South Llano River State Park, Junction, TX, March and April, 2017
Time for me to get back to sharing the birds I observed, this past winter, while traveling in Texas.
If you have been visiting this blog you know that one of our favorite places to stay is South Llano River State Park in Junction, TX. South Llano River State Park draws birding enthusiasts from all over the country, offering four bird blinds for observation. If interested please visit their web-site here, South Llano River State Park.
Ladder-backed Woodpecker (female), 03/06/2117
This Ladder-backed Woodpecker would shyly makes its way into the bird blind staying along the perimeter and in the surrounding trees. It would eat for a few minutes, always in the same location. She habitually stayed alert for any signs of danger.
Same location on 03/07/2017
I believe these photos are my first of this woodpecker.
High Island, Texas, Smith Oaks Rookery, April, 2017
Could the Snowy Egret be my favorite Egret. Possibly! They are beautiful with long white plumes on their head and neck. Their facial color, during breeding, is mostly yellow. And, they have bright yellow feet! They are fun to watch being both silly and elegant. Their babies began to fly after 20 days and their life span is at least 16 years.
oOoWatching
I didn’t notice a lot of them, perhaps I was focused on the Great Egret babies.
High Island, Texas, Smith Oats Rookery, April, 2017
Roseate Spoonbill
The Egrets were ahead of the Spoonbills in nesting and raising chicks. They were still gathering sticks to add to their nests, sitting on the nests to hatch more chicks, and hunting for food to feed the chicks they had. Not sure how many chicks are hatched during a breeding season, but probably not very many of them make it to adults. 😦
The Spoonbills were chasing each other, mating, and vocal. Howard captured the sounds at this amazing place, which I will share in a future post.
A pairoOooOoSweetA funny photo, mirror images!HuntingBird Hotel
It would have been a treat to see Spoonbill chicks!
What a wonderful surprise it was to glance down at one of our feeders and see this beautiful, perhaps first spring, Indigo Bunting. I don’t like posting photos of birds at the feeder, but he was so skittish I was just glad to capture him at all.
We haven’t spotted him since this photo was taken and we are hoping, after being in its breeding range this spring and summer, he is well on his way to winter ranges.
