February 5 - T is for Texas - B is for Birding

I woke up a little after 8 to a foggy 68° day, in Liberty, Texas!  I went online & registered for the Laredo Birding Festival, getting the last spot on a couple of the field trips, because I was registering so late.  I had flown to Houston, visited my daughter, and ‘bought back’ her 2000 Subaru Outback, now that she’s bought herself an F-150 – a girl’s gotta have a ‘truck”.  I left the motel and headed down the road to the south, intending to drive the Subaru back to the Pacific Northwest.

I stopped at the Visitors’ Center for the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuges - now called the “Texas Chenier Plain NWR Complex Headquarters”.

The center was closed today, but the trails were open, and I walked from the Loblolly Pine forest down to the bald cypress forest at the edge of the lake.

Bald Cypress - Taxodium distichum

This high ground above Turtle Bayou
has obviously been used for centuries, as the shell middens all along the trail attest

Native Americans had clam feeds here for many generations . . .

It had been a while since I’d enjoyed the views of cypress and marveled at the ‘knees’.  Although there are a lot of theories for why these swamp cypress have knees, no one really knows.

Cypress 'knees' above the swamp water

The Cajuns over in Louisiana called the common reed “Roseau Cane” when I worked there back in 1980

Roseau Cane - Phragmites australis

The swamp was full of red-eared sliders

Trachemys scripta

I spent a little time at the photo blind.

The blind was clean enough, but the only feeder present was empty and the water structure just had rain water in it.
It seemed to be a slow morning for birds, but I did see 16 species there, even though it was so foggy that you couldn’t see out into the lake.  A handsome Hermit Thrush kept mostly out of sight in the brush, and a few Orange-crowned Warblers.  It amuses me that I’ve seen the Orange-crowned in Texas before I found one in January in western Washington!

There is a lot of Chinese Privet in this part of the country, but I’ve never seen any local birds or animals feeding on the berries

Chinese privet berries - Ligustrum sinense

Other wildlife along the trail included a bullfrog

Jeremiah was a bullfrog . . .

and an anole

Green Anole - Anolis carolinensis

The piles of mud along the trails, and in lawns all over the coastal plain, are the “chimneys” of crawfish.  The crawfish down here burrow in the moist ground, and come out at dark to feed or travel.

I continued on out to the Anahuac NWR’s Shoveler Pond wildlife drive, off the Whites Ranch Road.  The Visitors’ Center was closed here as well, but the restrooms were open for the public.
I drove the loop, seeing 40 species, including 9 species that were new for the year.  One was the Neotropic Cormorant, which is a little slighter build than the Double-crested Corms that I’m used to seeing, and takes me a while to separate.
The impoundment is pretty full, with ‘islands’ of Roseau cane.

Besides the birds, one has to keep an eye out for alligators on this coast.

Big ones have a toothy grin, but the little ones are ‘cute’,

although even the little ones can be dangerous – if you’re a gallinule!

I walked out on the short boardwalk, and found a large flock of whistling-ducks.
The Black-bellied Whistling-duck has a gray face, a bright pink bill, and – of all things – a black belly.

The Fulvous Whistling-duck has a gray bill, cinnamon face, breast and belly, with white streaks on its flanks.  The eBird program flagged the 54 Fulvous that were mixed in with the Black-bellys as a “high count”.

Fulvous Whistling-ducks on the left, a Black-bellied on the right

Also on the boardwalk was an American Pipit, wagging its tail incessantly.
On the drive out, there was a White-tailed Kite.  The books used to call these “Black-shouldered” Kites, which I always thought was a more apt name.

Kite in the Fog

I am on my way toward Laredo for the Bird Festival there, so beat feet to gain a few miles before the day is over.  I caught the Bolivar-Galveston Ferry (free) just before dark.

The fog was pretty thick on the crossing, so all of the birds seen were close to the boat.
Four of us in in a row were “randomly selected” from the ferry line for inspection by “Security” staff.  Looking in my glove box? And under my car’s hood?  Really?  I find it so damned demeaning to be searched or have my vehicle searched in the guise of “Homeland Insecurity”.  Back west, we don’t have to put up with this un-American intrusion on our Washington State Ferry system, but apparently the Texans are more afraid of their own citizens . . .  end of rant.

I drove on until I made it to Lake Jackson – Clute, and checked into the La Quinta Inn.

