Chad's Bird Blog: 2013

I was in Seattle on business and went one afternoon to the Union Bay Natural Area which is basically the botanical gardens at the University of Washington. It is a pretty cool little spot to bird and I thought it was a pretty good afternoon.

Here is a map of the area:

I first walked through Yesler swamp, which is a densely wooded area in the Northeastern part of the park. I saw tons of Brown Creepers, different Wrens, and other birds but the lighting was pretty bad. This is the best picture of the wrens that I could get. I am pretty sure it is a Marsh Wren.

Marsh Wren

I got a decent picture of this Black-capped Chickadee. They are similar to the Carolina Chickadees that we see in the Houston area, but not the exact same.

Black-capped Chickadee

I don't often take pictures of Robins, but this bird let me get so close to it that I could take some pretty cool pictures. These pictures aren't cropped or altered in any way.

American Robin

I learned something cool about Pied-billed Grebes - apparently they puff up their heads when they feel threatened. These guys showed it in these pictures. First is a single Grebe before they were startled:

Pied-billed Grebe

Now look at them in this shot - they look like they're ready to go to a 70's disco:

Pied-billed Grebes with "startled afros"

I looked for a website description of this phenomenon but couldn't find one. I saw it happen though and I'm pretty sure I didn't discover it.

I saw a lot of these: I thought this guy's smile was pretty cool. It reminds me of Ugway in Kung Fu Panda.

Right after I left the Grebes I came across this Great Blue Heron. I don't think I'll ever get this close to one of these birds again. He had no idea I was there. Only one of the pictures below is cropped, the rest are as I shot them with my 400mm lens.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron - zoomed in a little just to show the detail

Just as I was turning away I looked up and saw this... a pretty common sight in Seattle, but still cool for me:

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle (cropped to zoom in a little))

I saw this group of three swimming through the lilly pads:

I really like this sequence of pictures. They were pretty hard to shoot as they don't sit still for long:

Ok, it's just a Canada Goose, but it's not too bad of a picture I guess.

Canada Goose

I got some pretty good pictures of this sparrow. I am fairly sure it is a Savannah Sparrow.

Savannah Sparrow

I'm not very good with Swallows, but I'm pretty sure this is a Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

I stopped for a quick shot of Mount Ranier:

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Male Red-winged Blackbird

I tried to get a good picture of this female Wood Duck but this is the best I could do:

Here it is zoomed in a little:

Wood Duck

As I was leaving, I saw this female Anna's Hummingbird. We don't have this species in Houston, but the females don't look much different from the female Ruby-throated, which is what we have mostly around here.

Anna's Hummingbird (female)

On Saturday July 20th I went birding by myself to Brazos Bend State Park. It was rainy most of the day so the pictures are kind of dark, but it was a really great day nonetheless.

I spent most of the day at 40 Acre Lake. Just to mix things up I walked around the lake in a counter-clockwise direction, which means I started in the picnic area where I spotted some Red-bellied Woodpeckers...

Red-bellied Woodpecker (female I believe, as the red doesn't extend all the way to the beak).

And quite a few Carolina Wrens

Carolina Wrens

It would turn out to be the day of the Purple Gallinule. These birds are much more secretive and less common than the Common Gallinules. Before this I had only ever photographed this species once and seen it one or two other times. But on this day I saw easily over 20 and took several good photos.

As I walked out of the woods on the trail at the Southeast corner of the lake, I saw this Purple Gallinule walking under the lilly pads. They have such huge yellow feet!!

Purple Gallinule

No sooner did I see the mother, than I quickly saw four little ones following along behind...

Purple Gallinule chicks

The mother would turn back and squawk at them and they would speed up to follow her.

Purple Gallinule chicks

At this point I thought they were gone, but then I heard her squawking again and she started to come back toward me...

Purple Gallinule

Then I saw what she came back for...

Purple Gallinule chick

She had one more baby that somehow got separated from the rest. It was really cool to watch and hear her call him and see him trot off across the pads to catch up. It was almost like I could understand her chewing him out for dawdling and lollygagging.

