BIRD NOTES
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At first I thought I was witnessing a thoughtful Papa redbird. He was jumping into the feeder picking up a sunflower seed and taking it to another place to hull and eat. What I didn’t see was the baby redbird hidden from my view that that he was feeding the sunflower kernels to. Closer examination revealed he was rapidly hulling the seed and taking the kernel to the fledgling that had hopped into my view. I was disappointed. I thought I had witnessed a polite redbird that did not leave the hulls on top of the other seeds in the feeder. But Rascal thought he could catch a bird and that was the end of the show.
A young Blue Jay is eating the corn that Sue put out for the squirrels. I don’t see how he manages to swallow the big kernels but he is. But the squirrels still prefer the sunflower seeds.
Kenneth L. Russell
Ethician Family Cemetery 6:40 p.m.
I was walking through the RCW habitat in our cemetery obtaining GPS readings
at the various graves when I observed a woodpecker foraging along the
branches in the crown of an old-growth pine somewhere between the two RCW
cavity trees on the cemetery property.
The woodpecker spent less than a minute foraging in the pine and then flew
to an adjacent pine crown where it continued foraging. I was intently
studying the bird which was the size of three woodpecker species: Hairy
Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
There were two other woodpeckers of the same size traveling with the
woodpecker but they were foraging in different trees and as I was intent on
studying the first woodpecker observed, I maintained by gaze upon the first
woodpecker that I saw.
The bird was about 70 feet up in a live pine which was about 40 feet from
where I was standing, so without binoculars, I was looking for any sign of
red on its head. I didn't see any so I elminated the Sapsucker from the
possibilities. Hairy Woodpeckers have small red patches on their heads but
I didn't see any evidence of a red patch and normally Hairy Woodpeckers
don't travel with two companions.
After determining through a process of elimination that the birds which were
foraging in prime RCW habitat were RCW, I hurried back to my Jeep to grab my
binoculars and camera. By the time that I got back to the area where the
birds had been foraging I couldn't find them. I did however hear a
woodpecker call in the distance that I believe came from an RCW.
The only other time that I have personally observed RCW was around 2005
about 1/2 mile from the cemetery. I have however seen quite a bit of
evidence that RCW had been visiting live old-growth pines on our properties
in the vicinity.
The cemetery RCW's were feeding in trees that SHECO has marked for
destruction within 40 feet of the forest verge.
I wanted to be certain that the woodpeckers observed were indeed RCW's
before reporting the sighting. After reviewing the foraging habits of the
other two possibilities I am now 100% certain that the woodpeckers were RCW.
George H. Russell
11:45 am
Eagle Sanctuary
Two baby Bald Eagles were playing tag in front of my window and then
both flew over to the Eagle Sanctuary to rest up.
I take that to be a good sign and omen.
ghr
PELICAN POINT
LAKE LIVINGSTON
About 10:15 am I noticed 4 Pelicans soaring above Pelican Point. Three
birds were White Pelicans and one of the birds was a Brown Pelican.
In ten years I have only seen 2 or 3 Brown Pelicans on Lake Livingston.
A little later in the day, a juvenile Bald Eagle was spotted perched in
a dead tree above Princess Point just about 100 yards from the abandoned
Eagle nest.
ghr
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Friday, 4 April 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/american-songbirds-are-being-wiped-out-by-banned-pesticides-804547.html
The number of migratory songbirds returning to North America has gone
into sharp decline due to the unregulated use of highly toxic pesticides
and other chemicals across Latin America.
Ornithologists blame the demand for out-of-season fruit and vegetables
and other crops in North America and Europe for the destruction of tens
of millions of passerine birds. By some counts, half of the songbirds
that warbled across America's skies only 40 years ago have gone, wiped
out by pesticides or loss of habitat.
Forty-six years ago, the naturalist Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, a
study of the ravages caused to wildlife, especially birds, by DDT. The
chemical's use on American farms almost eradicated entire species,
including the peregrine falcon and bald eagle.
The pesticide was banned and bird numbers recovered, but new and highly
toxic pesticides banned by the US and European Union are being widely
used in Latin America.
Because of changed consumer habits in Europe and the US, export-led
agriculture has transformed the wintering grounds of birds into
intensive farming operations producing grapes, melons and bananas as
well as rice for export.
Ornithologists say another silent spring is dawning across the US as
birds are being poisoned by toxic chemicals or killed as pests in their
winter refuges across South and Central America as well as the
Caribbean. They say that many species of songbird will never recover,
and others may even become endangered or extinct if controls are not put
in place or consumer habits changed.
More problems await those birds which make it home. Millions of acres of
wilderness the birds use as nesting grounds have been ploughed under in
the drive to grow corn for ethanol, for bio-fuel.
Some 150 species of songbirds undertake extraordinary migrations up to
12,000 miles every year as they move from the south to nesting grounds
in the US and Canada every spring. Ornithologists say that almost all
these species are at risk of poisoning.
The migratory songbirds in most trouble include the wood thrush, the
Kentucky warbler, the eastern kingbird and the bobolink, celebrated by
the 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson as "the rowdy of the
meadows".
Bridget Stutchbury, an ornithologist and professor at York University in
Toronto, said: "With spring we take it for granted that the sound of the
songbirds will fill the air with their cheerful sounds. But each year,
as we continue to demand out-of-season fruits and vegetables, fewer and
fewer songbirds will return."
The bobolink songbird has experienced such a steep decline, it has
almost fallen off the charts. The birds migrate in flocks from
Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay to the east coast of the US, feeding on
grain and rice, prompting farmers to regard them as a pest. Bobolink
numbers have plummeted almost 50 per cent in the past four decades,
according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.
Rosalind Renfrew, a biologist who studied bobolinks as they were feeding
in rice paddies in Bolivia, found about half of the birds had been
exposed to toxic chemicals banned in Europe and the US. Some 40 to 50
species, which include the barn swallow, the wood thrush the dickcissel
as well as migratory birds of prey, are starting to disappear.
It is only recently that the decline has been definitively linked to the
use of toxic pesticides in the Caribbean and across Latin America.
"Everyone who has looked for pesticide poisoning in birds has found it,"
Professor Stutchbury said. "When we count birds during our summers we
are finding significant population declines in about three dozen species
of songbirds."
She wrote in the comment pages of The New York Times: "They are the
modern-day canaries in the coal mine." She said: "The imported fruits
and vegetables found in our shopping carts in winter and early spring
are grown with types and amounts of pesticides that would often be
illegal in the United States."
Growers are using high doses of pesticides, which the World Health
Organisation calls class I toxins. These are also toxic to humans and
are either restricted or banned in the US and EU. But controls in Latin
American countries are easily flouted.
"I believe that if we don't make drastic changes quite literally many
birds which are common now are going to become rare," said Professor
Stutchbury.
Testing by individual EU countries and the US Food and Drug
Administration reveals that fruits and vegetables imported from Latin
America are three and sometimes four times as likely to violate basic
standards for pesticide residues.
Janet in Florida shares with us her owl pictures.
Janet writes:
Attached is the gallery link for the owl photos. The baby, my nephew named him Bubba, showed up on the ground under a tree in my sister's back yard. Mom and dad did what they are supposed to do when that happens. They stayed very close by, caught rodents to feed the baby, and dive-bomb or scream at anyone who gets close. The folks at the Birds of Prey Center have made a couple trips out to my sister's so far putting Bubba back in the tree. They say after another couple of weeks, he will be old enough to fly. What a blessing to have the opportunity to meet such a devoted family and darling baby.
Janet
PS. Hope all is well with ya'll.
Lake Livingston
There are around 100 female Red-Winged Blackbirds feeding in the trees
in front of my window and 1 male.
Question: Is it unusual or normal for the females to flock together
with only a single male?
The Eagles on the Eagle Sanctuary peninsula have disappeared. The Eagle
nest is empty at the time of year when the babies should be learning to fly.
It was last year at this time that poachers killed either the mother or
father Eagle. I can only assume that the same poachers killed the other
Eagles.
Question: When one of a pair of Eagles is killed do the other Eagles
abandon the nest and the habitat?
ghr
Several small flocks of Purple Martins were observed at the intersection of Hwy 190 and Waterwood Parkway and at the Waterwood Marina on January 25, 2008.
ghr
by George H. Russell
FAT CHANCE ANYTHING WILL BE DONE TO PUNISH THE JUVENILES!!! I can
almost guarantee that even if the perps were adults the fine would be
something like a hundred bucks--no more than a $100 permit to kill
Pelicans!!!
1. I have witnessed harassment of Pelican flocks by jet skiers. I have
called TPWD and "Operation Do Nothing" several times because of many
poaching problems." NOTHING DONE ABOUT IT. The huge Pelican flocks are
gone. 40,000 birds down to an isolated flock of 200 and couple of
individual birds. (Two TPWD Game Wardens assaulted me from behind and
threw me into jail after I had asked them to stop the killing and poaching.)
2. When I discovered the body of the headless and footless Bald Eagle
about two or three hundred yards from our Eagle Nest the TPWD "Eagle
Guy" was on our properties but was too busy doing White-tail browse
counts to even bother to drive five miles to come and take a look at the
dead Eagle.
3. Juvenile Bald Eagle observed this morning but no adults or juveniles
for several weeks.
4. Quite a few ducks but the illegal hunters kill them against the law
within 200 yards of shore. That really hurts our shore loving Wood Ducks.
5. SHECO has filed a lawsuit to CONDEMN our Red-cockaded Woodpecker
habitat and cavity tree in blatant violation of the RCW Recovery Plan
but the criminal elements in USFWS are promoting said destruction due to
the fact that Jeff Reid personally hates my guts because Ned Fritz and I
actually filed the lawsuit to protect the bird and Jeff, by his actions
against the protection of critical habitat, works for the timber
industry and SHECO against the ultimate survival of the endangered species.
6. Who would be willing to join us in our last-ditch fight against
SHECO and USFWS?
ghr
P.S. We dedicated around 2,000 feet of shoreline worth a couple of
million dollars for a Pelican Sanctuary in 2007 due to the fact that for
years Pelicans roosted there. This year, ZERO PELICANS so far!!!
