And I, what fountain of fire am I among
This leaping combustion of spring? My spirit is tossed
About like a shadow buffeted in the throng
Of flames, a shadow that’s gone astray, and is lost.
—Enkindled Spring, D.H. Lawrence
Tsveet tsveet tsveet . . . Singing Male Golden Swamp Warbler, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. This fellow is nesting in Nest Box 24. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
The primaveral combustion of brilliantly colored Neotropical migrant songbirds and shorebirds molting into breeding plumage is giving way to the vernal, thermal Texas combustion. But every spring migration is a bit different. It seems that we saw less than last year, and certainly far less than the previous one—but not for want of trying. And I’ve got the bites, scratches, and poison ivy blisters to prove it.
Immature Male Summer Tanager, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
This was the year of seeing Tanagers (Summer and Scarlet), Eastern Wood-pewees, and Bay-breasted Warblers. Of the Pewees, we heard even more than we saw. Everywhere we went in April and May the pee-ah-wee or wee-ooo could be heard. But luck would have it that we saw far fewer warblers and other songbirds than usual—no swarms of Hooded, Yellow, or Magnolia Warblers, just the odd bird here and there poking around in the woods.
Eastern Wood-pewee at Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Many flycatchers are like peas in a pod, but Eastern Wood-pewees can be identified by their weak, partial posterior eye-ring, two weak wing bars, and yellow lower beak. Eastern Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
So, as the migration tapers off, it’s time to transition into summer birding mode. My time and mind will soon be filled by planning for the upcoming big birding trips (Yea, mountains!) and stalking waders around the swamps and marshes as they hunt and fish their way through the broiling Texas summer.
Short-billed Dowitcher, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Short-billed Dowitchers winter along the Texas Gulf Coast and breed across Canada and Alaska at the latitude of Hudson Bay. Short-billed Dowitchers and Long-billed Dowitchers are very hard to tell apart. In breeding plumage, Short-bills are orangish and Long-bills are brick-reddish, but light can play tricks. I always measure the proportions of the bird’s head in my images to be sure. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May . . . . –William Shakespeare
Last weekend the weather was spectacular, and Elisa and I took full advantage. East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas was our first stop of the weekend. We were surprised to find a large flock (100+) of American Avocets, mostly in breeding color (rusty-red/cinnamon head, neck, and breast) in the main lagoon just south of the parking area.
The main breeding range of the American Avocet is from the Texas Panhandle to south-central Canada, west to the Pacific Coast. American Avocets also breed along the South Texas Gulf Coast. There is a wintering population of Avocets all along the Gulf Coast, but we don’t typically see them in breeding colors this far north.
As we watched the ruddy-faced flock, we soon we noticed that some pairs were engaged in their charming and elegant courtship and mating behaviors. All images in this post taken with a Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC) under natural light.
Mating American Avocets 1: The Female Presents.
After photographing birds in the lagoon for a time, I walked south along the strand line of the Gulf. On the return hike, about a dozen Avocets flew from the lagoon and landed right in front of me in a few inches of Gulf water. One pair began courtship behavior almost immediately, as shown in this sequence of images. First, the female presented herself to the flapping and splashing male by holding her body parallel to the ground.
Mating American Avocets 2: Mounting. Note the more strongly upturned beak of the female.
The male soon mounted the female and copulation began. In about a minute, the act was complete, and the elegant post-mating dance began . . . .
Mating American Avocets 3: Interplay of Beaks.
The pair crossed beaks as they walked along together. They then separated bills and walked together side-by-side, necks strongly inclined forward.
Mating American Avocets 4: Leaning Forward.
After a few seconds, the birds rotated their necks into a vertical position, with bills pointed strongly downward. The pair walked along together in this posture for a few paces. Necks became more vertical as the pair promenaded along together for a few paces, then separated. Soon, they were again threshing the water for prey.
Portrait: Green Heron in Full Breeding Plumage, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Note the brilliant violet-blue lore. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Last weekend we managed to get out to Brazos Bend State Park during a sunbreak. Along the southern margin of Pilant Lake, between Elm Lake and the bridge, we noticed a pair of Green Herons fishing. Both were adult birds, but were in different stages of development of breeding colors. One (shown above and immediately below) was in full breeding color. The other was just shy of full development.
