Birds and Nature

This little bird has been a nemesis bird for me-- that is, a bird that has eluded me despite multiple efforts to see it. And it has been being seen by many other birders in the places I looked unsuccessfully for it. Now I did get glimpses of it a few times, but not the kind of viewing that I want for a lifer bird. So I was delighted when I saw the adult bird coming to it's nest at Estero Llano Grande State Park. That sighting only whetted my appetite to find one of these and get a little video as well as better pics than I got at that nest area. So I was delighted when I heard this tyrannulet singing day before yesterday at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. I got the bottom 4 pics from that sighting but no video. So I returned today and quickly heard this male bird singing. I got the top 2 pics today and the very short video clip at the bottom. I really enjoyed watching it grooming which is what it was doing when I got the pic above of it with it's tail s...

POST NOTE: All videoscoping and digiscoping of the Bare-Throated Tiger-Heron by me were taken from a distance of no less than 100 feet but up to 160 feet and only from the authorized roads and trails authorized by Tx State Parks. I took these two video clips of the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON on 12-31-09. They do not have as much action as my first video clip but they do provide a realistic view of a bird that stands in place to do much of it's hunting. In the top video the bird starts with it's head in a forward position and quickly moves it back up. Then someone walks in front of the spotting scope followed by the bird hunting in position but moving it's head small amounts back and forth. In the bottom video clip, which was taken not long after the video clip of the bird engaged in feeding behavior (and posted 2 posts below), displays some chewing-like behaviors towards the end of the clip (sorry for the white spot, it's some kind of reflection that can be diffi...

This photo by Hays Cummins, Miami University is copyrighted and posted here by permission from his website A Tropical Bird Collection This is an ultimate photograph of a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron in Costa Rica that shows ultra-up close details of an adult bird. Compare the plumage of my digiscoped pics of the Bentsen BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON below. SeEtta

This video is copywrited--please ask for permission before use other than viewing on this blog. This is my first video clip and it has been a bit of pain to get uploaded but it is worth the hassle. This is videoscoped by videotaping the tiger-heron through a spotting scope--too cool. At the begnning of the clip the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON is standing still as it forages in it's slow, methodical manner. Then you will see it move it's head--watch very closely because it will jab down and almost behind in an exceptionally fast manner-puts new meaning to the phrase 'break-neck speed'! This is followed by swallowing movements (and my comments of astonishment as if I had never seen a creature swallow before), then some chewing movements. In the background someone talks about whether it is eating a grasshopper but I don't know that anyone was able to see what it ate. SeEtta

Today the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON provided just awesome views as it foraged for more than an hour at fairly close distance at Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park in Texas. This was another daytime viewing with very good light. I just purchased a camera to try digiscoping again (when I tried over a year ago it just didn't work out) and these are my first attempts at using it for digiscoping. I used two different spotting scopes but the pics came out pretty good. I also did some videoscoping but the files are very large and it is taking hours to upload. I am hoping the first video file will be up and processed for viewing on this blog tomorrow. SeEtta

I was hoping to get some video of the Bentsen Tiger-Heron so walked out on the levee south of the Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park a little before 4 pm today and the top pic is what I saw. The south levee is on the left where the birders are standing--it is higher and affords better views. The trail on the north levee is directly ahead and some of the vegetation on the north side of the cnal in the park's re-veg area is visible on the far right. Over the next hour or so a lot more birders arrived increasing to about 50 at the most. This time I stood on the south levee just south of the small bridge on the side so I had a better chance of being to the west of the bird which would be the best light. Around 6:15 when we still had not seen the bird, I moved to the west side so I could have a good view of the dirt road that runs north from the bridge as one of last night's birders told me they had seen the bird on that road and flying to/from (?) the grass field east of it. I was...

I found these two good videos of BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERONS videotaped in Costa Rica by different persons. The top video by "doctorpyserphd" shows two BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON engaged in probable courtship behavior in Tortuguero Natl Park, Costa Rica according to the labels. The bottom video shows a single BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON videotaped in Corcovado Natl Park, Costa Rica, that is engaged in grooming and foraging behavior. BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERONS are listed as crepuscular, being most active during dawn and dusk. It is interesting that these videos were taken clearly during the daytime (the bottom video in good sunlight) as it has have stated by birders on the Texas listserve that it would be rare to see this species during the day unless it had been flushed from it's roost. The renowned ornithologist Robert Ridgely in A Guide to the Birds of Panama states, "Mainly crepuscular, and at times active even at night (as are other tiger-herons)." I think i...

