Birding Around Albuquerque

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a chance to get out and bird a time or two. I mostly went out to see some rare sightings that have shown up around town. I missed several, but managed to see a couple to add to my life list.

I visited Valle de Oro a couple times. I had heard there were a number of warblers there. It’s always fun to go find warblers, though my neck complains by the end of the day LOL!

When I arrived at Valle de Oro I saw a pair of coyotes out hunting. One disappeared right away, but the other stayed out long enough to let me get a few good pics.

Coyote

As always, I saw several Western Meadowlarks out singing. I love their beautiful voice.

Western Meadowlark

I walked along the main drainage ditch hoping to see some good birds. A scrub jay announced his presence.

Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay

Then almost right away I heard a lot of birds singing. I just started taking pics of everything that moved. As you know, songbirds are small and fast!!! When I looked at the pics I was surprised to see a several birds I don’t see often. Mainly my nemesis, the Lazuli Bunting. Try my hardest, I can’t get a good pic of this bird.

Lazuli Bunting

Black-Throated Gray Warbler

Cedar Waxwing

I heard several Summer Tanagers singing. It’s amazing how a bright red bird can hide among green leaves. But they can just disappear! I only got a few pics and they weren’t very good. But I did see a Western Tanager female closer to me.

Western Tanager Female

I had been told where a Common Black Hawk’s nest was near the Valle de Oro. So I went on a 2-mile hike to find this beautiful bird. Once I was in the general location, I looked for the nest. I found it way up high in a cottonwood tree. There was no seeing if anything was in the nest. I waited around for a while and eventually heard the hawk calling from a distance. Then to my delight the bird flew in and landed near the nest. A lifer for me! At first I barely saw him as he was deep in the leaves.

Common Black Hawk

Eventually he moved to a better location for photos. This is a magnificent bird. From what I understand there are only about 250 breeding pairs in the US. They are easily disturbed by humans and are known to abandon nests if bothered too much. So after getting a few pics, I quietly left the area to let them raise their young undisturbed.

Common Black Hawk

On my way back I saw a flycatcher along the ditch. I believe it’s a Hammond’s Flycatcher.

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Then I heard another bird calling that I only rarely hear – a Gray Catbird. Always a treat to see and hear! I only managed one pic and that was from behind.

Gray Catbird

While hiking along he ditch, I enjoyed the wild irises blooming.

Wild irises

While hiking at Valle de Oro I came across this interesting insect. I tried looking it up, but I can’t figure out what it is.

Not sure what this cute guy is….

I had heard about a very rare sighting in the East Mountain area that I just had to go find. There was a Golden-Winged Warbler sighted and it was practically in my back yard. After much searching I was rewarded with a short view of this bird. I took several photos before he disappeared into the deep brush. I managed to get a few decent pics. Another lifer!

Golden-Winged Warbler

While hiking there I was treated to some beautiful wild apple blossoms.

Wild apple tree blossoms

I visited the Rio Grande Nature Center. I hadn’t been there in a while, so it was a treat to see it in the springtime. Right away I heard a Yellow-Breasted Chat singing. I managed to find it in a tree on the island in the pond. So it was quite a distance away.

Yellow-Breasted Chat

I also saw the resident roadrunners in the parking lot. Always fun to photograph!

Greater Roadrunner

While walking the paths, I heard some Summer Tanagers talking back and forth amongst each other. This time I had more success getting photos of the pair.

Summer Tanager male

Summer Tanager female

There were several Black-Chinned Hummingbirds visiting the feeders. Whenever there are several hummingbirds at a feeder, there’s always fights defending their food. For a tiny bird, they are fierce!

Black-Chinned Hummingbird

Uh oh! He sees another hummer coming for him!

Defending the feeder!

Here are some of the other birds I saw on my visit.

Canada Goose

Western-Wood Pewee

Lesser Goldfinch

Ash-Throated Flycatcher

The gardens were beginning to bloom. The bees were happily gathering pollen.