This next picture is the same as the previous just zoomed in. And we think human teenagers have disproportionately large feet.... check these bad boys out!!

Baby Purple Gallinule

I rarely take pictures of Northern Cardinals, but this (I believe) juvenile male landed on a perfect perch right in front of me and start posing so I couldn't resist...

Northern Cardinal (juvenile male)

From this point on it was raining pretty steadily. Not hard, but it still makes some of the pictures a little blurry. I was about halfway to the tower on the east side of the lake when I saw this lone Anhinga sitting in the rain...

Anhinga

But he wasn't alone for long. He was soon joined by a friend...

Anhinga and Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret feet are nothing compared to the Purple Gallinules

I stood in the shelter of some trees about 50 yards south of the tower because it was raining hard enough I didn't want to risk getting my camera too wet. I soon realized I was standing on a small fire-ant hill... ouch!! I hate those #$&#??!! buggers!!

After I beat the tar out of my right leg and stepped aside, I looked up to witness this "3-species waltz in the rain...." (I think the yellow flower is trying to steal the show)

White Ibis, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron

White Ibis, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron

Sadly, the relationship just couldn't work out and we were down to two...

White Ibis & Tricolored Heron

Like ships, passing in the night...

White Ibis & Tricolored Heron

Wait she says... Don't leave me!!

White Ibis & Tricolored Heron

I'm pretty bad with swallows, but after consulting my guide, I think these are Cave Swallows (but they could be Cliff Swallows)

Cave Swallows

These little dudes are really tough to photograph well...

Cave Swallow (zoomed in from previous picture)

I made it to the tower, where I waited for some heavier rain to pass and I spotted this Great Blue Heron in the swamp just North of the Tower.

Great Blue Heron

Just east of the Great Blue was another Purple Gallunile. Not a great picture, but I didn't know they perched in trees...

Purple Gallinule

As I turned back to the Great Blue, I noticed he was being joined by a friend...

Great Blue Heron

Not a bird... (except for the Common Gallinule in the lower left)

Playing around with focus here. First the gator... kind of...

Great Blue Heron

Then the bird...

Great Blue Heron

For some reason I really like taking pictures of Great Egrets, especially in flight. These pictures aren't great, but they're not terrible. I really like the little feather trailing over the feet...

Great Egret

Coming in for a landing... or directing the swamp choir??

Great Egret

Experimenting with composition here. I'm not sure which I like better...

Great Egret

White Ibis (with juvenile Common Gallinule in the background)

White Ibis

Gator in the rain

A little closer...

It wouldn't be birding at Brazos without a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. He doesn't look too happy about the rain...

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

The Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks (and ducklings) were everywhere and I got to hear their whistling more than I ever have before...

Black-bellied Whistling-ducks

Shelter from the storm...Something moms are really good at!!

Black-bellied Whistling-ducklingss

This (I think) juvenile Great Blue Heron was pretty mangy looking. But look at the size of that Lilly Pad!!!

Juvenile Great Blue Heron

I love Green Herons...

Green Heron

I don't know how this got in there...

Another Purple Gallinule story with better pictures...

Purple Gallinule

I first saw this one walking alone...

Purple Gallinule

Check out that foot!!!

Purple Gallinule

Then I noticed she had a little buddy with her. I'm guessing this is the lone survivor of her clutch as I didn't see any others around.

Purple Gallinule and chick

Then I saw something really cool. The mother caught a moth in her bill...

Purple Gallinule

Purple Gallinule (zoomed in)

... and turned her head and fed it to the baby!! I didn't get a picture of it because I didn't see it - her body was shielding my view - but she clearly turned her head back and the baby ran up and their faces met. This is the next picture and I'm not sure but there may just be a little speck of moth crumbs at the end of the babies bill...

Purple Gallinules

Then they went back to hunting...

Purple Gallinules

I'm not very happy with myself for not getting a better picture of this mass of ducklings. What was I thinking with that branch there?! There had to be a better way...