For the third year in a row, Dave and I headed to High Island Texas to see the Spring bird migration north. It was wonderful as always although the bird count was down. There were good winds and the consensus was that the birds stayed on the winds vs coming down to eat. Can't say that I blame them!
This first photo is of four Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks. This particular photo was taken at Brazos Bend State Park - a place we always visit when in town.
A male Northern Parula singing
Prothonotary Warbler
This was a real treat - a Barred Owl. With a crawdad in its mouth! This parent was wanting to feed a young owl nearby.
A cool snake - forgot what it is called.
This is a big reason to come to Brazos Bend State Park - the gators!
A Northern Mockingbird. Common, but still fun to watch. This is the Texas State Bird.
Roseate Spoonbill. Some were nesting this year, and we were able to see some young!
Here are some Great Egrets. The two youngsters were doing their best to get this parent to provide some fish.
Same scenario with Neotropic Cormorants.The young would really flap their bill flap in a cute way.
A gorgeous Summer Tanager. This young male was molting out of his baby yellow/green, into his adult red.
The Laughing Gulls are always fun.
Given the low song bird count, we did spend some time looking at shore birds. The Brown Pelicans are always gliding by.
A Common Poorwill pretending to be a stump.
Darn. I forgot this bird ID - That poor crab had taken a beating. Shortly after this photo was taken, the bird swallowed the crab whole!
Roseate Spoonbill with chicks.
A gorgeous setting for a Great Egret.
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
We stopped by my parent's house for a couple of days and grabbed some photos.
And as always, we stopped by Daylight Donuts in Alvin. Dave has become a kolache fan, and his engineering side is so happy to get their coffee cup heat thingies.
Birder birding
The crowd that gathered after we found the owl.
This is the view as the ferry left the dock.
Ferry Ride to/from High Island
Dave excited to be on a trip!
A funny thing - as we were walking around Brazos Bend State Park, I heard my name. To my surprise, I saw an old grad school colleague - Mark Shephard. Mark has lived in the UK since grad school and just happened to be in the area! Funny we'd cross paths!
Another birder birding.
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