Avian Potpourri

Fellow volunteer, Colin, and I did the bird survey this morning, and were treated to views of thousands and thousands of waterfowl taking advantage of the many flooded moist soil units on the refuge.  The massive flocks of snow geese, pintails, and shovelers were viewed through binoculars, so my pictures tonight are of those species that were in closer range.  This boat-tailed grackle stopped by for a moment.
Though not in our count section, this Easter phoebe and swamp sparrow made their presence known. 

I’ll give you more details on how the survey works next week when I’ll be doing it on my own.  It’s pretty regimented, but any day out in the field is better than a day in the office.  :)   As the count progressed, we shed a layer or two of clothes as the temps went from 35* to the upper 50’s.
As we drove from survey site to survey site, we noticed that the winter practice of burning fields has begun in southern Texas.  This burn was not on the refuge.  Ranchers and farmers burn the fields every year to refresh the foliage growth.  The haze of smoke spreads for quite a distance.

We were done with the survey by noon, so headed back to the rigs.  Along about 2:30, I had Emma jump in the car and we went for a drive on the refuge roads to see what we could see.
We had a nice view of a crested caracara on the beginning of the Shoveler Pond Loop.  This bird is considered a raptor, and feeds mainly on carrion and small mammals and lizards.  I think this particular bird was not actively hunting for food.  Notice how the area of it’s lower neck seems swollen?  After eating, raptors store food in their crop which is located just below their neck.  I’m thinking this guy just finished feasting on something.  :)  That pinkish area between it’s eye and lower beak can also change color in seconds.  Kind of like a turkey vulture’s head.  Under stress, the turkey vulture’s head goes from red to almost white!
There were a few dowitchers on the pond today, but since the hurricane the numbers of birds and alligators has drastically reduced.  Shoveler Pond was a totally fresh water impoundment on the refuge, but Ike caused it to be flooded with salt water two years ago.  It has been very slow to recover from that onslaught.
This snowy egret was making its way along the sides of a slough as we headed back to the refuge entrance.  I was hoping to maybe see a river otter in the late afternoon, but it was not to be.
On our way out, we flushed this red-tailed hawk. (wish I could have gotten a pic of the whole bird!)  Hundreds, if not more, of red-tails winter on the refuge.  This is a nice adult bird, and reminds me of the first red-tail that I banded in Greece, New York.  While holding the bird by it’s legs in my left hand to do some measurements, it reached down with it’s razor sharp beak and took a sizeable chunk out of the heal of my palm.  This is a formidable raptor, and certainly gained my respect that day!  I hope you have enjoyed this mixture of refuge bird life.  I sure enjoyed my day seeing them.  :)

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy