Redpolls

For the last month, as I've been birding in the South, day after day I've read posts of Common Redpoll sightings throughout the Northeast.  It's a bird I'm missing from my life list (I just started two years ago and they weren't around last winter) and so I was hoping to see a few before they headed back north.  Today I did.

 I cranked up our feeding program upon our return to Vermont on Thursday although neighbors had kept the Chickadees and Nuthatches fed during our absence.  Still, for three days no Redpolls and I thought perhaps I'd missed the window of their presence.

Today a couple showed up on the tray feeder and later were joined by a couple more.  I wouldn't be surprised to see even more in the coming days now that they have found us.  The Chickadees seem to be a little out of sorts at the arrival of these heavy feeders but their flashes of color against the snow are a delight to see.  Soon they'll be heading back to Canada but it's nice to tank them up before their flight north.

Easy point-and-shoot cameras capture the outdoor experience

Sunday, March 27, 2011

By Shannon M. Nass, Special to the Post-Gazette

Bob Steiner

Red-bellied woodpecker.

No matter the season, nature is a beautifully painted canvas that offers the perfect backdrop for capturing outdoor memories.
As spring wildflowers come into bloom and wildlife activity increases, opportunities abound for taking photographs. A little imagination and some insight into the effective outdoor use of digital point-and-shoot cameras leave no reason not to skillfully preserve these moments in time.
"The final image that you produce is your own creativity ... and the camera is a tool to get there," said Linda Steiner, of Oil City.
Linda and her husband, Bob, have won numerous professional photo awards and were guest speakers at a Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited meeting held March 14 at the Brentwood Veterans of Foreight Wars. Topics included digital camera use and key elements to consider when taking photos outdoors.

Read the whole article: http://post-gazette.com/pg/11086/1134873-140.stm#ixzz1HnIuEof5

Signs of Spring

In Louisiana last weekend, there are signs of spring everywhere.  The peepers were singing and at daybreak, a chorus of Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, and a host of other early wakers, greeted us on our morning walk.  Even today, in windy but warm Virginia, robins are calling away as we enjoy the last warm afternoon of our trip.

Last week, in our return to Goose Island in Texas, I noted that Laughing Gulls were no longer plain but had their striking dark heads.  Northern Mockingbirds, instead of just “chipping” like they did in January, were trotting out their full repertoire of songs and were acting pretty frisky in the bushes.

At Natchez State Park in Mississippi, spring was a little behind what we just left in Louisiana.  But the sight of several pairs of bluebirds were a wonderful to witness in the early sunlight as were a dozen barn swallows swooping over the lake.



I know that reality will set in as we head north but these signs bode well for our home state.  When we visited Cameron Prairie NWR last week, we saw no Canada Geese and only a half dozen snow geese.  They are all on their way north - I’m reading reports of skeins of geese over Lake Champlain and elsewhere.  We’re following them this week.

Louisiana Birds

We dropped down to Louisiana for a few days before starting northward.  Today we went for a birding outing exploring some national wildlife refuges south of Lake Charles.  Most of the geese and many of the ducks have headed out but there are still a lot of interesting birds.

We saw dozens of hawks perched in trees along the roads on the way down but had trouble identifying them at 70 mph.  Most were likely red-tails although I saw a Northern Harrier who was hard to miss.  We stopped in at the headquarters of the Cameron Prairie NWR and did a quick tour of their wonderful new center -- replaced after one of the recent hurricanes knocked the prior one out.

Walking out the observation platform behind the center, I immediately saw all sorts of birds:  White-faced ibis, Glossy Ibis, two or three types of herons, many ducks, and an assorted sandpiper or two.  Many lifted off as I came nearer but it was an amazing start.

Black-necked Stilt (life bird)

Later, we drove a three mile Pintail loop seeing the previous types along with a few Snow Geese, Black-neck Stilts (which I had been looking for), and hundreds of Northern Shovelers.  There were also hundreds of hungry mosquitos so we stayed in the truck. 

We continued a long driving loop down to the coast and stopped at the jetty at Cameron.  After passing all sorts of oil equipment and ships, we got out to the beach, paid a small fee, and in a stiff breeze, saw hundreds of shore birds.  In the photo below, you can spot Laughing Gulls, Herring Gulls, Black Skimmers, Forster's Terns.  I couldn't see anything else, aside from White Pelicans but there may be another tern or gull in the gang.



We ended the trip with an Alligator sighting up close and personal.  Two new life list birds (Glossy Ibis and Black-necked Stilt) and an interesting look at a vulnerable piece of the U.S.  Seeing houses, a hospital, and emergency generators up on stilts is sobering.  But the birding is awesome and with migration coming, will soon get even better.

Rockport Beach Park

Rockport, Texas has many great birding areas and one always cited is the Beach Park.  It’s  long sandy beach with lots of grassy picnic areas.  It also is the protected nesting site of hundreds of Black Skimmers -- that graceful bird known for flying low over the water, lower mandible skimming for small fish and other goodies. 