Poppies

Shooting stars

Giant black bee

I was entertained by a resident White-Winged Dove that has become very tame. The gardeners told me his name was Lonesome Larry. He was so tame, he would take see from your hand. He stayed so close to me, that I barely got photos because my zoom lens had a hard time focusing on such a close subject. 🙂

White-Winged Dove

Lonesome Larry

Such beautiful coloring

I’ve been keeping an eye on a Red-Tailed Hawk’s nest not far from my house. When I visited recently, I saw the eggs have finally hatched. When I first looked, I thought there was only one baby. But the mother flew off the nest and I saw two babies!

Red-Tailed Hawk with babies

It’s been great getting out birding. It was nice to see all the summer birds returning to Albuquerque.

Last Birding Trip of 2017

During the last week of December, I was able to take a trip to Bosque del Apache. I try to visit there every December as that’s when the winter bird count is pretty high.

I left well before sunrise. As I was driving down, I started getting into thicker and thicker fog. At one point I had to slow down to 40 mph on a 75 mph interstate.

It was difficult to bird first thing due to the thick fog, so I took a few scenic shots.

Boardwalk through the marsh

A lone American Coot walking through the marsh area

Quiet solitude

I was pleased to see a beautiful coyote in his handsome winter coat.

Beautiful coyote among the hoarfrost

Fortunately, the fog cleared up once the sun rose and I was able to start hunting for birds.

I first noticed a Great Blue Heron grooming.

Great Blue Heron

There were lots of raptors about. Most of them seemed reluctant to move from their morning perch.

Northern Harrier

Cooper’s Hawk

American Kestral

Northern Harrier

American Bald Eagles

Red-Tailed Hawk

I started driving around the ponds to see what waterfowl was about. I happened to notice two Northern Harriers squabbling. They were quite a ways away but I managed to capture a pic.

Northern Harriers fighting

I was surprised to find that there really wasn’t very many waterfowl about. I had to really search the ponds to find any. Not sure where they were all hiding.

Bufflehead – male

Northern Pintail

Bufflehead – female

Pied-Billed Grebe

Ring-Necked Duck

Northern Shoveler

Of course there were lots of Snow Geese about. But every time I made it around the circle to see them, they were flying.

Snow Geese

I always hear there are wading birds that winter at the refuge, but I rarely see them. But on this day I saw three Lesser Yellowlegs feeding in the shallows of a pond.

Lesser Yellowlegs

I saw a few songbirds about that day. There were a couple of rare sightings for the area, but I never saw them. Drat!

Song Sparrow

Gambel’s Quail

Marsh Wren

White-Winged Dove

House Finch

One of my favorite sightings of the day was a Crissal Thrasher singing his little heart out atop a bush. Surprisingly he let me get pretty close singing the whole time.

Crissal Thrasher

I sat and watched a roadrunner look for lunch. They are always entertaining. He hunted for awhile before he noticed me watching. I took this pic the moment he realized he wasn’t alone. 🙂

Greater Roadrunner

My last sighting of the day was a grebe off in the distance. When I zoomed in and took a pic, I was delighted to see it was a Clark’s Grebe. These are considered a rare sighting for the area, so that was a real treat.

Clark’s Grebe

I left around noon and decided to drive a different route home. I took the Quebradas Scenic Route home. I had heard a lot about this road. But to be honest I couldn’t really see why it was considered so beautiful. But there was one place on the road I found very picturesque, so I got out a took a pic.

Quebradas Scenic Route

Just before leaving that highway, I came across some deer feeding in the fields.

Mule Deer

I still had some light left in the day, so I stopped in at the Bernardo Refuge. The Sandhill Cranes seem to prefer this area over Bosque del Apache.

I got there near sunset, and all the cranes were coming in to the pond to drink. It was a beautiful sight seeing and hearing the cranes flying overhead in the soft light of sunset.

Sandhill Cranes

While photographing the cranes, I happened to notice the Super Moon had risen. It was big and blue!

Super Moon

I had a wonderful day birding. It had been quite some time since I had been able to take a whole day to bird.