Bert Frenz
>bert2@bafrenz.com
>Birds of the Oaks & Prairies of Texas
>www.bafrenz.com/birds/
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Birding discussion list for Texas [mailto:TEXBIRDS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU] On
>Behalf Of D D Currie
>Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 4:30 PM
>To: TEXBIRDS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
>Subject: Re: [TEXBIRDS] Operation Game Thief
>
>---> Texbird help file http://www.texbirds.org <---
>
>Correction:
>
>Law Enforcement Section: 1-800-792-GAME
>
>D.D.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Birding discussion list for Texas
>[mailto:TEXBIRDS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU]On Behalf Of D D Currie
>Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 3:53 PM
>To: TEXBIRDS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
>Subject: [TEXBIRDS] Operation Game Thief
>
>
>---> Texbird help file http://www.texbirds.org <---
>
>Dell and I participated in a CBC yesterday and had the misfortune of
>witnessing 2 teenagers shooting and killing an American White Pelican.
>
>We saw the bird circling as we were traveling down a county road and pulled
>over to view a private lake to see if there were other birds present. We
>heard a gun shot, then I saw the bird drop very near a private residence.
>Shortly, two young men were seen emerging from the residence to exam the
>bird that they had just shot.
>
>I called the local police department. Although they were courteous, they
>did not seem to appreciate the matter. I then called someone I know with
>Texas Parks and Wildlife, and he referred me to "Operation Game Thief". I
>called the Law Enforcement section of Operation Game Thief and submitted a
>report. In less than 2 hours, a local Game Warden contacted me for more
>information.
>
>The Game Warden contacted me two additional times last night for additional
>info and to provide updates on the situation. The last contact was to
>report that he had located the 17 year-old perpetrator, had confiscated the
>young man's shot gun, had located the bird that had been hidden in some
>woods and that he was promptly processing a report. The teenager will
>likely be the recipient of a hefty fine and a record for his misdeeds.
>
>Please program the following numbers into your cell phone in case you
>observe similar misdeeds regarding not only birds, but other non-game,
>protected species:
>
>Contact numbers for Operation Game Thief:
>
>Main No.: 1-800-792-1112
>Law Enforcement Section: 1-800-7902-GAME
>
>D. D. Currie
>Arlington, TX
>
>For answers to questions about this list, as well as current Texas
>Birding Links, visit the Texbirds Reference Page at http://www.texbirds.org
>
>For answers to questions about this list, as well as current Texas
>Birding Links, visit the Texbirds Reference Page at http://www.texbirds.org
>
>
>
Pelican I
Lake Livingston
I was standing at the water's edge when I spotted an adult Bald Eagle
flying rapidly toward the opposite shore. The Eagle spied a bass below
and dove down to catch it. It flew back to the high cliffs over Bay
Hill Road and perched in a tree out of sight.
Krissie and I went to the foot bridge to attempt to spy the Eagle eating
the fish. I said, "I wish that Eagle would fly over here and show us
that fish."
Immediately, the Eagle flew from its hidden perch and directly toward
us. About 40 feet from our heads, with the fish dangling in its talons,
it circled and returned to its hidden perch.
Krissie said that the Eagle was Grandmother showing off her catch of the
day. (Grandmother never did like fish.)
Maybe Grandmother Eagle has developed a fondness for bass in her new
life and body as a soaring Eagle.
I guess that beats being reincarnated as a Buzzard and having to eat
nothing but "road kill".
ghr
23 October 2007
A large white Egret and a white Egret half the size of the large one was
standing nearby. The large Egret was obviously a Great Egret but the
small one seemed odd looking. It was the color and size of a Snowy
Egret but it had a bright yellow bill and black feet and legs.
Perhaps Bert Frenz can solve the mystery for me.
ghr
Eagle Sanctuary Lake Livingston
I was looking out the window at the lake when I spied an immature Bald
Eagle circling a Great Egret perched on a floating log. The Eagle
circled several times, examining the Egret. Finally it swooped down as
if to attack the big bird. The Egret held its ground and jabbed at the
Eagle with its long bill. I think that the sharp bill of the Egret may
had made contact with the Eagle. The startled Eagle retreated to the
Eagle Sanctuary while the Egret calmly returned to fishing from the
floating log.
ghr
Five Bald Eagles!!!
About 1:30 pm I got an excited cell phone call from The Chapel of the
Nativity at the intersection of Waterwood Parkway and PM 980. Three
Bald Eagles had circled the Chapel at a low altitude while joined by two
Bald Eagles at high altitude. I arrived in time to observe the two late
arrivers fly toward the southeast. The other three birds had flown
toward the northwest.
Five Bald Eagles at the same place at the same time is the most that I
have heard of being observed above FM 980.. Sadly the three low flying
Eagles could easily have been killed had SHECO erected its totally
senseless 138kv transmission towers along FM 980.
ghr
8:30 a.m. Eagle Sanctuary - Lake Livingston
White Pelicans began landing in the water near the Eagle Sanctuary. At
first there were nine birds which were soon joined by several others
over the next five minutes making a total of 23 White Pelicans. A
straggler came by at 8:40 boosting the number of White Pelicans to 24.
Hummingbird numbers seem to be significantly lower this year.
I hadn't seen an Eagle for quite some time and was wondering if the
birds had flown North toward cooler weather during the heat of the Texas
Summer, and then---
On August 9, 2007 at 7:40 a.m. I saw a Bald Eagle fishing offshore from
Pelican I.
Mandy Zeltner reported a Bald Eagle circling her swimming pool between
Huntsville and Riverside in Walker County on August 12, 2007.
At 10:30 a.m today,. a Bald Eagle flew from across the cove at Water I
to the Eagle Sanctuary.
It appears that now we have some full time resident Eagles in E. Texas.
July 22-31, 2007
Sue's dog and I were at the Pyramid when an Osprey flew out and circled
us several times appearing to judge the size and flavor of the dog.
Since the dog weighs over 80 pounds the Osprey finally decided to fly
away to search for smaller prey.
There have been more Scissortail Flycatchers this year than I have seen
in many years.
A juvenile White Faced Ibis flew overhead toward dusk one evening near
Pelican Point.
The Black and Turkey Vultures enjoyed eating Sue's old dead horse. They
consumed all of the meat within a week.
I will put up a photo gallery of the Vulture's progress as
www.georgerussell.net.
Osprey pair fishing Lake Tye, Monroe, WA
The pair live near Lake Tye, in the town of Monroe, WA, each evening it seems that the pair makes a last swing by the lake to hunt.
This evening on our ride around the lake, my wife and I watched as the (female?) Osprey made a catch that drew the attention of a local bald eagle. The eagle was on the wing in an instance; up to its usual tactics of steal the fish form the Osprey, something that it has done more than once.
Not his evening, our Osprey was having nothing to do with that game. The flying demonstration lasted 5 minutes and covered the sky above the lake. The Osprey won out, didn’t drop the catch and made a save exit homeward bound Trout in tow.
David Teeters
AMS Technical Services
11831 North Creek Parkway N. | Bothell, WA 98011
Ph: 425-354-6069| Fax: 425-402-9569
dteeters@amsservices.com | www.amsservices.com
Bert,
Thanks so much for the insight into the current status of our
Woodstorks. Hopefully, they will someday nest again in Texas. I will
post your discussion at my www.birdnotes.org web site.
ghr
George,
Wood Storks do not nest in Texas, but rather in Florida and a few areas in
surrounding states. They also nest on both coasts of Mexico, south to El
Salvador and Honduras.
After the nesting period is over, they wander along the coast and pass
through Texas, the first ones arriving in late June. Other Texas sightings
this season include 8 seen 26 June at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge on the
Texas-Mexico border and ~100 seen 28 June in northwest Houston.
Texas sightings of Wood Storks have dramatically increased during the years
I have been tracking bird reports in Eastern and Central Texas, so I think
they are doing quite well as a species.
Thanks for letting me know of your sighting.
Bert
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bert Frenz
bert2@bafrenz.com
Director, Texas Ornithological Society
www.texasbirds.org
Subregional Editor, North American Birds
Birds of the Oaks & Prairies of Texas
www.bafrenz.com/birds/
1 July 2007 BAD BOY POINT, E. TEXAS
I was driving to Bad Boy Point (Lake Livingston), when I saw the
silhouettes of some very large birds in a dead tree. They looked like
Wood Storks and indeed they were--the first that I had seen in several
years. With my binoculars I was able to pick out at least 8 Storks.
Counting was made difficult by the presence of a live Sweet Gum tree
which blocked the dead tree depending on where I stood. After multiple
attempts to be totally accurate I came up with 8 birds for certain and
perhaps a ninth.
I am hopeful that there are some breeding pairs amongst the Storks and
that they have nested on our nearby Eagle Sanctuary or other safe haven.
ghr
6 pm On the Ethician Queen at the Russell Pyramid
I was sitting at the back of the steamboat watching 10 Vultures cavorting around in the updrafts.
I said to myself, “I wish the Eagle would come out.” Instantaneously, an adult Bald Eagle flew from Pool Creek and landed in a dead pine tree just across the cove from where I was sitting.
Yesterday, I left my father’s house and as I was approaching the intersection of Doral and Bay Hill a Bald Eagle flew directly toward my vehicle, not 30 feet in the air and then down Bay Hill under the canopy of the trees.
The Eagle, after perching in the tree for around 15 minutes, took off
and flew toward 980 along the Pool Creek flyway. If SHECO prevails, we
are certainly going to lose some Eagle to the 138 kv.
Also, more fresh peckings on live old-growth pines on the golf course.
Saw a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers in hardwoods but not on the pines.
The last time that I had checked on the baby Eagle he was perched on a limb next to his nest.
This evening I went out to see if he was still there and the nest and nest tree were empty.
I looked over to the lookout tree used by his dad and there was an Eagle perched there but instead of being the dad it was the baby.
The dad always looked straight ahead in a regal and dignified way. The baby was craining his neck every which way as if he had just entered a whole new world for the first time, which of course was exactly the case.
He was really cute and sassy.
Great Spirit Wilderness
Yesterday evening I took the grandchildren on a hike to check on the baby Eagle. He had left the nest and was perched on the same branch beside the nest that his parent had been seen perching on a few days ago. The grandchildren didn't think that he was cute and cuddly because he was already as big as his dad. We haven't seen him fly yet so don't know if he knows how.
GHR
Great Spirit Wilderness and Half Moon Bay Retreat
I took Ryan Nelson, Project Manager for Crouch Environmental Services, to visit our Bald Eagle nest at Princess Point in the Great Spirit Wilderness. The daddy bird was perched on his usual lookout perch about 200 feet to the left of the nest tree. When he spotted us he left his perch and flew around the nest tree to make sure that everything was aok and then went back to his perch. At first we didn't see anything in the nest, but after the dad flew over the nest the baby popped its head up so that we, for the first time, were able to confirm at least one Eagle baby. The baby was as big as the dad and seemed to be fully fledged.
This is the first confirmation that we have a breeding success on our Sanctuaries.
This morning I was reading the paper in bed and I heard a chirpping sound coming from the Eagle Sanctuary across the cove. I grabbed my binoculars and sure enough a juvenile Bald Eagle was perched on a tree in the Sanctuary, happily chirping until a big bad crow chased him away.
THE BAD NEWS!!!
Ryan and our enviro-attorney, Lanny Ray examined the dead bird remains at Half Moon Bay and feel just as certain as I at this point that the bird is an Eagle. Half Moon Bay is only a couple of hundred yards from a notorious poacher camp, but of course poachers in San Jacinto County are everywhere and kill anything alive just for the fun of it. Because the head and feet have been missing since I first discovered the bird several weeks ago, I am convinced that they were taken as trophys by the poachers.
Ryan will show photos that he took to the bird experts in his firm.
Pelican Point
5,000 or more cormorants and about 50 white pelican just now flew past my window... They flew into the bay, turned around, and flew back to the main body of the lake where they formed an island for fishing. Ten minutes later they had all disappeared. Fishing must not have been very good.
Kenneth L. Russell
This morning a friend of daughter Karen volunteered to dig graves for me, my wife, my mother and my father with his Bobcat. Shortly after the machine began digging an Eagle flew over to check out what we were doing, flew overhead in a circle and then flew off after having satisfied its curiosity. I was happy that the bird was an Eagle rather than a Vulture.
Hwy 105, Vidor, Texas
From James Linscomb
George here are some pictures of the eagles that you seeded here in Orange County close to my land. You must have released them at night and got turned around thinking that you were on my land.
They are pretty cool even if you did it!
James Linscomb
The eagle lands.....on Hwy 105 Vidor TX,
Here are some pictures of the eagle's nest that is off of Hwy. 105 in Orangefield. This is located on the left side of Hwy. 105 going towards Vidor, west of the intersection of 1442 and Hwy. 105.
About 6 pm I went down the dirt track to Princess Point to check on the Eagle nest. I had not seen any bird on the nest so was worried that perhaps the possible dead Eagle was the female bird.
What I preceived to be the male was standing guard on a nearby treetop but still no sight of a second Eagle.
Swoosh!!! An Eagle emerged from the nest and flew off at a rapid rate toward the cove. I am hopeful that there are hungry babies and that she was out to hunt for a fish to feed the babies (if any). That is the first evidence that a bird was on the nest which was a relief since that fact confirmed to me that the possible dead Eagle was not part of the nesting pair.
The guard bird was on his perch again this evening (23 February 2007). I stay several hundred feet from him and the nest and he seems used to my presence because he just looks my way in an arrogant way and is not disturbed in the least.
Lots of birds of many species, especially Chickadees, Titmice, Goldfinches, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Wrens, Kinglets, Warblers, Sparrows, various Woodpeckers and others and in various traveling groups in several places.
I hadn't been successful calling in the birds for some time and thought that I had lost the art but decided to see if they would come if I called. Within a minute about 50 birds of various species had come to see what I was up to. The Kinglets get especially close -- in fact sometimes within a foot or two.
This morning a juvenile Turkey Vulture had its wings outstretched soaking in the sun on one of our balconies. I took several photos, some as close as 3 or 4 feet from the bird who seemed bored by my presence.
Later in the day I noticed a raft of 18 Pelicans, 500 or more Cormorants and 50+ Gulls fishing in Waterwood Bay.
As I wanted to document the bird parts that I believe are part of an adult Bald Eagle, I went to Half Moon Bay and took several photos.
Across the cove is the tree with the Eagle nest in it. I wanted to determine if one of the nesting pair was the victim of the white trash poachers that infest Lake Livingston.
I called the Eagles and within 30 seconds an Eagle flew out from the Great Spirit Wilderness headed directly toward me. Within a few seconds a second Eagle flew out and joined the first Eagle. Then both birds seemed to frolic together flying past a second pair of large soaring birds, one of which turned out to be an adult Bald Eagle. I was unable to confirm whether the second bird was an Eagle or a Vulture but they had been flying around together just like the pair that had emerged from the vicinity of the nest.
I can definitely confirm the presence of three adult Eagles at Half Moon Bay and Secret Cove on this date.
This evening Fang (the dog) and I traveled to Princess Point to look for tresspassers or poachers or anyone that might disturb the (hopefully) nesting Eagles.
At the end of the road at the shore was a huge Ford dual cab diesel truck. A speedboat was very close to shore with a man in it. A second man soon emerged from the trail that goes toward the Eagle nest with a wheelbarrow. He saw me but continued onward without speaking and put the wheelbarrow in the truck.
I told him that he was trespassing on POSTED private property and that the area was off limits to visitors at this time.
He acted pretty unconcerned because he claimed that his friend knew me and that they were both from Emerald Point, an area known as a haven for wildlife killers across from The Holy Trinity Wilderness Cathedral. Last night at Church the widow of one of our departed Deacons told me about Emerald Point neighbors that had been killing our Alligators and other wildlife.
The man in the boat said that he had been far back in the cove leading to Alligator Loop, "Just resting and looking around" but that when he tried to restart his (speed) boat the battery was dead.
His name was FRANK MIXON and his friend with the big truck and wheelbarrow was BILL SOREY (936-891-5959).
I advised Mr. Sorey to call me next time that there might be some legitimate need to enter our private properties and mud up our primitive road with his overweight truck. I gave him my card and he said he would.
Had I called the Sheriff to report the tresspassing, the Sheriff, based on my experiences since 1998 would have done absolutely nothing just as he did absolutely nothing when I reported the assault and battery that I experienced at Bad Boy Point. Yet it was I who was recently arrested for driving down my own deeded easement that the Sheriff had a copy of.
The current County Judge has a "hunting camp" on about an acre adjacent to about 1,000 acres of our Preserves and the dead (probable) Eagle is only a short distance from where some of his "sketchy" hunters hang out. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT SAN JACINTO COUNTY? In my opinion, it says "White Trash and Poacher Heaven -- Come on In and Kill at Will -- You Will NOT be Arrested or Molested by the Local Law 'cause We Will be Out There With 'ya IF 'ya Furnish the Beer, Bitches and Booze".
Texas Parks and Wildlife has known about the suspected Eagle death for seven days now and yet I have not received even a phone call to set up an appointment to examine the remains in order to confirm or deny that the dead bird in an Eagle.
I couldn't find anywhere on the USWFS web site where to report the death of an endangered or threatened species.
Last Sunday, we discovered what we believed to be parts of a dead Bald Eagle in an area frequented by "white trash" hunters and poachers on our Preserves and Sanctuaries that Texas Parks and Wildlife has NEVER helped us to protect.
We also discovered an Eagle nest for the first time since we established an Eagle Sanctuary on our properties.
These facts were given to our Wildlife Manager who was with the TPWD Eagle Specialist the very next day. I offered to show the TPWD biologist the evidence of the possible Eagle killing as well as the nest but so far have heard nothing.
If "white trash hunters" are killing the Eagles that I have spent millions of dollars attempting to protect from harm, and TPWD typically doesn't care to even investigate, then I will be even more angry than knowing that TPWD actively assaults, handcuffs and jails people who attempt to protect Alligators.
Ospreys at Walden
From James Scanlon:
We have been enjoying the flying skills of an adult Osprey at the Walden on Lake
Conroe / Poe Drive boat ramp. He is out there almost every day and seems to be fed well. It's a beautiful bird and a real joy to observe. I'm new to the area so I don't know how common this is in this area. It has been a pleasant surprise to living in this area though.
Bad news at Half Moon Bay Retreat
We discovered parts of what we believe to be a dead Bald Eagle on the
beach. Rogue hunters and poachers run rampant around and through our
preserves and sanctuaries.
Duck hunters are especially bad. I have had reports of them shooting
ducks just for the fun of it and not even bothering to retrieve them to
eat. Other reports are of them shooting Pelicans and any other bird
that happens to be in their gun sights. Some days it sounds like a war
zone in the area of our NAPA Preserves with shotguns blasting away.
The fact that the Eagle has no head or feet leads me to believe that
they were taken as trophies.
Texas Parks and Wildlife has been totally unconcerned and unresponsive
to requests for assistance. Just a couple of weeks ago a man disrupted
our Church services by shooting far too close to shore in violation of
TRA rules at the Wilderness Cathedral. The Game Warden said that it
wasn't his responsibility to enforce TRA rules so he did nothing. The
next week the same person was back.
A few years ago, I was taking a Parks and Wildlife official to see our
seven baby alligators. He watched as poachers netted the gators and
took them away. He didin't even bother to write down their boat number.
In September 2003, I complained to two Game Wardens about TPWD's lack of
concern about protecting our wildlife, especially Pelicans and
Alligators. As I walked away, they assaulted me from behind and threw
me in jail.
Good News at The Great Spirit Wilderness
While examining the dead Eagle we observed a live adult Bald Eagle
perched in a tree across the cove in The Great Spirit Wilderness. We
drove down the mile long road to Princess Point and began walking toward
Debbie Beach. The Eagle was still perched in its tree. The bird then
flew from one tree top to another one nearby while chirping.
