Whooping Crane Boat Tour

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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.

Road Trip to the Texas Gulf Coast

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We had registered for the Whooping Crane Festival months ago…and managed to attend it between my mother’s death and her funeral. Being out in nature at a birding festival was a healing activity. It helped that my husband did all the driving. We made the drive from our home in Missouri to Port Aransas TX over 2 days. We started out before sunrise…

The clouds gradually dissipated into whisps before the sky cleared entirely.

I enjoyed trying to take pictures as we went through Dallas…not something I get to do very often because I am usually driving.

We stopped near Austin for the night. We got to Port Aransas early enough for lunch and to visit Roberts Point Park. There were groups of brown pelicans and cormorants easily viewed from the park.  I liked the pelicans at rest…images in high key.

There was a snowy egret on the rocks showing off his yellow socks. When I looked at my pictures on my larger monitor, I noticed that there are yellow strips on the back of the legs!

There were large ships visible in the channel.

We also visited the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center…quickly realizing that we’d have to return when we had more time.

There were black-necked stilts – with their striking black and white bodies, straight black bill, and pink legs.

Blue winged teals flashing iridescent color as they preened.

A very sedentary alligator was lolling below the  boardwalk (although with its eye open).

A common gallinule was feeding nearby.

A group of American white pelicans were preening in the shallows.

A larger group was on the shore.

Green winged teals preening in the shallow water…or lazing on the shore.

White ibis were in the area…sometimes feeding together and sometimes in small groups.

We were there in the early afternoon, and it surprised me that the light made the water color and shadows so artsy for this grouping for birds – snoozing and preening. At this moment they must have all felt very secure.

Just before we left, I tried to get a picture of the whooping cranes that were feeding in the distance  – an adult and colt (with brownish feathers on the head and parts of the body). These are the birds we came to the area to see. All the other birds are a big bonus!

We headed for our first field trip…a Mustang Island boat tour (the topic of tomorrow’s post).

Josey Ranch – February 2024

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When I first arrived at Josey Ranch, I didn’t think I was going to see very many birds. Then I started to notice more. Ring-billed gulls on the boardwalk and shore.

Pigeons strutting – the iridescent color of their feathers changing as they moved.

I excepted the flotilla of scaups. They seem to be the bird I see most this winter.

A coot came out of the water, and I got pictures of its feet (so different…they look a little dangerous) and next to a Canada goose for a size comparison.

There were a few shovelers.

But the treat were cormorants on the water….I took several sequences because there seemed to be so many cormorants making the maneuver.

One bird swam around with wings arched for a long time. Was it to dry the feathers….or show off for a lady?

Josey Ranch Birds – January 2023

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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.

Birds at Josey Ranch the last day of 2023

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I got to the large pond at Josey Ranch (Carrollton TX) just after sunrise on the last day of 2023. The birds were in feeding mode. The ring-necked duck diving for fish…

The swans swimming up to a high bank to nibble the grass while staying in the water….

A flock of double-crested cormorants landing just as I arrived than quickly finding good places to feed on the pond.

They were more numerous than I had ever seen at the pond before…I was probably lucky to catch some that were migrating.

A great blue heron was statue-like – standing on the grassy shore.

When I looked at my images on a large sceen, I discovered that I had managed a photo of a scaup with its mouth open!

The sunrise was not spectacular; the clouds were thickening as the sun came up. It was spectacular to see the cormorants so active in the minutes of brilliant sunshine at one end of the pond. I headed back to work on tasks I needed to complete before I left for Missouri (going home) the following day.

Josey Ranch – December 2023

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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.

2023 at Josey Ranch

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I am starting a series of posts that feature slideshows of pictures accumulated during 2023 of some favorite places that I visit almost every month. This post about the ponds and Pocket Prairie at Josey Ranch in Carrollton is the first in the series.

The changing of the birds over the course of the seasons: northern shovelers, scaups, widgeons, and coots in the cold months…baby birds (like geese) in the spring and juvenile birds (grackles and little blue heron) later in the warm months. The birds around all the time are swans, great egrets, mallards, and great blue herons. Bluebirds, grebes and cormorants are not seen frequently….are a pleasant surprise when they are around.