Just beautiful…

While hiking the trails, a train came through. 🙂

Christmas Birding

The weather here in New Mexico has been very mild for wintertime. So I took advantage of the nice day and went birding yesterday. I haven’t had much chance to bird lately, so it was a real treat to have a whole day to visit several places and get some fun bird sightings.

My first stop was to visit the Rio Grande Nature Center for their Saturday morning bird walk. When you go on their guided tours, you get taken into places of the park you normally can’t visit. So it’s always a treat to go behind the scenes.

The early morning temperatures were in the mid 20s, so it was definitely a cold start. The ducks didn’t seem very happy about standing on the ice instead of swimming in the water.

Mallards and Wood Ducks

A Black-Crowned Night Heron was hiding in the bushes nearby.

Black-Crowned Night Heron

On the main pond there were a few ducks enjoying the area that hadn’t frozen over. It was a treat to see a Hooded Merganser male. Even though they are common in our area during the winter, you just don’t see them that often.

Hooded Merganser

Along with the Hooded Merganser there were a few other visitors.

Ruddy Ducks in the Foreground and a Canvasback female in the back

American Coot on the left and a Pied-Billed Grebe on the right

Pied-Billed Grebe

Mallard

Canada Geese

We saw a few other birds along our walk, but for the most part it was quiet.

A variety of blackbirds

Sandhill Crane

Western Bluebird

After the guided tour, I walked around the park a little more to see what might be visiting the feeders. There was a nice variety of birds enjoying the free meal.

Spotted Towhee

Red-Winged Blackbird female

White-Crowned Sparrow

Downy Woodpecker

Bewick’s Wren

White-Throated Sparrow

Black-Capped Chickadee

I walked down to the Rio Grande to see what might be hanging out at the river. Over the past few years Albuquerque has had a flock of Ring-Billed Seagulls hanging out on the sand bars of the Rio Grande near Alameda Street. This year those sand bars got flooded over by the river. I had wondered where the seagulls had moved to since their usual spot was too deep for them. I was excited to see they had found a new area behind the nature center. I scanned the flock to see if there were any other breeds visiting the flock, but I didn’t see any this time.

Ring-Billed Gulls

While photographing the flock, a fly fisherman came down to fish the area. I managed to get a decent pic of him casting his line. It’s hard to see, but I still liked the photo.

Before leaving the nature center, I was lucky enough to see 3 Greater Roadrunners around the parking area. They are so used to people, that I swear they pose for the camera. Of course, I took about 500 pics of just the roadrunners. 🙂

Greater Roadrunner

Posing so nicely for me

Got a peek of those gorgeous purple feathers of the crest

From there I visited Los Poblanos Open Space. I had hoped to see the Western Screech Owls occupying the nesting boxes. But sadly none of them poked their heads out while I was there. But I found a few other treasures while hiking around the fields.

Say’s Phoebe

Western Meadowlark

Black Phoebe that managed to find a bug in the cold weather

Song Sparrow

A leucistic American Goldfinch

My favorite sightings of that visit was seeing both a male and female American Kestral. Such beautiful, small birds of prey.

American Kestral male

American Kestral female

My third stop was to find the American Dipper that has been spotted in the drainage ditch along the Rio Grande. Though they are a common bird in our state, they are rarely seen in Albuquerque. They prefer fast flowing streams where they can dip and dive in the rapids looking for food. The Rio Grande in the Albuquerque area is mostly a wide, placid river. But there are a few spots in the year-round flowing drainage ditches that have man-made rapids coming out of culverts.

After walking a little ways along the ditch, I was thrilled to see the dipper bobbing along the water’s edge. He didn’t seem concerned to have an audience. It was a real treat watching him feeding in and around the water’s edge. Needless to say, I took another 500 photos of this bird. LOL!

American Dipper

American Dipper swimming

There were a few other visitors there along the ditch that I enjoyed watching as well.

Black Phoebe

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Overall, I had a great day going from one birding spot to another. Scarlett had a great time walking all the trails with me.