Then, one of my companions, cried out in amazement! In an old pine tree
to the right of the Eagle's perch was a huge Eagle nest!!!
We decided that it would be in the best interests of the bird and the
babies we hope that will hatch or have hatched, for us to leave the area
and allow the Eagle(s) some peace and quiet.
Hopefully the dead Eagle is not one of the parents.
If Texas Committee on Natural Resources (now Texas Wilderness
Federation), Natural Area Preservation Association, Texas Land Trust
Alliance, Lone Star Sierra Club, Texas Audubon, and Texas Ornithological
Society would join forces and demand that TPWD and TRA declare the coves
and shoreline that border our sanctuaries off limits to hunting,
trapping, shooting, fishing, and trot lining, then our wildlife would
have a chance to survive.
Our State Representatives should take a leading role into seeing these
protective measures be implemented.
Alligator Ranch
This morning I was just about ready to step into my shower when I
spotted a Turkey Vulture perched on the railing just outside my window.
He looked at me and I looked at him, all the while stepping closer and
closer. Eventually my face was just 24 inches away from the bird. We
were each obviously attempting to determine which one of us was the ugliest.
Finally the big bird made his decision, left a large evil looking
deposit on the railing and sailed off.
Sometimes, Mr. Peck, the Pileated Woodpecker perches on that same spot
and peers into my bathroom.
I forgot to write down the exact day, but a few days ago a flock of 50+
Black and Turkey Vultures were perched in trees in front of our house as
well as flying about.
Great Spirit Wilderness
David Bezanson of NAPA, along with one of his assistants, went on a tour
of our proposed 2007 Sanctuaries.
At Princess Point our Jeep got stuck in the mud and we began to walk
out. Almost immediately an Eagle flew to the top of a nearby tree.
Soon after, the Eagle was joined by another adult bird.
The birds put on a nice display of flying overhead, seeming to check us
out. When they disappeared, they were replaced by a a juvenile Eagle.
In the meantime Great Blue Herons were flying all about squawking their
heads off as if coyotes were biting their tails.
As darkness set in a Night Heron began crying.
ghr
13 January 2007
40+ Turkey Vultures roosted in trees in front of our Alligator Ranch house.
11 AM
ALLIGATOR RANCH
LAKE LIVINGSTON
From 1,000+ to perhaps several thousand Cormorants, with a sprinkling
of White Pelicans in some of the numerous flocks, just flew past our
window, heading North. They were practically skimming the tops of the
waves on the lake.
Yesterday, at Half Moon Bay Retreat, the Crows drove a very majestic
adult Bald Eagle from the Eagle Sanctuary. It escaped by rapidly flying
to the mouth of Palmetto Creek.
11:12 AM
Another flock of 500+ Cormorants and 20 White Pelicans just flew in and
are now feeding in the lake to the East of our house.
Winter Solstice at the Alligator Ranch
10:45 a.m.
39 White Pelicans just flew over the house toward the Eagle Sanctuary.
ghr
Russell Preserves - Waterwood
Our forest have been alive with birds of many species for the last 10
days or so. This morning when I went into the bathroom to take my
shower, an immature Turkey Vulture was perched on the railing of the
balcony less than three feet from where I was standing. The bird was
very tame and just looked at me -- perhaps attempting to predict when I
would become its dinner. I called to Sue to come up and observe the
bird. It apparently didn't like her as much as it liked me and flew off.
April Fand flew in from Arizona to observe our Vultures and visit our
future "Sky Burial" site. The Vultures were nowhere to be seen. We
drove over to the marina to look at our River Otter Sanctuary and low
and behold, two trees on our Longleaf Pine Sanctuary hosted 39 Black
Vultures and 7 Turkey Vultures.
Hords of Robbins, Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinches and all sorts of
little birds that I am too blind to see and/or identify have been
swarming about. Also present have been Red-headed Woodpeckers, Pileated
Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Barred Owls, Common Crows, Common
Grackles, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Brown Creepers, Blue
Jays, Cardinals, and others.
Others include our resident Carolina Wrens that constantly try to fly
into the house when the door is open. One had to spend the night
recently when it hid in the fake ficus tree and refused to go outside.
Ringbilled Gulls, Belted Kingfishers, flocks of various Ducks, Great
Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and Cormorants are the most abundant water
birds. I haven't seen any Pelicans for at least a week now.
EAGLE FUN AT HALF MOON BAY RETREAT
We have been enjoying the antics of the Eagles hanging out at Half Moon
Bay Retreat. When we hear a gang of Crows squawking we are pretty
certain that we will soon see one of our Eagles.
The evil Crows constantly torment the Eagles yet until just yesterday I
had never seen an Eagle make a concerted and valient effort to catch a Crow.
I heard Crows scolding, looked up and two Crows were chasing a juvenile
Bald Eagle. The Eagle decided to retaliate and for at least a minute I
witnessed a World War I dog fight in the air. The Eagle came close to
catching a Crow on more than one occassion. Then a second Eagle flew
out toward the Crows to even the odds and the Crows fled the scene.
The two Eagles then sailed about, unmolested before disappearing.
Earlier in the week our Chocolate Lab was playing in the shallow water
when we saw him looking up. An Eagle was checking him out but decided
that at 100 pounds he was a little on the large side. As the Eagle
soared off at a low elevation, the dog began chasing the bird, jumping
up in a futile attempt to capture the Eagle.
In addition to the two baby birds, there is at least one adult Bald
Eagle that loves to perch in a tree just above Debbie Beach. He is
extremely stately and arrogant as he surveys the surrounding area. The
Crows seem to leave him alone. Perhaps he has taught them a lesson and
they know better than to molest him.
Today there were hundreds of tiny birds flitting about in the woods
along with several Woodpeckers of various species.
In addition, there are numerous Ring-Billed Gulls, Terns, Peeps,
Cormorants, Ducks, Kingfishers, Great Blues and Great Egrets. I haven't
seen a Pelican in at least a week.
Alligator Ranch
Lake Livingston
As I was walking from the house to my car I saw two juvenile Bald Eagles (baby eagles) fly overhead in a game of tag. They flew in circles cavorting with one another, the second bird trying to catch the lead bird and eventually flew out over the lake. I don't know if this was play or some kind of sibling aggression.
A flock of 20+ Eastern Bluebirds was seen at Longleaf Ranch.
The Pelicans are suffering predation from suspected Coyotes and Bobcats as the rising lake has inundated their isolated sandbar islands and they have been forced to roost on the shores of the lake.
USFWS or Texas Parks and Wildlife need to provide the birds with artificial islands so that they can rest in peace.
Lake Livingston
2 adult Bald Eagles and 1 juvenile curious about our activities at Secret Cove. The baby flew directly overhead just above the tree tops.
At Sunset Services this evening we were visited by 2 Bald Eagles during the "Meditation Moment". There were also 20 Turkey Vultures perched at the Vulture Sanctuary with many others flying overhead. 100+ Cormorants were perched on the power poles in the lake. At least 300 While Pelicans were also guests at Church services.
There were at least 50 other Vultures at Secret Cove and many others over the Alligator Ranch house today.
Alligator Ranch 12:15 p.m.
500+ White Pelicans swimming in front of the house and heading toward Princess Point. Every few minutes a small flock and sometimes
individual Pelicans flies past my window.
There have been quite a few Belted Kingfishers flying about as well as a Bald Eagle that has been hanging around Half Moon Bay.
Only a few Hummers are stopping at the feeders.
99 White Egrets were counted perched on stobs off shore from Pelican Point.
At 2 p.m. I noticed a raft of 700+ Cormorants feeding outside my window. I originally guestimated 300 birds while they were swimming in a counter-clockwise then clockwise circle and were so tightly spaced that a head count was impossible.
Another difficulty in getting an accurate head count is that at times more than half of the birds will be swimming under water.
One bird on the outer edge of the raft caught a rather large fish and several Cormorants began to swim toward the bird in an attempt to take the fish away. This caused the entire raft to break up and begin swimming in a long line after the lucky bird. That made it easy to get an accurate head count. I quit counting individual birds after the
first 500 and then estimated that I had not counted a portion of the line up representing more than 200 birds and quite possibly 300, thus the conservative count of the raft of Cormorants is 700+.
The Cormorants then regrouped and formed their contiguous raft again. At 2:45 p.m. the Cormorants began flying in a long alignment just over the top of the water, toward the SE.
There are two large groups of White Pelicans of an estimated 1,000+ birds each plus some smaller groups of 50-100 birds that I can see from my window.
from Sue Russell
This morning about 11:30 a.m., I looked out our bedroom window and saw a flock of white pelicans taking off from the water in our cove. It looked like maybe a hundred birds when I started watching. I called to George to look out the window, but he had already left the house in his Jeep. Still the pelicans kept coming and coming. It was amazing!
From the yellow bedroom window, I saw a whole cove still filled with white birds who were in the process of taking flight in an orderly fashion. They didn't just all scatter at the same time like most birds do. The pelicans were probably fishing there in our cove, but it took quite some time before the birds were gone. I don't know how many there were--maybe a thousand?
I called Pelican 1 to alert the grandparents, because the birds were flying their way. The phone was busy, but I finally got granddaddy on his cell phoneat Pelican 2, and he said he would keep an eye out for them.
After the pelicans had gone, I saw Zimmerman, wife and dog walking along the beach in front of our house, heading toward their house. They probably saw the pelicans also and may have startled them, causing the birds to fly away.
Sue
30-40 mixed Black and Turkey Vultures feeding on a dead Armadillo.
A fresh swarm of Hummingbirds have arrived at the feeders. The guestimated maximum number of new arrival birds is less than 50 but more than 25 by head count at the feeders at one time.
114 Great and Snowy Egrets were counted perched mostly on stobs off of Pelican Point.
Alligator Ranch
It was cool enough to sleep with the door to the balcony open. At 8 A.M. I was awakened by Caspian Terns squawking, Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets grunting, Hummingbirds squeeking, Blue Jays calling, Blackbirds chattering, Crows scolding, and a couple of Belted Kingfishers calling.
