Randall
from New York wanted to spend a couple of days between business trips to do
some photography as a “neophyte” birder (but superb photographer – check out his website here),
so after he had spent a day at Martin Ranch, our plan was to focus on some
areas where he might get some different birds.
We had several options, but finally settled on South Padre Island (where
there’s always something to
photograph J).
We were concerned about the weather, however, as it was drizzly and wet
all the way over (although we managed to spot a beautiful White-tailed Hawk on
SR 100), and remained rather “spitty” even as we headed out onto The
Flats: the wind (and consequently the
rain) was coming straight out of the west, so I tried to position the car where
we had the birds to our east and he could shoot out his window. Dunlins were the most common shorebird, but
we had cute little Piping Plovers right away, soon to be outnumbered by
Semipalmated Plovers! Thankfully the
rain let up by the time we crawled over to where the larids and pelicans were
lounging, so we got great looks and photos of the skimmers, gulls, and terns
(including a single Sandwich), plus a handful of Black-bellied Plovers. One Western Sandpiper joined the Sanderlings,
allowing great comparative views.
A rare Piping Plover that escaped being "blinged"!
Semipalmated Plover - can you tell them apart?
White Pelicans putting some distance between us and them...
With Brown Pelicans - note the size difference!
Short-billed Dowitchers
Caspian Tern
Black Skimmer
Black-bellied Plover lacks the black belly in winter
Stretching Royal Tern (©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
After
getting our fill, we headed straight to the Birding Center for a potty break
and then to tackle the boardwalk. It was
spitting ever so slightly, so we bundled up and I at least tucked my little
Powershot under my fleece jacket, but Randall’s setup had no choice but to get
dripped on… But the photo ops were still
great: Mottled Ducks, Coots, and Common
Gallinules came rushing over (probably expecting to be fed, along with the
pigeons), and several Great Blue Herons stood sentry in the wetlands. The flock of Black-necked Stilts that were
further out decided to fly in closer, and a couple of Clapper Rails sounded off
as we made the turn to the north. A
Northern Waterthrush pinked unseen
and a Tricolored Heron put on a good show, while three Kiskadees hopped around
the dead end of the boardwalk! Heading
east, several Roseate Spoonbills gave great views while a Mottled Duck quacked
incessantly. We ran into fellow guide
Michael Marsden taking returning Indiana birders Chuck and David out (they were
on the separate Convention Center parallel boardwalk, so no hugs L) and had found a
Western Kingbird at the Centre! After we
checked out some Blue-winged Teal near the end of the boardwalk (where a Sedge
Wren also called), the wintering Belted Kingfisher making the rounds, and some
Butterbutts in the parking lot, we opted to head straight to Estero Llano
Grande SP for the afternoon.
Randall on the SPI BC Boardwalk
Great Egret
Black-necked Stilts
Shooting a Common Gallinule (note the hopeful pigeon...)
My version of the gallinule
Mottled Duck
Tricolored Heron with female Red-winged Blackbird
Fluffy view of the heron
Kiskadees playing at the dead end
Distant Belted Kingfisher
More photo ops (note the pigeon is still with us...)
Immature Roseate Spoonbills
Sleepy adult
Pied-billed Grebe
Blue-winged Teal
It
was on and off rain all the way over there, but by the time we got there it was
only mildly spitting. Randall’s life
Chachalacas were raiding a swinging tray feeder at the corner of the brick
walkway (along with a Curve-billed Thrasher), so we spent a goodly amount of
time on deck enjoying the hundreds of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks! They pretty much dominated the bird life at
the pond, but we did find some Shovelers and Gadwall to add as well. After saying hello to Ranger Javier, we sat
at the feeders for about 15 minutes and enjoyed an Orange-crowned Warbler that
kept coming in to get the remnants out of the peanut butter feeder, but aside
from Inca Doves and House Sparrows, they were the only takers. Unfortunately the only Long-billed Thrasher
of the day made an appearance while Randall was visiting the Little Boy’s Room…L
Randall shoots his life Chachalaca on the feeding tray (below)
(with Red-winged Blackbird...)
Once on deck, we're confronted with thousands of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (below)!
Randall used his Nikon D3S and Tamron 150-600mm lens to shoot these Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
In flight (©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
Having a spat (©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
My version of the more laid-back individuals...
Token Northern Shoveler
I think Randall and I may have shot this Orange-crowned Warbler at the exact same moment! Notice the difference between my Canon 50SX Powershot (above) and his Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II and 300mm lens (below)!
(©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
Long-billed Thrasher
Inca Dove (©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
We
went straight to Alligator Lake from there while it was reasonably clear,
stopping to check out the three Fulvous Whistling Ducks that had joined the
Blackbellies at Dowitcher Pond, plus several Green-winged Teal. Grebe Marsh was
actually birdless, so we continued on and enjoyed the night heron show at
Alligator Lake. An Anhinga also posed,
and I heard the Green Kingfisher, but he never showed… L As we crept along the trail, I was thrilled
to spot the Pauraque, and Randall actually spotted a second bird behind the
first one! After enjoying them we
checked the owl box, but he was a no-show, so we decided to head on back before
the rain came again.
Fulvous (left) and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
Two Fulvouses
Black-crowned Night Heron all "tucked in"
Not tucked in...
Randall shoots one of the many Yellow-crowned Night Herons (below)
(©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
Again, compare the shot taken with the Olympus (Randall's) with the Powershot shot above.
Another of Randall's shots (©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
Anhinga
The advantage of a higher-end camera is that you can jack up the ISO pretty high in low light conditions while not sacrificing sharpness; again, compare the Powershot above with the Olympus below (both hand-held, BTW)!
(©2018 Randall Rothenberg)
We
still had quite a bit of time left, so since a hike around the whole park was
too risky weather wise, we decided to spend more quality time on deck so
Randall could work with his second camera (the Nikon) and get some comparison shots. We managed some interesting interaction
between the whistling ducks and the trio of Green-winged Teal that were right
off deck, but after awhile Randall had had enough of the rain and the cold and
we decided to call it a day.
One adult Black-bellied Whistling Duck with three youngsters; immatures are often mistaken for Fulvous Whistling Ducks due to their ochre coloration and gray bills, but they have the white wing stripe present at all ages.
(Note that some of them are also getting some black belly feathers...)
The "Generation Gap" apparently isn't limited to humans!
Green-winged Teal (males have the rusty head)
Even with
the lousy weather we managed 80 species for the day! Bird list:
Black-bellied
Whistling-Duck
Fulvous
Whistling-Duck Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Inca Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Pauraque
Clapper Rail
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Dunlin
Western Sandpiper
Willet
Short-billed Dowitcher
Laughing
Gull Ring-billed Gull
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Anhinga
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Great Kiskadee
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Lincoln's Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Northern Waterthrush
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow
No comments:
Post a Comment