Hurricane Alex, in July 2010, damaged most, if not all, birding sites along the Rio Grande. The river went from being 300 feet wide to 2 miles wide in places. The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge’s tram and bicycle road is largely under water, along with a lot of their land. Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park has only recently reopened. It’s tram road is open, but many trails are closed. No javelina’s have been seen in the park since the hurricane and subsequent flooding, but javelina footprints have recently been spotted.

The Santa Ana Refuge will let nature take it’s course and let any water evaporate naturally. I like it with more water. There are newly created swamps that are at times full of birds. The cacophony of bird sounds in these areas must at times be like what is heard in Louisiana and Florida swamps.

Was thrilled to be able to get pictures of a green kingfisher in a new swamp area at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge. Think the background noise of all the other birds made it possible for me to get the pictures of it fishing.

On a sad note, I had planned to visit La Sal del Rey, part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Wildlife Refuge system, but saw there was an advisory not to go there alone. A volunteer at the Santa Ana Refuge told me she went there with a group and heard gun shots. The Wildlife Refuge feels it’s not safe for individuals to go there alone. The Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge has a Border Patrol station connected to it. You sometimes see armed agents walking the grounds.

Saw the above large snake in the same swamp the kingfisher was in.

Have seen clay-colored thrushes at both the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge and Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park.

Curved-billed thrasher

Love watching brown pelicans dive for fish.

Osprey hunting. One of a pair. Caracara were also in the area.

Tern with a small fish.

Ruby-crowned kinglet. Such big eyes for such a small bird.

Had a few more visits from the kingfisher. First, and probably last time, a kingfisher will sit still long enough for me take their picture.

Wild turkey’s fluffed up and on the fence.

I’m again parked along the Arroyo Colorado in southernmost Texas. The weather continues to be a lot better than last year, albeit quite windy. A lot of homes still have their windows boarded up.

It has been a very Dickens’ December for me. Listened to Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Bleak House.

The belted kingfisher above gave me a present in landing right by my rv for a few minutes. Bet nature gave it the white dots near it’s eyes just to confuse both predators and prey.

Flycatcher

Great kiskadee

Tri-colored heron in the background,  little blue heron in the foreground.

Below, tri-colored heron. In the first one has a tiny fish in it’s beak.

Visited the Tri-Cities area of south-central Washington (Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco) in order to visit some wildlife refuges in the area. Stayed a few days at an Army Corps of Engineers campground along the Snake River. Part of the McNary Wildlife Refuge is right next to the campground. Saw the Kingfisher above in a marsh area there.

It is the season to start seeing osprey nests.

Below, a coyote in the refuge.

Next drove through Hanford Reach National Monument. The Hanford Site is where Plutonium reactors were built in 1943 to make the atom bomb dropped on Japan in 1945. The reactors are now inactive and being dismantled. The Site is on the Columbia River and a wide area of land around it that served as a security buffer is now the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge.

There was a severe wind alert throughout Washington and parts of Oregon and Idaho. I drove on to Toppenish to stay till they passed. The winds really shook my trailer and blew open the heavy cover on the bed of my truck. Luckily, the farmland I was parked next to had a crop growing on it, so I didn’t get a lot of topsoil blown my way.

Above, a California quail at the Toppenish Wildlife Refuge.

Below, northeast Oregon farmland along I-84. It snowed a little past where this picture was taken. Enjoyed the drive along the I-84, with all it’s rest stops.

Have been in San Diego to visit  Bai Yun and her young cub, Yun Zi at the zoo. He sleeps a lot so there are not a lot of photo ops, unless your lucky enough to be there when he is active. So far I haven’t.

Su Lin, the 4-year-old sister on Yun Zi. She is supposed to go to China sometime in the near future.

Mandarin ducks. They are related to wood ducks and have to be one of the most beautiful duck there is. These two bent over in unison to get a drink of water. There are some birds and ducks that fly into the zoo grounds, this isn’t one of them. They are definitely specimen ducks.

Male and female wood ducks.

I have really enjoyed visiting the zoo’s walk-in bird aviaries this visit. In the late afternoon, birds are flying all around you as they prepare to roost for the evening, eating and taking baths in the waterfalls.

Above is a White-bellied-Imperial-pigeon that has an incredible bass two note song. He bows each time he says “who who”.  He does this for a long time, then has to stop to get his breath. Everyone that came in asked “Is he making that sound?” I recorded a short video and will try to upload it later.

Update: Got the video of the white-bellied-imperial-pigeon, but the stream with it’s waterfalls that runs through the aviary drowns out the low bass sound the pigeon makes.

