Young Green Heron Living

                                                                    First Real Flights

Closeup View

View 2

Return to Nest Tree

Balancing Act

                                                                            View 2

                                                                         View 3

Notice Colorful Flight Feathers on 

Immature Green Heron

Exercising Wings

                                                                         View 2

                                                                 Enjoying the Sun

                                                                   Watching the Sights

                                                        Learning How Others Get By

                                                                  All Views Covered

                                                                Rumblings of Hunger

                                                                  Three Out of Five

                                                                          View 2

                                                                        View 3

                                                              Time to Change Position

                                                                 Making the Hurdle

                                                                       View 2

                                                                 Three On a Match

                                                          Learning As Each Day Passes

                                                                   Balancing Act

                                                                    Almost Lost It

                                                                  Bill Greeting

                                                                    Wind and Balance

                                                              Watching For Family

                                                                      Exercising

                                                                         View 2

                                                                        View 3

                                                                  No Rest For the Active

                                                              Getting Ready For Flight

                                                                           View 2

                                                                 Where's the Fish?

                                                                 Dinner Will Be Served

                                                                         View 2

                                                                   What About Us?

                                                                       Here I Am

                                                              Taking Time to Stretch

       
                                                                      What Now?

                                                                    Big and Alert

                                                                    Cooler Venue

                                                                 What Was THAT?

                                                            Mallard Hen and Ducklings

                                                          Ducklings Experienced Fright

                                                                    Who's There?



061219

0715-0839/68-73 F/partly cloudy/W-11/75-71% RH/30.03-30.08 Hg and steady

The young are gaining strength and confidence, as can be seen in faster and more deliberate movement.  Flight is progressing well, but the youngest should be on their own more and seeing the world to make more discovery.  Since they can fly, they also need to be learning how to procure their own food.

These birds are very capable and require the chance to prove themselves in the world.

Nesting though, is imperative, since so much time was lost last year due to extreme heat.

Latter Half of May 2018 Is Time to Reflect and Count Our Large Bounty of Birds

                                                             Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                                Adult Green Heron

                                                                 Mallard Ducklings

                                                               Male Orchard Oriole

                                                               Mallard Ducklings

                                                             Neotropic Cormorant

                                                 Two Out of Three Neotropic Cormorants

                                                                 American Bison

                                                              Great-tailed Grackle

                                                                 Canada Gosling


Last Half of May 2018


We were officially past migration, but as you know, there are always going to be exceptions to the
rule.  There are always going to be exceptions and no rules anymore, because with future heat
waves, we'll be see a lot more unusual birds.  Winters will be colder and things are going to be changing more and faster than we dreamed possible.

Our Green Herons returned to colonize their Heron Cove and quite frankly, I don't believe that I know any of them.  We appear to have a completely new crop, but since they are all breeding age, it could well be the hormones talking, so it would stand to reason that they would be ignoring me.

They were left alone since they arrived in the breeding area a little earlier than usual and they appeared to be anxious, so there was no reason to provide the opportunity to force them to move on, so I stayed as far away as possible.  There is no question that we now have a nest, which I believe is occupied.  There could even be a second nest, but I only saw twigs going to another spot.

The American Bison was not at Boomer Lake, so don't get your hopes up.  This beauty came to us
courtesy of the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, and I know that this its the closest that I have ever come to a male bison.  He took it all in stride, so I got my shot and returned to the confines of the car.

There are a couple of cute shots of Canada Geese and Mallard ducklings, Neotropic Cormorants, and an unusual shot of our state bird, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

The shot of the Orchard Oriole is more attuned to their wintering grounds in the tropics, as this is a common posture there.

Naturally, it was important to include at least one shot of the colorful Great-tailed Grackle.

Just because I didn't grace this segment with a lot of birds doesn't mean that they weren't here.  They certainly are and were, but I was looking for a little more unusual variety this time around.