Showing posts with label Reddish Egret. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reddish Egret. Show all posts
Sunday, November 21, 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.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Friday, July 20, 2018
Species Profile: Reddish Egret
A heron that is found in shallow salt water, the Reddish Egret is the most uncommon of all in the United States. The species comes in two morphs, white and dark, both of which can be found in the same nest.
Dark morph Reddish Egret
Also the most acrobatic of the species, this wader runs, jumps, spins about, and is most famous for its canopy hunting technique. Not only does it run with wings raised, it flies over shallow water seeking groups of fish, which are rapid movers, necessitating that it move in the same manner. It takes about three years for a Reddish Egret to become skillful at this form of feeding.
Having a pink bill with a black tip, a medium to large sized bird, it also has blue-gray legs as a defining feature. The white morph is just that with the same color scheme on the bill. The dark morph is blue- or slate-gray with a reddish neck and head, and the immature is paler, but the red-brown neck could be missing. It tales three years for the adult plumes, and the mature lores are bright violet, as is the bill and legs.
White morph Reddish Egret
As many of our beautiful herons suffered greatly due to the millinery trade, this bird never really recovered, and the current difficulty is habitat degradation. There remains only 1500 to 2000 pairs of this colorful bird, and they are coastal denizens nesingt in colonies with other herons. Their lavish courtship displays are very animated, involving shaking the head, hooplike flight, bill clacking, and raising head, neck, and back feathers.
Reddish Egrets nest on stick platforms, as many other herons do. It is suspected that some of them nest inland in Texas.
These birds are classified as near threatened. They are found in the Caribbean, southern coastal, California coastal, and will migrate to the southeast coast of the US. Most of the population resides in Texas, followed by Florida, then Louisiana. This specialized heron likes barren and shallow flats that are quite salty. The diet is mostly killifish and sheephead minnows, followed by crustaceans and frogs.
The sounds of the Reddish Egret, courtesy of Audubon.
https://cdn.audubon.org/cdn/farfuture/btkjmiDSSZqxnV8nC9-TNdaomWhrD8gwL2S3UIqUX-k/mtime:1416244730/sites/default/files/REDEGR_1.croaksampothercalls_MEXms_1.mp3?uuid=5b51033593783
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Birding On a Shoestring At the Lower Rio Grande Valley In Coastal Waters
Reddish Egret
Ditto
Ditto
Redhead Pair
Bonaparte's Gull (top)
Ring-billed Gull (Bottom)
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Ditto
Snowy Egret
Redheads in Flight
Female Redhead
Snowy Egret
Ditto
Ditto
Tri-colored Heron
01-23-17
This portion of the Lower Rio Grande Valley journey encompassed a couple of places on the coast, one of which I had never been.
These birds are old friends, and even though more will be shown to you later, these are some of my favorite birds, especially since I happen to be a heron specialist. In general, water birds are
intriguing to me, as they sometimes have to be wily and cunning in order to get a meal.
Just as an example, the Snowy Egret has yellow feet for that purpose. The feet resemble worms in the water, and this bird has a natural instinct to lift and move its feet in a circular motion in order to attract fish and small crustaceans, as well as swirling them to the surface. Isn't nature wonderful with some built-in ways to achieve the feeding goal?
The Reddish Egret is a canopy fisher, as you can see with its wings raised above its head. It also tends to run about in the water in order to stir fish to move toward the surface.
Ducks are also some of my favorites, having grown up in an area where there were and still are, water birds a-plenty.
The pictures of the Redheads will thrill you as much to view them, as it did for me to take the pictures.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Days 8-10--More Birding On a Shoestring At the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Green Kingfisher
Blue-winged Teal Pair
American White Pelicans
Reddish Egret, White Morph
White-tailed Hawk
Black-crested Titmouse
01-21 through 01-23-17
The weather has been excellent from the start, save for a couple of overcast days, but I
didn't even think about your ice storm, since I was able to leave a day early.
Highlights of this period were the Green Kingfisher and the Gray Hawk, but I must boast
several raptors during the trip that I never would have had in Oklahoma.
On the way back to the hotel was the best bird viewing, including this rare Reddish Egret,
the white morph. The usual Reddish Egret is difficult enough to find unless you're in
this area, so I took full advantage and waited a few minutes for proper conditions.
This trip also hosted a few parrots, but since we had never been to the area, it was more difficult to get good shots. I do promise that you'll see a couple of wild parrot species later!
I was also on a mission to get all the doves, and I did that, so there are more of those to come, too.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Birding On a Shoestring: High Island's Heron Island, Texas
Summer Tanager
Snowy Egret with Fish
Great Egret, High Breeding Plumage
Ditto
Ditto, Preening
Great Egret Chicks
Snowy Egret
Ditto
Another Snowy Egret
Same, High Breeding Plumage
Ditto
Nestling Great Egret
Same Nest
Another Group, Great Egret Nestlings
Great Egret, High Breeding Plumage
Great Egret Chick
 |
Great Egret |
Cattle Egret, High Breeding Plumage
Ditto
Great Egret, Standing Over Sleeping Chicks
Great Egret Parent, Face Engulfed by Hungry
Nestlings
Another Great Egret Chick Pose
Snowy Egret
Another Vocalizing Snowy Egret
Snowy Egret, Landing
Snowy Egret, High Breeding Plumage
Snowy Egret in Flight
Neotropic Cormorant on Nest
Male Neotropic Cormorant Standing by Nest
Preening Great Egret at Nest
Ditto
Ditto
Snowy Egret in Flight
Great Egret on Nest
Ditto
Same bird, at Rest
First Year Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Osprey
Reddish Egret Fishing
Ditto
Reddish Egret Closeup
Reddish Egret
This was the Final Visit at the Rookery and along Tuna Rd. across from the Gulf of Mexico.
The only birds with young on Heron Island was the Great Egret. The Neotropic Cormorants
and some of the Snowy Egrets were on eggs. None of the Roseate Spoonbills had eggs, and
there was a first year pair of Tri-colored Herons trying to build a nest. Due to inexperience,
they were unable to do so, and had been trying to create a nest for a number of days. Most
likely that they will not raise young this year. The Cattle Egrets didn't appear to be nesting, either, but I was unable to view the other side of the island.
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