Chasing Parakeets and Parrots
They don’t necessarily roost in the same corner every night–they move around. At this point we had created a bit of a birder traffic jam in the neighborhood.
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Finding Refuge
First of all, let’s get this out of the way: We were able to shower this morning. Good news all around. It’s our second day at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival in… Continue reading
Partly cloudy with no chance of showers
HOLY CRAP! THE ALARM DIDN’T GO OFF! We fly out of bed. There’s no time to shower. (Sorry all you people we had to sit next to on the bus.) Thank goodness I… Continue reading
Looking for the White Wise Spirit
The milky white of the owl was startling and her yellow eyes locked on us with appropriate caution and concern. I had to remind myself to breathe.
Boots and stuff
Dear Lisa, I have sad news about the boots. Sadly I can’t take any picture with them because I lost them on one of my trips. Unfortunately someone took them from the front… Continue reading
Choices, warnings and surprises: All in a day of birding
I wasn’t expecting the Eastern Phoebe, but there he was, a juvenile, swooping for insects and returning to his same branch.
What hummingbird banding teaches us
“Hummingbirds are the gateway drug to birding,” Sheri said. She then grabs a straw and puts it in her mouth and begins to blow lightly on the underside of a hummingbird and I see that her breath opens up the feathers, revealing a light, pink tummy.
Where there’s 350,000+ Purple Martins there’s a party
First there were about 50 birds up in the sky circling overhead. Then another group came in—this time a hundred or so. It was still pretty light outside. Then bigger groups of Purple… Continue reading
Nighthawks, Dickcissels and Boat-tailed Grackles at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge
Nighthawks have been a new bird for me here in Texas. I’ve heard them and seen them overhead as they come out at sunset when I’d leave the grocery store, but I never got a good look at one until this day at Anahuac where we saw around 25.
Great Egret and her chicks: Learning to eat takes practice
Eating takes practice, especially when you have a long beak and your food is being passed to you by another even longer beak.