Tag: High Island Rookery

A Handsome Devil and Friends

Not much to report in the non-birding realm. Managed to tweak my back this week giving me some unwanted rest days, but fingers crossed I was able to run the rest of that weak sauce out of me in today’s run. What’s the saying .. “The beatings will continue until the pain subsides!“. Beyond that, we pack up the RV this weekend and head for the Poodle Nationals at Purina Farms (Gray Summit, MO) next week where they boys will be matching agility skills with other Poodles across the nation (actually international as well). Ruger has double duty as he’ll be competing in FastCAT (100yd dash) and should get a major title for his efforts if we calculated all the potential points correctly. I also get to have a little fun with some birding at one of my favorite spots – Shaw Nature Preserve. Let’s hope the migration is kicking in down there as it is dismal up here.

I am going to pick up where I left off as we were celebrating the breeding season for Birds – thankfully not Rabbits or we’d be here practically the entire year ha. Going to give you an extra bonus this post, but for now, let’s start with this handsome “devil”.

Anhinga found at the Rookery in High Island, TX in March 2024

Hit the jump to read more about this flying cross, oh, and for the bonus content!

Continue reading A Handsome Devil and Friends

Blue Means it’s Frisky Time

Well, we are in April now and it is time for me to start earning my keep around here – break time is over boys and girls – at least as it pertains to my absence. Big thanks to Brad and Jan for keeping the ball rolling here. The finger issue is still a concern, I just haven’t decided what course of action to take as the three possible options pretty much suck. On the positive side, the ankle continues to improve and now pushing 8 to 9 miles at a run and nearly every day. On the off days rucking the hardest bluff trails in the area for another 7 to 8 miles. Still a long way to go to hit my October goal, but the knee scooter sitting in the corner of the weight room is a constant reminder of the struggle. That isn’t the only progress this month. I’ve been working day and night to get through the spoils of the Texas trip (sheepishly looks down) from last year – I am trying, I am really, really, trying to get caught up. Along with that effort I did get another Halloween tutorial put together – will give a link to that at the end in case you are interested.

Linda: “All I hear is blah blah blah, how about finally getting to the real reason your audience is here!?!” “But my peeps like to know what I’m up to…“See that blue billed thingy right there, get to it, pronto!“

Tricolored Heron found at High Island Rookery, Texas in April 2024

That sound you just heard is the Intrigued CEO putting her foot down ha! How about we get to Little “Bird” Blue right after the jump.

Continue reading Blue Means it’s Frisky Time

Days in White Satin

Apologies to those patiently waiting for the far more entertaining stories from Brad and Jan, but I missed a small window I had between their trips into the field. Went with the two-parter on the RomEos (did everyone catch the RE or Reddish Egret secret coding there ha) and that ended up pushing us through February and now they are filling up their tins with new adventures. Have no worries, Brad has filled up his post queue so we’ll be getting to those upon their return – we like to keep our operatives focused in the field and not having to find creative ways to get access for replies etc. Long story short, you are stuck with me for at least the next couple of posts.

Being that we just featured a rather large, white (morphed) shorebird in our last two posts, decided to keep the theme going to start March off.

Great Egrets at High Island Rookery, Texas, March 2024

Granted, today’s featured feathered friend is larger than the Reddish Egret and naturally white versus a genetic variation, but you get the picture (literally ha). Hit the jump to learn more about these breeding plumaged Great Egrets – I promise to limit my use of song lyrics this time hehehe.

Continue reading Days in White Satin

Great Baby Blue

We are working hard as we make the final push to the end of the year. You will be happy to know I have just started processing the spoils of our Texas trip back in January …of this year .. I know you were immediately wondering that based on my usual backlog ha. Not sure I will be able to get through the 700 gigs worth of those shots before he head back down there at the beginning of the year, but I will do my best. Then I can move on to the 600 gigs from Arizona in March/April followed by the latest Florida trip – once again I will be putting “An Intern” at the top of my wish list for Santa. Based on how successful that is, I might be able to remove “Take less pictures” from my 2026 goal list. Surely typical of all wildlife photographers out there..well, let’s generalize to just all photographers, taking the shot(s) is relatively quick in the process – reviewing, culling, processing, uploading to storage and then picking the few out of those worthy of your time…now that is the ten-fold time drag. My note on the HQ bulletin board looking for staff with free time still has all the tabs at the bottom. Word from our HR head says the employees think it is a ruse to get them to self-reveal the slackers. We would do no such thing hehehe.

So I soldier on. Feel sorry for me!?! Don’t, I kid, this is my thing and I truly enjoy our time in the field and ecstatic there are those, like yourselves, that like seeing the results. With that, time to get to the next installment of Baby Month!

Nesting Great Egrets found at High Island Rookery, Texas in April 2024

Hmmm, I might be a little premature on this entry. Hit the jump to see why this Great Egret is giving me a cautious look.

Continue reading Great Baby Blue