Nicobar pigeon

Grand eclectus parrot

White breasted kingfisher. There is an fish tank in the aviary. Guess the kingfishers can catch their own dinner.

Below, an African lion let out a loud growl when an animal keeper walked in front of him after giving a talk about the lions.

Red tailed hawk (top) over a farm field. An osprey and a brown pelican near where I’m staying.

At Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge saw an osprey eating a fish on the beach. A ruddy turnstone was walking in figure-eights in front of him and occasionally getting a bite. There was also a seagull around 15 feet away waiting for the osprey to finish and leave him the leftovers. Last year when I was here I saw the same configuration of three birds and thought the turnstone had a  lot of nerve. The osprey could easily kill him. Don’t know if the trio this year are the exact same birds, just thought it was interesting to see it again.

Above, a loggerhead shrike with some kind of sea creature. The shrike was acting cat like, letting the creature crawl a short distance before bringing him back. The loggerhead shrike is a small bird of prey. The only other one I’ve seen has also been here at Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge.

Ferral hogs at Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge. Had never seen them before. The refuge considers them a problem and holds special hunts for them intermittently.

One day leaving the park where I’m staying, saw a kingfisher slapping a fish back and forth against the railing. It’s throwing it up in the air in the picture above.

When I was Falcon State Park last year heard about a mascot roadrunner who, when given a hotdog, would slap it back and forth on the ground like it was a snake.

I enjoy feeding the green jays by my rv. Recently saw a Harris’s hawk perched near me (below). Have to be careful that I don’t provide him with a meal.

Finally made it to the Gulf Coast of Texas. The warm breezes I felt when I first got here confirmed that I had arrived. Unfortunately, it proceeded to rain nonstop the following two days. I’m staying at the same park that I’ve stayed at before, but this time my site is about 20 feet from the Arroyo Colorado River. The second day of rain I started to get worried, but the river did not rise. There is, however, flooded farmland and front yards all over. You know a lot of stuff gets washed into the river when it rains. Nonetheless, people were back fishing the day after the rains.

I love watching all the birds fly inland over the river in the morning and out towards Laguna Madre in the evening. There are always brown pelicans around. It looks like an 2 adults and 2 young look alikes above.

Coyote in muddy farmland. He blends right in.

Green jays

Black crested titmouse.

Kingfisher seen from my rv. All these pictures are from where I’m staying.

There is a resident spotted sandpiper at my site. It’s a solitary bird that bounces up and down like a male ruddy duck.

Below, a Harris’s hawk with a fish. I didn’t have time to focus my camera, but still wanted to include it.

Altamira orioles

Ringed kingfisher along the Rio Grande River.

Queen butterfly, Mexican blue-wing butterfly and a green kingfisher seen at Estero Llano Grande State Park. Finally got a half decent picture of a kingfisher, and a green one at that. Lots of beautiful butterflys here as well as butterfly enthusiasts.

Great kiskadee, altamira oriole, and two chachalacas seen at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Really enjoyed riding my bike through the park. It is a easy ride with no hills.

Have been at Goose Island State Park, near Rockport, Texas for the past week. Glad to find it pretty much the same as last year. The big tree also made it through the hurricane ok.

Above, a rail, I think a clapper rail. Saw it while driving in the park and quickly grabbed my camera. My first picture of a rail.

Think this is a ruddy turnstone.

Drove 30 miles to Mustang Island State Park on a cold and windy day. The heron and the terns above were on the park beach. Maybe next year I’ll stay here a few days. It is a lot like South Padre Island, just not quite as over-developed. I like Goose Island State Park. I have an ocean view, good evdo internet coverage, and am near the town of Rockport and the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge sustained severe hurricane damage from salt water in the fresh water marshes. Most of the fresh water marshes are dry and you see piles of salt everywhere.

Birds seen but not pictured: night herons, crested caracara, roseate spoonbill, sandhill cranes, kestrel, snake bird. Also, saw a large group of ducks fly by as it got dark. 99.9% sure they were black-bellied whistling ducks just from their whistles.

Saw this muscovy duck last year near a privately owned pond near Goose Island park. There were two of them, but the second one has since been killed by a car. Feel sorry for this guy/girl, by itself. Guess the people around the pond give it a lot of attention.

Little blue heron at the same privately owned pond.

Have been trying to get a picture of a kingfisher for a long time. They are small and so quick to fly away, it’s hard to get close enough to get a good picture. Last year I saw a kingfisher on one of the private piers near the Goose Island park. Sure enough, found one again in the same area.