A lovely old cottonwood tree

Summer Birds and Other Goodies

With my several trips this year and busy work, I haven’t had time to blog as often as I would have liked to. So I thought I would combine several sightings over the summer into one post. Now that fall is officially here, many of these birds are gone or will be gone soon.

During the summer I went on several day hikes within a couple hours of Albuquerque. Partly to see something new in scenery and partly to see some birds I don’t normally see around home.

One hike that was new for me was the Cave Creek hike in the Pecos Wilderness. It’s about a 5-mile round trip hike to some caves that were created by water eroding through limestone. It was a beautiful hike in thick forest along a creek. Of course, Scarlett enjoyed the water immensely!

So much fun at the water crossings!

Lovely stream to hike along.

The caves were very interesting. There were several that were big enough to walk inside of. I didn’t go very far in as it got dark quickly and I wasn’t sure how deep the water got. But lots of fun to explore. Scarlett was curious about the caves as well.

Unique caves created by water erosion.

Scarlett exploring a smaller cave.

On this hike I saw a flock of Dusky Grouse. This is pretty much the only grouse specie New Mexico has. I’ve only seen this bird a few times of the past 20 years and never very close. But I was lucky on this hike. When I startled them, they flew into a nearby pine and sat very still – which was perfect for a great photo.

Dusky Grouse

Another day I ventured to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains next to Santa Fe. It was a very cloudy day and the birds were few, but I managed to get a few nice sightings. A favorite – Green Tailed Towhee – came close to check me out so I was able to see his colors nicely.

Green Tailed Towhee

Williamson’s Sapsucker – Juvenile

Dark-Eyed Junco

One of the highlights of this hike was seeing lots of mushrooms. I’ve seen photos of the red and white polka dot mushrooms, but never have seen one in person. It was a real treat seeing and photographing them. 🙂

Poisonous mushroom – but so pretty!

Aspen Vista is a beautiful hike at about 8,000 feet above sea level. As you know Scarlett loves water. But she also loves culverts. She’s always looking inside them to see what might be hiding. On this hike, she found a culvert that was big enough to run through and it had water flowing through it. Bonus!

Scarlett having a blast!

I walked along the Rio Grande several times. Most of the colorful summer birds love the Bosque. It’s so much fun looking for and photographing these beauties!

Blue Grosbeak

Summer Tanager

Neotropic Cormorant

Downy Woodpecker

Great Blue Heron

Say’s Phoebe

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird enjoying the summer mimosa blooms!

House Sparrow

House Finch – partial orange morph

Orange-Crowned Warbler

One day while hiking along the river, I came across a Cooper’s Hawk enjoying breakfast. You could tell it had caught a songbird by the foot hanging out of it’s beak. Poor thing….

Songbird for breakfast anyone???

While reviewing my photos, I realized I had captured a lifer bird on one of my outings along the river. I love it when that happens! In this case, I had mistaken it for a Summer Tanager. But when I reviewed the photo more closely, I realized it was a Hepatic Tanager. Yay!!!

Hepatic Tanager

Of course, Scarlett always enjoys a visit to the river!

Look at that big grin on Scarlett’s face!

One day I took a drive out to Stanley. I hadn’t been there for quite some time. I saw a lot of the usual residents there. I never tire seeing a Western Meadowlark or the many hawks that live there. 🙂

Cliff Swallow

Red-Tailed Hawk (juvenile) – I love the coloring of this particular bird

Western Meadowlark

Around home I’ve had several new birds visit my yard this summer. It’s so exciting to see something new show up. I hope they find me again next year! Some were easy to photograph, while others were very elusive. The birds I was unable to photograph but saw were Yellow-Headed Blackbird, Brown-Headed Blackbird, Northern Saw-Whet Owl, and Green-Tailed Towhee.

Pygmy Nuthatch

Curve-Billed Thrasher

I love their orange eyes.

Along with the new birds I’ve seen this year, I’ve had plenty of the resident birds stopping by the feeders and bird baths.

