March 12, 2024

Whooping Crane Boat Tour

March 12, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

We were at the dock for the 7 AM departure of our boat on the third day of the Whooping Crane Festival.

I took a few pictures before we boarded – the moon over the harbor area.

Our destination was the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where Whooping Cranes feed in the marshy/shallow areas…only visible via boat and it took over an hour to get there from Port Aransas. We passed familiar areas early on and saw a group of American white pelicans, morning light with moon setting over the shore, roseate spoonbills and white ibis in the distance, and the Aransas Pass Lydia Ann Lighthouse.

Then we entered an area that was different than our previous tours and more open water…with occasional platforms with cormorants and great blue herons hunkered in the chilly morning wind. There was a tall bridge as well.

Then there started to be a lot of small islands full of birds: Cormorants, great blue herons and brown pelicans. One area seemed to have a lot of great blue herons and I wondered if the island was their roost. There were also groups of laughing gulls. (Click on the small images to see a larger version.)

And then we started seeing Whooping Cranes. Even at a distance – they are easy to identify because they are so large…and so white. The young are rusty looking – particularly their heads. Many sightings were of 3 birds: 2 adult birds and a colt; it must have been a good year for increasing the whooping crane population!

There were other birds to see too between whooping crane sightings – roseate spoonbills, green-winged teals, willets, American avocets, more great blue herons, buffleheads, cormorants, an osprey, and reddish egret (that took off as a wave covered the spit of shells the bird was standing on).

I took some closeups of some shells…out of the water at low tide.

I also realized how wakes of boats impact the shoreline…why there are often blocks on the shore to reduce the erosion wakes can cause. It doesn’t take a big or fast-moving boat to cause damaging wakes in smaller channels.

And then we took a break as we headed back to Port Aransas – no more photos until the jetty with the usual brown pelicans.

We got back to the dock with plenty of time before our afternoon field trip for lunch; we then headed back to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center.

February 08, 2024

Josey Ranch Birds – January 2023

February 08, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

There was not a lot of extra time during my work trip to Carrollton TX in late January…but I did manage a morning to check the birds at Josey Ranch. I was a little early; the sun was up but the large building to the east was still blocking much of the sunshine. There were quite a few birds to see.

The scaups

The Northern Shovelers (the first time I had seen them this season at Josey Ranch)

The coots

The Canada Geese

A Great Blue Heron…A Great Egret

The Double-crested Cormorants (although not in as large numbers as previous visits)

A male bufflehead (looking for breakfast so difficult to catch on the surface!)

The resident swans

It seemed that many of the birds were in motion….leaving wakes as they moved through the water. I enjoyed the few minutes I spent…getting my nature fix for the day before I started packing up items to be donated from my parents’ house.

December 26, 2023

Josey Ranch – December 2023

December 26, 2023/ Gwen Morrison

I took a walk around the larger pond and small garden at Josey Ranch a week ago.

The first birds I noticed were cormorants – very active on the water (finding fish) and in the air.

Most of the ruddy ducks were snoozing…bobbing in the water.

A group of buffleheads were fishing….then spent a lot of time preening.

There were several coots

And I was thrilled when one of them came up onto the bank and I was close enough get good images of their feet! They are so unusual.

The scaups are around but not in as large numbers as last year.

The resident swans were asleep on the back as they have been every time I have visited recently. Are they elderly swans?

There were a few late flowers in the small garden; there has not been a hard frost in Carrollton yet.

Where are the northern shovelers? Maybe they are still further north? Usually they are present at Josey Ranch by November…but not this year.

March 06, 2023

Josey Ranch - February 2023

March 06, 2023/ Gwen Morrison

It was a breezy and cloudy day when I went to Josey Ranch in Carrollton last month. There were fewer Northern Shovelers and American Widgeon around and they seemed to be resting or grooming rather than feeding.

The American Coots were still around in about the same numbers as in January.

There was one Bufflehead…feeding. It was in the middle of the small lake and only spending seconds on the surface of the water.

There was one cormorant – looking around more than feeding. I am beginning to wonder if there are many fish in the lake.

The Lesser Scaups were around and coming to the shore thinking the people were going to feed them – although that didn’t happen while I was there. In the 14 second video, most birds are male Lesser Scaups. There is one female and a coot (or two).

By the time I go in March, many of the wintering birds will probably be gone…but maybe there will be Mallard ducklings…or maybe a cygnet.

February 05, 2023

Josey Ranch – January 2023

February 05, 2023/ Gwen Morrison

The birds on the water at Josey Ranch in Carrollton, TX changed from when I was there in December. The Northern Shovelers were not there in January! The American Wigeon were there the first day I went in January but not on the second. It seems a little early for them to be migrating; maybe they have moved to a bigger pond. On my first visit – I saw American Wigeon, Lesser Scaup, American Coot, Great Egret, Ruddy Ducks, and gulls.

The surprise birds of the day were a pair of Buffleheads. They were busy diving for food! I’ve seen them occasionally at Josey Ranch before but they are not in the ‘regular’ birds there.

On the second day I visited, there were gulls lined up on the walkway near the parking lot. The Lesser Scaup, American Coot, and Great Egret were still around. The mallards seemed more numerous than on the first day (seemingly skewed toward males). There was a Great Blue Heron almost hidden in the reeds. The Ruddy Ducks were still there but sleeping just as they were on the first day.

I walked around to the native plants in a terraced area between the Library and Senior Center. It was almost too windy for macro pictures…but I tried anyway. Some berries were the only color….but the shapes of the dried remains of the plants from last summer are interesting enough.

February 12, 2020

Birding at Josey Ranch Lake – Part 1

February 12, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

When I was in Carrollton, TX last week, I walked around the lake at Josey Ranch (near the public library on Keller Springs) on three different days. There are quite a few wintering birds there. Today I am posting about the birds I saw all three days.

The Great-tailed Grackles are there year round. There distinctive yellow eyes and the “beak to the sky” male behavior is very distinctive.

The Rock Pigeons are always around too. They’re are so widespread in North America that we forget that they were not native (introduced in the early 1600s). There are many people that bring bread to feed the birds. There was a huge amount of what looked like whole wheat rolls that had been dumped on a slope leading down to the lake – hence cluster of pigeons in one of these pictures…with a coot looking on.

The Mallards are always at the lake as well. The have a hard time eating the big rolls but enjoy the crumbs left by the pigeons.

2020 01 IMG_3116.jpg — There are some resident Mute Swans. I decided to try something a little different when one got out of the water close enough for my zoom lens to allow a picture of the feet. The webbed feet are very large and wrinkled looking….they support a huge bird.

I also managed to get foot pictures of the America Coot. They have lobes on their feet rather than webs…and the color of the feet is green yellow with dark markings! They too are in the lake every time I go.

There is usually a solitary Great Blue Heron at the lake. Maybe it is the same one…or maybe not.

There was a heron that seemed to be confronting a Great Egret one morning.

The egrets are more numerous for some reason. Some of the egrets might migrate north and east to breed. I managed to photography one scratching its face with his foot.

Now for the birds that are only at Josey Ranch for the winter. The small Bufflehead is a diving duck – which makes it much more difficult to photograph. The male has more white…the female has a small white streak below the eye. On sunny days – a sheen of green can be seen on the male’s head. These birds nest in western Canada and Alaska.

The Double-Crested Cormorant also nests further north. There are generally only one or two of these birds at Josey Ranch. They are fish eaters….no interest in bread at all.

And then there are the gulls that are often perched on the dock. Most of them appear to be Ring-Billed Gulls although one appears to be a juvenile Herring Gull (bigger and with a black beak). Both are only around during the winter.

The Lesser Scaup is also around only in winter. They breed further north in the US and Canada.

The Northern Shovelers are around only in the winter. They breed to the north and west into Canada and Alaska. There did not seem to be as many of them this winter. I’ll see If they are more numerous when I go in March.

Last but not least – there were the American Wigeon. Note what a difference the sun makes. The bright green streak on the head only shows up on sunny days!

Tomorrow I’ll continue with the more unusual birds I found at Josey Ranch.

February 09, 2020

In Delaware Bay – the boat from Lewes

February 09, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

After the very wet and blustery morning, Saturday afternoon was wonderful for the boat from Lewes Fisherman’s Wharf out onto Delaware Bay. There were birds in the waterway between the wharf and the bay: a great blue heron

And buffleheads among them.