Josey Ranch is an easy place for me to get a nature fix….and enjoy some photography too. Some of my favorite photos are from an early morning jaunt in the summer…the light around a great blue heron and a swan sleeping on the water…a special moment that created a different sort of image.

The flowers bloom in the warmer months although last summer many flowers cooked in the long period of very hot weather without any rain. In the fall – the dried husks of seeds/stems is often photogenic too.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge – November 2023

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I left Carrollton on the day the shift was made from daylight to standard time; it was easy to reach Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge just after sunrise; it was a hazy morning. There were already other birders driving the wildlife loop – some with the same strategy I use: photography through a car window!

One of the first birds I saw was a great blue heron that flew into a large pond and was immediately on the move – probably looking for breakfast.

I saw a group of snow geese at the edge of the pond with water reflecting the sunrise colors behind them. Note that some of the geese are smaller (i.e. Ross’s Goose). There were blue morphs of the snow geese mixed in as well.

A grebe appeared with some pintails.

Mallards are always around. The trees and shoreline vegetation were definitely showing their fall colors. And then the sun popped above the horizon.

American coots are back at the refuge.

The most numerous birds were red winged blackbirds. They were enjoying the abundant seeds (sunflowers mostly) and rose up in murmuration at any little disturbance. Sometimes the group landed on the road for a few seconds but then quickly flew away to another stand of vegetation with seeds or to trees. They seemed oblivious to a hawk in one tree they picked. The group was a mixture of males and females.

A disorderly V of cormorants (I think) flew by.

I got out of my car once to look over the shoreline vegetation to see if I could spot a group of pelicans in one of the larger ponds but didn’t see any…the vegetation was worth a few photographs.

Another group of snow geese/Ross’s geese was grazing in a grassy area. I did a series of images…with one of the geese stretching its wings. The geese were vocalizing…gentle noises that probably reassure all of them that things are OK with the world.

In summary – some of the birds that will overwinter at Hagerman have arrived but there should be even more arriving.

Sequoyah State Park (2)

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There was a hill on the other side of the lake – darkening the horizon. We were on a boat dock that jutted out into the lake a short distance (identified on our walk the previous day as the ‘sunrise spot’). There were two pelicans on the water when we arrived! They flew off to start their day elsewhere before the sun was up.

The park is a mix of developed and natural; there is a golf course and communication towers along with the cabins and lodge.

But the forest and native plants seem to be holding their own.

A fisherman was also enjoying the morning on a neighboring dock.

A heron was still (or preening) in the shallows of a nearby cove.

The sun lit a nearby hilltop…

And waves of cormorants (and maybe some gulls too) began coming around the point flying northward.

The vegetation lit up with morning light.

Two killdeer flew into the nearby shore. They continued their conversation with each other while we took pictures.

As we packed up the car – the last picture of our visit: starlings on the wire.

Josey Ranch – March 2023

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I went to Josey Ranch (Carrollton, TX) in the early morning. The male grackles were posturing. The females seemed to be mostly ignoring them.

There were two Great Egrets in breeding plumage staying together as they looked for breakfast.

There seemed to be more cormorants than usual. They are probably moving northward since their breeding grounds are in the norther part of the US and into Canada.

There were a few scaups and ruddy ducks left. They too are moving northward. I don’t expect to see them in April.

I walked to the garden area between the water and the two buildings. The trees are beginning to leaf out and roses are blooming. The area was impacted by the harsher (hotter and drier) summer and it will be interesting to observe how many of the plants will regain their vigor in the upcoming months.

March is a transition month. It will be interesting to see if more of the summer birds show up when I visit in April. I always check the pond (or is it a lake?); it’s an short, easy outing and their always seems to be something new to observe.

Zooming – March 2023

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The optical (and then digital) zoom on my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS) is used on almost every picture:

  • To do composition in the field rather than cropping later

  • To get close without physically being close

  • To see better than I can with my eyes (using the camera like binoculars)

My favorite image this month is the backlit dandelion puff. Enjoy the March zoomed images!

Elm Fork Nature Preserve – February 2023

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I arrived at the Elm Fork Nature Preserve at the same time as a Texas Master Naturalist (I could tell by his hat!) which turned out to make the walk through the circuit into a guided hike. I didn’t take as many pictures as usual. The day was brisk and sunny…pleasant in a zipped-up jacket.

