Dec 27, 2019
I had to go to Birmingham for a deposition on the case about my car wreck. I also wanted to spend Christmas vacation visiting some of my favorite birding spots in Texas. I didn't get any local takers but then my friend Laurel, from Maryland, asked if I'd like to do a birding trip. I told her all she needed to do was to come meet up with me. We met in Mobile and then drove to Houston to begin birding down the Texas coast. These blogs will not be in order but I'll cover most of the places or areas where we birded.
I'm writing this in the library of Junction, Texas after Laurel and I spent the morning visiting the four blinds and walking the trails that are only open from 10:00 - 3:00. The rest of the time they are closed to protect the visiting turkeys. But we only saw seven turkeys while expected to see at least twenty. (I asked the staff about the turkeys and they think those seven males are all they have. They advertised eight hundred when I first started visiting about thirty years ago. ) We are also finding very few birds compared to other years. Laurel is exploring back roads around town and enjoying the Hill Country. Stay tuned for that blog later.
Laurel and I went to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in the morning because we had reserved a spot on the tour bus. I apparently didn't get any decent pictures in the cloudy light but we had a good time. But the birds were in short supply and high winds kept us from seeing several expected species. We had better luck at the state park, even though we had way fewer birds than expected. Winnie and Paula, Corpus Friends, came to join us and we met them there.
We had a bonanza of birds at alligator lake, including night herons, the only anhinga we saw along the coast, and the common pauraque, for which we had to search a lot longer than usual . It is usual in a a spot 10X10 or less but had moved since I've been looking for it or its prodigy over the last twenty some years.
Laurel and I made it back to civilization at Natalie's house last night - I'm actually editing the blog before sending it into the ether this first Sunday of 2020 - and I just made breakfast for Natalie and Ellen and send them off to help with a dog tracking test. Laurel just woke up and I need to go get ready for a day of birding in Galveston.
Hope all of you are starting the new year with big plans to make it your best year ever. I'm hoping to continue that trend myself. I'm so grateful that I can still travel and volunteer and enjoy life and my widely scattered friends.
I had to go to Birmingham for a deposition on the case about my car wreck. I also wanted to spend Christmas vacation visiting some of my favorite birding spots in Texas. I didn't get any local takers but then my friend Laurel, from Maryland, asked if I'd like to do a birding trip. I told her all she needed to do was to come meet up with me. We met in Mobile and then drove to Houston to begin birding down the Texas coast. These blogs will not be in order but I'll cover most of the places or areas where we birded.
I'm writing this in the library of Junction, Texas after Laurel and I spent the morning visiting the four blinds and walking the trails that are only open from 10:00 - 3:00. The rest of the time they are closed to protect the visiting turkeys. But we only saw seven turkeys while expected to see at least twenty. (I asked the staff about the turkeys and they think those seven males are all they have. They advertised eight hundred when I first started visiting about thirty years ago. ) We are also finding very few birds compared to other years. Laurel is exploring back roads around town and enjoying the Hill Country. Stay tuned for that blog later.
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| Sunrise on the way - this area is getting more and more windmills |
Laurel and I went to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in the morning because we had reserved a spot on the tour bus. I apparently didn't get any decent pictures in the cloudy light but we had a good time. But the birds were in short supply and high winds kept us from seeing several expected species. We had better luck at the state park, even though we had way fewer birds than expected. Winnie and Paula, Corpus Friends, came to join us and we met them there.
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| Green jay |
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| Orange crowned warbler - we saw lots of these |
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| Mottled ducks - a Texas native in distress |
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| There was a huge group of resting white pelicans in the Llano Grande |
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| We also saw a distant group of black -necked stilts |
We had a bonanza of birds at alligator lake, including night herons, the only anhinga we saw along the coast, and the common pauraque, for which we had to search a lot longer than usual . It is usual in a a spot 10X10 or less but had moved since I've been looking for it or its prodigy over the last twenty some years.
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| Yellow crowned night heron |
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| Anhinga |
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| Immature yellow crowned night heron |
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| Black crowned night heron |
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| Sleeping common pauraque |
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| White ibis |
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| Least grebe |
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| We heard this bird trill so it is a tropical kingbird. Couch's kingbird looks almost identical but has a different song |
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| We got a closeup of a Harris hawk |
Laurel and I made it back to civilization at Natalie's house last night - I'm actually editing the blog before sending it into the ether this first Sunday of 2020 - and I just made breakfast for Natalie and Ellen and send them off to help with a dog tracking test. Laurel just woke up and I need to go get ready for a day of birding in Galveston.
Hope all of you are starting the new year with big plans to make it your best year ever. I'm hoping to continue that trend myself. I'm so grateful that I can still travel and volunteer and enjoy life and my widely scattered friends.
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