Western Bluebird

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

A very shy Ladderback Woodpecker (hence the blurry photo)

Wilson’s Warbler – coming to enjoy my bird bath

Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay

Hairy Woodpecker

Mountain Chickadee

Holding down a sunflower seed to extract its goodness.

Bushtit

Lesser Goldfinch

Black-Headed Grosbeak

Juniper Titmouse

Virginia’s Warbler

Rufous Hummingbird

Bewick’s Wren

This summer New Mexico saw several forest fires in the Jemez Mountains. Because of this, a lot of the bird life has migrated south to new habitats. This summer we saw a large number of Lewis’s Woodpeckers in the greater Albuquerque area. We normally don’t see them here, so it was a real treat to see one only a couple miles from my house. It seemed to prefer this telephone pole as it was sighted there often. And it didn’t like the squirrel using its pole.

Lewis’s Woodpecker

Get off my pole!!!

I drove down to the Monzano Mountains a couple weeks ago hoping to see the fall colors starting in 4th of July Canyon. Though the colors still haven’t begun, I did get to see several birds.

Steller’s Jay – so beautiful!

Red-Tailed Hawks

I saw a Brown Creeper – always a delight. They are very difficult to see against the bark and they move quickly.

Brown Creeper

Plus I got a lifer! A Golden-Crowned Kinglet. I’ve been looking for this bird for several years and just happened upon it on this trail. Yay! This guy was way up in the canopy shadows and moving so fast!

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

Among the many bird sightings I had over the summer, I came across some other interesting things. I thought you might enjoy seeing them. 🙂

Cool bee on a beautiful summer sunflower

Ahhhhhhhh……

Southwestern Fence Lizard

Hoary Comma

Aphrodite Fritillary

Police Car Moth

Western Tailed-Blue

I love the colors on this dragonfly

This beetle “hisses” when you touch it. A unique defense!

Great Plains Skink (juvenile). This guy was so cool!!! I love the markings on the face. This skink will turn plain brown all over as an adult.

Painted Lady

Can you see the walking stick expertly hiding

Marine Blue

Common Side-Blotched Lizard

Jackrabbit

Capulin Spring Birding

Yesterday I got up early so I could visit Capulin Spring in the Sandia Mountains. This is a great time to visit the spring because we get some fall migrating warblers. The most sought after warbler this time of year is the Townsend’s Warbler. We only get them here for a few weeks in September, then we have to wait another year to see them again.

So I had high hopes of seeing this warbler. I had my new camera after all! I was hoping to get a better photo of one than I have in the past.

When I first arrived there were the usual Dark-Eyed Juncos about. They are always here in great numbers. We get several variety of Juncos in New Mexico, but the most common is the “gray headed”.

Dark-Eyed Junco – Gray Headed

Then a group of Yellow-Rumped Warblers came in for a drink and a bath. We have these birds here year round. Now that it’s officially fall, their plumage is less vibrant than in the spring. But they are still a pretty warbler.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

After sitting quietly for awhile I was rewarded with the Townsend’s Warbler. Two of them in fact! Beautiful! They were very cautious to come get a drink. As with all warblers, they were quick too! But I managed to get a few good pics. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Townsend’s Warbler

Then a couple of fellow birders showed up – Sharon and Vicki. We had a great time birding together. With three pairs of eyes, we were able see more sightings. One of which was a new bird for me!

Sharon pointed out a soaring bird way up high overhead. I zoomed way in and was able to get one photo before it soared away. Not a great photo but I got it! A Northern Goshawk!

Northern Goshawk

For awhile we had been seeing Steller’s Jays. They were acting very shy. But once us girls started visiting, they seem to relax and start coming in. Funny! You’d think sitting still and quiet would make them more brave. Instead, they were happier when they were ignored. LOL!

Steller’s Jay

There were several Ruby Crowned Kinglets about but they were quick! I got a lot of bad photos and one decent one.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Vicki pointed out a different Junco – a “pink sided”. A pretty little bird.

Dark-Eyed Junco – Pink Sided

Happily another warbler showed up for a drink and bath – an Orange-Crowned Warbler.