Preening Green Heron in Full Breeding Plumage, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. When you’re this good-looking, it’s important to take care of yourself! Note the “glossy orange” feet and legs. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
These birds buzzed each other a few times and generally acted as though they were squabbling. This may have been an aspect of courtship behavior or a territorial dispute. Based on the benign nature of the interactions, it seemed more likely to be the former. The bird in full breeding had brilliant violet-blue lores without a trace of yellow, and the feet were a bright orange. The beak was, more or less, a glossy jet-black. This bird is likely involved in courtship.
Green Heron (Transitioning into Full Breeding Plumage) with Gar Fingerling, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
The second bird (above) had blueish lores that still showed an upper outline of yellowish green. The feet and legs were still the predominately blotchy yellow-black of nonbreeding, but patches of orange had formed. The lower bill retained a stripe of yellowish green along the lower margin. I think that this bird had just started courtship behavior.
The image below shows an adult Green Heron in nonbreeding colors during late summer. Note the stripe of greenish yellow above the lore and along the lower margin of the mandible. This is how I typically see Green Herons, which is why it’s so exciting to see them in their flamboyant, transitory breeding colors.
Green Heron in Nonbreeding Plumage on an American Lotus Leaf, Elm Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. This bird was snatching small fish from near the surface of the water while remaining hidden from below on the leaf. Image taken in late August. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
Essentially what photography is is life lit up.—Sam Abell
Marbled Godwit in High Breeding Colors (with orange-based bill), first week in April, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Having read a report of a sighting of a Hudsonian Godwit on Galveston several weeks ago, I recently kept an eye out for them among the flocks of Marbled Godwits on East Beach. For a few minutes I thought I had a Hudsonian Godwit in the viewfinder: The bird above has a bright orange bill base, and the back appears quite dark. The colors and barring on the underside of the bird, however, really seem to indicate that this is a Marbled Godwit. The vast majority (all but one it turns out!) of Marbled Godwits I have ever seen have had pink bill bases—even all the other Marbled Godwits I saw in the same flock on the same morning in early April (next two images) had pink-based bills. So what gives? Could this be sexual dimorphism? Breeding color? A little reading was in order.
Marbled Godwit in Breeding Colors (with pink bill base), first week in April, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Note the barring on the breast and underside. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
As far as field marks are concerned, Marbled Godwits show only a hint of sexual dimorphism, females being slightly larger (by millimeters on average) than males (Ayala-Pérez et al., 2013), but no reported obvious color differences—so no help here. In Arthur Morris’ Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers (1996), however, he explained that the orange-based bill in Marbled Godwits is a result of hormone level—during a time of “full breeding plumage.” I suppose that this is similar to the case of the Snowy Egret. The lores and feet are yellow in “breeding” and pinkish red in “high breeding.” I have seen Snowy Egrets sitting on nests in both breeding and high breeding color, though, so I’m not clear if there are any behavioral differences tied to these color differences, or what specific event in the reproductive cycle, if any, is tied to the appearance of high breeding color. More research and observation on my part are clearly required.
Marbled Godwit in Nonbreeding Colors (with pink bill base), first week in April, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
In spring on the Texas Coast, Marbled Godwits appear in a variety of color schemes before they depart for their breeding grounds in the Upper Midwest, Canada, and Alaska. When they return in the fall, they show up in faded breeding colors, but will be sporting (you guessed it!) pink bill bases. Given that Marbled Godwits winter along the Gulf Coast, this is probably how most Texas birders see them—but it’s fun to see them in other colors.
Marbled Godwit in Faded Breeding Colors on Wintering Grounds (with pink-based bill), late October, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light (the second, lower catchlight is from the sun’s reflection off the surface of the water).
References
Ayala-Pérez, V., Carmona, R., Baker, A.J., Farmer, A.H., Uraga, and Arce, N. 2013. Phenotypic Sexing of Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa): A Molecular Validation. Waterbirds36(4): 418-425.
Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, at a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.—James Madison
Female Summer Tanager with Mulberry, Pelican Island, Texas. Tanagers love mulberries. Unfortunately a major Texas A&M building project on Pelican Island has restricted access to most of the mulberry trees that were a reliable place to see migrant tanagers, orioles, buntings, Dickcissel, and others. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
This is the time of year for visiting migrant songbird traps! In these special places it’s easy to see what migration is all about—chasing the warming rays of the sun north as they bring their bounty of flowers, nectar, pollen, fruit, and succulent bugs!
