April 27, 2023

Zooming – April 2023

April 27, 2023/ Gwen Morrison

The zoom capability of my bridge camera (Canon PowerShot SX70 HS) is used in almost every picture I take! I rarely carry binoculars anymore since I’d rather have the option of taking a picture once I find the subject…and I am keen to minimize the weight of gear I carry around.

The locations for the zoomed images selected for this month are Nixa MO, Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge (near Sherman TX), Carrollton TX, Coppell TX, and Springfield TX.

My favorite subject this month was ducklings! I was thrilled to find them in my neighborhood pond when they were only a few days old.

Enjoy my views of April 2023!

April 05, 2023

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in March 2023 – Pelicans

April 05, 2023/ Gwen Morrison

The American White Pelicans migrate through Hagerman and the birds were there during my two visits in late March. The first day was sunny and breezy. Breeding adults have a plate that protrudes from the upper bill; all the birds I photographed were adults…heading to breeding grounds further north.

The birds were mostly in the water although a group were standing on a snag in the water…along with a Double-crested Cormorant (note the size difference).

I did a short video of a group feeding together. They manage to synchronize their movement…herding fish toward the shallows! It’s a pelican ballet.

The second visit was cloudy and colder…and there were not as many pelicans. The wind made the feathers stand up on the top of ther heads.

February 03, 2019

Port Canaveral Boat Tour

February 03, 2019/ Gwen Morrison

After we picked up our registration material for the Space Coast Birding Festival, we went out for lunch then headed to the Kelly Park dock for a boat tour of Port Canaveral. It was a pontoon boat with bench seats. Shortly after we sat down – it started sprinkling then raining harder. We got off the boat to stand in the drier picnic pavilion in the park. The wind was blowing enough that we had to stand well under the pavilion roof.

2019 01 IMG_1434.jpg — I took a picture of a little blue heron that did not seem bothered by the rain and wind at all.

Then the rain stopped, the seats were dried off and we headed out only about 15 minutes late. I took some pictures of barnacles around the dock area.

We saw evidence of manatee in the water….the flat circles of water as they swim along…and then the tips of their noses when they come up for air. The ‘slow speed’ signs did indeed mark areas where there were manatee in the water.

We saw birds along the canal before we got to the locks: anhinga,

Great blue heron (looking scruffy from the recent rain),

Osprey,

And double crested cormorants.

We entered the lock and tied up. I took some brown pelican portraits while we waited.

Then the gates started to open.

The pelicans road the little water wave as the water leveled…and one took flight.

There was an immature brown pelican outside the lock area. The light on the water was perfect.

The high point of the trip was a frigate bird soaring overhead. I just watched it. My husband got the picture.

There was a cruise ship and the SpaceX barge (used for rocket recovery) in Port Canaveral itself. I was more interested in bird pictures…so didn’t document those sights.

We headed back through the lock. I turned back to take a picture of the white pelicans grouped on the bank and

The horseshoe crab shells that accumulated to the side of the lock.

I managed to take a picture of a bald eagle just before it flew way…a good ‘last picture’ before we docked back at Kelly Park.

December 03, 2017

The Inn at Chachalaca Bend

December 03, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

Our main activity for the last day of the Rio Grande Valley Birding festival was breakfast (sumptuous) as the The Inn at Chachalaca Bend followed my a walk around the grounds looking at birds. We started near the Inn’s deck on the bank of La Resaca de las Antonias. We saw a Belted Kingfisher on the electrical wires crossing the Resaca almost immediately!

A Great Blue Heron and Great Egret had a little conference in the distance.

There was a broken tree trunk (or old telephone pole) near the water….a perch for an Altamira Oriole.

Directly across from the Inn an Anhinga dropped down into the water to capture a fish then walked back up a palm that was slanting over the water.

Nearby on a snag, a Golden Fronted Woodpecker searched for breakfast.

There was a ruckus and then a larger bird flew toward us over the water and sat on the electrical wire nearest us: a Ringed Kingfisher.

There was Great Kiskadee on the wire further away

And a Black-crowned Night-Heron in the vegetation across from where were standing.

The kiskadee flew away and we notice a kite (probably white tailed…but hard to tell for sure).

We left the Resaca to hike around some open field areas. We saw an American Kestrel looking at the meadow.

As we headed back almost to the edge of the path through a forested area, we looked up and saw masses of migrating American White Pelicans! There were several groups…maybe as many as 1,000 birds.

The path branched off to the edge of the Resaca again and we saw a Snowy Egret (note the yellow feet which is a distinctive feature for this bird even if the focus is not very good for the picture).

As we got ready to leave, we gathered back at the Inn and saw a hummingbird at the feeder (probably Ruby-throated).

There were a few plants I took pictures of…but they were secondary to the birds!

November 28, 2017

South Padre Island and Bay Cruise – Part 2

November 28, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

Our second stop was the South Padre Island Convention Center. There are boardwalks on one side of the building for birds (and other wildlife) viewing. My best pictures there were: black-necked stilt,

A Tri-colored Heron,

2017 11 IMG_5963.jpg — An alligator that was still at first but then headed toward the shore…stalking

A Common Gallinule that was making its way close to the shore (fortunately it wandered further upslope…no drama),

And a Green heron.

We walked to an area where there was a small area of planted vegetation. The small birds there were too hard to photography in the vegetation, but there were quite a few monarchs roosting…a little rest before continuing their migration.

We continued around the convention center buildings. There was a Little Blue Heron on an abutment,

A pelican almost too far out in the water (I didn’t notice the grebe until I looked at the image on the larger screen of my computer),

A Great Egret (not the black legs and feet),

And a Reddish Egret.

At the front of the convention center, I took some pictures of the facades. These must hold up to coastal storms.

There were mud flats on the other side of the convention center….mostly drying since the tide was out. There were White Pelicans,

Brown Pelicans,

Black Skimmers (in the foreground), and

A strutting Tricolor Heron.

As we walked back to the bus, there were some White Ibis walking across the parking lot with us. The underside of the bill was different than I expected!