The Verdin
You tiny puff of feathers
with orange shoulder patch
sing your piping song.
I’ll sing along …
Archive for the ‘Birding’ Category
The Verdin
Posted in Birding, tagged Bird Photography, Verdin on March 20, 2021| 3 Comments »
Mangrove Warbler
Posted in Birding, Texas Birds, tagged Mangrove Warbler on March 19, 2020| Leave a Comment »
The rumors spread throughout our community of birding enthusiasts: “There is a new sub-species of Warbler and he can be seen near South Padre Island if you have a boat to take you out to the remote area where he lives. He has a chestnut colored head and some call him the Mangrove Warbler.”
Scarlet and Pat Boating
Pat’s friend, Scarlett, has a boat and is willing to take us to the willow bushes lining this arm of Laguna Madre Bay. Early morning is called for, and we drive to the boat dock and motor out in the crisp morning. Idling along we search and search … no luck … the tide changes … harder to get close to the banks of willow … and after a few hours we accept that the search is in vain.
Willows and Heron
Pat and Scarlett agree that not many people have seen him. Is he even still here? Home we go slightly disappointed … it was a long shot … and the dolphins frolicking in the water entertained us. Back at the dock, we are offered fish by a young boy who makes his living fishing from the docks.
Boy on the Dock
Here is a cheery little cookie who tells us, “As soon as school is out I run down here and catch fish. I have to have them at the market by 5:00 in order to sell them.” He is as cute as can be and we wish him good luck.
A couple weeks later Pat and Scarlett go out to the willow bank and take this photo
Mangrove Warbler
… he was there … just not when we were … C’est la vie!.
Birds of the Rio Grande Valley
Posted in Birding, Texas Birds, tagged Salineno on February 10, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Michael Emenaker
Here is the merry face of Michael Emenaker … one of the volunteer caretakers of the birding site in Salineno. This site is on the bank of the Rio Grande river with Mexico on the other side. It is an ideal place to see the “specialty” birds of this humid, tropical region. Michael comes down from Colorado to fill bird feeders, monitor people, and insure the health and good will of humans and birds, alike.
Michael Filling Feeders
Let us all be thankful that he has assumed the mantle of previous caretakers so that we can enjoy the Green Jay, all the Orioles, the Kiskadee and Roadrunner etc, etc. Every day he spreads peanut-butter/corn meal glop on the tree trunks and awaits the influx of many hungry birds.
Green Jays
Cardinal and Hooded Oriole
Kiskadee
Road Runner
One of the most spectacular birds is the Golden-fronted Woodpecker who is seen only in Texas. Another bird seen only in southernmost Texas is the Olive Sparrow with his dull greenish tint on his back. He is shy and hard to see as he prefers dense underbrush as his home. Sharing his neighborhood is the tiny Black-crested Titmouse who darts in, grabs a sunflower seed and dashes away giving almost no time to take a photo …many blurry shots of him I have taken before I managed to get this one of him. Hopping slowly next to the Olive Sparrow is the Black-throated Sparrow in his crisp white and black tuxedo. They all delight the people grouped around Michael who patiently names them for the beginning birders. Thanks Michael!
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Black-crested Titmouse
Olive Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
The Cactus Wren ! A desert bird who is comfortably at home building his nest right in a towering cactus. No one will bother his nest tucked into the protective spines of a cactus. He is a medley of stripes and dots. What a visually spectacular bird!
Cactus Wren
Finally, the Pyrrhuloxia … took me a while to get his name right … he is gray with a vermillion face, a pointed topknot, and red scattered down his chest. Sitting on a blue feeder tray he is delightful.
Pyrrhuloxia
Come on down to the Rio Grande Valley to see all these resident birds.
Butterflies in Panama
Posted in Birding, Butterflies, Panama on February 4, 2020| 1 Comment »
Here is a new wrinkle in the ongoing technology path of taking a picture. It is called “digi-scoping” or maybe “phonescoping”… it is using a digital camera phone with a telescope. In Panama our guide to finding amazing butterflies was looking thru his spotting scope at a dime-sized tiny butterfly sitting on a tree trunk 25 feet away from us. “Here is a Dirce butterfly” he said. I looked thru my binoculars and there was a patterned beauty, Tino gestured and said “Give me your Iphone”. I handed it over, he positioned it in front of the spotting scope, carefully moved it in minute increments to the perfect place, CLICK, and look at this wonderful photo.