Although it will probably have to wait for retirement, I dream of an April road trip, drifting slowly down the Gulf Coast from Dauphin Island, Alabama to Grand Isle, Louisiana to Sabine Woods, High Island, Pelican Island, Lafitte’s Cove, Quintana, perhaps ending at Paradise Pond, Mustang Island, Texas.
Male Indigo Bunting in Breeding Colors on Mulberry Tree, Pelican Island, Texas. Indigo buntings are generalist feeders and eat buds, seeds, fruit, and insects. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.Male Scarlet Tanager with Bee, Pelican Island, Texas. Scarlet Tanagers are generalist feeders, but prefer bees, when available. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Many of these classic migrant traps are oak mottes, slightly elevated patches of woods, on the very edge of the land and provide desperately needed food, water, and shelter after an exhausting flight across the Gulf of Mexico. One of the most exciting parts of being out in these migrant traps during spring is observing and photographing Neotropical migrants hunting and gorging on fruits and other botanical goodies.
In the oak mottes, birds are often covered in pollen as they poke around flowers. Sometimes novice birders, field guides clutched in hand, are puzzled by a bird that looks somehow familiar—but it has a yellow face! There’s usually an old-timer around, though, who explains kindly how the birds are sometimes painted with pollen at this magical and all-too-short time of the year.
Male Orchard Oriole with Pollen on His Face, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Orchard Orioles eat primarily insects during the breeding season, but will supplement their diets with seeds, fruits, pollen, and nectar. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
Sandwich Tern Mated Pair 1, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. It’s easy to imagine that the gulls are looking on jealously at this drop-dead gorgeous pair. Photo taken in early April. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas is one of my favorite birding spots—especially in cool weather. Flying birds will often follow the strand line predictably from the north allowing flight shots of gulls, pelicans, skimmers, plovers, sandpipers, terns, and others. At low tide, exceptional, text-book sedimentary structures are visible over wide areas. But of all the natural wonders observable at East Beach, terns are my favorites. Caspian, Royal, Sandwich, and Forster’s are especially common, but careful searches of U’s will occasionally turn up Least, Common, or Gull-billed Terns. I continue to hold out hope for rarer species.
Caspian Tern, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Caspian Terns are the largest terns in the world and have a nearly worldwide distribution. Photo taken in early April. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
Another alluring aspect of East Beach is the fact that you often have the entire area to yourself, especially in cold weather. After a blue norther, there may be no one else at all around. This being said, rare encounters with yahoos can occur at East Beach, as they can anywhere. They are just much less probable here than at places like Brazos Bend or Lafitte’s Cove, even during nice, warm weather.
Avian Narcissus: Forster’s Tern, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Photo taken in early November. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Terns have a wide variety of interesting behaviors to observe and (at least attempt) to document photographically. These include spectacular dives for fish, courtship-feeding (the male bribes the female with a small fish, a “nuptial gift,” prior to copulation), and elegant dances and promenades involving mated pairs, as below in the case of Sandwich Terns. Sandwich Terns minuet with shaggy crown feathers and necks erect, pointing beaks skyward or nodding occasionally, wing-tips directed parallel to the ground or slightly upward. And, because terns are doting parents, it’s worth watching for adults feeding “chicks” as large as themselves well after the nesting season.
A U of Royal Terns, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Photo taken in early November. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Every time I review my images from East Beach, I get excited about the prospect of returning. Now especially, during the Season of the Runny Nose, the prospect of fresh sea air mercifully free of pollen is indeed attractive.
A Nod to My Love: Sandwich Tern Mated Pair 2, East Beach, Galveston Island, Texas. Note the bitterly resentful gull in the background. Photo taken in early April. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.—Lord Byron
The ghostly winter silence had given way to the great spring murmur of awakening life.—Jack London, The Call of the Wild
Last weekend we took advantage of the spectacular weather and visited a number of our favorite birding haunts, including East Beach, Lafitte’s Cove (both Galveston Island, Texas), Pelican Island, and Brazos Bend State Park (BBSP). We visited the coastal sites with an eye toward seeing migrants, but alas there were no surprises, only the usual customers for this time of year both on the beach and in the motte.
