§ Blucher....

Just a photo album of my walking the park perimeter in search of birds! It was a delightful morning, a bit sultry with high humidity, but bearable. The wildflowers were the main focus and new Spring leaves of the trees from winter kill. I saw very few birds, to my disappointment, but I got a little outdoor exercise before I had to leave for grocery shopping which has become a hassle [a chore!] with the price hikes, my gray matter [brain], working as a calculator, is in overdrive with this task these days. It gets a bit over-heated. LOL...

In the collage of ten photos [NOT the first photo published of the pathway], the first image of the tree--there is a yellow-bellied sapsucker [bird -woodpecker] barely visible, can you find it?  And then, with my heart search fetish...the cardinal photo; notice the heart shaped leaves?

§ Reflections Of....

The other day when I drove to a favorite park of mine, I spent several minutes on the Hawkwatch Platform, watching birds of all kinds fly in and take advantage of the drip system for drinking water. This dove flew into the tree near the bottom of the 'pond' and I noticed its reflection on the water's surface and snapped a photo...

 

They are mainly indigenous to the Southwest United States from the southern tip of California, across New Mexico and into Texas. What we see here in Corpus is year 'round, tho they are also known to migrate in the winter, southward into Old Mexico. If interested, click here, to listen to their song.

So after resizing this dove photo off my digital camera to upload it to a blog post, I skimmed through my computer files to see if I had any MORE reflection photos. Here are three others...

Turtle


Monrning light at Pollywog Ponds


Gulf Sunrise Reflections

§ Let the Sunshine In....

BEFORE PICTURES here. Our house sits on the property at an angle. Which is good...warm sun in the winter and well shaded in the summer months. The nicest time in our diningroom is late in the afternoon! I must admit that I said long ago, I'd never do all white walls again. I wanted color. Well, after nearly 20 years of color, I now wanted white! And I'm liking it. Of course doing the rearranging of photos and frames on all the walls to "unclutter" helps. lol

...close ups...

Of course I'm sticking with it all being my bird sanctuary! I 'heart' birds! To explain a bit of what you see:

Top left of close up images...I made four curtain tie-backs out of Christmas cardinals, I have several collage frames of birds I've photographed! Then...the black swans were seen many years ago at Laguna Madre [mother's lagoon] shores here in Corpus Christi...they are indigenous to Australia!! A long migration to South Texas. A couple of years ago, two other black swans were spotted, but so VERY RARE --the rarest bird seen for me in my home area. The last two are of a print [and close up] of a piece of artwork that I bought from a co-worker's artist husband...Ron Salter. He gave me pointers on sketching and lighting many many moons ago...before I retired [Colorado].

PART I -kitchen

PART II -family hall

§ Look Up in the Sky! Is It a Plane? A Bird? Nope....a Cloud! But, What a Cloud!!!!

First....I detest time change! As I type this up it's only 10 a.m. and lunch shoulda been served hours ago. I wish the government would get their thumbs out of their butts and set it one way or another and let people live without having to adjust their lives every 6 months. Just when our system gets settled we have to stop and rearrange our habits. It's been proven more lives are lost because of this...both human and animals. And we ARE NOT saving energy one bit; both physical and material energy. Every 6 months I write my congressmen and voice my opinion. Perhaps someday they'll listen?!!

_ _ _

Okay, I step down from the podium and begin my Sunday morning walk in the park post...

I got my chores done after breakfast [dishes, cleaning the kitchen counters, etc.] and decided it's been a while since I walked the curvy, hilly, pathways at Guth Park just off the interstate highway northwest of town. I drove there, but stopping at an area at the end of the ship channel's basin "turnstile" or turning circle [where ships hafta go to turn around to head back out of the port...dunno the nautical term].

Usually there are a lot of water birds hanging around in that spot. Yet, when I do go there, I make sure it's on a Sunday. This highway. Joe Fulton Corridor, is used mostly by heavy trucking traffic [18 wheelers] to the port of call to dock and unload/load cargo onto or from the tankers and cargo ships. Trust me when I say 'they own the road'...and don't slow down!! Sundays are usually pretty quiet if I go early enough.

On this particular day, the small number of birds along the mudflats and ponds was minimal. I didn't stay long...walking a short distance on both sides of the highway, up and down, snapping photos a few times, and sucking in my breath, hoping to not see an 18 wheeler barreling down my way at 65MPH so I could cross the road and get back in the car safely.

Once back in the car, I head to the park. This particular park has miles of paved paths, very hilly, and full of interests for everyone. Picnic tables, duck pond, benches galore, swimming pool, Disk Golf Course, playgrounds, senior center, and yep....birds! But, once again, migrants were not heard or seen. I am thinking that they had a different route to get to their wintering habitat because of the extreme drought through central USA. Anyway, I walked uphill, downhill, and up again. At one time, after the sun broke from the clouds the heat of the morning began to drain my energy. I sat on a bench and scanned the treetops for any birds.