Orange-Crowned Warbler

A couple nuthatches showed up. I usually see more when I visit, but this day they were kinda scarce.

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Here are picks of the other more common visitors to the spring.

Chipping Sparrow

Northern Flicker

Mountain Chickadee

Lesser Goldfinch

Then to my great delight a Plumbeous Vireo showed up. He was very nervous and darted all about. Though not a great pic – it was the best of the bunch. Soon he will be leaving us for the winter.

Plumbeous Vireo

Just before I was leaving I saw a Green-Tailed Towhee – always a delight to see and hear.

Green-Tailed Towhee

It was a great morning birding with friends. 🙂

Jewels of the Desert

I believe the tiny little hummingbirds I get every summer are truly little jewels of the desert. Their iridescent colors just shine like the most precious stones when the light hits them just right.

July and August are my peak months for hummingbirds. In spring I get the Broad-Tailed and Black-Chinned Hummingbirds. They nest here every year. But starting early July, I get the migratory Rufous and Calliope Hummingbirds. It’s a wonderful time of year having all four variety of hummingbirds visiting my feeders. I have 3 feeders that hold 2 cups of sugar water each. During July and August I have to fill these feeders twice a day!

These little birds are very fast. Catching them in flight is a real challenge. I got a couple of decent shots in flight but I definitely need to improve on this technique.

Broad-Tailed Hummigbird

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

Some years it seems the birds are more brave than others. This year they were a little more hesitant to let me photograph them. I did manage to get a few nice shots. Of the 4 species, the most bullying to other hummers and yet the most shy around people is the Rufous Hummingbird. He’s the most challenging to get a decent photo.

Rufous Hummingbird

The most challenging to get colors to show is the Black-Chinned Hummingbird. They have to turn just right in the light to catch that gorgeous purple throat. After many, many attempts, this is the only photo I got recently that shows the color. Sadly it’s not a very good pic. But I will keep trying!

Black-Chinned Hummingbird

The most common visitor to my feeders is the Broad-Tailed Hummingbird. Over the years I’ve only managed to find a couple of nests though I see plenty of females out there busily gathering nesting materials. And come summer there are lots of young hummers at the feeders.

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

Look at that gorgeous color on his throat!

But my most favorite hummer is the Calliope Hummingbird. I love their unique feathers on their throat. When fending off other hummers from the feeder, they can flare out those long pink feathers. Just beautiful! They are considerably smaller than the other 3 species I get. They are the smallest breeding hummingbird in the US. While the other species are generally 3 inches in length, this little guy is around 2.5 inches. They have to really stretch their necks to sit and feed on my feeders.

Calliope Hummigbird

So I think you will agree, hummingbirds are definitely little jewels of the desert!

Calliope Hummingbird

Miscellaneous Birds and Other Fun Stuff in Port Aransas, Texas

I saved the most difficult category for last – miscellaneous birds. Specifically flycatchers. I am challenged when it comes to identifying flycatchers. Thankfully, there was a local birding expert nearby when I saw the flycatchers, and she was able to identify them for me. You can see why it’s challenging to identify them…they almost look identical!

Here’s the many variety of flycatchers I saw at Port Aransas. And they are all lifers!!!

Alder Flycatcher

Acadian Flycatcher

Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Least Flycatcher

While visiting there, I went out every morning before dawn. I saw some beautiful sights around the town. One morning I toured the marina and took a few pics.

Beautiful sailboats

Homes on the Port Aransas Marina

The beach at dawn is gorgeous. Very few people, calm winds, the sounds of the surf and birds.

Horace Caldwell Pier at sunrise

I found some sand sculptures one morning. They must have had a contest the day before that was sponsored by Crown Royal. I was pretty impressed with the sculptures, though I can’t figure out why the pig was the grand champion. Hmmmmmm…..

Willie Nelson

It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere

Lovely mermaid

Grand Champion Pig

While walking Charlie’s Pasture I did encounter a few butterflies. They were difficult to find as the wind blew pretty good almost my entire trip. I found other fun stuff too while hiking the boardwalks.