©Michael Packer (copied here by permission) I found this image on the on the internet at PackerLight.com and found it helpful in visualizing the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON photo I posted just below, and re-posted above this pic, as it shows the upper wings including the interesting trailing edge that appears scalloped due to the rounded feather ends. I emailed the photographer, Michael Packer, for permission to post this pic on my blog and he promptly replied authorizing my request (I strongly encourage seeking permission before using someone's photographic work--it's like borrowing someone's book without asking). This bird, that was photographed in Costa Rica, is in juvenal plumage. The bird that is in So. Texas certainly looks a lot like BARE-THROATEDTIGER-HERON in juvenal plumage like this and other I have found on the internet. Others with more experience with this species had identified the Texas bird as an immature transitioning to adult plumage but it seems to be r...

This really pretty cool pic of the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON was buried just to left of the middle of the uncropped pic below. Look carefully--it is flying to the left into the thick vegetation that surrounds the pond on the south side of the canal and the top of it's wing is far to the left of (and in line with) the 2nd line of text. The banding on it's tail is visible in the center bottom of the pic and it's legs show directly to the right of the tail. This shows the beautiful what-looks-like-fringing on the trailing edge of the wings (could this what is called the "vermiculated" wing plumage???). The dark object across the bottom part of the pic is spotting scope belonging to another birder--one of the pitfalls when quickly photographing flying birds when there are other birders around. It may help to double-click on each of these pics to enlarge them for more detail. SeEtta

These are the next 3 pics in the sequence of photos I took during the 2nd flight of the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON. The bird was well past us in these pics but still going to the left. It was starting to descend to land on the south side of the canal. The bottom pic shows the bird just before it went into the trees in the re-vegetation area which is west of the Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park buildings and volunteer camping area. Kudos to the staff and volunteers of Bentsen for the great job in planting hundreds of native plants in this area that was previously either onion fields or fallow--clearly the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON has found a good place to feed there as it has repeatedly flown into it during the day then flown back to the pond area on the south side of the canal at night to roost. SeEtta

This is part of a series of pics I took during the 2nd flight of the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON this afternoon. Each of these pics was taken sequentially (and ordered on this post in the order taken) in less than a minute per the time stamp from my camera (I was shooting as fast as I could). Though the bottom pics appear larger they were actually a little more distant and the illusion is due to my cropping the pics as quick as I could while trying to make sure they accurately reflect the bird. As the pics show, I did not get on the bird until it was a little ways past where I stood. As the bird flies further away it is turning slightly to the left. It flew in a partial arc as it flew around the group of birders on the levee. More pics in the series in the next post. SeEtta The bird was flying maybe 20-25 feet above the levy then

This afternoon a group of us were given a great Christmas gift--killer views of the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON flying not just one time in the daylight but TWICE within a few minutes. This is the a pic of the bird as it flew near us and into the south side of the canal that runs just south of the Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park where a pond is located that is surrounded by heavy vegetation. The yellow colored throat can be seen in this pic. More pics to come. SeEtta

Tonight on my third try to see the probable first U.S. record Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, it appeared. Unfortunately it was almost dark and the photo I took did not come out. As it was getting dark, several of the birders who had been watching for it for hours were leaving and did not see it. I was more fortunate as I was looking in the direction that it flew from and so spotted it just as it came into sight and flew over the canal near the Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park World Birding Center buildings. Though I have seen this species before, I don't recall having seen one in flight but I knew immediately that this was likely the tiger-heron as it looked like a night-heron as it flew with methodical wing beats across the canal and into the thicket of trees with a pond on the other side. As I review Sibley's field guide, it looked quite a bit like a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in flight--large, dark bird with it's head tucked back and it's legs outstretched behind it. ...

Today I spent some hours with many other birders watching for a super rarity--a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron that was found last night near Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park in Mission,TX. I didnt' see this vagrant bird from far below the border and only possible sightings by others today. Many of us were entertained by this White-tailed Kite that worked an area nearby. Other pleasant distractions were a Northern Harrier and an eastern Red-tailed Hawk. The dark wrist spots visible in the top pic are field marks for this species as is the white tail. SeEtta