Dirce Butterfly
The Dirce butterfly captured on my Ipnone. Marvellous!
Walking further down the deserted dirt road, Tino points to another tree 30 feet away and says “There is a Two Eye Eighty Eight butterfly on that trunk.” I squint, look thru my binoculars and see an itty-bitty blob. He again takes my Iphone and works his magic … an image of a butterfly with two black spots shows on my Iphone. “Can I try? ” I ask. He gives me the Ipnone and I move the lens close … closer … too close … back a bit. No luck … no image emerges … AND … the little guy flies away. This is much harder than it looks when watching Tino. A delicate touch, and lots of practice is required!
Two Eye Eighty Eight
Arriving at our lodge we are handed an empty plastic bottle and a man says “ Please fill this with your urine tonight to add to our ‘fermented brew’ which is sprayed on leaves along the trail. It attracts a lot of butterflies.” We are hot, tired, and fresh off our flight from the U.S., and it seems a strange request … but we comply and the next day, when we go out on the trail in the Panama jungle, we are rewarded with the Inca Metalmark butterfly sitting on the leaf sprayed with the brew. Phew! Who knew?
Inca Metalmark
Here is the Canopy Tower
Canopy Tower
It used to be a radar tower built by the U.S. and abandoned years ago. Then it was converted into a hotel where birders and butterfliers stay as they look down on the tops of the tropical trees where many creatures spend their days. The deck four floors up provides a place to view toucans, monkeys, and butterflies. Many happy hours are spent seeing a whole different world.
Sloth
Iguana
Red Legged Thrush
Posted in Birding, Cuba, tagged Cuban Birds, Red-legged Thrush on March 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Walking through the landscaped grounds of a resort we see a robin-sized bird hopping around the corner of a building. Snapping to ALERT we begin sneaking slowly toward the corner. Carrina and I put our heads around the edge and a Red-legged Thrush comes into focus.
Red-Legged Thrush
Our Cuban guide said he is hard to see as he is usually lurking in underbrush. Here he is in an open area with the sun shining on his red legs. They are neon red! His matching red eye is clearly outlined. We high five and glance around … there are three chambermaids, loaded with sheets, standing still with their mouths open and their eyes wide in concern looking at us. We wave and gesture at our cameras and try to reassure them we are harmless. They relax, smile, and scurry on to their jobs. Our sneaking must have been convincing!
The Cuban Tody
Posted in Birding, Cuba, tagged Cuban Birds, The Cuban Tody on March 17, 2019| 1 Comment »
The Cuban Tody
In contrast to the Bee Hummingbird, the Tody weighs 2 ounces. It is approx 4.3 inches long. This elusive little beauty hangs out high in trees … at least he did when we tried to get a photo of him. They are difficult to see but patient waiting will pay off handsomely when you spot this vibrantly colored bird. He is endemic (native and restricted to a certain place) to Cuba and a few islands around Cuba.
The Cuban Tody
The Cuban Tody
Bee Hummingbird … Smallest in the World
Posted in Birding, Cuba, tagged Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Birds on February 25, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Bee Hummingbird
Having seen this minute bird for myself it is still hard to believe that it weighs from 0.056 to 0.071 ounces.
Less than an ounce and still it zooms thru the air sipping nectar from flowers with abandon. His name in Cuba is Zunzun or better yet Zunzuncito. He sports iridescent feathers called a gorget hanging from his throat.
Sr. Bernabe
I am at the house of Sr. Bernabe who hosts the international visitors who come to visit the Zunzun and to watch them sip from the flowering tree in his back garden.
Bee Hummingbird
He graciously fills a feeder and holds it up so the Bee Hummingbird comes to eat and is available for photos. A mesmerizing hour is gone in a flash and we must leave. What a treat! Gracias!
The Black-throated Sparrow
Posted in Birding, Texas Birds, tagged Black-throated Sparrow, Cactus Wren, Clay-colored Robin, Olive Sparrow, Ranco Lomitas, Scaled Quail on January 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Playing Hide-n-Seek with a tiny sparrow may not sound like the highlight of the week … but it is for me!