At Brazos Bend State Park, Pilant Lake was again hopping with American Bitterns. They were busy hunting, singing, and displaying. On this visit, I caught one bird singing right out in the open in beautiful morning light around 7:45 am.
The song of the American Bittern, expressed onomatopoetically as oonk-a-loonk, is sometimes described as territorial and likely has a significant infrasonic component, below the threshold of human hearing. The singing is accompanied by a labored-looking performance in which the feathers of the head, neck, and shoulders (white shoulder plumes) are repeatedly roused and flattened. The beak is snapped shut producing a click that is apparently part of the song.
A bittern’s song is clearly aimed at other bitterns in the marsh as they answer each others’ calls. What exactly is being communicated is in question as these birds are on their way to breeding grounds far north of coastal Texas, and they are not likely carving out territories at BBSP. Perhaps they are merely exercising and practicing for the important performances to come on actual breeding grounds.
The series of six images below records one song, a wavelength, if you will, within a performance that may contain many repetitions of the same. All images were taken with a Canon EOS 7D + 600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC) under natural light, and are uncropped. Something approximating 0.5 seconds separates each frame.
Singing American Bittern 1, Pilant Lake, BBSP, Texas.Singing American Bittern 2, Pilant Lake, BBSP, Texas.Singing American Bittern 3, Pilant Lake, BBSP, Texas. Note the nictitating membrane.Singing American Bittern 4, Pilant Lake, BBSP, Texas.Singing American Bittern 5, Pilant Lake, BBSP, Texas.Singing American Bittern 6, Pilant Lake, BBSP, Texas.
Bathing Tennessee Warblers, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. The bird on the left is clearly a male Tennessee Warbler. The bird on the right resembles an Orange-crowned Warbler, but it has bright white undertail coverts and a very short tail: I think it is a female Tennessee Warbler. Some Tennessee Warblers are circum-Gulf migrants, and others are trans-Gulf migrants. Photo taken in early May during spring migration. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
Most birds are enthusiastic bathers. They bathe in standing water, rain, dew, wet leaves—even dust. This bathing keeps feathers in optimal condition for flight and thermoregulation. Excess oil and bits of detritus that can clog or dishevel the fine structure of feathers (barbules and barbicels) can be removed by a good rinse. After a flight across (or around) the Gulf of Mexico, it probably feels pretty good, too. Many birds wade out into to shallow water and splash around a bit, usually producing a spectacular shower of droplets. The salinity seems not to matter much, as birds bathe in fresh, brackish, and salt water with equal gusto. For a discussion of bird bathing in gory detail see that monumental tome, Terres (1991).
Bathing White Ibis, Paradise Pond, Mustang Island, Port Aransas, Texas. Paradise Pond sits on a perched water table, and provides an oasis of fresh drinking water in a land- and seascape of salty habitats. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.Portrait: Bathing Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Note the berry stains on her beak and the glistening droplets of bath water on her feathers. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
The best place that I knew of to watch bathing Neotropical migrant songbirds was the main dripper at Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. During past migrations it was commonplace to observe Northern Parulas, Tennessee, Black-throated Green, Magnolia, Yellow, Hooded, Yellow-rumped, Black and White, and sometimes other less common warblers, plus vireos, cardinals, catbirds, grosbeaks, tanagers, and orioles bathing in the shallow water. Typically after bathing, birds would fly up to a low branch to fluff and preen—thus avoiding the snakes and cats that prey on drinking and bathing birds in the sanctuary.
A visit to the site this week, though, revealed that the dripper area has been (Gasp!) remodeled! A Wooden table-like platform now sits where the main pool used to be. This new arrangement seems much less conducive to bathing, but further observation is required to make a final pronouncement. (Sidebar: for anyone thinking of visiting Lafitte’s Cove, as of last Sunday, Hooded and Black and White Warblers and Yellow-throated Vireos were about—but, the flood of migrants hadn’t yet started.).
