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. 

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.

American Goldfinches in my Houston, TX backyard

This winter has been quite warm.  I have not seen as many birds at my feeders this year which could be because of many factors such as "the worse drought in Texas history" that happened last year.  I was especially worried about why I haven't seen many American Goldfinches.  Last year there was an abundance of Goldfinches at my bird feeders.  I think that had to do with them feeding on the seeds of the two mature crepe myrtle trees in my backyard.  This past summer those trees almost died and didn't produce any flowers and now have no seed pods for the Goldfinches to feed on.

This morning I was pleasantly surprised as there was a flock of American Goldfinches at my feeder with thistle seeds.  I counted 14 but I think there were some more up in the crepe myrtle trees.  

American Goldfinches - Carduelis tristis,

are a common backyard bird in winter time for the Houston area.

Some more American Goldfinches with a 

House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus.

The House Finches are residents in my backyard all year long.  In the spring time they sing a very pretty song which is nice to listen to during spring gardening. 

Here is a close-up of a Goldfinch.  This male is in its winter plumage but is still very pretty.

Other birds I commonly see at my feeders in by Houston, TX backyard are:

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

Inca Dove

Blue Jay

Cardinal

Carolina Chickadee

Common Grackle

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Northern Mockingbird

House Sparrow

Happy Halloween!

Hello friends! I hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween this year! I can't believe its already here...

Black Vulture - Coragyps atratus

The Black Vulture is one of the symbolic birds of Halloween along with Crows and Owls. Vultures are associated with Halloween because they feed on the dead, are grim looking, and are considered back luck in some cultures. In reality vultures are fascinating creatures and play an important role in the natural world.

Kayaking - Miguel Bay, FL

Florida has so many wonderful outdoor activities and while on vacation here I have been doing as many as possible! Yesterday, I had a really nice kayaking trip with my Dad to Miguel Bay - a small bay at the southern portion of Tampa Bay. It was cool, the water was calm and clear, and it was nice and sunny. We saw an abundance of wildlife in the beautiful habitat of mangrove swamps and seagrass beds.

Here I am going through small islands of mangroves. Mangroves provide very important habitat for countless marine organisms such as fish, birds, and in some places crocodiles.

The Red Mangrove - Rhizophora mangle, is identified by its long prop roots and its propagules that resembles a long seed pot.

The beginning of a propagule - soon it will look like a long thick green bean which detaches and floats in the sea until it finds a suitable place to attach, grow roots, and become a new tree.

The low tide exposes oyster beds.

Barnacles grow on dead mangrove branches.

Turtle Grass - Thalassia testudinum

Shoal Grass - Halodule wrightii (bottom, left) and Manatee Grass - Syringodium filiforme (top, right).

Horseshoe Crab - Limulus polyphemus

Hermit Crab shell changing station.

Sea Stars - Echinaster graminicola, most common sea star around tampa bay.

Sea Star - Echinaster graminicola.  This sea star can be distinguished from its sibling species that also lives in the area Echinaster spinulosus.  E. spinulosus has blue/gray coloration between the spines where E.graminicola is reddish brown. It is slightly more spiny than E. graminicola, and I've also noticed that E. spinulosus tube feet are yellow, where E. graminicola are orange. E. graminicola is usually found in shallower water as well.

Variegated Sea Urchin - Lytechinus variegatus

Tulip Snail - Fasciolaria tulipa

Lightning Whelk - Busycon contrarium, a young one.

This is hard to see but its a very large Florida Horse Conch - Pleuroploca gigantea, eating a Lightning Whelk - Busycon contrarium.

Comorants - Phalacrocorax, resting in the mangrove trees.

White Ibis - Eudocimus albus

Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

Sandwich Tern, Laughing Gull, American Oystercatcher, and in the back a Reddish Egret. (left to right)

Woodstork - Mycteria americana

What a wonderful day it was! I cant wait to go back and explore some more!

Houston Hummingbird Season

September is the month where the most hummingbirds are seen in Houston, TX. After raising their chicks during the summer many start migrating back to their wintering grounds in Central Americal and southern Florida. Most of the hummingbirds that are seen here during this time of year are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds - Archilochus colubris.

Right now my feeders have a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that visit on a daily basis. One male is acting aggressive and territorial and chases the others away.

Here he is, showing off his bright ruby throat. He visits the feeder every ten minutes or so and then stays around the yard (usually sitting in the crepe myrtle tree close by) and chases away any other hummingbirds that get near the feeders.

To learn more about the Ruby-throated Hummingbird you can visit this link: Ruby-throated Hummingbirds ...you can see range maps, hear sounds, and read all about Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and similar species. Last winter I had a Rufous and Black-chinned Hummingbird at my feeders all winter long.

