Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Have a safe, pleasant, and bird-filled weekend.
Last but not least, remember the reason for the holiday.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

More pictures from Squaw Creek.

A Rose-breasted grosbeak

Green Heron

I went down to Squaw Creek NWR yesterday. There were lots of birds out and about in their breeding finery. I'll be posting more pictures in the next few days.

This guy, like all Green herons was really skittish, and he didn't hang around to pose for very long.

More Young'uns

Have been having provider and computer issues. Think they are resolved now. Took these photos a couple of days ago. From the appearance of the "baby bird", I'm guessing it hadn't been hatched for very long. There were a couple of the little ones, and boy could they move, though one still had kind of wobbly legs.

Mamma Kildeer


He's so cute

Summer Residents and a Migrant

Went up to Branched Oak Lake today and a couple of summer residents and one migrant chose to pose.

The summer residents:

Barn swallow


Western kingbird


The migrant:
Harris' sparrow

Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron

I decided to drive down to Squaw Creek NWR today. I'm happy I did, because I got a lifer today. Behold a Yellow-crowned night-heron.

Osprey

Finally, some decent bird photos taken in Nebraska!

When I first saw this guy, I thought, oh, a Red-tailed hawk. Then as I got closer, I realized nope, an Osprey. Just as I got my camera lined up, he decided he wasn't in the mood for posing.

They've Arrived....

First goslings of the season...
Aren't they cute?
(all photos are cropped)



click on photos to embiggen

One Last Laguna Atascosa NWR Post

Going to, finally, wind up the Texas posts.

One of the more fascinating birds I saw at Laguna Atascosa NWR was the Plain Chachalaca. They are large birds, 22 inches long. They seem equally at home on the ground and in tree tops. I saw them in fairly large numbers chattering away in the tree tops. Unfortunately, it was an overcast day when I attempted to take pictures of them there. These pictures were taken in the bird feeding area outside the Visitor Center. The nail you see in the pictures usually held an orange, but was empty when they checked out the area.

The chachalaca has a patch of bare skin on their throats which is gray to light pink. During breeding season that patch becomes bright pinkish red on the males. The red patch is evident on the bird in front.


Another neat bird was the Long-billed thrasher. They are very similar to the Brown thrashers that are common in this part of the world.




There are of course many pictures that were taken in New Mexico and Texas that I haven't posted here.

They can be found as follows:

The scenery of Bosque del Apache NWR
Sandhill Cranes at Bosque del Apache NWR
The other birds of Bosque del Apache
Scenery in Texas, January 2010
Scenery in Texas, February 2010
Birds of the Texas coast
Goose Island State Park
Aransas NWR
Padre Island National Seashore
San Bernard NWR
Laguna Atascosa NWR
Whooping Cranes

Sunken Gardens Flowers

Stopped by Sunken Gardens this afternoon.

This pale yellow Magnolia is stunning in person.

The tulips are really starting to wow us.

Isn't spring grand?