Toward the back of the loop are several areas of wetlands/open water. At least one of them was an oxbow of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River – now disconnected. There were ducks, grebes, and coots…and a cormorant in a tree. They were far enough away to be almost out of range of my camera, and I didn’t take the time to get better images stabilized with my monopod.

The area was owned by the same family from 1861 until it became the preserve and was always used for household wood (shelter, cooking, eating) until it became the preserve. It is a rare parcel in this part of Texas that has always been timbered. The trees are all different sizes and I found myself taking pictures of ones that were snags or pieces of trees. When the trees leaf out it will be a good place for canopy pictures --- looking up through the trees.

A tree that had fallen across the path and been cut was particularly interesting. It had wavy markings…like meandering rivers taken from above.

There is a structure, but it doesn’t appear to have been used recently; it is beginning to deteriorate. The place does not appear to get a lot of visitors (and the Master Naturalist told me that he’d been there a few times when he thought some of the people there were not nature lovers or fishing). So – I’d like to go again but it might not be a place to go on my own.

Josey Ranch - February 2023

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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.

Morris’ A History of British Birds

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The 8 volumes of A History of British Birds by Francis Orpen Morris are available on Internet Archive. I enjoyed browsing the images this past spring. I’ve selected an image from each book to share in this post.

(vol 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Volume 6 included two birds seen frequently in North America: the coot and the Canada goose.

Volume 7 included the Great Auk which was probably extinct – or near extinct – by the time the books were published in 1862. There were some birds – such as the swallow (volume 2) and the cormorant (volume 8)– that had generic entries.

Morris was an Irish clergyman – a ‘parson-naturalist’ of the 1800s; his professional role accommodated his natural history interests. According to the Wikipedia entry about him, he was a pioneer of the movement to protect birds from the plume trade…refused to accept the theory of evolution.

Ocean City Inlet & Heron Park Field Trip

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The last of our Delmarva Birding field trips started at the Ocean City Inlet…where the high point was seeing an American Oystercatcher fly in and land on the rocks for a short walk.

The next stop was Heron Pond – an area in Berlin, MD that is in an industrial area and on the site of an old chicken processing plant. There are a series of ponds that clean water and provide habitat for water birds. The highway is nearby but there is a screen of vegetation…and there are birds on all the ponds. Some of the first birds we saw were cormorants.

Followed in close succession by ruddy ducks (the males have blue bills!) and northern shovelers.

Two northern shovelers were feeding together…swimming in a tight circle.

The last pond has structures on its surface to filter water and those structures provide a haven for turtles and birds. There were several Canada geese on nests and a little blue heron finding a snack!

And that was the finale for our 4 field trips with Delmarva Birding.

Josey Ranch

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The winter birds have already left Josey Ranch Lake (no shovelers or scaups or buffleheads or ruddy ducks). The normal residents were going about their morning routine when I ventured out at sunrise. The Coots were noisy.

I only saw one Swan. I wondered if there was a nest in the reeds (with the other swan on it); it would be great to have cygnets this year. The nest was flooded last year.

There was a Great Egret walking around the shallowed. Maybe the bird had already caught breakfast because it seemed to be moving about rather than actively fishing.

There was a pair of Pigeons interacting. I assumed the larger one strutting around was the male.

There were Cormorants that were staying on the lake but occasionally flying to another part of the lake. They too seemed to have already gotten breakfast; there were not diving.

Even Mallards are worth photographing in morning light!

I didn’t photograph the Canada Geese or the Grackles….they were a big part of the morning soundscape around the lake.

I’ll be in Carrollton again soon…can track the progress of the birds using the lake in late Spring and into Summer.

Bani Hasan Part IV from the Egypt Exploration Fund

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Bani Hasan Part IV was published in 1893 by the Egypt Exploration Fund. It is a small volume (82 pages) available on Internet Archive as are some of the other volumes in the series…but this one was my favorite. It includes ancient Egyptian depictions of birds and animals as well as activities of daily life. I’ve selected 4 sample images from the volume.

