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...
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| Red-bellied Woodpecker (female I believe, as the red doesn't extend all the way to the beak). |
And quite a few Carolina Wrens
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| Carolina Wrens |
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| 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!!
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| Purple Gallinule |
No sooner did I see the mother, than I quickly saw four little ones following along behind...
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| Purple Gallinule chicks |
The mother would turn back and squawk at them and they would speed up to follow her.
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| 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...
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| Purple Gallinule |
Then I saw what she came back for...
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| 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!!
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| 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...
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| Northern Cardinal (juvenile male) |
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| Northern Cardinal (juvenile male) |
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| Northern Cardinal (juvenile male) |
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| 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...
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| Anhinga |
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| Anhinga |
But he wasn't alone for long. He was soon joined by a friend...
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| Anhinga and Cattle Egret |
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| 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)
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| White Ibis, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron |
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| White Ibis, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron |
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| White Ibis, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron |
Sadly, the relationship just couldn't work out and we were down to two...
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| White Ibis & Tricolored Heron |
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| White Ibis & Tricolored Heron |
Like ships, passing in the night...
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| White Ibis & Tricolored Heron |
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| White Ibis & Tricolored Heron |
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| White Ibis & Tricolored Heron |
Wait she says... Don't leave me!!
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| 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)
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| Cave Swallows |
These little dudes are really tough to photograph well...
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| 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.
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| 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...
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| Purple Gallinule |
As I turned back to the Great Blue, I noticed he was being joined by a friend...
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Not a bird... (except for the Common Gallinule in the lower left) |
Playing around with focus here. First the gator... kind of...
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| Great Blue Heron |
Then the bird...
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| 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...
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| Great Egret |
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| Great Egret |
Coming in for a landing... or directing the swamp choir??
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| Great Egret |
Experimenting with composition here. I'm not sure which I like better...
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| Great Egret |
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| White Ibis (with juvenile Common Gallinule in the background) |
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| White Ibis |
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| Gator in the rain |
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| 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...
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| 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...
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| Black-bellied Whistling-ducks |
Shelter from the storm...Something moms are really good at!!
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| Black-bellied Whistling-ducklingss |
This (I think) juvenile Great Blue Heron was pretty mangy looking. But look at the size of that Lilly Pad!!!
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| Juvenile Great Blue Heron |
I love Green Herons...
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| Green Heron |
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| I don't know how this got in there... |
Another Purple Gallinule story with better pictures...
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| Purple Gallinule |
I first saw this one walking alone...
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| Purple Gallinule |
Check out that foot!!!
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| 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.
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| Purple Gallinule and chick |
Then I saw something really cool. The mother caught a moth in her bill...
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| Purple Gallinule |
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| 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...
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| Purple Gallinules |
Then they went back to hunting...
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| 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...
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| Black-bellied Whistling-ducks |
Water droplets in the air are always cool!!!
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| Black-bellied Whistling-ducklings |
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| Black-bellied Whistling-ducklings |
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| Black-bellied Whistling-ducklings |
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| Baby Gator |
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| Killdeer |
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| Killdeer (I like the color better in this one) |
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| Common Gallinule and Roseate Spoonbill in the rain |
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| White Ibis |
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| Snowy Egret |
When I took this next picture, I thought they were Pied-billed Grebes...
But after I got home and zoomed in, I wonder if they aren't juvenile Cormorants??
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| Pied-billed Grebes or juvenile Cormorants?? |
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| Juvenile Common Gallinule |
Sadly, after all that I had to go home....