My pictures were not fabulous…but good enough for identification. The rocking of the boat makes it more challenging to stay on subjects. And some birds were just a little too far. These birds may be Surf Scoters. They were being identified by our guides.

There were seals swimming in front of the sandy beach of Cape Henlopen. We were hoping to see them on the rocks, but we only saw the mobile bumps in the water.

There were people and gulls on the beach.

The gulls were everywhere….flying up off the breakwater as we passed.

Sometimes they would sit for long enough…and I managed some portraits. My idea was to identify them all….but I’m being lazy and not doing it for this blog post.

My favorite is this one with the open beak individual on the far right – Great Black-Backed Gulls (note the pink legs!).

As we headed back….we went to the lower, enclosed part of the deck to get warm…after a few minutes I noticed a Bald Eagle on a breakwater (no other birds around it). I took a picture through the window since there was no time to run out to the open deck.

Overall – the trip was much more enjoyable than we anticipated from our experience in the morning. Maybe this is one to do again next year….

February 06, 2020

Assateague Island Visitor Center

February 06, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Our first Delmarva Birding field trip was on the last Friday in January. We parked at the Assateague Island Visitor Center near Berlin, Maryland. It was cold and windy; there had been mist as we were driving but it was dry for the afternoon. They had large table maps of Assateague Island at the visitor center; we’d been to the Tom’s Cove end of the Island (when we went to Chincoteague, Virginia) but had never been to the northern part of the island.

After the group gathered, we headed off toward the Verrazano Bridge which has a nice walk/bike path on a separate span than the car traffic.

Before we got to the bridge we saw a Mockingbird and then a cluster of Greater Black-backed Gulls as we started up the ramp of the bridge.

2020 01 IMG_7485 (11).jpg — Once on the bridge, there was a lot to see in the water underneath. I managed to photograph a few birds. There were a pair of Horned Grebe (non-breeding plumage) and then I got another as a silhouette in the glints of sunlight.

A Red-Breasted Merganser (male) was below as well.

The Bufflehead were numerous but diving a lot. I managed a few pictures…but they were mostly blurs or butts.

We headed back to the visitor center and then on the trail toward the Rackliffe Plantation House. A Great Blue Heron was feeding in the wetland grasses.

I couldn’t resist a few botanical photos – a pinecone with sun glint needles in the background and a twig with some very curly lichen.

A flock of Brant (a small goose) were avoiding the golfers on the course.

They would fly up occasionally…move a short distance…settle down again.

Then there were some Eastern Bluebirds that flew into some trees near our group…kept a wary eye on us.

We then hiked back to the visitor center and caravaned around toward the entrance to Rum Point Seaside Golf Links. The ponds had Ring-necked Ducks (and mallard and black ducks).

A Great Egret was searching for food nearby.

There were also some Canada Geese in a field. I am including a picture here to compare with the Brant. The Brant are smaller but they are both geese so have a similar look.

And then the Canada Geese took off…and it was the ending time for the field trip anyway!

December 30, 2018

Three Water Birds at Centennial Park

December 30, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Last week my husband wanted to try out some new camera gear and decided to do it at Centennial Park. I tagged along to do some photography myself. The lake is settling into winter.

I saw three birds on the water.

Canada geese were the most numerous although still a smaller number than I often see. The water was high in the lake and the stone jetty near the boat launch (closed for the winter) was partially submerged. A goose stood on one – like a game of ‘king of the hill’ with the other geese.

There was a female bufflehead was periodically visible. Buffleheads are diving ducks that are very hard to photograph while they are feeding.

I managed to capture a sequence of the bird just after it surfaced…and then it dove again!

The third bird I saw on the water was a female common merganser. This bird was not feeding but quickly swam further away than I could follow with my zoomed lens.

That was it – less that a dozen Canada geese and then two lone ducks!

Walking back toward the car, I photographed some old birds nest fungus. There were still some ‘eggs’ in some of them…but probably thoroughly dried out by now.

There was also a very robust lichen on a dogwood tree. With all the extra rain we have recently the lichens and mosses are bigger and brighter than usual.