We are finally back from Colorado!! Although it took a serious chunk out of my haunt time and helping Linda photograph the TDAA Petit Prix was a lot of work, it was good to spend some time out West enjoying the views and even got a couple of mountain trail runs in. Truth be told, those runs nearly killed me – can someone please turn the oxygen mixture up out there, you are making us sea level runners suffer ha. Brad and Jan are back out on assignment and starting tomorrow my pillow will be filing a missing person report. To give Brad a break, thought I would put out a quick post before taking the next couple of weeks off.
Been running a lot at night lately. A bit cooler to relieve some of the stress on the internal temp regulator after the “July incident” and it gives me a full day to work on the props and other items on the 262 step project plan. Every once in a while something will happen or catch my attention that stops me in my tracks. Those moments remain embedded in the synapse mesh never to be forgotten. In that category, all my major childhood injuries (ex. I was pretty sure I cut my leg off at the knee when I was like 8 – still have the massive scar today), recognition for a hard earned accomplishment (no participation trophies for this kid), getting to close to that afterlife spotlight (my running escapades are well documented) and several instances when something read or heard hit me right between the eyes. For example, Malcom’s Blink book finally put to bed all that Gallop BS of being defined at at age 5, Carol’s Mindset masterpiece explained everything I was seeing in the ranks of the corporate world, Steve’s masterpiece Do Hard Things summed up my thirst for more challenges, Michael’s The Comfort Crisis is hands down my favorite read of the year (if not the decade) giving me the perfect one word answer for anyone who inquires about my ultra addiction – Misogi. In the last two weeks I’ve had two occurrences where I stopped running to appreciate what I had just heard on my selected podcast for that trek – both courtesy of Mike Rowe’s The Way I Heard It. The first was Are We All Lab Rats (link here) and today’s agony distractor, Meet the Stoics (link here – not posted on youtube yet). Spitting truth as they say.
In light of those personal life stopping moments, going with a quick montage of our feathered friends suspended in time – more due to my camera than any words of wisdom permeating their body, although, I think tiny bird headphones is an untapped market! No theme beyond “in flight”, just some shots I pulled out of the queue I thought you might like to see. Let’s begin shall we…
Starting off our little series is a Bonaparte’s Gull.
Hit the jump to see more images honoring my latest stopped in my tracks moment.
This specimen was found while visiting Texas City Dike back in January 2023 – note, all these shots were from that particular Texas trip. These Gulls were everywhere and basically gorging themselves just off the dike.
They are a smaller Gull which is why I think they are so cute. That smaller statue will often get them confused with a Tern if one doesn’t note the slightly thicker bill (although thinner than the Gull-Billed Tern). Look for the spot behind the eye on the nonbreeding adults and the black tail band will reveal a first winter.
The Red-Crowned Parrot (above) had been on my target list for many a year. It wasn’t so much a difficult hunt as just finding time to head over to Oliviera Park in Brownsville, TX. Don’t bother to go until around dusk as that is when the flocks come in to roost for the night in and around the neighborhood.
Next up the Forster’s Tern found at the West Jetty Port in Aransas, TX. You can see the similarities with the Bonaparte’s above.
Look for the deep forked tail, the black mask and not seen in this shot, but they are entirely white underneath. Love seeing these birds when we head down to Texas… getting them in the tin with their erratic flight patterns can be a lot of work.
Honestly, I do not take a lot of Gull pictures when I am out in the field. There are pretty much everywhere (at least on the Gulf Coast) and any attention you give them turns into a shakedown for food. I did snap this Ring-Billed Gull as it was heading in to harass a small child with an ice cream cone on the South Padre Island beach. Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine.
You will have no difficulty IDing the Ring-Billed in the field. The bird namers got this one right – look for the …wait for it … wait for it.. black ring on the bill on the mature adults (juvs have more of a solid black tip). Seal the deal with the pale eye and yellow feet. You can also just ask them what they are when they are rifling through your picnic basket.
Who doesn’t like a pretty Spoon? This one comes to you from the auto-loop at Anahuac NWR.
This one’s feather coat was a deep pink alluding to a more mature specimen – I learned from Ted over at TPJ Photography (link here), that their pink hue is not impacted by their diet as in the Flamingos.
If you are going to have a Spoon, you might as well include their watering hole mates the Great Egret. This one happened to be at Brazos Bend State Park in Needville, TX. Not as entertaining as the Spoons with their frilly colors and frantic dancing, but stoic (see what I did there ha) and beautiful in their pure white garb.
How about a Monk couple to check off another easy to find bird in Texas. Some birds you have to track down in remote places, traversing through muck and engaging in mortal hand to hand combat with swamp vermin – Monk Parakeets, not so much. Locate their colony, drive up to the designated street and look for the mass of sticks on the nearby transformer. These two happened to be hanging down the street from the Old Hidalgo Pump House.
Another Texas favorite is the Harris’s Hawk. Easy to spot with their pretty much solid dark wing feathering with the rufous leading edge. That will pretty much get you where you need to be with the ID, but if you want the full experience, look for the white on the tail tips and a thicker white band at the base of the tail. This one happened to be taken at Santa Ana NWR, but if you don’t want to fight the Mosquito horde there, they are typically hanging out on the telephone poles just off the parking lot at Estero Llano Grande State Park.
This next shot is not my best effort by far – downright soft, but this Vermilion (yes, only one ‘L’) Flycatcher was giving a hell of an aerial acrobat show the day Ron and I were at Santa Ana. Thankfully my elbow had not been damaged back then or it would have been hurting just trying to keep focus with The Beast.
We now head back to Anahuac NWR to greet their resident Owl. Thanks to an unexpected late stay, we learned they have a number of Short-Eared Owls that hunt the refuge. Like the Parrots, they tend to show themselves around dusk, so crank up the ISO and prepare to have your breath taken away. Suspect the rodents there are not as enamored as we humans are about their presence.
One last image before I call it a wrap. Doesn’t fit the in-flight them of the other shots, but I never take enough pictures of the Butters to make an entire post. Thought I would treat B. in the UK (link here), with some delicate Texas wings.
If I was to guess, I’d say it is a White Peacock, but my Butterfly knowledge is even worse than my geography knowledge and that pretty much sucks thanks to my parochial education. If it helps, this one was shot at Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco, TX. If you want waaaay better shots of these creatures you should head over to B’s site.
That’s a wrap folks. I will definitely be out of pocket from the moment I hit publish for at least the next two weeks and maybe more as my 50 mile ultra race is right after the party (glutton for punishment). No worries, as always, Brad will have plenty of great adventures to keep you entertained.
Stay Calm, Haunt On!
Life Intrigued 