Galveston Birds in Winter

We've had some really pleasant weather this winter along the gulf coast of Texas.  Its nice to be able to go to the beach for a walk while there are few tourist and not many crowds or traffic. There are many resident birds here on Galveston Island and also quite a few winter visitors.  

Roseate Spoonbills - Platalea ajaja,  in Galveston Island State Park

Mottled Ducks - Anas fulvigula maculosa, can be see year round on Galveston Island. Many other waterfowl winter here such as: Mallard, Pintail, Northern Shovelers, Blue & Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Ducks, and Red-breasted Merganser.

Neotropic Cormorants - Phalacrocorax brasilianus.

Similar to Double-crested Cormorants but have a longer tail and smaller size. They also have that V-shaped border on their chin patch clearly seen on the bird in the middle of the picture.   

Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus

You can see its short tail but also in real life it looks larger and huskier than the Neotropic. 

Snowy Egret - Egretta thula

Forster's Tern - Sterna forsteri

Royal Tern - Thalasseus maximus

A unfortunate sight...  And sadly there were a few other dead birds along the beach: Laughing Gulls, Ring-billed Gull, & Brown Pelican; that I could identify. With all the runoff from Houston and surrounding cities there was an abundance of visible pollution as well as lots of fishing line and other gear discarded on the beach.  

Great-tailed Grackle - Quiscalus mexicanus

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 

Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

One of the few shorebirds I have seen lately.  On previous trips this same spot had many other species present including the endangered Piping Plover.

Savannah Sparrow - Passerculus sandwichensis

Quite a few here birds in the grassy areas along the shore.  These are winter visitors.  

American Pipit - Anthus rubescens

Another winter visitor.

Glaucous Gull - Larus hyperboreus

A rare bird from the north.  Common around Alaska.  This gull stuck out like a sore thumb with pale plumage and its huge size among the already large Herring Gulls.  It's interesting that it found its was all the way down here. 

Turning over a new Burberry Prorsum leaf

Today I bought my very first Burberry Prorsum item!

It may not seem like a very big deal but I have been a very loyal Versace customer for the past 12 years!  Lately, I have been a bit disappointed with the items Versace actually buys... A lot of the items I want from the fashion show are not available in any of the US stores and now they have the online store but there are very few items...

Burberry and many other high-end (even mid-level) companies have wonderful interactive websites and online stores that clearly show the items.  I love how Burberry has so much information on just one item, such as:  the description of the item, what its made of, care of the item, where its made, price, what collection its from, and multiple pictures of various view and even sometimes video!  It makes buying an item enjoyable - instead of feeling like you're on a wild goose chase; if there is a goose to chase at all...

So here are my new sunglasses bought from the Houston Galleria.  The Burberry employee was very helpful and efficient.  I like that she used her iPad to bring up information about the product - using technology is a great thing!

The Splash Sunglasses in teal blue.

 These glasses feature scratch-resistant lenses!  

Why aren't all designer sunglasses scratch-resistant? 

Screenshots of the Burberry website for the sunglasses.

Runway picture from the Burberry website.

Two other runway photos from style.com.

The Splash Sunglasses on Burberry's website.  These sunglasses area also available in: gray, mustard, and dark racing green. 

So I applaud Burberry and all companies that use the latest technologies to help customer and make shopping more efficient and enjoyable!

Razorbills in Florida

Before my Christmas trip to Florida I read a very interesting news article about large numbers of Razorbills around the Florida coast.  This was extremely unusual as Razorbill usually inhabit very cold northern coastal areas. So after reading the article I thought I'd check out the area where the birds were seen which is a beach I usually go to when Im in Florida.

This beach/park is on the northern tip of Anna Maria Island, in Bradenton, Florida.  This side is facing Tampa Bay.

The Razorbills were easily spotted swimming in the clear blue water. They were fairly close to shore.  I didn't use any zoom for this picture. 

The mostly looked like they were resting.

These two were looking for fish but I did not see them catch any.

Unfortunately a dead one was found washed up. Only the wings and skeleton remained.  Perhaps it was exhausted from the long flight or couldn't find food.  A sad sight.

A last view of the Razorbills before we left.  I always thought I'd have to travel way up north to get a glimpse of them!

Here is a link to the article that I read from eBird.  It is very interesting and there is a lots of information about sightings (some in the hundred!), other unusual northern species seen,  and why this whole phenomenon is taking place:  Razorbills invade Florida.

Pileated Woodpecker's New House

You may recall that five years ago my Dad and I made a duck box to put near the pond in hopes of having Black-bellied Whistling Ducks nest there: Woodpecker Nest .  But instead of a Black-bellied Whistling Duck a Pileated Woodpecker made it its home; coming back every evening to roost.  Unfortunately, this fall some strong winds blew the box down and damaged it!  My Dad had constructed another box on the opposite side of the hard which was meant for smaller woodpeckers, such as Red-headed Woodpeckers, but the Pileated made the hole larger and attempted to make this smaller box its new home.  So my Dad built another duck box to put in the same spot as the previous one and Pileated returned that evening.  He is so smart!

Here he is.  A very handsome Pileated Woodpecker!

The new duck (or woodpecker) box.

Its so nice to provide such a small thing for this woodpecker and enjoy its presents for so many years!

Other woodpeckers in the neighborhood are:

Downy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Red-headed Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker (of course)

Hairy Woodpeckers and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers could possibly be in the area as well but I have not seen any.

Long time, no blog!

Hello Everyone!  Happy 2013!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are having a great start to your New Year!

I have been so busy with so many things!
First, I changed jobs and started a new business.  I have been doing a little bit of traveling and working  a lot!  I have also been busy with my hobby of carving birds from wood (my resolution is to carve 50 this year) ...and also keeping up with my garden, regular chores around the house, and doing some new years cleaning and organizing.

Anyway, the biggest news and reason I have not been blogging lately is because:  Im MOVING!!!

Im so happy to say that I should be moving to south Florida this summer.  I have been doing a lot of research into exactly where (so far I like Naples, FL best) but we shall see...