Saturday, March 25, 2017

Rockport Birds and Blooms

Post by Henry

We've been doing quite a bit of birding here on the coast of Texas, The birds are everywhere and the spring migration hasn't even kicked in yet. In and around the Rockport area there are numerous birding sites ranging in size from just a few acres to thousands of acres.

Some of the birding sites have boardwalks jutting out into the water and the birds come up incredibly close - like you're not even there.

Boardwalk at Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center


Here are some of the birds we've been seeing captured by staff photographer, Loretta.


American Bittern

Great Blue Heron Battling a Snake for Lunch

Snowy Egret

Green Heron


Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Cute Little Pied Billed Grebe


Pied Billed Grebe with Fresh Caught Crab

Black Necked Stilt in Formal Wear

Action Shot of Tricolored Heron Catching Dinner

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks Giving Us the Evil Eye

Blue Wing Teals

It's definitely springtime here and flowers are popping up more and more every day. One place that really caught us by surprise was the Rockport Cemetery which is a field of beautiful wildflowers!

We kinda found it by accident turning down a street just to see what might be there and WOW!


Beautiful Final Resting Place

Peaceful

Soon the spring migration will begin as the birds start returning from points further south. They'll stop here near the coast to rest and feed before heading off to other parts of the country.

We'll start our migration soon too, as we'll be making our way west and north towards Montana and Idaho for the summer.

Here's a few bonus pictures from our birding trips these last few weeks.


Northern Shrike with Lizard

White Eyed Vireo

Female Northern Shoveler

Ruddy Duck

White Tailed Hawk

Wilson's Snipe

Female Blue Wing Teal

American Bittern Stalking a meal