Birds and Nature

{note: to see the rest of photos and discussion please click on 'Read More') I rarely get a photo that shows a bird's tongue clearly so I was delighted to find this one provided a nice view of the tongue of a Great Kiskadee, a neotropical species found in the U.S. only in South Texas. I photographed this bird in a water feature at Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen, Tx at the beginning of the month. The second pic just above also shows the tongue but in a relaxed position.  Also notice the 'wiskers' on it's bill--they help guide flying insects into it's mouth. I added this third pic as it more clearly shows the hook on the end of it's beak (actually on the upper mandible).  While hooks are often used for tearing meat this species usually eats arthropods, mollusks and "...small vertebrates (especially small fish but also tadpoles, lizards, small snakes, and mice)." ( Birds of North America online) I guess the hook would help it tear fles...

I enjoy watching birds of species that I am not familiar with so returned to Quinta Mazatlan this afternoon to look for the rare Blue Bunting again. It has continued to be seen most often at their amphitheater feeders and I waited there. When I saw it last week I thought I heard it call before it came into view so I was delighted to hear it call and a few minutes later it came in the opposite side of the feeders from where I sat and only stayed a short time so I missed it. Later I was much luckier. Again I heard it call and a couple minutes later it flew onto the top of a brush pile but quickly flew down and went back into the vegetation. I did pick it up about a foot or so back in the plumaged where it sat quietly for several minutes before walking around between the brush pile and vegetation then disappearing for several more minutes. Then it flew up to the wood feeder and chowed down on bird seed (looks like it ate millet) as shown in the video clip and did so for almost 15 m...

Yesterday while I waiting for the Blue Bunting to return to the amphitheater feeder area at Quinta Mazatlan this local hummer kept distracting me by coming to a feeder less than 10 feet away. So I took a few seconds to kept a couple of quick pics. I those dots on top of it's head are pollen granules. SeEtta

This rarity has been seen at Quinta Mazatlan Birding Center in McAllen,TX for just under a month. This species is not seen every year in the Rio Grande Valley and was last found in 2016 at Frontera Audubon where I got a number of photos and some video too. I The first time I went to look for it I missed it by about 30 seconds, the birder said there it is but it was out of sight when I got there. I have looked for it a number of times and finally saw late this afternoon. While this Blue Bunting had been observed a number of times feeding on seeds from grasses and plants. Now it appears it has found that feeding stations are good places to eat. Apparently it has been coming in to the amphitheater feeding station and that is where I found it. The pic just above show it with small seeds in it's bill (best to click on the pic to enlarge to see that) I was happy to observe it 6 or 7 times under the feeders and in the vegetation behind the feeders like these bottom two pic...

While the location of this Common Pauraque was marked on a map at Quinta Mazatlan it is still always fun to spot them since they blend in so well with their habitat. This bird doesn't have the predominant grey plumage usually found in birds of this species found in the Rio Grande Valley but I couldn't find much on the rufous morph of this species to venture a guess.  I like that it's nasal bristles are show up pretty well in this pic.  I think the complex and vermiculated patterns on the plumage of this species is beautiful so I enlarged a section of it below. SeEtta

I spotted this Black-throated Green Warbler at Quinta Mazatlan Birding Center. It shows the bright yellow face with olive auriculars but little of the black colored throat found on males of this species. Instead the small amount of black on the throat is indicative of a female or immature bird. Photos show the white belly with blackish streaks on the side that are also field marks of this species. SeEtta

The reason I returned late this afternoon was to try to get a better pic of the Eastern Screech-Owl family nesting in one of the dead palm trees at Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center. I saw at least 2, and possibly 3, sticking their heads out of the condo like holes earlier but the sun was behind them. So I came back in the late afternoon in hopes of getting better pics. Unfortunately this adult Eastern Screech-Owl was the only owl with it's head in view. And it was about 50 feet up and I had to photograph it almost straight up. SeEtta

Today I birded again at Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center in McAllen,TX. The weather really sucked--the winds were gusting up to 35 mph, the humidity was awful and it got to 96 degrees in McAllen and was that temperature when I returned later this afternoon. I almost never wear shorts when birding but it was so bad this afternoon I couldn't bear to put on long pants. I found the female but a McAllen resident who used to be on the board of Quinta Mazatlan told me about the male. They were both in the same area near the golf course. Both redstarts were actively foraging. The female stayed up in the trees but the male bird did go down on the ground by a small pond as shown in the bottom 3 pics. Quinta Mazatlan had other migrants including a possible first year female Hooded Warbler and 2 other warblers I didn't get a good look at plus a male and female Orchard Orioles. SeEtta