Roseate Spoonbills are expert spooners

The temp was in the 50s, but the wind was ruffling feathers.

A group of Roseate Spoonbills alternated between resting and spooning their bills through the brackish water for food.

Roseate Spoonbills ignore a Great Blue Heron strolling by.

Not sure what tidbit this one caught.

Juvenile Roseate Spoonbills aren't as pink as the adults.

Wildlife along the trails at Anahuac

With temps in the 70s it has been a nice couple of January days to enjoy mosquito-free trails in comfort.

At Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge the alligators must still be sleeping because the frogs felt safe enough to sun by the piers.

We saw a Double-crested Cormorant come up with a fish it had speared.

The fish also caught the attention of a Great Blue Heron, which swooped over the Cormorant a couple of times as it swam away with its fishing prize.

When it had trouble swallowing the fish, the Cormorant decided to take it around the bend. The heron followed.

I don't know which bird won the battle, but the fish was definitely a loser.

Lunchtime drama.

The stalker.

And there were plenty of sparrows flitting up, down and all around.

I see you see me see you.

Summer heat with crabs, herons and butterflies

The little Fiddler crabs look like turquoise gems skimming through the grass when you walk along Tracey's Boardwalk at Baytown Nature Center.

Here are some sights from a walkabout on a hot late-August day.

Rain has been in the forecast for the past three days. Maybe today those predictions will come true.

Great Blue Heron on patrol.

Little Sulphur butterfly on the move.

Turtle patrol musings

 

We drove the Surfside route July 5 with the intention of taking a photo of the heron, but he flew off. So I made sketch.

 It’s easy to get distracted on Sea Turtle Patrol on Surfside Beach.   

A  Zen-like concentration is required as we search for marks in the sand or the anomaly of a smoothed pathway across the endless tire tracks and ruts of beach traffic.   

Our focus must be interrupted somehow along the way during those four-plus hours of our search.  So we also watch for our Great Blue Heron. 

He’s a big guy, his knees and tall body towering above his feathered companions, always waiting in about the same spot on the edge of the water. 

He seems to like it there with his larger-than-average entourage of Laughing Gulls. There is lots of fresh Sargassum washing in on this piece of his beach.  It must be a shore bird’s buffet! 

-- Suzanne B.