I wanted to get to Bear Island before all the waterfowl left but I almost got there too late.
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I did not see the large rafts of shovelers and teals that I normally see there I think the cold front that crippled TX and was not too pleasant here either sent them farther NORTH for a couple days but I had a great day trip last Saturday, puffy white clouds all over the place and the wind was not a factor, it was good!!
There was a huge flock of shorebirds, too far out to even use the scope to see. a few came closer, this batch mostly Lesser and a Greater yellowlegs...
I made out Dunlin, Avocet, more Yellowlegs, Black Bellied Plover, but the little ones, not sure some other birders turned in Stilt Sandpiper, and Least Sandpiper, Long and Short-billed Dowitcher and Im sure all of that and more was in this mix.
can you see the cloud of shorebirds flying in the background on this shot? They look like some white specks on my photo just at the line of the marsh grass.
There was a flock of about 65 Tundra Swan...
And Bonaparte's Gulls standing by to take flight...
Saw a pair of American Black Duck...they still make the rare list although I see them regularly here just not in large numbers.
Hard to distinguish from Mottled duck...but the dark body is what I look for and the bill is more greenish/yellow instead of Orange. This is the male in the foreground and I assume that is the female with him. I can't tell them apart.
the trails here were muddy and some of the roads were closed so we had to walk where normally you could drive....
This is not one of the driving trails tho you always have to walk this its' a dyke between 2 ponds, these are old Rice Trunk fields...I saw a lot of White Ibis out there plunging their whole head below water, the level is a bit higher than they like I imagine...
Some of the younger ones still in immature plumage,
Along with this group was one really energetic Tri-Colored Heron. He was dancing all over the place reminded of the Reddish Egret I never see anymore...
I can't think of a bird whose call I enjoy more than the Boat Tailed Grackle...maybe the Great Tailed Grackle is greater but it's such a story to hear!
https://ebird.org/profile/MzA2Njg4/world
I recorded it's call...so take a listen, most of you are probably familiar with it...
Other forest dwelling birds were around like this Eastern Towhee...he looked at me like he had just seen the creature from the black lagoon or a Martian, imagine being a bird spending your whole life back in a forest an then there it is....This "thing" standing upright and moving along the ground, then suddenly it "spoke" its like hell rained down upon this little bird look at the shock in those eyes.
There is both red and yellow eyed variety of this bird...and I must of put my binoculars up to my eyes a million times to view all the Yellow-Rumped Warblers of the Myrtle variety.
count=X--- beyond my skill set
I am seeing more butterflies lately...the sun brings me out and apparently them also...
One pond had a lot of Ruddy Duck present with a few Blue Winged Teal mixed in...
The Highlight of the day came at Lunch Time...
I decided to eat lunch in the van and at the same time hold a stake out to keep watch over this man made marvel of a nesting box...kinda like Elliott and Oliva in Law n Order. Only I didn't have one of those fake cups of coffee, I had a Vegan cheese sandwich and a one of those new fizzy drinks you know full of Carbon Dioxide!! Good grief. So on stake out I talk to myself, and I sing, and I make sounds to pass the time...
Its on an iron post about 15-20 ft off the ground...I didnt get a wide shot of the thing, realized that would have made sense, but I got this shot...of my stake out residence...
tic-tok tic-tok-tic-tok
HELLO THERE,,,
Bingo MY lifer Barn OWL...finally. And he/she took several peeky looks at me, and I was stoked to say the least. It had been reported so I was happy to see it still in this box. My mom used to say "you mean you drove me miles here to see a bird somebody said was in this spot a week ago?" She never understood why I was so naive....lol
What a face eh?? I downloaded some plans for a nest box, these owls will also use them as a nightly roosting box year round.
So that was my adventure on Saturday Feb 20th. Hope the end of Feb will mark the end of winter, its Friday and almost another week has passed, we had several good days but the rain is returning today Feb 26th. Ive got a couple more adventures up my sleeve to report on so stay tuned..one more Owl Peek....
Ciao!
PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.