Black Skimmers on the go

I’ve not been to the park since dogs are not allowed and every time I’m in Rockport, I have Penny with me.  Today, I brought my bike and left the dog in the truck and pedaled in for a little birding.  Hundreds of Laughing Gulls filled the air with their raucous calls as I passed by and up ahead, I saw a gaggle of Black Skimmers circling and landing.  There’s a nice observation area near the roped-off nesting site and I took a bunch of photos of the birds whirling by.  It was quite a spectacle.

They’ll start nesting next month and I’m sure it is quite a sight to see the chicks and their parents up close.  Perhaps next year we’ll stick around a little later.

Laughing Gulls

I saw a Long-Billed Curlew, a Pied-Bill Grebe, a Willet, a bunch of American Avocets, Herring/Laughing/Ringed-Billed Gulls, and a number of other birds during the short bike ride.  It’s a place I will get back to another time.

The Laughing Gulls, now in their plumage, just are characters.  Here’s a lineup from the walkway to the observation platform.  They laugh -- and tend to make you chuckle as you see and hear them.  

Yellow-faced Grassquit: Yes!

Yellow-faced Grassquit

A rare tropical bird, a Yellow-faced Grassquit, showed up at Goose Island State Park about a week after we left in January. For a month now, I have read posts of sightings of him - hundreds of birders have come to see him and he's been very cooperative.

I thought that it would be a one-time chance to see him so we decided to return to the park for a week. It's also a place we love and a good spot to celebrate my birthday. So we drove the short distance down from Goliad this morning.

While driving in to look at the few vacant sites, we drove by the spot where he's been seen. Probably 25 birders were there, binoculars up and looking - and it was hard not to just stop the truck and trailer and join in.

We signed for a nice spot, got unhitched and set up and it was time to exercise the dog - which I did by bike. We rode past the spot but the few folks there had seen nothing since the morning. So, figuring we had all week, I had lunch and a little rest.

Mary suggested I go back and so I did. There were some women down from Houston and a guy who flew in for the weekend from Oregon. We waited and watched a few sparrows. The women decided to leave and I was about to when the Oregon guy - who is quite skilled as a birder - saw it fly into the brush and yelled "bird." That got the gals hustling back and sure enough, the little rascal was just perched in the shade. You could see him but when the Oregonian got his scope, the bird was spectacular.

The Grassquit breeds from central Mexico to northern Ecuador and northwestern Venezuela, and also on the Greater Antilles and nearby islands (e.g. the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica). It is not a migratory bird but moves about outside the breeding season. It's neat to think how far from home he is - and what an extremely rare sighting for the U.S.  Glad we came back here.

I'm sure I'll get to see the guy a few times more and get some photos. The one above is from the web - but is just like the guy I saw this afternoon.

Rio Grande Turkeys

As I was sitting behind the Airstream reading on our last evening in South Llano River State Park, the dog stirred and became interested in something behind me.  It was a “parade” of about 25 Rio Grande turkeys strolling down the park road enroute to their roosting spots along the river.  They are pretty birds -- a little smaller than our eastern turkeys but seemingly longer and taller.  It is pale and copper-colored having tail feathers and tail/rump coverts (short feathers located at the base of the tail) tipped with a yellowish buff.

South Llano River SP is home to one of the most significant Rio Grande turkey roosts in Central Texas.  About 800 turkeys roost every year at the park and their grounds are marked off until April.

The Rio Grande wild turkey is native to the semi-arid areas of the southern Great Plains states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Northeastern Mexico. It received its common name from the Rio Grande River, which is the water supply bordering the brushy scrub, arid country of some of its prime range in western Texas and northeastern Mexico. This race of turkeys generally occurs in areas having 16 to 32 inches of rainfall.

This subspecies was first described by George B. Sennett in 1879 who said it was intermediate in appearance between the eastern and western subspecies, hence its scientific name, Meleagris Gallapavo Intermedia.

Rio Grande Turkey strutting its stuff

Originally existing in the millions, this turkey had depleted to extremely low numbers by 1920. Formal programs involving trapping and transplanting were initiated in the 1930's and today it exists over much of its ancestral range. Texas has the most Rio Grandes with a population estimated at over 600,000 birds.

One of the neat things camping at South Llano River is to hear the turkeys call to one another in the early evening -- and then again in the morning.  And then to see them parade from their roosts, sometimes displaying as in the photo I took the other day. 

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My New Favorite Bird

As we have progressed through the South and Southwest with our Airstream, I have made favorites of several species of birds I've seen.  The last one was the Cactus Wren.  I never saw one (knowingly) last year and once I spotted one in Falcon State Park, I knew what size they were, where to look, and what to listen for.  And then, I ran into them all the time.  In fact, one was singing to us as we packed to leave our last campground.

Towhees have been birds I've been looking for.  I found one, then dozens, of Canyon Towhees at Davis Mountains State Park.  They are a bit bland but neat birds.

Spotted Towhee

But the Spotted Towhee has me enamored these days.  I saw my first one at a feeder here at South Llano River State Park and now see them each day.  They are beautiful and there agressive scratching the ground for food is fun to watch.  They hop and attack their food -- feathers puff, dirt flies.  They've got a lot of spunk.

So, until I find a new favorite, the pretty Spotted Towhees are my pick of the week.