030125. SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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013121 SNP Edition, Life At Boomer Lake

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011220 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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120119 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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And Then There Was a Distinction

                                                                      Ross's Goose

                                                                Male Carolina Wren

                                                                    Ross's Goose



January 2017

There were only a couple of freezes during the month, neither of which was very hard.  Since I was
in Texas for half the month working on photos of their endemic birds on the Lower Rio Grande Valley, very little was obtained at home.

However, you can see that it was more of the uncommon variety.  The Ross's Goose is no rarity, by
any stretch, but it comes less often than most winter birds.  The rarer flight shot was due to the fact that a couple of college students had come to feed gulls and geese, and my little goose was in fear,
so it moved elsewhere, coming relatively close for me to get this nice flight shot.

In the second shot, you can notice the size difference between the Canada and Ross's Goose with them so close together.

This Carolina Wren is from the Boomer Creek area and I have met him a few times.  He was toying
with me when I just got home (I went birding that same afternoon).  He would appear at various locations and duck away again.  He nearly found the perfect location for this shot, yet several branches were in the way and I had to work around him, but he was quite close.

The Bar Gets Raised One Notch

                                                 Ross's Goose with Canada Goose Escort

                                                                     Ross's Goose

                                                                          Ditto

                                                 Blue-winged Teal Pair, Northern Reaches

                     
                                                                         Ditto
               

                                                          Great Egret, Breeding Plumage

                                                   First Year Male Brown-headed Cowbird
                                                          Practices Courting Techniques

                                                              Male Northern Shoveler

                                                              Red-shouldered Hawk

                                                                   Male Eastern Bluebird

                                                              Male Great-tailed Grackle

                                                             Female House Sparrow

                                                       Male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

                                                                         Ditto

These Shots were taken over the past couple of days, and I had to keep dodging raindrops,
as I have been for several days now.  Even though, it has been a bit of a challenge from
time-to-time, I believe the shots may speak for themselves.  The little Ross's Goose arrived
beside the east side of Goose Island yesterday with a Canada Goose escort.  This little goose,
rarely seen on Boomer Lake, preened for about twenty minutes, then climbed up the hill to
the island, where I observed him eat and take a respite.  The other geese, even though nesting,
really paid him or her no mind.

I almost forgot.  I was at Teal Ridge Wetlands a few days ago, managing to get this shot of the
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, which is a bird never seen at Boomer Lake, at least not to my knowledge.

                                                One of Two Yellow-crowned Night-Herons

                                                  Second Yellow-crowned Night Herons

Note that this second bird is displaying a beautiful yellow plume.

I also visited Couch Park on Sunday, and found this beautiful little Field Sparrow.