Archive for the ‘anhinga’ Category

Rio Grande Valley

Monday, January 12th, 2009

I have moved around 50 miles up the Rio Grande Valley to Alamo, Texas. The rv park I’m staying at gives me  a view of a freeway, with three lanes going each way, and  “frontage roads”, with three lanes on each side of the freeway. That makes 12 lanes of traffic! There are lots of rv parks in south Texas, but all the ones I’ve seen charge a lot if you are staying less than a month. This current rv park had the best price…and now I see why. It is nice to have good internet coverage, which I really missed in the rural area of Arroyo City.

I wanted to stay in Alamo because it is close to the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, which I didn”t get to visit last year. Also nearby, is Estero Llano Grande State Park, the Frontera Audubon Thicket, and the Valley Nature Center. Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, that I visited last year, is also not far.

The pictures above were taken at the Estero Llano Grande State Park. An anhinga (snake bird) caught a fish and tried all sorts of ways to swallow it, but it was just a little to big. It ended up getting away after about 3 or 4 minutes. Don’t know what shape it was in. This state park has the best variety of birds I’ve seen so far. Have never seen so many anhingas.

Grebe at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

A chacalaca at Frontera Audubon Thicket. This is a historic home surrounded by native trees and plants, a grove of grapefruit trees full of fruit, and water areas. There is a trail that goes through the “thicket”.

Also at the Frontera Thicket: Above, male and female rose-breasted grosbeaks—the first grosbeaks I have ever seen; Below, a woodpecker like I saw through my screen in Arroyo City.

Posted in Alamo, anhinga, chachalaca, grebe, grosbeak, State, wildlife refuge, woodpecker | No Comments »

Brazos Bend State Park, continued. . .

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

Top picture: Tricolored heron. Below it a heron catches something (a small crab?) through the muck and swallows it.

Some young coots did not know enough to fly away as I walked by.

After a few days of 40/30 degrees, it warmed up to 70/80 today. Saw a number of turtles and alligators. Met some people who were counting the number of alligators. They had sighted 23 in the two main lakes here.

A snake bird. It was always in the middle of the lake, making hard to get a good picture.

Turkey vultures always congregate by this lake. The black-bellied whistling ducks are heard in the background.

Black bellied whistling ducks. Nothing dramatic.

Posted in alligator, anhinga, black-bellied whistling, coot, heron, State, Texas | No Comments »

San Diego Zoo

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Came to San Diego to go to the zoo and try to get away from the heat. It’s been warm here too, but am enjoying the zoo. I have a one-year membership, so I get in free. It is a good place to get some exercise. Being so large and on a hill, you are always climbing up and down inclines.

Above a female polar bear has one toy with her left paw, but wanted the blue ball as well.

The bear here got the pink ball and shook it like a dog would.

On the polar bear web site it says: If you see a brown polar bear, it’s probably Chinook—she loves to roll in the dirt!

An anhinga (anhinga rufa rufa, aka snakebird) drying its feathers.

Posted in anhinga, polar bear, San Diego | No Comments »

Last Day in Brazos Bend State Park

Friday, February 15th, 2008

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Last full day in Brazos Bend State Park had two new bird sightings. Above, is an Anhinga, also called a snakebird, because of its long neck. It is found in the warmer Southern states, from Texas to North Carolina and in South America. It is like a cormorant, in that it is a great underwater swimmer and it’s feathers need to dry out before it can fly. Below, I think, is a black-crowned night heron.

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Turtle enjoying the sun.

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There are lots of turkey vultures here. They have a good system, where some are almost always flying above, on the lookout, while the rest of them take it easy. These are my least favorite bird, but I have become a little more tolerant of them since being here. Two of them seem to be nesting in a hollowed out tree near where I have been parked.

Next visit here want to try and record some of the bird sounds by the lakes. I stayed out on a trail after dark last night and heard a really loud owl. It even got my dog’s attention. Also saw some cows that had found their way into the park to graze. Tried to get a picture of them, but as soon as they spotted me, they were off. Not used to seeing cows move so fast.

Posted in anhinga, egret, heron, State, Texas, turkey vulture | Comments Off