This afternoon, several flocks of White Pelicans were just cruising about on the warm updrafts. Three flocks were composed of about 50 birds each and a couple of groups of about half that number and a few strays. In the meantime at least 1,000 were resting offshore from the Cathedral.
Numerous Turkey Vultures and two Black Vultures have been taking advantage of the updrafts to cruise about.
Still at least 100 Hummers at the feeders.
Only around 25 Least Sandpipers at Princess Point.
A lone Cormorant just swam by at 5:30 pm.
Dozens, if not hundreds of Caspian Terns have arrived. It would be impossible to judge the numbers. (Two are fishing just in front of my window as I write this.)
They seem to be everywhere and are the predominant Tern after the earlier arrival of very small Terns (perhaps Least) and followed by medium sized Terns (perhaps Common) They were at Church at the Cathedral, at the Eagle Sanctuary, at Princess Point, at Pelican Point and thus all along the lake. They can be quite loud and obnoxious, especially when I am attempting to get my beauty rest.
18 September 2006
An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 White Pelicans flew past Pelican Point between 7:15 pm and 7:25 pm and landed on the water in a long raft of birds that was estimated to be between 1/4 to 1/5 mile in length. I estimated that the last batch of birds to join the others numbered an estimated 1,200 so I believe my total estimate to be conservative, since several large flocks had passed by before the last birds arrived.
While the Pelicans were flying downstream an Osprey flew upstream.
Night Herons and Great Blue Herons were squabbling after dark.
100+ Least Sandpipers feeding on the shore at Princess Point.
A Bald Eagle flew along the shore of the Eagle Sanctuary about 1 pm.
The Pelicans are still hanging out on the sandbars.
A juvenile Turkey Vulture with a black head just flew past my windowalong with an adult bird.
A Great Blue Heron is stalking a Great Egret across the cove.
The Hummingbirds are reduced in number by around 50% from this time last week, so I guesstimate that there are still around 50 birds.
Wilderness Cathedral
Lake Livingston
1,000+ White Pelicans were resting on sandbars in the lake out from the Wilderness Cathedral.
Lake Livingston
6:07 PM 13 Sept 2006
19 White Pelicans just flew past my window.
A deer is hanging out with a few Great Egrets on the shore of the Eagle Sanctuary.
There seem to be fewer Hummingbirds this evening and less juice gone from the feeders. Some must have departed for points South.
Numerous medium sized Terns feeding over the lake.
One Snowy Egret and at least 30 Great Egrets are sitting on stobs in the middle of the lake.
9 Turkey Vultures were soaring over the house and the Eagle Sanctuary this morning.
Alligator Ranch, Lake Livingston
Sue asked me if she was seeing a new sandbar or if there was a flock of White Pelicans at the shore of the Eagle Sanctuary. Without looking up I said, "Sandbar". She insisted that I take a look through the binoculars and lo and behold a flock of 100+ White Pelicans was feeding at the shoreline of the Eagle Sanctuary.
We still have at least 100 Hummingbirds at our feeders.
A few days ago I was sitting in the water at Princess Point and there were around 35 Turkey Vultures soaring around. In addition there have been 35+ tiny Sandpipers hanging around on the shore as well for a week or so.
As I hadn't seen an Eagle in several weeks, I called out, "Eegie come here". Within less than 60 seconds an Eagle flew out of the woods and over my head and continued across the lake at a rapid rate. I called out, "Eegie come back" and a couple of minutes later the Eagle flew back across the lake and over my head.
There have also been many Terns fishing as well as numerous Great Blue Herons, a few Green Herons, many Great Egrets and some Snowy Egrets.
Alligator Ranch House
Lake Livingston
Hummers started coming in on the 23rd of August. (We had had a few throughout the Summer) Each day since their numbers have increased. Impossible to count them but I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't 50 or more. They are emptying the feeders very quickly with up to 12 birds hovering at a time around the most popular feeder.
We have had more Snowy Egrets around the house this year than in years past.
Alligator Ranch, Lake Livingston
A pair of Mississippi Kites were circling over our house this morning. The day before a pair was seen in a large pine tree about a quarter mile from the house and later in the day another was heard in our forests about a half mile from the house.
Last week I was sitting in the water at Princess Point counting Vultures (10) when one of the "Vultures" turned out to be a Bald Eagle.
There has been a pair of Snowy Egrets hanging out just across the cove in the Eagle Sanctuary for several weeks now.
The Purple Martins must have flown South for the Winter as I have been seeing very few at dusk the last week or so.
Two Whistling Ducks just flew past my window.
Princess Point, Lake Livingston
8 p.m.
I was sitting in the water off Princess Point sifting the rocks feeling for Indian rocks when a Great Egret flew down to fish about 20 feet from me. When the Egret saw who its companion was it flew off.
Now here is the really weird thing that happened next:
A ROSEATE SPOONBILL flew down to the shallows not 25 feet from where I was sitting. Thinking that the bird would probably fly off the moment
it saw what was in the water beside it, I made no attempt to stop what I was doing or stay particularly still. The Spoonbill studied me for a few moments, determined that I was friend rather than foe and even walked toward me while looking for food.
In the meantime, I found a few pretty interesting Indian rocks that I dropped into the basket beside me. The bird seemed disinterested in what I was doing
After a period of more than 10 minutes the bird determined that there was nothing to eat at that spot and flew off. In the meantime, dozens of tiny Terns were diving into the water about 50 feet out from shore and little groups of Purple Martins were feeding overhead on their way to the 190 bridge where they roost this time of year.
Princess Point, Lake Livingston, Texas
About 3 P.M.
Large Eagle/Vulture sized dark bird feeding on dead fish on shore. When bird flew, the only white was on the tail. Only saw the top side of bird as it was rising and then disappeared around the point.
Was not a Vulture. Did not look like any Bald Eagle, either adult or immature that I have observed over the last eight years that frequent the Eagle Sanctuary nearby.
Only bird in Sibley resembling this Eagle is pictured as an immature Golden Eagle.
I give a 90% probability that the bird was as pictured in Sibley.
QUESTION: Is there such a thing as a Bald Eagle-Golden Eagle hybrid?
ghr
Eagle Sanctuary - Lake Livingston
This morning I was awakened by the call of Mr. Peck, our curious Pileated Woodpecker. He had landed on the balcony railing just three feet from Zander, the dog. I turned over in bed and opened my eyes in order to see the spectacle of the two curious beasts staring at one another.
I rolled back over to get some more "beauty rest" and was later awakened a second time by the chirping of what I believed to be an Eagle. I got up and searched the shore of the Eagle Sanctuary with my binoculars but no Eagle was in sight. Meanwhile a couple of Whistling Ducks flew past, so I thought that it must have been the Ducks that had awakened me, so I returned to bed to read the paper.
A little while later, I heard both chirping and loud piercing cries. I jumped up again and scanned the sky and treeline. No Eagle. I then spotted a bird wading in a puddle at the shore. At first I thought it was a Turkey Vulture, but when it flew off it had a white head. It was indeed the Eagle.
Lake Livingston
13 May 2006
8:00 a.m.
57 Great Egrets sunning themselves in the trees at the shoreline of the Eagle Sanctuary along with 1 Night Heron, 1 Great Blue Herson and 1 Snowy Egret.
Meanwhile, the pair of Little Blue Herons flew over to the shore to fish along with 3 Great Blue Herons. Several Turkey Vultures and a pair of Whistling Ducks were hanging out on the beach.
Several Eastern Kingbirds were in the trees in front of my window.
Eagle Sanctuary
An adult Roseate Spoonbill flew past my window at 10:40 A.M., heading into the cove. I ran out to the boathouse and went onto the roof to try to locate it but it had flown too deeply into the cove to be spotted. The pink color of the bird was so brilliant that I thought that I must be hallucinating and had just seen a Scarlet Ibis pass by.
11:00 A.M.
A pair of Little Blue Heron flew over to the beach at the Eagle Sanctuary. Meanwhile three White Pelicans flew overhead, the Hummingbirds are fighting at the feeder, and two Great Egrets just flew past my window.
11:45 A.M. A pair of Snowy Egrets just flew past my window. Several individual and small groups of White Pelicans are flying over the lake. The bird activity this morning has been quite spectacular.
While I was typing this a Green Heron just flew past my window. There have also been some Great Blue Herons but I didn't mention them earlier because they are almost always here.
Chapel of the Nativity
Flock of about 20 White Ibis flying SE over the Chapel of the Nativity at the intersection of Waterwood Parkway and FM 980.
Lake Livingston E. Texas
Mississippi Kites in singles and in pairs have arrived. Yesterday, three were flying over the Country Club. Today, around noon, 20+ were circling over the Ethician Family Cemetery. Toward dusk, a pair flew over Waterwood Parkway.
Last week 50+ Great Egrets were playing the "Dating Game" at Pelican Point. The boys were quite elegant in their breeding plummage. That same morning about 100 White Pelicans were cruising around over our house.
Mr. Peck, our resident Pileated Woodpecker is a voyeur. He likes to perch on the deck railing outside my bathroom and watch me go into the shower.
The Red-headed Woodpeckers that had lived in a dead pine for several years at the Chapel of the Nativity have not been seen this Spring. A lady riding a bike stopped this afternoon and reported a pair of Red-heads had taken up residency in her yard.
The Whistling Ducks have been really loud and obnoxious the last few days.
Eagle Sanctuary - Lake Livingston
7:45 A.M.
Andrew called from Pelican Point to let us know that a flock of about 100 White Pelicans were flying toward the Eagle Sanctuary. We looked out the window and sure enough they flew over to the shoreline of the Sanctuary and began to fish in two groups. On the shore were about 20 Great Egrets and a dozen or so Great Blue Herons.
The Blues were squabbling with the Whites, but the Pelicans were oblivious.
Shortly after 8 A.M. an Osprey flew over to the Eagle Sanctuary from the lake with a fish, where it perched high up on a tree on the shore and began to consume the fish.