Black-throated Sparrow
This crisp “Tuxedo” bird, with his black and white markings, lives in arid desert scrub-land where it seems he might have trouble keeping his immaculate appearance, yet there he is, looking splendid. He is shy and elusive like his cousin, the Olive Sparrow. Their habit is to make quick forays from beneath sheltering plants, grab a seed, and scuttle back under cover. Over a period of 7-8 years I have managed to get a few blurry photos but never one that shows their true colors.
Rancho Lomitas Garden
Today we are out at Rancho Lomitas in Texas, where we called ahead and arranged for a man to meet us at the locked gate and allow us to visit his RV trailer where he has fed birds for 18 years. Jim meets us and we sit outside in his garden and admire the huge cacti and many statues, baubles, and various hanging feeders. Then comes the big surprise … a Black-throated Sparrow ambles out, picks up a seed, and instead of running quickly back under the bushes, he fluffs his feathers, and utters a clear loud note. Two more stroll out and the three of them pose casually among the cacti. Terrific!
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- Olive Sparrow
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- Scaled Quail
Then out comes the Olive Sparrow to join them and he also stays in full view displaying his olive green back for the world to see. As if this is not enough riches for one day, a whir of wings deposits a flock of Scaled Quail at our feet. None of them seem concerned that people are near them.
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- Clay-colored Robin
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- Cactus Wren
Finally, venturing out to get a drink of water from the drip feature is a Clay-colored Robin. I think he has been re-classified as a thrush in the last few years but in my mind he is a robin with his round, chubby profile. Another hard-to-see bird! Rancho Lomitas is an unusual place … we enjoy these Southwestern birds in peaceful silence broken only by the liquid notes of a Cactus Wren perched on top of a blue sphere. Bird Heaven indeed!
Roadrunner
Posted in Birding, Natural Phenomena, Texas Birds, tagged Cattail Toothpick Grasshopper, Roadrunners, Texas Insects on March 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Roadrunner with eye patch clearly visible
What do I know about the Roadrunner that I did not know yesterday? Quite a bit … as seen in these photos this bird has a bare patch of skin behind each eye. I knew that … and usually the bit I have seen is bright blue. In these pic’s you can actually see that the patch is shaded blue anterior to red posterior. Never saw that before!!
Close up
We had the treat of varied weather with short spells of pelting rain: light, misty rain, blinding sunshine and foggy horizons as we drove to Falcon Lake in Texas. Once there we saw a dozen or more Roadrunners. They had their feathers fluffed up because it had rained but were out in full force in the sunshine seeking breakfast. Getting out to get a good shot i noticed the X tracks in the wet sand … with four toes they have two facing forward and two facing backward. It is called zygodactyl … who knew?
Eyepatch is visible even from this view
They live in arid scrub land and mate for life which is why we saw them in pairs searching for grasshoppers in the wet grass.
Roadrunner hunting for lunch
What a treat they were as they sped away from us. It was a stormy day harking back to my childhood when every day we lived WITH the weather not running indoors to escape it. Blessed rain to be appreciated and enjoyed.
Cattail Toothpick Grasshopper
This may be what the roadrunner will find to munch on! I was hunting an elusive butterfly when touching a leaf caused a strange insect to cautiously climb up a stalk of grass and stop … so I took his picture instead of the splendid butterfly I was chasing. Then he suddenly hopped … UP! … and OVER! a full 4 feet away. What an incredible distance for such a little guy. We chased him and every hop was 4 to 6 feet at a hop. WOW! I looked him up and he is a Cattail Toothpick Grasshopper found in the deep South around ponds and wet areas. He turned out to be a she as males are brown and females are green.
Cattail Toothpick Grasshopper
Here my friend holds the blade of grass she was perched on. You can see she’s about as big as a toothpick and shaped just like one!
Rose Throated Becard
Posted in Birding, Texas Birds, tagged Estero Llano, Issa, Rose Throated Becard on January 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Reading the Japanese poet Issa
A good world —
dew drops fall
by ones, by twos
Our Rose Throated Becard reflects the morning of January 20, 2017. He is fluffed up in the gray fog at Estero Llano and is obscured by drifting clouds of mist, yet his patch of rosy feathers shines out at us. We get a brief glimpse and then he is gone to find his breakfast. A poem written in the 1700-1800’s by Issa perfectly describes the park in Texas where we see him. The trees and bushes all have dew drops lined up along their stems and we hear their quiet drip as the mist begins to clear. Lovely morning.
Rose Throated Becard
Mary P Williams
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Mary P Williams 