091424 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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100321 SNP Edition, Life At Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-which-birds-are-headed-this-way/article_e7b2e7da-2242-11ec-9ac6-cfd76eb6dd07.html 

Migration Resurfaces In Higher Gear

                                                             Cattle, Egrets, View 1

                                                              Cattle Egrets, View 2

                                                              Yellow Warbler, View 1

                                                             Yellow Warbler, View 2

                                                               Yellow Warbler, View 3



092819

0726-0840/77-78 F/mostly cloudy/S-8/79% RH/29.77-29.80 Hg and rising

This was a higher migratory movement day.  There were six Blue-winged Teal on the southeast corner lowlands, along with several Mallards, who were coming in the entire time there like a busy airport.

On the water, there were several Pied-billed Grebe and sixteen American Coot.

Observations were also made on a whopping forty-five Cattle Egrets, a few Snowy Egrets, the normal
six Great Egrets, and three Great Blue Herons.

Two non-breeding Forster's Terns were surveying the west side of the lake, and five Spotted Sandpipers were partaking of delectables on the shore of the southwest jetty, along with a Double-crested Cormorant on a snag not far from the jetty on the north side.

Overhead were a couple of southbound Barn Swallows over the water.

To make things interesting, the conservative number of ten Yellow Warblers are now classified as late arrivals by eBird.  They were voraciously feeding between the Lakeview Road Bridge and the main path of Shorebird Jetty.  There were no doubt more beyond that, as it is now a last minute dash for late birds to return south when they are in a state of Zugunruhe.

A Belted Kingfisher and a Cooper's Hawk also had words, and the size and speed of the kingfisher managed to speak volumes.  The hawk had to carry on for breakfast, which was no doubt a young bird wasting time with a healthy kingfisher.

Ten Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were being sociable with each other, along with one that felt it was his duty to chase a Great Egret flying through the area several times.  The flycatchers will be with us for another month or so, and if the males still have that much testosterone at this time of year, it could have something to do with all the singing males in flux like they seem to be now.  The urge strikes, even though they are not quite ready to move south.  It is an interesting concept.

Along with the normal birds for the season, there is no doubt that we are underway on our seasonal changes.  There are still a few stragglers, like many warblers, and some likely have an added distance to deal with along with a first time journey.  May they experience the best.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Snowy Egret

A common heron of Oklahoma, the Snowy Egret was once a victim of human selfishness.  During the early 1900s, its feathers were taken for the millinery (hat) trade.  Through the Migratory Treaty Bird Act of 1918, taking any birds or bird parts, which included feathers, saved the life of this bird, as well as the remainder of the herons and egrets.

This beautiful heron is utterly spectacular in adult breeding plumage.  It has an air of mystery about it, and it is truly a graceful animal, appearing delicate and similar to royalty .  The species nests in island trees, as well as single trees growing in water.  Some will forage for food in open water where there is plenty of room, while others prefer solitary foraging.  The species breeds on the coast or inland where there are lakes, estuaries and other appropriate bodies of water.

                                                                        Snowy Egret
                                                                 High Breeding Plumage
                                                                   High Island, Texas

The medium sized adult birds have bright yellow feet, which will become orange or red-orange during times of high breeding plumage, its plumes or aegretta, will stand up and they will run from the head, the breast, down the back, and curve upward at the tail.

Enemies are snakes, raccoons, the Fish Crow, and sometimes even the older nestmates.  The youngest usually does not survive due to the aggressiveness of its siblings.  They are incubated as the eggs are laid, so the youngest could be a week junior to the eldest.

One of the classics that this bird is known for, is its feeding technique.  It was born with its own personal fishing lures, which are the yellow feet.  When the snowy is foraging it will use its feet in a rakelike manner or move them upward and in a circular motion to drawn food skyward.  It will then easily take its prey from the top of the water.

                                                                    Snowy Egret
                                                             nonbreeding Plumage

Known as the Bird With the Golden Slippers, the Snowy Egret gives the impression of an ethereal nature, especially in breeding plumage.  To make them even more interesting, they have a "wah-wah-wah" call which almost sounds like a gurgling, and that clearly designates a Snowy Egret colony.

Many of these wading birds will overwinter on the Gulf coast, but good numbers will also go as far as central Brazil.  It all depends upon where they settle pre-breeding that determines post-breeding locale.

Oddly enough, in the 1830s, this bird was nesting as far north as New Jersey, and by the mid-1800's, it was at the Great Salt lake.  As time progresses in the global warming situation, they could well become northbound once again.  It will all depend on the survival of their preferred food sources.

                                                                       Snowy Egret
                                                                            Texas
                                                                       January 2017

072918 Muskogee Edition, Birding Today

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072918 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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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.

Days of Their Lives

                                                                  Great Blue Heron

                                                                     Snowy Egret

                                                         Double-crested Cormorants

                                                                Spotted Orbweaver

                                               2nd Summer Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

                                                                            Ditto

                                                                     Great Egret

                                                                 Clay-colored Sparrow

                                                                     Bewick's Wren

                                                                     Carolina Wren

                                                               Juvenile Eastern Phoebe

 

Red-spotted Purple

These are shots over the past several weeks, as there hasn't been a lot of migratory

movement.  Weather has a way of being a deterrent, but one also must be in the right

place at the right time.  It cooled down for a little while, long enough for a few more

ducks to come through the area, and temperatures are finally quite seasonable and 

pleasant.  May those people that had to endure Hurricane Matthew be all right and may

you recover from that ordeal as soon as possible.

As a general synopsis, our young Yellow-crowned Night-Heron stayed with us at

Heron Cove for the better part of September, and chose the best willow to rest in

during the day, the same one that the strongest Green Heron chicks were hatched in.

Both Boomer Lake and Boomer Creek hosted more different species of herons than

normally this year, including a strong possibility of the Little Blue Heron, as well.

Larger than normal woodpecker numbers stayed at the creek, and many of them

were hatched here, including one female adult red-shafted Northern Flicker as a parent.

  It is not known if there are any red-shafted offspring as a result of this uncommon union.

There were also good numbers of the Red-bellied Woodpecker young, and a few Red-

headed Woodpecker juveniles.  No Pileated Woodpecker young were observed.

The Clay-colored Sparrow spent about a week with us on Boomer Lake and there were at 

least two of them in our midst.  Good numbers of the Carolina Wren were seen over the

season, and Bewick's Wren is once again in our midst.

Sadly, butterfly numbers were down by half, but on the positive note, this was the first

year that I have noticed the Red-spotted Purple in the five years that I have been in 

Stillwater, and I only observed it on the Kameoka Trail at Boomer Creek.

Ambient water temperatures have risen two degrees F in the time that I have been in the

area.  If this continues to increase, birds and other animals are expected to remove 

themselves in a northeastern pattern.

  

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.