A Walk Around Josey Ranch Lake – May 2017

I was in Carrollton, Texas last week and walked around the lake at Josey Ranch. This is the third time for this year (January and March posts). The coots, lesser scaup, and northern shovelers that were there during the earlier visits have left for their nest grounds in the north. There seemed to be even more Great-Tailed Grackles and I realized how different the females look than the males. My favorite picture was of a pair that were probably giving me the eye…keeping me clear of their nest.

The Desert Willow was in bloom.

The thistles were blooming in almost all the unmowed places around the lake.

Butterfly bush seems to be a favored planting and seems to be mostly contained my mowing except for this one near the bridge. It probably was not planted there.

People bring bread to leave for the birds. Sometimes there is a lot on the grass even after the people leave. The pigeons, grackles, and mute swans seems to be the biggest feeders. The ducks seem to prefer other food although they check the bread periodically.

The Mallard ducklings are about as large as the parents. In the picture below, the mother has orange in her beak…the others are her brood. The father was strutting between me and the group in the photo.

There were three turtles on a log. I thought they were all the same until I got home and looked at them on a larger screen. Two are red-eared sliders. The third one had so much mud and algae on its back that the shell pattern is hard to see; not sure what it is…but definitely not a red-eared slider.

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge – Part 2

Continuing yesterday’s blog post about our visit to the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Smyrna DE….

There were quite a few Great Blue Herons – none were very close.

There were four way out in one of the ponds. When I zoomed in I discovered there were Northern Shovelers (ducks) and a Black-Necked Stilt.

Also further out – near the limit of my camera’s zoom – was a Great Egret and a lot of smaller birds. The ones with the black breast are Black-Bellied Plovers. In the second picture below there is one flying; the black belly with very white rump and black armpits are clearly visible.

Then something startled the birds and they flew up – curtaining the egrets behind them!

In another area, there were two mute swans. These are not natives. Many states try to control their numbers because they are aggressive and have such voracious appetites that they disrupt local ecosystems and displace native species.

I got several pictures of Yellowlegs. The ones with the longer bills are Greater Yellowlegs and the short bills are Lesser Yellowlegs.

Josey Ranch Lake – March 2017

I saw a lot of the same birds on the lake at Josey Ranch in Carrollton TX as I did back in January. The coots were still around. A pigeons mingled with them in the first picture below. I observed more instances of them running on the water to take off into the air this time (second picture).

The ring-billed gulls were looking scruffy with their feathers ruffled by the wind.

There were several types of black birds making a lot of noise. This one was probably a great-tailed grackle.

A male and female mallard walked right up to me (see the toe of my shoe in the second picture below!). Maybe they thought I had bread for them. The female seemed to be trying to avoid several males that were trying to herd her in different directions.

The male pigeons were intent as well…and the females not enthusiastic about their pursuit.

The lesser scaup were still plentiful. They’ll be heading north to their breeding grounds in the as the season warms. There appeared to be a lot more males than females on the lake. (A coot mingled with the scaup in the third picture.)

There were a few northern shoveler ducks on the lake. The only one I got zoomed close and focused flew off just as I took the picture. The bright orange of the legs and feet are clearly visible.

The swans (mute swans…not native to North America)  are nesting. One was swimming on the lake (a juvenile?) while there appeared to be two more barely visible above the cattails and grasses…sitting on their nest. Hopefully I’ll be back at a time that the cygnet(s) would be out on the lake.

It was cold, cloudy, and blustery morning when it visited the area….I made it quick and headed back indoors…and then flew home to Maryland later in the day.