About a dozen Coots, a pair of Mallards and a few Whistling Ducks have visited during the last couple of days, plus a few Hummingbirds.
After being absent for two or three years, Great Blues have built their nests on the S. shore of the Wilderness Cathedral. Toward dusk their squawks could be heard from over 1/2 mile away. I will try to get a nest count.
22 March 2006
Eagle Sanctuary - Lake Livingston
This morning, a little after 7 a.m. I heard an Eagle chirping. By the time I found my binoculars and got to the window, three crows had apparently heard the Eagle chirping and tormented it until it flew away.
My mother has been reporting sightings of 50 or more Great Egrets across from her house. There have also been a much larger number of Great Blue Herons. This morning at dawn Sue said that there were so many of them squawking that it sounded like a pack of dogs barking.
Screechie, the Screech Owl has been warbling all night for at least a week now. Yesterday evening he began his song well before sunset. The first night I heard him, I thought that someone's cell phone was ringing in the distance. When the ringing didn't stop I went outside around 3 a.m. and determined that Screechie was singing.
Right now at 9 a.m. there is not a bird in sight.
Yesterday evening, I saw around 30 or more Turkey Vultures circling their traditional roost that they use duriing Spring and Fall migration. I went to the Marina to get a better look and an Eagle was flying with them. The Vultures continued to their roost and the Eagle flew down to the shore of Firecracker Point and began to wade in the shallow water. It seemed to be having a good time because every once in awhile it would seem to skip and dance in the water. I watched it for about 5 minutes and then left it to its water ballet.
Waterwood
At 7 a.m. I heard an Eagle chirping. I got out of bed and went over to
the window. A baby Eagle flew out from the Eagle Sanctuary and out over
the lake followed by an adult. The adult Eagle chased the baby away.
A few minutes later the baby flew back to the Sanctuary but I didn't see
the adult again.
Yesterday about 40 White Pelicans flew over Pelican Point.
At this moment I am watching 12 Turkey Vultures eating dead Piggie #1 and picking at remnants of dead Piggie #2.
This is the first day that Turkey Vultures have visited the Piggies in any numbers. Heretofore, up to 40 Black Vultures were busy feasting.
Dead Piggie #1 appeared abandoned on the dining table for a couple of weeks and seemed hard as a rock. After two days of rain, he has softened up making him much easier to eat.
Yesterday, Garcia reported an adult Bald Eagle on the Parkway just before Long Leaf Ranch. It was the first one that he had ever seen.
Andrew's puppy and I were looking for Indian Rocks at Princess point earlier today. I heard an Eagle back in the woods and the puppy whimpered and would only walk between my legs.
60 LL from tree #8
Planted in what appears to be a 20 X 20 meter section laid out by Jeff. Since we are also attempting to restore RCW habitat as well as LL, we planted at closer intervals than the silvicultural recommendation of Harry of 10 feet. I fear that if we fill in all the gaps where there is sunlight hitting the forest floor we will soon find ourselves in the same thicket of mid-story pines that we had before eliminating the overabundance of Loblollies. Thus, in the RCW areas my theory is that it is best to plant in clusters as one would find in nature and then let nature do the thinning over time. This leaves the type of open spacing that RCW seem to prefer throughout most of the area and at the same time allows for regeneration to make up for the loss of the old pines over time. In my opinion, this is how nature solved the problem and kept the RCW with a never ending supply of old pines for their colonies.
100 LL from tree #5
Planted in an opening to the E. of he Sewer Plant that was created by (1) me cutting hundreds of Loblollies, Sweetgums, and Yaupons (2) Rita knocking down a large canopy Red Oak. (3) this year's Prescribed burn. This is the place where Harry fell flat on his face in the wet ashes.
100 LL from tree #15
Planted in a portion of the relative open spaces found at the NE corner of WW Parkway and 980.
125 LL from tree number 12
Planted between the N. road leading the The Chapel of the Nativity and the N. property line.
235 LL from tree number 2
Planted in the open spaces at the SE corner of WW Parkway and 980 where I had mowed down hundreds of Loblollies and then burned this year.
Seedlings that had lost most of the soil surronding the roots were kept separate for random planting outside the "control" areas.
Some of the boxes of seedlings were very neatly packed and nearly 100% of the trees had the soil on their plugs intact. One box from tree #2 was very neatly packed. Some of the other boxes had the seedlings sort of thrown in haphazardly and in attempting to untangle the trees several lost some or all of their protective soil. These trees we planted using the old-fashioned "dibble".
The seedlings from tree #13 that has too many Loblolly genetic characteristics will be segregated geographically from the historic Longleaf area and planted in an 11 acre clearcut over a mile from the nearest native Longleafs.
ghr
Please visit our new web site ADOPTANEAGLE.ORG and help us if you can. It'll make God smile.
Alligator Ranch
Just before 8 a.m. a juvenile Bald Eagle flew out from the Eagle Sanctuary and had a good workout flying back and forth in front of my window not more than 50 feet away.
6 November 2005
I took the boat from Pelican Point to Aztec Island and back to check out the bird life. Numbers of birds are conservative estimates.
WHITE PELICANS:
500 across from Emerald Point on a sand bar.
2,000 at the mouth of White Rock Creek swimming and feeding.
2,500 far shore of White Rock Bay resting.
CORMORANTS
1,000 in various small flocks and individually
TERNS & GULLS
500 large (Caspian), medium, and small Terns plus a few Gulls resting on a sand bar adjacent to the sand bar with the Pelicans across from Emerald Point.
500 mixed Terns and Gulls feeding adjacent to the Pelicans at the mouth of White Rock Creek.
EGRETS & HERONS
1,000 Great Egrets on the shores and perched on stobs exposed by the low water.
250 Great Blue Herons feeding alongside the Egrets
EAGLES
1 juvenile Bald Eagle at Goat Island
Nov 4, 2005
Alligator Ranch
Today is Sue's 60th birthday, so to celebrate, we were sitting on the deck watching the world come to life as the sun rose. Nary a creature was stirring until suddenly an Eagle began to sing "Happy Birthday" to her in its own language.
The Eagle, a beautiful adult bird with piercing eyes was perched on one of its favorite trees just across the cove in the Eagle Sanctuary. We took the telescope out on the deck and were able to fill the entire field of view with the bird.
Below is a link to a recording that sound much like what we heard this morning. Click to the second call.
http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/eagle_cam_blog/archives/2005/04/19/
A little after 9 am. the Paramedic came to give me my insurance physical. I asked her if she had ever seen an Eagle and she had not. The big bird was still in its tree so she got to see her first Eagle. At that very moment a baby Eagle flew in front of the house and toward the Eagle Sanctuary. The big Eagle swooped out of its tree and attacked the poor baby. The baby flew off as fast as its wings could flap with the mean adult Eagle in hot pursuit.
Lake Livingston
Oct 31-Nov 2, 2005
BELTED KINGFISHERS: Very active and quite noisy the last few days.
BALD EAGLES: Not as many sightings as last week but a friend and I were at Princess Point one morning and I looked up and observed two adult Bald Eagles flying together. My friend, who has lived here for 25 years or more, exclaimed that he had never before seen one. Not a "Strange Convergence" as we hadn't been discussing Eagles before looking up to see one, but coincidental non the less.
ROSEATE SPOONBILLS: Four Spoonbills seen feeding on a mud flat in front of the River Otter Sanctuary. Incidentally, son Andrew observed seven River Otters playing near the pyramid.
GREAT BLUE HERONS: Four Deer were wading in the shallow water just beyond our bedroom window. They joined a Great Blue that was trying to fish. For quite some time the Blue tolerated the Deer stirring up the water around him, but eventually got disgusted and flew off to calmer fishing grounds.
TERNS: Just off Pelican Point, with plenty of fishing areas to go around, a big Caspian Tern began chasing and harrassing a Common Tern. The big bully had no justification to be so mean and greedy in my opinion. The Caspian reminded me of a typical bully Hummingbird.
Greed is not just a human trait.
PILEATED WOODPECKERS: After an unusually long period of silence the Pileateds have become raucus.
HAWKS: A rather large Hawk has taken up residence in the area of Pelican Point. I failed to identify him in the field but took numerous photos as he perched on the top of the flag pole. The bird is virtually tame.
PELICANS: During the weekend illegal vehicle traffic on the beach across from Hawg Heaven frightened the 1,000+ White Pelicans that had been using an adjacent sandbar for their daytime roost. Yesterday they came back and I can hear them feeding at various hours during the night. Sometimes they are only about 50 feet outside my window and make quite a racket driving fish toward shore with their huge wings.
For some reason the lake was practically devoid of birds near the Eagle Sanctuary, save a few Vultures, a Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, a few Cormorants and a Snowy Egret. Gone were the thousands of Pelicans, Cormorants, and large flocks of Vultures that had been parading in front of the house the last few days. I decided to take a walk along the shores of the Eagle Sanctuary. A small gathering of Turkey Vultures were hanging out on the beach and as I approached they flew into the air and began circling overhead. Soon they were joined by a juvenile Eagle. The Vultures soared onward but the Eagle seemed interested in me and where I was going. The curious bird followed me for at least 200 yards as I walked slowly down the beach. Almost everytime I looked up the Eagle would be soaring almost directly over my head. As I was walking rather slowly looking for Indian rocks, the big bird must have spent several minutes following me and hovering over me.
Eventually it flew down to Princess Point where it perched in a tree waiting for me to arrive on foot.
A lady who loves Waterwood because of the wildlife was being interviewed for an infomercial. She said that she had never seen an Eagle. At that moment a flock of Vultures began circling over the Wilderness Cathedral. I said, "sometimes Eagles fly with the Vultures" and suddenly at that very moment two adult Bald Eagles flew from the Cathedral and joined the Vultures. After the Vultures left they put on an acrobatic display which lasted several minutes.
A few weeks ago I was talking to my parent's next door neighbor about birds. He is 70 years old and said that he had never seen an Osprey. I told him to stay alert and he might see one. Within a minute an Osprey flew right overhead.
