Another hot but pleasant weather day for birding in sunny Texas. We
have yet to see a drop of rain fall on us. Today we headed to Goose Island State
Park, just down the causeway from Fulton. We entered the park and made
it down to Warbler Way and met up with the park birding group. Before
you know it, we were watching a Black Tufted Titmouse family unit get
their last young one to fly. With one scolding and the other calling,
the younger of the two and the last one in the nest flew. The young
birds had very bad hairdo for a tufted titmouse and looked kind of wild
but they could fly. Another lifer for Colleen and I.
Here is the curious looking Black Tufted Titmouse
Continuing on our walk with Park Hosts, Larry and Judy of Wyoming who have been in Texas since January 1 this year, we saw the Ladder-backed Woodpecker. It is a fine looking bird, not as spectacular as the Golden-fronted Woodpecker. It was in the live oaks (Virginia Oaks) as well as thousands of Tussock Moth Caterpillars which if they land on you, you have to "flick" them off. These are very itchy and if one smacks the caterpillar, you get a bad rash if you react to it. We also saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that Colleen spotted and then several warblers.
We then went to watch the birds - all kinds of birds come to scare water sources in Texas. We have found in this environment and the heat that birds need water and food and the birds flock to dripping water. We checked the 1000 year old oak tree on the other side of Goose Island and went on to the fields and the gulf bay north of Fulton. We drove down several deserted and empty roads. There were barren fields and desert habitats and we did not see anything. But looking up we were treated to the hovering of the White-tailed Hawk. Sibley calls these hawks, "rare treasures" and we had very good looks at it flying. It is fast and one can see the white tail and the mostly white body with the terminal black band on the tail.
After this lovely lifer, we decided to go back to Aransas Pass and Aransas Island. We took the ferry and traveled to the island with a stop for ice cream and then on to Paradise Pont. We met a birding couple Mike and ? who were very nice and had lots of birding ideas. Paradise Pond lived up to its name with Tennesse, Kentucky, Golden-winged, Louisiana and Hooded Warblers in addition to Orchard and Baltimore Orioles and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak for company. We are averaging about 75 speciies each day here.
From here we went to Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Centre - at the water treatment plant for Port Aransas and here we had Sora, Moorhen, Herons and ducks at dusk. We were looking for Clapper or Yellow Rails and Least Bittern. It was a lovely sunset but no luck. It turned dark shortly after and we drove back to Fulton and found supper.
Tomorrow we have an early start for a morning boat trip on the Skimmer to look for Whooping Cranes which would be soooo sweet.
On another note, I have talked with my Grandbaby-to-be and told her to stay put until I get home. BB is getting a bit uncomfortable and so far so good. I hope that my first Grandbaby waits until I get back home to arrive. Post Script: This was our first granddaughter Clara, born May 30, 2014.
I had three lifers today and Colleen had a couple more. It was a great day. We are having full days and Texas is pretty sweet.
Barb & Colleen
Here is the curious looking Black Tufted Titmouse
Continuing on our walk with Park Hosts, Larry and Judy of Wyoming who have been in Texas since January 1 this year, we saw the Ladder-backed Woodpecker. It is a fine looking bird, not as spectacular as the Golden-fronted Woodpecker. It was in the live oaks (Virginia Oaks) as well as thousands of Tussock Moth Caterpillars which if they land on you, you have to "flick" them off. These are very itchy and if one smacks the caterpillar, you get a bad rash if you react to it. We also saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that Colleen spotted and then several warblers.
We then went to watch the birds - all kinds of birds come to scare water sources in Texas. We have found in this environment and the heat that birds need water and food and the birds flock to dripping water. We checked the 1000 year old oak tree on the other side of Goose Island and went on to the fields and the gulf bay north of Fulton. We drove down several deserted and empty roads. There were barren fields and desert habitats and we did not see anything. But looking up we were treated to the hovering of the White-tailed Hawk. Sibley calls these hawks, "rare treasures" and we had very good looks at it flying. It is fast and one can see the white tail and the mostly white body with the terminal black band on the tail.
After this lovely lifer, we decided to go back to Aransas Pass and Aransas Island. We took the ferry and traveled to the island with a stop for ice cream and then on to Paradise Pont. We met a birding couple Mike and ? who were very nice and had lots of birding ideas. Paradise Pond lived up to its name with Tennesse, Kentucky, Golden-winged, Louisiana and Hooded Warblers in addition to Orchard and Baltimore Orioles and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak for company. We are averaging about 75 speciies each day here.
From here we went to Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Centre - at the water treatment plant for Port Aransas and here we had Sora, Moorhen, Herons and ducks at dusk. We were looking for Clapper or Yellow Rails and Least Bittern. It was a lovely sunset but no luck. It turned dark shortly after and we drove back to Fulton and found supper.
Tomorrow we have an early start for a morning boat trip on the Skimmer to look for Whooping Cranes which would be soooo sweet.
On another note, I have talked with my Grandbaby-to-be and told her to stay put until I get home. BB is getting a bit uncomfortable and so far so good. I hope that my first Grandbaby waits until I get back home to arrive. Post Script: This was our first granddaughter Clara, born May 30, 2014.
I had three lifers today and Colleen had a couple more. It was a great day. We are having full days and Texas is pretty sweet.
Barb & Colleen
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