Until next time….
Wish them Luck!
Photos taken today, March 24, 2015
The Rookery at Smith Oaks
High Island, Texas
~Neotropic Cormorant~
Tag Archives: Texas
~Today’s Feathered Friend – silky-tailed songbirds~
Cedars have velvety chests of gold,
and crests fitting of a king,
their colors so prominent and bold.
~
While wearing a black facial mask,
and smiling, it appears,
stealing berries their task.
~
Bright as the sun, a tail dipped in yellow,
distinguished with age,
are these fellows.
~
Among the ladies, they are measured,
for their waxy, red, wing tip,
and then granted pleasure.
~
a charming, courtship ritual they exhibit,
while sitting on the branch of a tree,
passing a cherry, insect or petal of a flower,
back and forth to each other,
until the gift is accepted, freely
~
We have never seen so many Cedar Waxwings in one location. It was fun watching them come in for a drink. In all the photos I captured of them drinking, there was always one Cedar preforming the task of “lookout”. Photos taken in April 2014 in South Llano State Park, Junction, Texas. I was using my Canon 70D with Canon EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 lens.
Added to my Birding Life List
on o6/09/87
Loveland, Colorado
(with Ann Means, my birding friend
and my Mom who came for a visit [special])
Sharing with: Wild Bird Wednesday
http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com
~
Prairie Birder
http://prairiebirder.wordpress.com
~Today’s Feathered Friend-Color me Indigo~
A Tanka
~
unique in color,
depending on how the sun,
shines its light on him,
a deep blue to purple sheen,
is how seen, his name Bunting
~
Today’s Feathered Friend:
Indigo Bunting
Male:
`deep-colored bright blue overall (breeding plumage)
`only North American small finch to appear blue all over
`blue-purple head
`dark blue to black lores
`blue edging to blackish wings and tail
`dark gray conical bill
Female:
`plain, but beautiful brown
`two tawny buff wing bars
`short, gray, conical bill
`blue-edged feathers on wings and tail
Facts:
`populations are expanding with the creation of disturbed habitat after logging, highway and power line construction and from farmland abandonment (yeah to expanding)
`likes forest edges, roadsides, hedges, dry brush lands, orchards, open woods, creeks and rivers
`eats grasshoppers, beetles, weevils, aphids, cicadas, cankerworms, span worms, flies, dandelion seeds, aster, thistle, grasses, grains, berries and more
`nests in raspberry and other shrubs
`song is a sweet-sweet, where-where, here-here, see-it/see-it (pretty melody)
`many are killed, while migrating at night, striking power lines and tall buildings (wind farms next?)
`neotropical migrant, flight speed measured at 20 m.p.h
`common hosts to cowbird parasitism 😦
**If you want to learn more about the Indigo Bunting, please go to The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds, Smithsonian Handbooks, Birds of North America and Stokes Field Guide to Birds. I used these sources for my information.
Added to my Birding Life List
on o7/12/88
Sky Rocket Road, Loveland, Colorado
(with my amazing birding mentor- Ann Means)
Photos taken at South Llano River State Park in April of 2014 while sitting in a bird blind. I was using my Canon 70D with Canon EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 lens (no stabilization).
Links:
Paying-Ready-Attention (Wild Bird Wednesday)
http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com
Prairie Birder (Feathers on Friday)
http://prairiebirder.wordpress.com
~My Contribution to Good Fences #10~
My contribution to
Good Fences
http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.ca
~
a fence built with wire and old trees,
stands along a Texas Hill Country road side,
it can be a lonely place,
for a little Lesser Goldfinch,
until his pals show up
~
We were staying at the Buckhorn in Kerrville, Texas back in April 2014 and I spotted these Lesser Gold Finches flitting around. I didn’t get the best shots of them, but of course the chase is always fun!
However, I did remember this lovely fence.
~whimsical wednesday- Pssst…..Eugene here~
Remember me? Your friendly guide from the Smith Oaks Rookery in High Island, Texas?
That’s me in the photo below; in case you forgot, I’am the very handsome Great Egret.
I wanted to share, with you, a few photos of my neighbors with the funny shaped bill. You might remember me telling you a little about them in my first post.
What are they doing down there?
Even though I am extremely busy here at the Rookery, trying to keep Louise happy, I noticed that Samuel and Rose do a lot of weird things with that big spoon shaped bill!
Man, Samuel is trying to poke her in the mouth!
Hmmmm, now I know exactly what they are up to. Maybe I shouldn’t show you these photos; Samuel might get angry with me. Oh what the heck, he has been angry with me before.
Wolf Song Blog 