A gorgeous passion flower

I believe this is a White Peacock that survived a close call!

Funereal Duskywing

Ceraunus Blue

Green Anole shedding its skin. I loved to catch these lizards when I was a little kid living in Houston!

Common Buckeye

A very fresh Pipevine Swallowtail

One morning at Charlie’s Pasture I came across a coyote. Just beautiful!

Coyote

While visiting the Leonabelle Refuge I saw lots of Great-Tailed Grackles and a few other fun things.

Crab

The sightings of the day 🙂

Great-Tailed Grackle

Mullet – this fish was 2.5 feet long!

I had two birds I really wanted to see while visiting the Gulf Coast. The first was the Roseate Spoonbill, which I did see and posted about previously. The second bird was the Crested Caracara. I have looked for this bird for years. On this trip I finally saw it. Then like my blogging friend Aussiebirder who recently commented “it takes you forever to see that lifer bird, then it seems like once you see it, you see it everywhere!” I think I saw over 10 individuals while there this last trip.

Crested Caracara

Along with the Crested Caracara I saw these other two birds I scared off a dead coyote.

Turkey Vulture

Harris’s Hawk

One day we visited Aransas Wildlife Refuge. It took about 1.5 hours to get there, but was well worth the trip. That particular day was extremely windy. The beach would have been miserable. But with all the trees at the refuge, it was a beautiful day. The very first thing we saw were 3 alligators!!! 🙂 That was awesome!

Alligator

Alligators

We drove around this large refuge and came across some fun stuff. There was this 80-foot high catwalk. It was so fun to walk that climbing, winding cawalk. At the top the views of the coastline were amazing!

Scarlett loved running up the path

My mom waving from further down the path. Such fun!

Gorgeous view!

While hiking this catwalk, we spotted a huge butterfly. It landed very briefly for one photo.

Palamedes Swallowtail

And I got a beautiful shot of a dove.

White-Winged Dove

We had a picnic in a lovely spot. A deer greeted us as we drove up. This would be one of several deer we would see that day.

White-Tailed Deer

Me and Scarlett

Beautiful picnic area

I love the oak trees in Texas

I took mom and dad out to a nice dinner for Dad’s birthday. The restaurant was small and intimate and the food was delicious.

My dad (Joe) at his birthday dinner

But our favorite place to eat was Trout Street. We ate there twice on the patio enjoying the marina view. After dinner on one visit, mom and I toured the docks. I really considered buying this yacht that was for sale (NOT!). 🙂

Mom and Dad (Dorothy and Joe)

Dad looking very nautical in his blue and white striped shirt 🙂

Me enjoying a lovely dinner on the marina

My beautiful mother!

Tempting to buy….. LOL!

One day visiting the beach we drove past a Jeep Rally. I was really wishing I was in my Jeep. But sadly we were in my dad’s Ford pickup. I need to see about Jeep Rallies in New Mexico!

Jeep Rally at the Beach

Lots of great Jeeps were there

It was a wonderful trip to the Gulf Coast!!! I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures there.

Shorebirds in Port Aransas, Texas

This is a big category. There were so many different kinds of shorebirds when I visited. Of course, I wasn’t complaining. 😉

Gorgeous sunrise on the Gulf Coast of Texas

I visited the beach a couple of times at sunrise. This proved to be a good idea as the terns were hanging out on the beach grooming before taking off to eat breakfast. I saw a nice group of terns one morning with a lifer among them – the Sandwich Tern. I wonder how it got its name???

Sandwich Tern

Also in the group were Royal Terns (gorgeous birds) and a juvenile Black Tern.

Royal Tern

Black Tern – juvenile

While driving along the beach I saw a group of Black Skimmers fly by feeding. Such a unique bird. You’ll notice the upper beak is shorter than the lower enabling it to skim the water while flying fast. I never saw any sitting still, so I was happy I managed to get one decent photo of one flying.

Black Skimmer

As always on the beach, lots of seagulls!

