Showing posts with label Killdeer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Killdeer. Show all posts
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Monday, January 24, 2022
Saturday, September 18, 2021
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Sunday, March 22, 2020
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.
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Birding On a Shoestring: Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, Kansas
Black-necked Stilt
Long-billed Dowitcher
Assorted Shorebirds #1
Snowy Plover
White-rumped Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Assorted Shorebirds #2
Assorted Shorebirds #3
Greater Yellowlegs (Left)
Killdeer (Right)
Greater Yellowlegs (Center)
Baird's Sandpiper (Right)
White-rumped Sandpiper (Left)
Northern Cliff Swallow
Ruddy Duck and Ducklings
Blue-winged Teal (Front)
Immature and Juvenile American Coot (Center and Rear)
American Coot Adult (Left)
Recently Hatched American Coot (Right)
adult male Black-necked Stilt (Rear)
Juvenile Black-necked Stilts ( Center)
adult female possibly on nest (Front)
072719
Taking about five hours, my birding buddy and I arrived at Quivira around 1130ish. Several area residents had informed us at pitstops that there had been plenty of rain this year, so we could expect some wonderful birds. This information was taken to heart, and the more observed, the better it got.
Primed for this adventure, my eyes had been on weather conditions, past and present. It was a given that this adventure was a little too early for both the Red Knot and Buff-breasted Sandpiper, but it was a solid time for the many resident breeding birds and their offspring. There was no disappointment.
The first thing we did was visit the tower area, which had good views of Barn Swallows, Black-necked Stilts in flight that were constantly calling, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, and more.
Eventually making it to Little Salt Marsh, the numbers and species of shorebirds was thrilling, even though many of the most common migrants were there. Just seeing them in their natural state, both on the shore and foraging in the shallow water brought back memories of home in Maine.
Though my hunt for the Bobolink was unsuccessful, a fabulous photo of the Northern Cliff Swallow was unparalleled. There are hopes to return to another part of KS at a later time when the Bobolink and other target birds will be more accessible.
We drove through the Big Salt Marsh area, where were encountered many water birds, which included the above family of Black-necked Stilts, and took a short walking tour at Migrant's Mile Nature Trail. This was a former marsh that had a little water. Sampling my first sand plums, we heard the Common Yellowthroat, and semi-observed a few others.
The prairie grass area also netted the Northern Cliff Swallow. Many other grassland birds, like the meadowlark and Dickcissels were heard there.
Juvenile American Coots, Blue-winged Teal, Black-necked Stilts, and Ruddy Ducks were somewhat unexpected and most welcome. Never had I observed the young of these species.
Once we arrived, we never left until it was time to resettle round the Cheyenne Bottoms area in Barton County. A short stop was made just prior to the Kansas Wetlands Education Center closing for the day, where we semi-solidified plus for Sunday. Stay tuned for the Cheyenne Bottoms and Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve adventure.
for more on the adventure:
https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2019/08/birding-on-shoestring-cheyenne-bottoms_5.html
https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2019/08/birding-on-shoestring-cheyenne-bottoms.html
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