Bathing Black Skimmer in the Steel-gray Light of Dusk, Hans and Pat Suter City Wildlife Park, Corpus Christi, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
Birds display a wonderful range of behavior to be observed and photographed. Much of it involves water, including drinking, bathing and fishing. Waders will even dip prey items into water before swallowing to rinse off grit and provide lubrication. Clearly the best places to go birding are around water. Although I enjoy observing all types of bird behavior, my favorite type of bird photography is still documenting hunting and fishing strategies (and predator-prey interactions—you knew I had to sneak one of those in!).
Gulp! Great Blue Heron Eating Bullfrog, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
Reference
Terres, John K. 1991. The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds. Wings Books. New York. 1109 p.
I could tell my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.—Rodney Dangerfield
American Bittern with Red Swamp Crawfish on a Dreary Day, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC): ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/500. Natural light.
Although any break from work is welcome, spring break is almost always my most problematic free time. I want to make the best of any opportunity, but man and mother nature seldom co-operate at this time of year. Coming in the middle of March, spring break is just a bit too early for big-time migrant action, and the weather is iffy to say the least. This winter, with clouds streaming in from the Pacific nearly all the time, has been especially vexing. Furthermore, the Texas Coast (where I really want to be) is cluttered with teeny-boppers—and the parks everywhere are loaded with noisy school-age children who should be at home in their rooms silently studying McGuffey Readers.
American Bittern with Unidentified Crawfish, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC): ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/500. Natural light.
Time off with bad weather can lead to lapses into unproductively, so I have tried to take the gloom as an opportunity to get some practice shooting hunting waders in low light. Who knows, I may find myself under similar optical conditions in Hawaii or Olympic National Park some day, and the practice may pay off.
Like most bird photography, shooting hunting scenes is best accomplished on a bright, clear morning before about 10 am. Ideally one would have a thin veil of cirrus clouds to keep the whites from being too much of an overexposure problem (while I’m wishing!). For hunting, I like to keep the shutter speed well above 1/1000, the ISO below 800 (crop sensors are noisy), and the aperture around f/7.1 (waders are big birds). Alas, such a combination of settings has generally not been possible for months. The setting information on the above two shots indicates the recent realities.
Rarely, there have been a few sunbreaks (it’s so bad I’m using Pacific Northwest lingo!) lasting from a few minutes to a few hours. Of course, being in the right spot with a bird in the viewfinder at the precise moment when a few rays of sunlight come streaming onto your subject is like winning the lottery. But you can’t win if you don’t play!
Sunbreak: Great Horned Owl Nest with Owlet and Parent, near 40-acre Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. After waiting for about two hours, a brief glimmer of sunshine illuminated the charming little scene above. A hatched egg and the remains of a victim (a crow?) are visible in the lower left-hand corner of the frame. Natural light.
Expectation is the mother of all frustration.—Antonio Banderas
Gulf Coast Winterer: Cedar Waxwing, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Berry-seeking nomads, Cedar Waxwings winter from across the southern U.S. to South America and summer from the southern U.S. to Canada south of Hudson Bay. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Mid-March, while still technically winter, shows the stirrings of spring. From a birder’s perspective, this time of year along the Upper Texas Gulf Coast has much to offer. Although crane flies abound and provide snacks for songbirds, mosquitos have not yet hatched in significant numbers. Also, many wintering bird species remain, and early spring migrants are starting to appear. Of course, year-round residents continue to go about their business as always. All photos in this post were taken in March.
Year-round Resident: Inca Dove, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Inca doves are secretive, hiding in low vegetation. Canon 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Also on the plus-side, March nests are easier to find than April ones because leaves are just beginning to fill out. So far, I’ve spotted an active Great Horned Owl nest at Brazos Bend, a Pileated Woodpecker cavity nest at the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary, and a Red-headed Woodpecker cavity nest at Stephen F. Austin State Park. Red-shouldered Hawks are also nesting in the west Houston area. Obtaining good images of the occupants of these nests has so far remained elusive, though. Persistent cloudiness, rain, and blown-out white skies have doomed several attempts. Maybe next week!
