Showing posts with label Brown Pelican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brown Pelican. Show all posts
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Sunday, February 28, 2021
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Birding on a Shoestring: South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, Part 1
On Friday, March 21, 2020, the band of birding and studious pupils-to-be for our National Wildlife Rehabilitator's Conference were on the road for South Padre Island, Texas by 1000 hrs. We were several hours late in leaving to beat the traffic, but we paid for it later. Normally, prior Texas jaunts have taken 12-13 hours, but we didn't pull in to our hotel until 0230 hrs. Tuesday morning.
This meant that we didn't begin birding until much later on Saturday. We began our search for South Texas birds after a good meal, starting off at the Birding and Nature Center, later wandering over to the SPI Convention Center. There were no good songbirds there, but we did get better photos of the rarer Reddish Egret and the Black Skimmer.
02-22-20
Brown Pelican
Reddish Egret
Black Skimmer
White Ibis
Tri-colored Heron
Great Blue Heron
Roseate Spoonbill
Killdeer
Some of these photos were obtained via the SPI Convention Center property. We also viewed Redheads, Laughing Gulls, Purple Martin, Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy Egret, and many other interesting individuals. It was a full afternoon and we worked on obtaining photos between noon and 1700 hrs, which is good for semi-rested travelers.
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Oklahoma Coastal Vagrants: Brown Pelican
This thirty million year old bird hasn't changed much according to fossils. It may appear to have a comical physique and ungainly in its skin, but that could not be further from fact. This common coastal bird of the east and west coasts is an accomplished fisherman with spectacular plunge dives that many an Olympic swimmer strives to share form.
This unusual diving bird performs twisting lunges in shallow waters of bays, lagoons and oceans. Coasting just inches above the water, the graceful and elegant flight of the pelican can be mesmerizing.
Like the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, and other birds, the Brown Pelican was affected by DDT in the late 1960s and early 70s. The deadly concoction was banned by the EPA in 1972, which gave this beautiful species a chance to return in numbers, through the help of the Endangered Species Act. At that time it was seriously imperiled, as nest sites are upon the ground or island cliffs. It was released from its endangered status in 2009, not that long in the past.
Brown Pelican, 2017
Even though this is a bird of salt water, they are known to stray from time to time. For a ten day period in December of 2016, one Brown Pelican was upon the waters and upon land of Boomer Lake Park in Stillwater, OK. It has also managed to be in several other locales, usually in key areas of the state during this decade, like Great Salt Plains, Lake Overholser, and others.
Squadrons of this bird can be found in coastal waters, observed relaxing and fishing. Their most well known feature is the gular pouch, which can hold up to three gallons of water and is strained out before consuming its assorted delicacies.
This is a small bird in comparison to the other seven species of the world, at eight pounds and fifty-one inches in length with a six to seven foot wingspan. They require four pounds of fish each day and their remarkable eyesight can aid them up to seventy feet in the air before that inevitable dive.
Not only can that pouch scoop up food, but it also is an aid in cooling the bird during the heat of the season. They will also steal fish from other birds, eat prawn, and seize prey when schools of fish are passing near the water's surface.
As a colonial nester, the state bird of Louisiana can be seen breeding there, as well as on Pelican Island in Florida, which Ding Darling named the first national wildlife refuge.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Sunday, February 25, 2018
022518 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake
Saturday, December 24, 2016
The Pre-Christmas Surprises of the Season
Greater White-fronted Geese
Brown Pelican
Ditto
Flying In From Dam
American Robin
Northern Cardinal
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate Colored)
Harris's Sparrow
12-05 - 12-17-16
This assortment was taken both before and after the Deep Freeze of 2016. With the freeze
came the first photo, the Greater White-fronted Geese. They were in the company of Canada and Cackling Geese, as well as a Wood Duck, Northern Shovelers, Ring-necked Ducks, Mallards, and a
handful of domestics.
It wasn't as cold as it had been for that shot, it was just coming out of sub-zero wind chills, some of which were a little above zero. I'd been out during those days and it wasn't pleasant, but good shots came with the territory. Birds still must eat no matter what the temperature is, and they will come
nearer the colder that it gets.
Harris's Sparrow, the Dark-eyed Junco, and Bewick's Wren were braving the wind just as I was, so
that was my reward for those endeavors.
The birds and I wish you the happiest of holidays and we'll still be seeing you after Christmas.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Valentine's Day Present From the Birds on Galveston Bay via Rockport, TX
American White Pelican
Laughing Gulls
Brown Pelican
Osprey
American Oystercatcher
Common Loon
02-15-16 afternoon/partly cloudy/warm/15 mph winds
Having grown up both in and around salt water, I was at home both in and around the bay.
Nothing pleases me more than to be birdwatching, but this was an added bonus. Feeling like I
was part of a more serious cast of Gilligan's Island, I could not have asked for more than this wonderful afternoon.
This was the closest that I was able to get to the Osprey, American Oystercatcher(most ironically on
a bed of oyster shells), and the Common Loon. There was also a band of several dolphins, but the best photo that I could get was a dorsal fin, so I deliberately omitted that shot. We were surrounded by both Brown and American Pelicans, Neotropic and Double-crested Cormorants, a few different species of gulls, Great Blue Herons, Great Egret, the Reddish Egret, shore birds, Whooping Cranes in the distance, and many more birds attracted to the water. There was even a small island rookery for
breeding herons and egrets that was occupied by close to a dozen birds when we passed by it.
Thanks to Captain Tommy Moore on the Skimmer for providing a wonderful cruise on Galveston Bay. It was wonderful to obtain the photos that I did for my first time on a moving tour boat. It was an experience that I will not soon forget.
For your birding adventures in the Rockport Texas area, call and book with Capt. Tommy Moore, also author of The Lobstick Prince, a Whooping Crane Story at 877-TX-BIRDS. You'll not regret this adventure. The book can be purchased through amazon.com via http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0557179076?keywords=birding%20with%20Capt.%20Tommy&qid=1456240104&ref_=sr_1_fkmr0_2&s=books&sr=1-2-fkmr0
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Birding On a Shoestring: Port Bolivar--Rollover Pass and Fort Travis County Park
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocets
Neotropic Cormorant
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Brown Pelican
Song Sparrow
Black-necked Stilt
Clapper Rail
Fulvous Whistling Duck
These are from Rollover Pass and Fort Travis County Park in Port Bolivar, TX.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Birding On a Shoestring: Land, Shore, and Island
Tennessee Warbler
Gray Catbird
Black-billed Cuckoo
Willet
Brown Pelican in Flight
Black Skimmer in Flight
Marbled Godwit
Tri-colored Heron in Flight
Tri-colored Heron
Ruddy Turnstone
Great-tailed Grackle
Common Gallinule (Moorhen)
Cattle Egret
Great Egret Chicks
"Triple the Trouble"
Ditto
Snowy Egret
Ditto
Great Egret
Ditto
This was another unsettled weather day, which didn't seem to deter the area residents for
day #2 in Northeast Texas. Again, forgive me for being a couple of days behind, but I
promise to get caught up eventually.
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