Swamp Thing

I live on a mountain where warblers are not hard to see or hear--trees, trees, murmuring trees. But I am talking about wood warblers. There are some that prefer a damper more southern clime. That is the crux. Outside of Florida and Texas, I have never birded the south.

I have looked for years in watery spots. Everyone I know has seen it. I was starting to feel like a total loser. Then the unexpected happened.

As I came around the corner and onto the boardwalk at Paradise Pond in Port Aransas, I stopped short. There was someone else on the secluded path. We nodded.

I looked for the Black-bellied Duck promised me. Nothing. There were lots of Blue-winged Teals, Black-crowned Night Herons and a cacophony of blackbirds. I continued to scan the trees.

The man nonchalantly said, "Boy, those Prothonotaries sure glow like neon."

I looked at him in disbelief. I whirled around frantically. I didn’t see anything.

Could this be my lucky day?

I tried to be cool. "I have never seen one."

The old guy said, "Well, one was just here."

I thought to myself, "Of course, that is always the case."

I fell to scanning the trees, then the bushes.

“It was just over there,” he said pointing across the small pond. “They really stand out”

I nodded numbly. “That’s what I hear.”

I looked right and left. I looked at the tops of trees. I peered into the bushes. I found the Black-bellied Whistling Duck. But now I wanted more.

The old guy walked off. I sighed, resigned to it being another near miss.

"Hsssssssss."

I whirled around. My fellow birder was pointing down at the water. I tiptoed over and right there at our feet was this BRIGHT YELLOW warbler. No wonder I had never seen it. I was always looking up. I would never have looked that low. And ya know, it does glow like neon.

Yikes It's Cold!

If I were a bird, this is the one I would like to be.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Greetings from Texas.

I am in San Antonio for a conference. I flew down here a little early to go on a Whooping Crane tour and to pop over to King Ranch for a full day birding tour. I flew into Corpus Christi and stayed in Aransas Pass. There is a very birdy local park just outside of Portland called Indian Point Park. You can get great pictuers because the bird are fairly close. I spent a morning there with some very nice folks from the Audubon Outdoor Club. I then drove to Rockport to board the Wharf Cat for a 4 hour tour (10a-2p) of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. There were only 9 people on the boat. No jostling for rail space. We ended up seeing 56 cranes and the Wharf Cat was able to get fairly close. It was awesome. Many of the cranes were in family groups like the one in the picture (the baby is brownish). But there were also some juveniles hanging around together in cliques. If you want to go, you gotta go soon though, they are already starting to leave. It was a mere $30. Best of all, I didn't get seasick.

And King Ranch! What an amazing experience. I picked up 10 life birds including the Ferrigunious Pygmy Owl. Sweet. If you are anywhere near Kingsville, you must arrange a tour. Definately worth it. The local birding is great as well. There are Harris Hawks and Crested Carcaras sitting on utility poles like we have Red-tails in the Northeast. I got some great pictures which I will post. If you are anxious, you can go to my Flickr page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucbradley/
More later. Gotta go to work.