Neotropical Migrant: Male Northern Parula, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Northern Parulas breed across the eastern U.S. and winter across the Caribbean, South Florida, and the Rio Grande Valley down to Panama. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again.—Gustav Mahler
Pileated Woodpecker on Rotting Stump, Elm Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Note the extended tongue. Pileated Woodpeckers are among my favorite birds. Imagine what a glory the Ivory-billed Woodpecker must have been. Those familiar with BBSP will know that this is summer: The green “field” behind the bird is Elm Lake, carpeted with duckweed. Canon EOS 7D/500mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Nothing beats being able to sneak up so close to a wild bird that it fills a significant fraction of the frame. And the crisp, fine detail of structure in feathers, scales, and eyes that is the gold standard of bird photography is hard to achieve unless you are very close. But often getting close is not possible. Birds are rightly suspicious of humans and their treachery and will bolt once the minimum approach distance is breached. Lemonade can be made from the lemons of avian suspiciousness, though.
Laughing Gull Chick, Galveston Bay near Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, Texas. This youngster can easily slip into the tall grass at the first sign of a threat. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x). Photo taken from a boat. Natural light.
Staying back a bit can allow the photographer to include a little more of the bird’s habitat. This context provides information on ecology and behavior. Details of background can provide the attentive viewer with information on habitat type and season. In contrast to the classic bird-on-branch shot, though, such images may require a tolerance for minor imperfections such as shadows and sticks and blades of grass that cut across the bird. Such things are hard to avoid when the bird is in habitat doing its thing. Often the insight gained by documenting birds in habitat can more than make up for some aesthetic shortcomings.
Exhausted and Starving Magnolia Warbler, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. This beauty had just arrived from across the Gulf of Mexico and was frantically stumbling around grabbing bugs. Hey Cat People: this is why you shouldn’t let your animals roam. In the U.S.A. “house” cats kill an estimated one billion darling little cuties like this each year. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). High-speed synchronized fill-flash.
Snowy Egrets in High Breeding Color and Plumage, Smith Oaks Rookery, High Island, Texas. The lores and feet of Snowy Egrets turn from yellow to pink and orange, respectively, at the peak of breeding season. Photo taken in April. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
We are now entering a season of extravagance—extravagance of avian color, plumage, and behavior. Soon, displays, mating and nesting will be going on all along the Texas Gulf Coast. Early birds have already begun. Some waders are sporting nuptial (breeding) plumes, and lore and leg/foot colors are beginning to pop. Hormones are surging through bloodstreams. Many of the waders and other water birds are on edge: Common Moorhens are fighting it out amongst themselves for dominance, and Great Blue Herons are nesting deep in the marshes. A Great Horned Owl, too, is currently nesting in the woods west of 40-Acre Lake, Brazos Bend State Park.
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Display Mode, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. This may have been a threat display directed at the photographer: no other birds were around (that I noticed). Photo taken in late May, when Yellow-crowned Night-Herons are raising young at Brazos Bend SP. During breeding, the legs of these birds turn from yellowish to a pinkish orange. Canon EOS 7D/500mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.Back-off, Camera Boy! Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Pilant Slough, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Another probable threat display during nesting season (May) directed at the photographer. Canon EOS 7D/500mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light
Soon, an exciting time of the year for birding will become the most exciting time. Neotropical migrant songbirds will be showing up in droves along the coast. For now, as far as migrants are concerned, we’ll have to settle for American Bitterns. Recently American Bitterns have been extremely active at Brazos Bend State Park (especially Pilant Lake). They have been hunting, calling, and engaged in threat displays among themselves and in the face of humans. American Bitterns do not often breed in Texas, and are sometimes described as “winter visitors” to Texas. Brazos Bend Bitterns are most likely on their way to their breeding grounds in the northern U.S. or Canada.
American Bittern Threat Display, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Again, I think this was for my benefit: no other birds were around. Photo taken in February. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (_1.4x TC). Natural light.
Although the weather continues to look pretty bad for adventures in the out-of-doors, anticipation of the spring excitement ahead keeps me looking up (and down and sideways)! And then it’s summer and the mountains!
Great Blue Heron in Breeding Colors (in late February), Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. During breeding season, the lores become a deep blue and the beak turns to a deep orangish red. Similarly, the legs change from a grayish black to an orangish red. Note the erect black eyebrow feathers. This bird was jumpy. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.Great Blue Heron in Non-breeding (Post-breeding) Color in late May, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/500mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.
Where there is no extravagance there is no love, and where there is no love there is no understanding.—Oscar Wilde