A couple of years ago I encountered a group of bird watchers on Doral near my parent's house. I told them that if they were lucky they might see an Eagle even though I hadn't seen one in some time. One of the couples said that they had never seen an Eagle. At that very moment I looked up and three Eagles were flying overhead. The bird watchers were sore amazed.
Now if we had a resident population of these birds these strange convergences might not seem so strange. For example, Ospreys had been missing from this part of the lake for many months. Sometimes months go by without a single Eagle spotting, much less two or three at a time, and then at the very moment that I was discussing those birds with elderly bird watchers who had never seen one in their entire lives, the Eagles present themselves in all their majestic glory. Waterwood seems to be a spiritual vortex for the apparition of "Strange Convergences"!!!
Alligator Ranch -- Lake Livingston
AMAZING SIGHT!!!
Daughter Karen Lee called from England around 8 a.m. I was staring out our bedroom window while talking to her. Suddenly a beautiful adult Bald Eagle glided past about 40 feet from the window and directly over the American flag in the front yard.
Sometimes I could kick myself for not always having a video camera by my side.
Around 10 a.m. I was chatting with Eric Estrada (old Chips star) near Pelican Point when two Eagles flew out and frolicked together.
Lake Livingston, Lake Conroe and NW Houston
We saw a Roadrunner in Montgomery County today. A few years ago there were several at Waterwood but I haven't seen any for some time. I haven't seen an Avocet for a few years but suspect there are more because of the exposed mud banks. There have been flocks of up to 40 tiny Sandpipers on the lake.
The huge gatherings of Pelicans have been breaking up into smaller flocks. I was awakened this morning around 5:30 am by 100+ fishing outside our bedroom window.
Yesterday evening at least 250 Turkey Vultures were circling before roosting near Waterwood Bay.
Today's big sighting was NW of Houston. A huge swarm of Hawks were spiraling on the updrafts at great heights and drifting at high speed SW toward Mexico. This was at 2:45 pm. Attempts to get an accurate count were futile, as they were almost up against the sun by the time I was able to retrieve my binoculars from the car, but I feel confident in stating that there were far more than 1,000. It was the biggest Hawk migration that I have seen for several years.
ghr
Greater Wilderness Cathedral
Lake Livingston
PELICANS: The huge flocks of White Pelicans have sub-divided into smaller flocks of from 50 to 1,000 birds. Today the updrafts were great and many flocks were soaring to great altitudes of at least several thousand feet, apparently just for fun. About 1,000+ were chilling on the far shore across from the Alligator Ranch.
TURKEY VULTURES: The Turkey Vultures and a few Black Vultures were having a great time soaring about. There had been 70 or so on the power lines yesterday at the Cathdral and today flocks of up to 30 or so birds were hovering about the house and the Eagle Sanctuary. 6:18 pm 30+ Vultures are soaring just outside my window. The Eagle was not with them.
BALD EAGLES: At lunchtime a 3 yr. old Eagle flew over to a tree in the Sanctuary and hung out for quite awhile. Another junenile bird and an adult were also seen flying about with the Vultures at the same time. Later in the afternoon an adult and a juvenile were flying together. The young bird flew behind the adult and then appeared to attack it. (Bad Baby) The adult was calling out in a loud voice and for about five minutes I watched them circling the cove adjacent to the house. The video camera was in the car and I ran to get it but by the time I got back the two Eagles had departed.
OSPREYS: Ospresy were seen at the Cathedral and at Zwickey Creek. Ospreys, Vultures, and Eagles were all seen soaring around together both at the Eagle Sanctuary and at Zwickey Creek. One Osprey dove down to harass an Eagle.
ALERT: 6:12 pm The adult Bald Eagle just flew past my window and is now soaring with the vultures. I ran to the car and got the camera. The Eagle was up pretty high but I got some fairly good video.
GREAT EGRETS: At 6:00 pm 21 Great Egrets flew past my window. Greats are all around the lake.
GREAT BLUE HERONS: The Great Blues were also enjoying the beautiful weather and the updrafts and were seen soaring with the Eagles, Ospreys, and Turkey and Black Vultures this afternoon at the Cathedral.
CORMORANTS: The Cormorants were having fun just roosting on the power line towers as well as fishing in flocks of 100 birds or so.
ALERT: 6:25 pm The adult Eagle and the two babys are flying together above the Eagle Sanctuary along with a dozen or so Vultures.
SANDPIPERS: I have seen flocks of up to 20 tiny Sandpipers during the last few days. None today.
TERNS: A few Common Terns and Caspian Terns have been fishing today.
SNOWY EGRETS: The Snowy Egrets seem more numerous this year.
KINGFISHERS: Solitary Kingfishers have been sighted at various points along the shoreline including one that hangs out at Pelican Point and likes to fly under the boathouses.
DANGER ALERT: It is not wise to venture alone and unarmed around the lake, especially at this time. With the water down 4 feet "Pot Hunters" have access to miles of beaches. At about 5pm I was at Princess Point when two "Deliverance Movie" types walked up. They had been hunting for Indian rocks. I told them that it was illegal to take Indian rocks from a State Archaeological Landmark but they kept hunting anyway. One man reached down and picked up an arrowhead. I had already told him that anything that they found had to be turned over to me for safe keeping. After he handed it to me he wanted it back. He and his buddy were quite threatening in both appearance and disposition. I told them that I was leaving and walked toward the jeep. They followed me. I reached inside and grabbed my .380 and stood behind the door with it hidden behind the door. They kept coming toward me in a threatening manner and were definitely on our property at that point.
I pulled out the .380 and told them to get the hell away, popping off a round into the dirt for effect. They jumped back and started walking away but very slowly as they were still looking for Indian rocks. I popped off another round and told them to move faster which they did. I followed them in the jeep on our new road as they walked around the shore toward their boat which was just beyond Debbie Beach.
With my binoculars I made out the number on their boat: TX 5705 XE. I would like Steve to find out who the owner of the boat is and if that person has a criminal record. They certainly looked like ex-cons. In the future I will carry my weapon with me. I was lucky that they didn't assault me before I got to the Jeep and grabbed my gun.
6:50 pm. The Vultures have nearly all gone to roost but one of the Eagles is still soaring about in front of my window.
6:55 PM
Several flocks of Pelicans have flown past in the dusk, totally at least 1,000 or so. One small flock landed in the water in front of the house and was soon joined by a few others -- perhaps 100 or so in all.
7 PM
Now there are 200+ Pelicans in the flock swimming in front of the house. More keep coming in.
Lake Livingston
3 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers perched on a wire on the N. side of the lake in Trinity County.
3:45 PM An adult Bald Eagle just flew over our house and over to the Eagle Sanctuary.
Several thousand White Pelicans were still roosting on a sand bank across from Emerald Point.
The Hummingbirds are all gone. I haven't seen any for several days now.
Great Egrets are in great abundance and Cormorants are numerous.
As I was typing this a pair of Ospreys suddenly flew out from the Eagle Sanctuary. One seemed to the chasing the other one. They took several turns in front of the house and then flew back to the Sanctuary.
Alligator Ranch
9:45 a.m.
It was raining and an Osprey was out fishing in front of the house, then flew past my window.
Another thing that has occurred with the lowering of the lake is the exposure of thousands of stobs. The Great Egrets are especially fond of perching on the stobs while fishing. I counted 140+ Great Egrets while scanning the stobs within view from Pelican Point yesterday.
Lake Livingston
Lowering Lake Livingston 4 feet in order to repair the dam damaged by "Rita" has certainly changed the shorelines. I have been curious to watch for any changes in bird behavior due to that fact.
One effect has been to expose mud and sandbars that are normally under water. This has given various shore birds much larger areas to scour as well as to roost. They especially seem to like the new islands in the lake since they are devoid of Racoons and other predators.
From Pelican Point we looked North and saw huge numbers of Pelicans resting on some of the newly exposed mud and sand islands.
Fortunately, our boat house at Pelican Point is over a channel and we are one of the few who can still lower their boats into the water. I stupidly failed to take my video camera and only took a still camera.
We went first to The Wilderness Cathedral and an Osprey flew out of a nearby tree and circled us before flying on. As we headed up river a Bald Eagle flew past.
To our right was a sandbar with an estimated 3,000 Pelicans resting on it. Further upstream near Emerald Estates we estimated that there must have been another 7,000 Pelicans in two groups. There were also numerous Gulls resting adjacent to the main body of Pelicans. We were careful to not get close enough to frighten the Pelicans as they needed their beauty rest, having just arrived from the North.
We went back to the house to get the video camera and tripod, and then drove over to Emerald Estates to get photos of the Pelicans. Unfortunately, several residents had arrived in their vehicles, which had frightened the majority of the closest Pelicans away.
The worst problem faced by shore birds on the lake at present is the fact that vandals and thrill seekers are violating the law by hot rodding their 4-wheelers and SUVs up and down the newly exposed beaches.
Normally, the Pelicans, when they first come in from the North, rest in the greatest numbers closer to the Trinity River Bridge at Hwy 19 because of the mud flats. With the lake down, they decided to take advantage of the exposed sand and mudbars closer to our part of the lake.
Later, while walking up Pool Creek, 12 Night Herons flew out of a single tree where they had been hanging out waiting for dusk.
In the afternoon, an Osprey and an Eagle flew over Pelican Point. They were perhaps the same birds that we had observed in the morning at the Cathedral.
Wilderness Cathedral
Andrew reported an estimated 300 White Pelicans resting on a mud flat NE of the Wilderness Cathedral. Closer inspection with binoculars indicated 1,000+ Pelicans.
A resident of Emerald Point, which is opposite the Cathedral, reported that on October 4th, there were at least 3,000 Pelicans at the same place but that many had left. He stated that they arrived in several flocks of from 30 to 100 birds and that he had counted them as they came in.
3,000 is a pathetic remnant of the flock of 40,000 that I observed in a single day several years ago.
Several hundred Great Egrets were either perched on mud flats or in trees around the Cathedral today as well as numerous, but far fewer Great Blue Herons.
There were also about a dozen tiny Sandpipers on the shoreline.