Texas Chenier Plain NWR eBird Checklist is Here

Anahuac NWR eBird Checklist is Here

January 28 - Viera Wetlands

I was awake at 5:30, so got up to a cloudy 49° morning.  It was no longer raining, but was still moderately windy, with about 15-knot winds from the northwest.   The seas off Port Canaveral were 10-12 feet and up to 15 feet, with a 4 foot swell and wind chop on top of that, so I’m kind of relieved that the pelagic trip was cancelled.  It would have been a nasty boat ride, even with a larger boat than those used by the Westport Charter fleet.  One thing I’ve long since learned was that “if the skipper doesn’t think it’s a good idea to go out, he’s absolutely correct!”

At 10 a.m., I decided to walk down the road toward the Viera Wetlands, which are wastewater settling and recharge ponds for the local water and sewer folks.  The wind was still blowing a bit as I headed out of the neighborhood, supervised by one of the local Black Vultures.

 
The Folks in Florida have different yard birds than we do in the Puget Sound region.

Glossy Ibis as a Yard Bird

En route, there was a bit of a breeze, but I had good views of the local warblers,

"Western" Palm Warbler

as well as the water birds in the ponds along the way.

I did see my first Blue Jays of the trip . . .  I’m surprised that I had spent several days in Florida without seeing the species, although I’d heard several prior to this.  Red-bellied Woodpeckers are really common in the 'burbs

They're called Red-bellied 'cause they have red bellies

Mockingbirds checked me out, and didn’t seem too concerned that I was in their neighborhood,

Northern Mockingbirds - Common in Florida; Very Much Not So in Washington

although the Loggerhead Shrikes were less confiding.

Unsafe at any speed . . .

At one vacant lot, there were hundreds of Tree Swallows descending on the wax myrtle bushes.  I couldn’t tell if they were eating the berries or foraging for insects in the foliage, but they would weigh down the branches, take off, and swirl down to another bush. 

All Tree Swallows, so far as I could tell . . .

Swirling lower and lower . . .

 . . . and landing in the Wax Myrtle by the hundreds!

I got to the wetlands, named for Ritch Grissom.

After yesterday’s 3 ½ inches of rain, vehicles were prohibited until the road dried out a bit longer.  There are several acres of ponds, with cattails, grasses and reeds to absorb the nitrogen from the treated effluent water.

The treatment plant is adjacent to the wetlands

"Clean" water goes into the wetlands

The wetlands provide habitat for the wildlife, and opportunities for birders, joggers, and nature lovers.  The water management folks have provided roads & trails with observation decks

There are lots of interpretive signs for birds and bugs

Of course, there were no butterflies out while I was there . . .

But I learned about them in spite of myself

and the local vegetation
The site has rules.  There are always rules.  One is “Don’t feed the ‘gators!”
I got some nice views of the water birds

The immature-plumaged Little Blue Heron is neither

But, the adult fits the bill . . .

Common Gallinules are, well, common here

White Ibis

Wood Storks have these cool pink feet . . .

Headless Limpkin comes in for a landing

Pied-billed Grebe

There were a few alligators who wished that the ambient temperature was a bit higher.

This is a cool alligator . . .

Being cold-blooded, they didn’t move fast, unless one approached a little too close or too quickly.  Fortunately, these 5-footers were solely interested in getting back to the safety of their marsh.

My, what big teeth you have, Grandmother!

Besides alligators, there were other reptiles about, including this softshell turtle.  It appears, from its 20-inch size, to be a female.  Males are smaller, about 10-12".

Apalone ferox - the softshell turtle

I stayed on the dike, although some nice habitat along the perimeter seemed to beckon.  But, the area was closed to the public.  ¿Quien lo sabe?

Bridge to Nowhere, Florida style

You may get bored looking at someone else’s shots of birds, but I can never get enough of seeing these species.

I don't see many Palm Warblers in the Pacific Northwest, so I enjoy them while I'm here

And, the same with the Boat-tailed Grackles

These two Caspian Terns caused a traffic jam.
They were apparently adult and mostly-grown child, altho' I suppose it could be a female begging from a male in a courtship behavior thingy.  The one with the submissive posture kept uttering the juvenile begging calls, which the adult seemed to not quite ignore.  It seemed more like, “yes, young man, you are hungry.  I suggest that you go out and get your own dinner…”

The Roseate Spoonbills also caused a bit of a Viera traffic jam,
although there were plenty flying overhead and feeding in the marsh

Who doesn't like big, pink birds?

At about 3 p.m., Marty called, and I was pretty close to the parking lot, so I told her to come pick me up. We packed to leave the Sunshine State tomorrow to return to the gray skies of the Pacific Northwest.

Viera Wetlands eBird Checklist is Here