I saw two vultures soaring above, cowbirds, grackles, sparrows and starlings. The sky and the trees were the highlight for now. In fact I saw one extraordinary cloud formation**!!! Got a photo!! [below] I walked to the duck pond....Up and down more hills, back to the car and left for home with the AC running full blast. Another hot day.

**This was the best 'bird' I've ever seen!!! Can you see it? At first what came to mind was the phoenix rising from the fire, but then after looking at it when I got home...more an eagle?!!

Maritime Glossary

§ Early Mornin' Scenes...

Driving to Port Aransas early this week just before sunrise, I stopped at my usual birding area, and to my surprise, there were NO birds seen on the lake! Usually it's busy with all kinds of birds at this hour. It was eerily quiet out there on the water. Perhaps, I'm thinking, that the new boardwalk being built on one side of the lake has something to do with the lack of bird population...just a guess. I stopped and searched through my camera lens [I use it as a scope with the zoom lens] and spotted one lone brown, juvenile, pelican in search of its breakfast and an egret in the construction zone. After a while when nothing showed up for me with feathers,  I continued to walk the boardwalk, climbed the observation tower and then dropped down and walked the path on the backside thru the Texas Silverleaf Sunflowers...

Sun -- flower -- sunflower!!

§ From Port A to Aransas Pass...

Seems lately everywhere I go around town, or even on the island highways or the small fishing village of Port Aransas, there is construction going on. I had planned on climbing the tower along the channel near the ferry boats that take vehicles over the channel to watch all the activity. Well, when I got to the tower, everything was cordoned off...it looks to me that they are building a new pier. Okie Dokie. That nixed my climbing, so I just walked along the trail around the park, through the marina, and just observed. Again, with nesting season for most local birds, not much going on in that venue...

When I got to the marina boardwalk, I looked to the Eastern horizon and took a picture of the one and only lighthouse. Lydia Ann Lighthouse. Then, I zoomed in as far as my camera allows without a tripod, and snapped again. In the first photo of the lighthouse [some 4+ miles across the channel, near the town of Aransas Pass *not the same as Port Aransas* as the crow flies], there is a very faint spot just above the 'keeper's' roof...by using the enlargement feature, look closely. Then, when I got home and uploaded the photos, the zoomed in photo revealed it was a patriotic parasailer!!!

Read more history of the Lighthouse HERE.

Lydia Ann Lighthouse which originally opened in 1856. Protecting a natural pass from the Gulf of Mexico to Aransas and Corpus Christi, the Lydia Ann Lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and it's the second-oldest lighthouse along the Texas Coast.


The lighthouse was deactivated in 1952, with just shy of 100 years of service along the Texas Gulf Coast. Today, the lighthouse serves as an iconic spot to visit [privately owned, see by boat tour only] as it's the oldest surviving structure in the Port Aransas/Corpus Christi area.

§ BIRDIEST FESTIVAL IN AMERICA...

This past week, during April 20-25th Corpus Christi and the adjacent areas of birding hotspots has hosted the annual BIRDIEST FESTIVAL IN AMERICA! Trust me when I say a lot of birders from all over the country round up here [and some from foreign countries] to take tours of South Texas and go birding!! I, of course, try to steer clear of the busy times during this...trying to avoid the big crowds and bus-loads of people.   My main reason is [I've been on birding tours many times] it turns into a "gab session" of what birds they've seen, where, and not paying attention to birds at all!!!  But, Sunday, after a week of yard work, I left home to take a day-trip to San Patricio County...a specific private pond that is known for a large rookery. Last year I drove there during the hatching time of year to get pics of the 'chicks'. This year, I was hoping to get there for the breeding plumage showcase! When I arrived, the trees were speckled with white, nests, pink, and active with flight here and there. I saw what I went for...the beautiful egrets and their plumage of...

Egrets were named for these special breeding season plumes, from the French word “aigrette” (pron: ay-grette). It was these gossamer feathers that nearly caused the Great Egret's demise. At the turn of the 20th century, egrets were hunted ruthlessly for their plumes, which were used to decorate women's hats.

As Ginny suggested in her comment last week, I must add that BOTH female and male have the lime green lores AND the feathers which they grow this time each year and molt in the Fall...The plumage is entirely white. During the breeding season, both males and females grow long lacy, delicate and flowing plumes called...("aigrettes").

I took way too many photos; it took me most of the morning on the computer to resize them for my blogs. I have DOZENS to share of the beauty nature creates with the breeding season on my bird blog. After I reluctantly left the area I then drove to Calallen back in MY county and stopped at a park there. Buses, people, photographers galore. I talked with a gentleman from California who came here just for the festival! Guess where his wife was? Behind the wheel of their SUV, sleeping!! lol I then walked some and took photos of course. And one area, I was skimming the larger lake with my camera lens and spotted a couple of birders out on an observation deck. I had to smile. I thought "How cute!" To see an older couple out together, enjoying what they both like to do together!! Then, I stopped..."Hey, Anni!? You're white haired and the older generation too" "Suck it up!"

The last two images, the flowering palo verde tree, there IS a bird in the photo...can you spot it? Then, I zoomed in between the branches and caught it to show you it's a Red Winged Black Bird...