Pre- and Post-Storm Events

On May Day, We Recovered From the Blows of the Storm:

                                                                Male Warbling Vireo

                                                                           Ditto

                                                                            Ditto

                                                             Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                            Male Clay-colored Sparrow

                                                                     House Wren

                                                                      Cliff Swallow

                                                                     Forster's Tern

                                                       Female Yellow-headed Blackbird



On the Day of the Storm's Final Hoorah, April 30th, At Approximately 5 p.m., When Winds Were Between 18-24 MPH:

                                                            Clay-colored Sparrow

                                                             Scissor-tailed Flycatcher


04-30 and 05-01-17

The more migrants that I have coming in, the more photo ops there are.

On 04-29, there were plenty of birds that had come down the day prior due to impending storm conditions, and there were a few that were dealing with wind and rain that showed themselves.   On 04-30, when we were still dealing with higher winds and light rain throughout the day, and even higher winds in the afternoon, a few birds from the fallout showed themselves looking for food.

Even though you can't see a lot of it, the second to the last photo with the Clay-colored Sparrow in a bad cypress tree is being buffeted by the wind with the head feathers showing wind direction.  The camera just happened to freeze the movement of the branch.

The last photo of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, was also showing a bouncing birding the wind, again frame frozen.  My photo of the Yellow Warbler, also in the same area, was covered by the branches due to wind gusts and by the time I photographed her, her view was not as I liked it.  Most of the birds that were out were water birds, Mallards, Canada Geese, Franklin's Gulls,  Spotted Sandpipers and Forster's Terns.

Most of the smaller birds were taking cover within the confines of branches and bushes.  They were quieter, but could still be heard to some degree.

As you can see, I did reap the benefits of our latest storm, which was a little more powerful than today's rain.

On Sunday, the last day of the month, Boomer Lake managed to swell its banks in some spots and Spotted Sandpipers were on land along with Mallards.  Land depressions also contained water, which was fitting for the few Blue-winged Teal who had taken refuge here.