If you'd like to attract hummingbirds to your yard you can buy a hummingbird feeder from most garden centers and online. The one I have is called the Hummzinger by Aspects and I bought mine from the Wild Birds Unlimited store but it is also on Amazon.com.

Hummingbird Food Recipe:

Use 4 parts water to 1 part regular table sugar. Boil sugar water until sugar is dissolved and then let cool completely before filling your feeder.

*Do not use any red food coloring, prepackaged hummingbird food, or any other sweetener to feed hummingbirds.

Also it is very important to clean your feeder every few days or sooner if the weather is warm. I use a plant/mineral based soap, warm water, and a toothbrush to clean the hummingbird feeders. Of course make sure all dirt and soap is rinsed completely from the feeder before filling with food.

Good luck attracting hummingbirds to your yard and check back soon for more hummingbird sightings!

Budgerigar at my Bird Feeder

Last fall when I moved to the house Im living in I set up a few bird feeders. Well 8 feeders: 2 Hummingbird feeders, 1 Oriole feeder, 1 Tube, 1 Double-sided feeder, 1 platform feeder, and 2 thistle feeders. It took more than a month for any birds to come to the feeders but now its a very different story. I have seen at least 40 species of bird in my backyard (I'll post some pics on a future blog post), some use the feeders and others do not.

Today while I was watching all the baby House Finches, House Sparrows, and a Mockingbird family being fed by their parents, something very colorful came down. It was a Budgerigar!

This bird is commonly sold in any pet store that has birds. In Houston, and many other places, people have a very bad habit of letting their pets go or releasing them into the wild when they are tired of them. I also do know that many birds like this budgerigar, or budgie, are released for religious ceremonies and weddings. This can be harmful to the birds themselves as most will not survive, but also to other species by spreading diseases and out competing native species for food and nest areas.

Anyway, it is a very charming little bird. Hopefully it will come back and maybe it will attract some of the Monk Parakeets I always see flying by...

Shorebirds on Galveston Island

Hello! Today was a beautiful day. It was sunny, cool, and breezy so Tink and I decided to do a little bird watching on Galveston Island at the Apffle Park Beach. There was an abundance of birds today, especially Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls, and a wide variety too. The main reason I wanted to go to Galveston Island was to look for my favorite bird, the Red-breasted Merganser (which we saw), and also see what kind of shorebirds can be found here in winter. So this is what we saw:

Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola , this was the only one I saw today.

Piping Plover - Charadrius melodus , there was unexpectedly a few of these! We counted 24 of this endangered specie. Interestingly two of them were banded with different bands as seen below.

This one has a blue band, which I didn't notice until I was zooming in to look at the picture on my camera.

Here is the second one with one orange and one red band on the lower leg and a green clip band on the upper part of the same leg ( the green leg is barely visible). I wonder where these two were banded?

Here are some more of the Piping Plovers with two Dunlins. A lot of the shorebirds were hiding behind debris today because of the strong cold winds; the sun was very warm otherwise. I hope they were comfortable.

Snowy Plover - Charadrius alexandrinus , we saw 14 of these today. This was the first time I have seen a Snowy Plover, and now I have seen all four of the small North American plover species.

Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus & Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca

This was the only Black-necked Stilt we saw today which was with three Greater Yellowlegs. They seemed to be finding lots of goodies to eat in the tide pools.

Long-billed Curlew - Numenius americanus , there were two of these sleeping in a shallow area. Luckily a Laughing Gull flying by called and woke this one up for proper view and a picture.

Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa , there were four of these in the same estuary as the Stilt and Yellowlegs but these seemed to prefer the deeper spots.

Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres , blending in very well with the exposed oyster bed.

Sanderling - Calidris alba , taking an afternoon nap.

Dunlin - Calidris alpina , we saw about 21 of these. Unlike the other small shorebirds these were all very active in feeding; constantly moving and plunging their beaks deep into the sand.

Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla , this was the most common shorebird we saw today. We counted 63 of them. A lot of them were hidden among the exposed oyster beds. They were extremely hard to see, practically invisible, until you got close and they would scurry a little and then blend right back into the surrounding. It was amazing.

This is what I mean about being extremely hard to see! How many can you find?

There was also a few Willet - Catoptrophorus semipalmatus, but for some strange reason I didn't photograph any of them! They are common throughout the year on Galveston Island.

... and to end this post here is a Roseate Spoonbill - Ajaia ajaja , it was just a few feet from the road in the salt marsh.

Thanks for reading! :)