Tag: turkey vulture

Daily Work

The Most Exciting Sighting of All

rockyfort

Today I did my video and birding at the Oso Bay Wetlands Refuge. I do a video every week for my devotional/Bible Study blog called “Daily Enduring Truth.” Because I came in relation to my video, I was a little later getting to the Refuge than I would normally be. The birds were scarce around noon in the heat of the day. I saw some kind of hawk, but the pics were too blurry to use because he was so far off. I’ll share some pictures of an egret I saw in just a bit. I saw a Turkey Vulture, and I’ll share that pic, and the same pair, presumably, of mottled ducks that I talked about the other day. So what was the most exciting sighting of my day? The people.

I normally show up early in the day during the week. Showing up at noon on a Saturday meant that I got to see a lot of people: visitors there for the first time, families with little kids learning to love the outdoors, couples, joggers, people walking quietly. It was so exciting to see all those people out there enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. They may not have realized that they were following William Wise’s suggestion, quoted below this paragraph, but they were and everyone seemed to enjoy it!

Stop reading this blog, close your browser, push back the chair and walk out the door. Talk to God; cast your concerns at His feet; enjoy this world that He created. You just might get addicted. I know because I go there every day. So, pray and go birding!

I enjoy the wilderness style parks that reveal the natural beauty of the world God has created. So, while I didn’t see many birds today, it was time well spent.

turkey vulture

 

One bird you can almost always see is this amazing bird known as the Turkey Vulture or the Turkey Buzzard. When you watch it soaring around overhead, it’s one of the most beautiful, graceful birds around. As scavengers, though, they don’t get good press. And the red head that looks so cool from a long way away is just plain ugly when you see it up close. I love watching these birds, though, and got a decent pic today.

 

 

 

turkey vulture

If you clicked on my video, then the egret, which I presume to be a Great Egret, you’ll see in the next pictures was right behind me. I kept hoping to get a picture of him catching and eating a fish, or something. He was stalking and darting his bill down to get something, but I never caught him in action. I’m gonna just post the pics without saying much about them. These egrets are beautiful birds and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

egret hunting
egret hunting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third picture is my favorite from all the pics I took of this egret. I like the open mouth….

I keep hearing reports that the bird population seems to be going down. Obvioualy,  a few days shouldn’t be the sole proof of that idea. Still, I haven’t come across any sites that prove that theory right so far this year, and, a few sites SEEM to indicate that it may be right. Keep looking, keep watching and see if you agree with that idea.

 

 

Bird Brain Chronicles, Bird pics and story

January 5 – On The Road to Hallettsville

rockyfort

What a day today! I volunteer at a food pantry and finished my work there. Then, I picked up Lucy and we drove to Hallettsville so that she could get measured for a dress for our daughter’s upcoming wedding. We have a friend who makes dresses and costumes, and Lucy, since her double mastectomy, doesn’t have normal female contours which makes it difficult for her to buy an off the rack dress and feel good about it. So, we took a day trip to Hallettsville to work with Lindsay Ferguson and see Nick, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Hallettsville and our former youth pastor. It was good to catch up with them. As we arrived, there was a turkey vulture high in the sky. I took a quick shot. The focus isn’t very good, but it was the first bird we saw there.

 

Turkey vultures are majestic birds in flight and you can see them soaring in the skies over South Texas. If you see them from afar, they look gorgeous as they ride the thermals. They have a cut little red spot in the front. Then when you see them up close, you realize that the red spot is his head and they are the ugliest birds in the world. They often cooperate with Cara Cara as they scavenge the road kill, and Cara Cara (we saw a couple while driving) are the most beautiful birds around.  Then we visited with the Fergusons. When we left, they gave us directions to the park so that we could search for birds.

 

 

When we arrived at the park we were immediately struck by the lack of birds. There were no sounds. There was no movement. After a few minutes of looking around I heard a bird singing in the distance and looked in that direction. What I saw instead was this fuzzy-tailed seed stealer. (So named when we were feeding birds in our backyard and his relatives would barge into the chow line and chase the invited guests away and eat their food.) They are cute, though, so I take their picture whenever I can.

 

Often, when looking for birds, knots in the wood, seed pods, and items like this pic fool us into thinking they’re birds. Sadly, plastic bags arranged the right way on branches do the same thing. It is a nice example of a wasp’s nest. Seriously, in the park, while we heard distant singing, the only indication of birds in the park that I saw was one nest in the trees. I was disappointed, but we left by a road that Lucy thought she saw on the map that ran by the river, so we decided to try that route. It’s so nice to have a wife that puts up with my follies!

 

 

 

 

There weren’t many birds to see on this route and then I spied this cardinal. I thought I had seen one earlier in the year at the Oso Bay wetlands, but he snuck into the trees and I didn’t get a picture. Lucy stopped the car and I rolled down my window to take the shot. My first attempt happened when I snapped just as the cardinal jumped up. I have a few of the tail feathers in the shot. Then, we moved a bit and I got this shot. I love cardinals, unless they’re playing baseball, and I was thrilled to get the shot.

 

 

 

 

 

Then, we took the paved road instead of the dirt road because that seemed like the logical choice. We meandered down the road until we saw this little beauty. It’s an American Kestrel. The angle was bad in the car. The first picture was right into the sun and was a complete washout. We moved the car a little, but it was still an awkward angle and it was a bit blurry. But, it was an American Kestrel!  We made one more stop by the Victoria County Courthouse and on our way back to the car after seeing nothing. Then we saw what I think were sparrows, but didn’t get a shot. The featured image for this post is the Courthouse. While we didn’t have a good day birding, it was great to see the Fergusons and spend time with my wife.