April 20th, 2013 with Samantha

Everybody else had stuff on so Sammy and I spent the whole day birding!!
We saw 64 species that day!

No, I don't have pictures of all of them.

We started in Quintana:

Summer Tanager

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)

Scarlet Tanager

Two Indigo Buntings

Juvenile male Orchard Oriole

Mature male Orchard Oriole

Bronzed Cowbird (Pretty creepy huh?)

Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird

Sammy spotted this little guy in the path.
It looks like a White-Capped Sparrow to me, even though my Nat Geo field guide indicates they only winter in Texs.
Not really what people expect to see in Quinatna.

Red-Eyed Vireo

Female Orchard Oriole

Veery - This was a very fun bird.
He sat very still almost on the ground while tons of people took pictures.

Brown-headed Cowbird

Female (or juvenile male) Western Tanager - not terribly common in Quintana

Sanderling on Quintana Beach

I think this is a Willet, but I'm not sure.  It doesn't look like any of the birds in the guide to me.

After Quintana we headed for Brazos Bend (the Alligator park):

Common Gallinule

White Ibis - One of my favorite pictures I've ever taken I think!

Great Blue Heron

Green Heron

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Red-winged Blackbird (female or juvenile male)

A pair of Blue-winged Teals doing a little preening and stretching.

Samantha wanted to try her hand at the camera so I let her have a go.
After some practice photos, she really nailed this Golden-crowned Night Heron in the duckweed.

 I'm terrible with Hawks - Many of them look the same to me.

I think this is a light-morph Swainson's Hawk, but I'm not sure.

Whatever it is, it was pretty awesome!!

Finally we drove out to the Attwater Prairie Chicken Reserve

(Where I still have never seen a Prairie Chicken)

Sammy spotted this Scissor-tailed Flycatcher who put on quite a show!

Sorry about the blurry photos - but you get the idea.

Crested Caracara

Samantha took this photo as we were running out of light.
Not bad for a nine-year-old I'd say!!