe
  
• American Coot
  
• Mallard
  
• Lesser Scaup
  
• Ruddy Duck
  
• Ring Necked Duck
  
• Canada Goose
  
• Great Blue Heron
  
• Red Tailed Hawk
  
• Red Shouldered Hawk
  
• Downy Woodpecker
  
• Turkey Vulture
  
• Black Vulture
  
• Tufted Titmouse
  
• Carolina Wren
  
• Carolina Chickadee
  
• Northern Cardinal
  

Several times during our walk we encountered White Tailed Deer grazing very close to the path. At several points during the walk the starkly autumnal trees were abuzz with avian activity. It was delightful.

Robert

Beautiful Juvenile Flicker

   My job is changing. My duties are evolving. I am spending more time in my office, at my desk. I saw a beautiful juvenile "Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker" (Colaptes auratus) dipping into the fresh water of our birdbath. I did not have a camera, but this photo is a good representation of what I saw.

Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker

   The "yellow-shafted" version of the Northern Flicker found in the eastern United States has feathers with yellow shafts. It also has a black molar patch on its cheek. The "red shafted" version found in the western U.S. has a red patch. I got a real long close-up view of this beautiful woodpecker. It made my day.

Robert

photo courtesy of epeterson

Birding Trip to Helena, Arkansas

   We made a picnic lunch and drove the "Bird Mobile" south through northern Mississippi to the Tunica Museum with its various historical exhibits. We birded the abandoned Capri casino and Mhoon Landing sites. Then we drove across the bridge to the little town of Helena, Arkansas. We had lunch in the wooded Confederate Cemetery on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. Lunch was cold fried chicken and grapes with San Pellegrino.

   Then we made our way north on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River. We found a small ox-bow lake named Cow Bayou where we deployed our spotting scope and peered through the trees. Then it was home again through West Memphis, Arkansas. The cool October wind had left us very wind-blown and tired.

Great Egret

   Here is a list of the birds we saw today :

• Carolina Chickadee
  
• American Robin
  
• Great Egret
  
• Great Blue Heron
  
• Bank Swallow
  
• Canada Goose
  
• Northern Mockingbird
  
• Killdeer
  
• Turkey Vulture
  
• Northern Flicker
  
• Common Ground Dove
  
• English Sparrow
  

Robert

photo courtesy of cmayfield

"Meow!"

   I was working at my desk when suddenly, on the birdbath just outside my window perched a handsome Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). This has happened once before, but it is such an uncommon event that I called for Berry to come to the window and see.

Gray Catbird

   The Catbird call sounds like a small kitten. What would be the evolutionary advantage for that? We did not have a camera, but this photo is a good representation of what we saw.

   Berry and I have seen the Gray Catbird several times in the wild. We were peeking through the underbrush on President's Island in Memphis and saw one. We were walking on a wooden boardwalk through a swamp in Florida and saw a flock of them. For birders Gray Catbirds are a delightful find.

Robert

photo courtesy of jsottolano

Birding Trip to Wapanocca

   We got up early. 5:30am is early. And drove to Arkansas, to the little national wildlife refuge called Wapanocca. It has canals, swamps, boggy areas, duck ponds, a small lake, all tucked inside a southern hardwood forest.

   We saw plenty of birds.

• Starling
  
• Killdeer
  
• Mourning Dove
  
• American Crow
  
• Indigo Bunting female
  
• Northern Cardinal
  
• Great Blue Heron
  
• Prothonatory Warbler
  

Prothonotary Warbler

• Eastern Wood-Pewee
  
• Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
  
• Carolina Wren
  
• Yellow-Breasted Chat
  

Yellow-Breasted Chat

• Snowy Egret
  
• Great Egret
  
• Peregrine Falcon
  
• Pied-Billed Grebe en famille
  
• Horned Grebe
  
• Red-Winged Blackbird
  
• Bank Swallow
  
• Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
  

   And here are some digital photos from the trip.

Pier at Lake Wapanocca

The Swampy Bog

Reed Beds

Giant Lily Pads

Careless Fishermen Hung Their Lures

Black-Eyed Susans along the Highway

   We had a great time on Labor Day. Very exciting to see all the birds. But we had gotten up very early, so when we got home we had a meal, and then, both fell straight asleep.

Robert

photos courtesy of lspitalnik, rhoward, and rfowler

Trip to Baltimore

   I had to go to Baltimore on business. I ate swordfish with pineapple-mango salsa with crab stuffed mushrooms in a restaurant next to the harbor. After dinner I took snaps of birds in the harbor area. There were Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and a lot of Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis).

Ring-billed Gull

Baltimore is home of Edgar Allen Poe. I walked around downtown and saw this large blue-tiled bird along the avenue. It did not look like a Raven.

Unidentified Bird

   Robert

   photos courtesy of rfowler