Laughing Gulls

Laughing Gull

One variety of birds I just love are the sandpipers. When I was little living in the Philippines, I called the sandpipers “step and pecks” because that’s exactly what they do!

Western Sandpiper

Sanderling – I love this photo

Ruddy Turnstone

One day at the beach, I witnessed a very disturbing sight. I was looking at a particular bird that seemed different from all the Western Sandpipers around. So I went to grab my camera. When I turned around to take a picture, I didn’t see it. That’s when I noticed some grackles that were ganging up on something. I took a couple quick pics with my camera to see what they were attacking. I realized they were attacking the bird I wanted to photograph!!! What!?! I didn’t know grackles would kill anything. I thought they were scavenger birds. I put down the camera and went to see if I could save the little bird. Sadly, I was too late 🙁 I now hate grackles…..

This Great-Tailed Grackle is attacking a Sanderling, which is trying to fight back.

The grackle was just too big to fight off.

So sad……

Out at Charlie’s Pasture I sat quietly on a shaded bench for about an hour. Different varieties of birds would come and go from the pond. The highlight of that particular visit was when a large group of American Avocets flew in. I had never seen a large group in breeding plumage feed together before. It was like a beautiful ballet. They were a synchronized group that chattered constantly among themselves. It was a real delight to watch.

American Avocets

American Avocets in a beautiful synchronized dance

Another day at Charlie’s pasture I got another lifer – Gull-Billed Terns! They were quite a ways away so getting a decent pic was a challenge.

Gull-Billed Terns

In great breeding numbers was the Least Tern. I searched in vain for any babies, but never did see any. The parents were clever enough to not feed any while I watched. They would land and just sit – waiting for me to leave. Oh well……

Least Tern

A favorite every time I visit the coast is the Brown Pelican. These birds are so unique looking. They are a joy to watch fish as they dive into the water and fill that giant bill with fish. The Brown Pelican during breeding season has beautiful coloration. On this trip, I got my most favorite photo I’ve ever taken of one.

Brown Pelican

I was excited to find Dunlins on several of my outings. They are a lifer for me!

Dunlin

There was such a variety of marsh and shorebirds everywhere I went. It was such a joy to see such unique birds!

Greater Yellowlegs

Black-Necked Stilt

Stilt Sandpiper

Wilson’s Phalarope

Willet

While hiking around Charlie’s Pasture, I noticed a couple of plovers. One in the very far distance was a Snowy Plover. Happily one close by was a lifer for me. A Wilson’s Plover!!

Snowy Plover

Wilson’s Plover – look at all the bands he’s wearing!

I love birding at the beach during spring!

Horace Caldwell Pier at sunrise

Egrets, Herons and other Waterfowl in Port Aransas, Texas

I saw lots and lots of egrets and herons on this trip. Evidently southern Texas was experiencing a drought while I was there. Due to the drought, the shallow salt water and fresh water ponds were small and sparse. This was very hard on the birds, but made for great birding. Every time I visited a pond, I would see lots of birds feeding there. I hope they get rain soon because at the rate the fish were being eaten in the ponds, I can’t see how that resource can last much longer.

One of my favorite places to visit for the larger bird sightings was Charlie’s Pasture. It’s a 5-mile or so trail that winds its way through the salt water flats. Here’s a pic of one of the areas that should have had water but was dry.

Miss Scarlett enjoying the boardwalk

When I did come upon a pool, this is what I would find. Birds everywhere. Needless to say, lots of squabbles broke out among the groups.

I got to finally see a Reddish Egret. Lifer! Such a beautiful bird. I especially love the long feathers on their neck that look like red hair.

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New Mexico Birder

Birding & Photography in New Mexico & the Southwest

Category Archives: migration

Birding Around Albuquerque

Last Birding Trip of 2017

Christmas Birding

Summer Birds and Other Goodies

Capulin Spring Birding

Jewels of the Desert

Miscellaneous Birds and Other Fun Stuff in Port Aransas, Texas

Shorebirds in Port Aransas, Texas

Egrets, Herons and other Waterfowl in Port Aransas, Texas