Alligator Ranch, Lake Livingston
Most of the Hummers have flown south for the Winter. There are perhaps a half dozen left from a peak of as many as 250.
Yesterday I startled a rather large raptor on the beach in front of the house. While I turned around to look for my binoculars the bird flew off. The glimpse I caught of it indicated the features of either a Marsh Hawk or Osprey.
This morning, while studying the pictures of Ospreys and Marsh Hawks in my Sibley Guide, Sue said, "Look, is that Mr. Blue or Eegie?" It was neither. It was an Osprey gliding right over the same beach that I had seen the raptor fly from yesterday which indicates to me that the large bird I saw must have been the same Osprey.
While I was writing these Bird Notes, flocks of Cormorants began flying over. Each flock consisted of around 100 birds or more and there were numerous waves of birds passing. I would guestimate somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 birds.
While I was watching the Cormorants an adult Bald Eagle flew toward me and about 300 feet out dove down and plucked up a fish which he carried over to a tree on the shores of the Eagle Sanctuary.
Overhead were several Turkey Vultures soaring about above the Eagle Sanctuary and flying with them was a second Bald Eagle.
A single White Pelican flew by as well.
Wilderness Cathedral
Notes on Hurricane Rita and its effects on bird life at the Wilderness Cathedral, San Jacinto County, Texas: September 23-October 2, 2005
Hummingbirds:
I was worried about the Hummingbirds during the storm but they hunkered down and seemed to prefer the feeder on the E. side of the house where they had to fight the estimated 20-40 mph winds after the storm passed through rather than visit the feeder on the S. side that was wind free.
Although we had not power we visited the lake each day to refill the feeders. I am concerned about the thousands of feeders in E. Texas that suddenly either disappeared after the storm or went unattended. We won't know the effect of the collapse of the artificial food supply on the birds just before their trip to Mexico until next year. On Oct 1 we still had around 50 birds in our yard.
Great Blue Herons:
I drove around in my Jeep to see how the large birds faired. During the course of the drive I only saw three Blues. All three were inland from the lake crouched on the ground. Subsequently, I have seen no dead large birds and two Blues are currently fishing outside my window.
Snowy Egrets & Great Egrets:
The day after the storm I saw more Snowies than I can recall ever seeing on the lake. They must have come N. to weather the storm and now are no longer about in great numbers. They must have gone back S. The usual number of Great Egrets have been flying about and fishing.
Night Herons:
This year's crop of Night Herons was the best that I have seen on the lake. The day after the storm passed through the juveniles seemed frightened and disoriented. They flushed without provocation and flew about in mid-day.
Kingfishers:
Single Kingfishers have been spotted at numerous points around our Sanctuaries.
Terns:
After the storm had passed through, there were approximately 300 small Terns hunkered down on a mudflat by the River Otter Sanctuary. Medium sized Terns were fishing in spite of the winds and there have also been a number of Caspian Terns fishing in the area as well.
Cormorants:
Several small flocks of Cormorants showed up after the storm.
Ospreys & Eagles:
The storm must have brought in a few Ospreys. One was observed just down from the Eagle Sanctuary a few days ago and yesterday two were observed by Andrew Russell and David Zellar, who also saw one Eagle in the same vicinity. (Andrew and I also observed an Eagle at Cape Royal to the S.)
Pelicans:
12 Pelicans have been hanging out at the mouth of Palmetto Creek. They seem to be remnants of the same small flock that stayed throughout the Summer.
Spoonbills:
21 Roseate Spoonbills flew overhead at the Wilderness Cathedral on the 29th of September. They were flying together in several small groups toward the SE. A single bird seemed confused, broke away, and headed in a northerly direction. A couple of pink feathers were discovered near Cormorant Island yesterday but no sign of the birds.
Ducks:
Wood Ducks, Whistling Ducks and unidentified Ducks have been observed. More than the usual number for this time of year.
Swallow-tailed Kite:
A Swallow-tailed Kite was soaring over the water across from the Eagle Sanctuary. I failed to write down the date. The usual Kites here are Mississippi. This was the first Swallow-tailed that I have ever seen.
Vultures:
Flocks of us to 40 birds of both Turkey and Black Vultures have been observed.
Waterwood
For the last few days the number of Hummingbirds has been increasing. As I am writing this post to "Bird Notes", a swarm of Hummingbirds is at our three feeders.
It is impossible to even guesstimate how many there are. There are up to 100 or more at or directly around the feeders at a time while others are resting in the nearby trees and others are flying back and forth from their rest perches to the feeders. I suspect that if it were possible to count them that there would be at least 250+.
The mean bird with the crest was thwarted by moving the feeder he was terrorizing away from his domain. My mother named him "Hitler".
We took a small feeder to my mother's house yesterday. Almost immediately two Hummers showed up and this morning my mother woke me up to refill the feeder as about 15 birds had already emptied it.
A friend dropped by and I told him to watch birds perch on my finger. He said, "No way". Within 15 seconds an adult male perched on my extended finger.
I was really worried about the Hummingbird population as there were very few birds last year.
Alligator Bay
2 Anhingas soaring. Lots of Green Herons in addition to the usual numbers of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. Lots of Night Herons at dusk.
9 September 2005
The Hummingbirds have been increasing in number at our two feeders. This morning Sue noticed a strange and extremely aggressive hummer dominating one of the feeders. He would perch on the top of the feeder and defy any other bird to come close. About 25 or so hummers had to share the other feeder, which they did in relative peace.
The strange thing about his macho bird was that he had a top-notch much like Woody Woodpecker. I checked my "Sibley Guide" and the only hummer mentioned that had a raised crest was the Magnificent Hummingbird, but the bird did not appear "blackish overall".
I spent time in the morning and then again in the afternoon attempting to determine what kind of hummer this mean-spirited bird was and statistically, he must be a Ruby-throated, but I have never seen one with a pronounced crest and at one point I detected the color red in the crest just like Woody.
It would be very helpful if a hummingbird expert were to come and study the hummers at our feeders and especially the mean macho one with the erect crest.
ghr
Pretty Princess Point
A Great Egret was followed by a Snowy Egret. The Snowy gained ground in the race and soon passed the Great. It was a very funny sight.
Was exploring our proposed Canebrake Rattlesnake Sanctuary and flushed at least 6 Green Herons. Also present were Great Blues and Great Egrets and one Wood Duck.
Wilderness Cathedral
At Sunset Services, 7:30 pm, I looked up as two Ibises passed overhead. I was concentrating on the beaks rather than the coloration but I feel relatively confident that they were juvenile White-Faced Ibises.
They were flying almost directly from South to North.
17 July 2005
Steve Loy reported a Bald Eagle at Bad Boy Point. He was mowing our 11 acre pasture when the Eagle spotted a mouse, swooped to the ground, grabbed it and then flew off.
Around noon it started to rain very heavily and I heard a Mississippi Kite screeching near the Chapel of the Nativity. The bird was soon spotted on a branch at the top of a dead pine.
Lake Livingston
San Jacinto County
14 July 2005
9 White Pelicans roosting at mouth of Palmetto Creek.
Hundreds of Purple Martins flying around point and over water.
4:15 PM Eagle Sanctuary
Three Caspian Terns feeding just outside my window.
Palmetto Creek
San Jacinto County
MYSTERY BIRD
At first I thought that the bird was a Great Blue Heron but it was extra small--more the size of the Great Egret that it was standing beside, but it didn't look like a Great Blue because it had patterns of whitish color.
When it flew there were much larger patches of white. At first I thought it must be a Tri-colored Heron, but when I consulted my Sibley guide, the picture of the Tri seemed different and the white patches larger.
Is it possible that I saw a hybrid between a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret? Is there a Great Egret morph that has patches of gray-blue?
ghr
9 July 2005 5:00-5:15 pm
I watched a BROWN PELICAN diving for fish for about 15 minutes this afternoon. The bird was quite fearless and was fishing at relatively close range to me and even closer to a boatload of beer swillers who were making quite a bit of noise.
The bird would dive head first for a fish, then fly up about 50 feet and dive again every few seconds.
The Purple Martins were staging at Bad Boy Point in the evening before heading toward the Hwy 190 bridge over Lake Livingston.
ghr
Holy Trinity Wilderness Cathedral 6:30 pm
A beautiful Osprey was perched in the top of an old oak overlooking "The Rock of Anointment". I feared that the bird would fly if I got too close but it seemed so tame that I allowed the boat to drift just offshore beneath the tree. Unfortunately I neither had binoculars or video camera.
After a few minutes the bird spied a fish and swooped down from the tree making too failed attempts to catch the fish and then flew around the little point and disappeared.
Just as we were about to begin the "Meditation Moment" during our sunset services around 7:25 pm, the Osprey returned to the same tree just a short distance away. Everyone grew so excited attempting to get a glimpse of the bird through the branches that it flew off.
Returning home by boat a Little Blue Heron flew past. The first I have seen this season. Several Night Herons flapping about in the dusk.
22 May 2005
Eagle Sanctuary 2 pm.
For the first time, Snowy Egrets outnumbered Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons on the shore across from my window.
4 Snowy
3 Great Egret
1 Great Blue
Eagle Sanctuary 3 pm.
The tables have turned and now the Snowys are outnumbered again.
There are at least three places where Red-headed Woodpeckers may be observed at this time.
The Country Club
Along the Golf Course
At the Chapel of the Nativity
There are just a few White Pelicans left at the mouth of Palmetto Creek
Two Eagles were hanging out at the Pyramid last week. The Osprey doesn't like the Eagles very much and so may have chased them off.
One lonely Gull today at Pelican Point along with a few very pretty and tameWhistling Ducks.
The Barn Swallows and the Purple Martins at Pelican Point seem to get along very well together. One mud Barn Swallow nest was so full of babies that I couldn't count them all. The Martins hate the Crows and are very mean to them. Strange how a Martin can chase off a crow that can chase off an Eagle.
Waterwood
About 30 Common Nighthawks feeding over the Waterwood Firestation at dusk.
Mississippi Kites seem to be everywhere. No way to determine if I am seeing the same birds in different locations or not but up to f