I learned from the Wikipedia entry that:

  • Beni Hasan is an ancient Egyptian cemetery that spans the 21st and 17th centuries BCE…primarily the Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt. The tombs are famous for the quality of their paintings.

  • Howard Carter (famous for discovering Tutankhamun’s tomb) spent a season there in 1891 as a teenager – producing watercolors of the tomb paintings. (He is listed on the title page of this book along with others.)

  • The paintings are now in poor condition.

Conowingo on a Fall Morning – Part 1

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My husband and I took a ‘field trip’ to Conowingo dam this week – the first such trip since last February; we did it in a low risk way and will probably enjoy the fall a bit over the next few weeks with similar outings. We were gone for a little over 3 hours…with 2 of the hours on the road. At Conowingo we made a short stop at the Visitor Center for a ‘rest stop’ with masks…hand washing…and then hand sanitizer once we were back in the car. I took some pictures of the Bald Eagle carving and some of the plantings in front of the visitor center.

When we got to the fishing/bird viewing area – we noticed the low water right away. The dam was not generating so the fish were not being churned up. Note how calm the water is toward the dam. Do you see the Great Blue Heron in the lower left? Part 2 of this post will be about that bird.

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There was an adult Bald Eagle on the ’50 yds’ abutment that stayed for the entire time we were there. I took digiscope pictures (i.e. phone attached to spotting scope on a tripod) first. The bird is looking around and the breeze is ruffling feathers on the head.

Then I took some pictures with by Canon Powershot SX 60 HS (bridge camera) on a monopod….which is my usual birding camera. The bird was moving its head more….it seemed intent on not moving any other part of its body though! I’m still more comfortable using the camera rather than the digiscope.

The birds on the water today were Double Crested Cormorants. They were sometimes in groups….usually on their own diving quickly to go after fish.

I saw one come up with a fish and then noticed a Great Blue Heron (not the heron in the earlier picture) flying toward it. By the time I started taking pictures the heron had plopped down right next to the cormorant….but the cormorant made a quick get away with his prize leaving a surprised heron behind. Use the arrows to move through the 5 images.

I always try to look at the Paulownia (princess tree) growing on the cliff next to the parking area. The seed pods are maturing. It’s an invasive tree but one that it tolerated – sometimes – because it is pretty.

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Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Notification that ballot was received. I got an email from my state acknowledging that the ballot I put in the drop box has been received! I great to get that confirmation. The email included a link to the Maryland site where I can find out when it is accepted/counted too. There was a local news story saying that my county would start counting on the 12th so I’ll start checking every day after that.

Last CSA flowers? The cutting garden at the CSA is winding down. The zinnias are about done for the year. I got one sunflower and then some smaller purple ones (don’t know what they are) to make a small bouquet to sit in the kitchen window along with the green tomatoes I hope will turn red. I’ve already enjoyed 2 that turned red recently.

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Birding at Josey Ranch Lake – Part 1

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Conowingo in October – part 2

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Continuing the post about our trek to Conowingo Dam….

There were quite a few birds on the rocks just past the abutment. The camera zoom is put to good use to identify what’s there. I posted about the Bald Eagle and Black Vultures yesterday. The other two types of birds (other than gulls) were Double-crested Cormorants and a Great Blue Heron.

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At first, I noticed cormorants that were in the water – and yes, those are rafts of bubbles (soap?) in the water.

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Then I noticed one that had caught a fish. It maneuvered it toward the rocks on the side of the river near us and the fisherman. The bird struggled to control the fish and orient it so it could be swallowed. I never saw the swallow….and it looked like it would be a tight fit. The fish was probably a channel catfish…and it was bleeding from its fight with the cormorant.

I saw another cormorant with a fish. This time the bird had pierced the fish.

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Back to the rocks on the far side of river, the cormorants open their wings in the sunshine like the black vultures. Sometimes there seems to be an interaction between birds with their wings open.

There was a heron that I first noticed near a rock at the end of the abutment.

It then flew to the rocky spit of the central island. That place has always been a favorite for herons, but it was altered by the floods. The rocks that extended further toward the dam must have been rolled away by the floods last year.

We’ll be visiting the dam again before the end of the year….hoping to see even more eagles (and maybe a bigger variety of gulls too).