Autumn in South Texas

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Sometimes I take a picture that isn't really good photographically-speaking, but that I like so much I keep looking at it.  This is one of those.  It's of a late-season warbler--Yellow, I suppose, but in autumn Peterson's references to "Confusing Fall Warblers" still paralyze me.

I was adjusting a hose that dripped into a new water feature I had pieced together out of spare parts when this little guy flittered into the water about six feet from me.  I sat down and watched, snapping pictures.

What I like about the photo above is what makes it less than perfect--the focus is fuzzy, especially on the wings.  But when the bird was in the water, my eyes certainly couldn't focus on such fast-moving, flittery wings.  One foot is focused and one is not: he was shifting his weight like an excited child playing in a fountain.  So that is the wallpaper on my laptop right now:  a warbler looking precisely like it did for a while to my aging eyes on a really nice autumn afternoon.


Although it is still hot in the afternoons, temperatures usually reaching 90 or above, the birds finally know it's autumn even if we have trouble remembering this far south what autumn means to most of the country.

Wintering warblers such as Yellow-throated, Orange-crowned, and Black-throated Green (above) have arrived.  An early (and rarer) Townsend's spent a couple of days.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets (cheerfully busy little winter birds that, like warblers, don't generally pose for  pictures) seemed to fill the oak trees after a mild front blew in last week.

Indigo Buntings (which have been a little late showing up, not even appearing for the Big Sit) are here in fairly large numbers.  Some will stay the winter but most are already moving on.

Wintering sparrows have returned as well. 

 A Lincoln's sparrow enjoyed the new solar fountain.

Another sign of autumn here in the Rio Grande Valley are migrating Monarch butterflies, a few of which are passing through now on their way to Mexico.  This picture, like the one of the Yellow Warbler in the bath, shows unfocused wings that are fluttering too fast for my point-and-shoot camera.  I like the way the motion shows in the photographs. 

But the surest sign of autumn is the music that filled the air early yesterday morning, and again today, a rolling, liquid sound that I could hear even inside, even when the windows were shut and the air-conditioner was on--Sandhill Cranes in the hundreds calling as they returned to the warmth of south Texas, calling me outside to enjoy our version of autumn.

 This photo is also less than perfect--much less--but that's okay. The sun was just lighting a perfect fall morning, south Texas style, and hundreds of Sandhills filled the skies in waves of V's that just kept coming.   We may not have autumn leaves or even cool temperatures, but we do have subtle changes that are just as cherished.

Postscript:  Next Morning-- Again the waves of Sandhills called me outside. This time I made a video.

Countdown

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With less than three weeks remaining in 2010, the countdown has begun in earnest--at least in my yard.  I had hoped to have 200 species on my current Year-in-the-Yard List by the end of the year.
I doubt we'll make that count,  but it's been a great year anyway. We've even added several species to our cumulative Yard List.  Among them are the Magnificent Frigate Bird that blew in with Hurricane Alex, the noisy Green Parakeet that flew squawking through the yard in October,  and the tiny Cerulean Warbler that flitted in the treetops one day during spring migration.

Pine Warbler?

Yesterday another first-time visitor dropped by for a bath:  a Pine Warbler in its drab winter plumage, reminding me of why Roger Tory Peterson's pages of "Confusing Fall Warblers" always intimidated me so much.  (If my childhood hero, author of my first field guide, most famous birder in the country, found these birds "confusing," how could I ever be expected to sort them out?)

Orange-crowned Warbler

Sitting in my "blind spot" under the anacua tree on Saturday afternoon, hidden by the camouflage of my little tent ,  I carelessly assumed for a minute or so that all the drab little warblers on the pedestal bath and saucers were Orange-crowned Warblers and the ones with wing bars were the White-eyed Vireos which had been hanging out with the Carolina Wrens.  I snapped photos for a while and then put down my camera.  When I looked closely without the  awkwardness of holding a camera, I realized that one of the birds most definitely was not an OCW or any kind of vireo.  Look at the photo at the top of this post--that little drab bird has distinct wing bars.  It has gray auriculars (side face area).  It is definitely a warbler, I decided. No streaks on back. definitely no yellow on rump.  Maybe Bay-breasted Warbler?  Pine?  I continued to question myself and wished I had looked as long through binoculars as through the viewfinder of the camera.

Fortunately I had three pretty good photos, from front, side and rear.  After consulting field guides I concluded that it was indeed a Pine Warbler, a first-time visitor to the yard.  (Well, really, I'm sure other Pine Warblers have visited, I just haven't identified them. It's no accident that unusual birds always turn up in the yards of good birders.  They are the ones who have the patience and birding skills.  I know I'm missing things I should be seeing.)

One valuable birding tip I've heard is not to waste time in the field looking at a field guide.  Look at the bird and when you can no longer do that, consult your guide.  I used to miss good views of the bird because I was flipping pages.  Now I'll add this additional memo to myself:  don't forget to use your binoculars as well as your camera.  I may miss a few shots but I won't miss the bird.

Here's another of the bathing beauties.  I like to turn the dripper up so that the sight and sound of the gurgling, plopping, bubbling water draws the birds like a magnet.  Water makes the birds look interesting--details that don't always show, like the orange crown of this Orange-crowned Warbler, are sometimes made more obvious.

I began writing this entry a couple of weeks ago and then didn't post it.  I got distracted with last minute preparations for a trip out of state to be with children and grandchildren for Christmas .  We left town a day or so after I took the bathing-beauty photos without seeing any additional species in the yard.  But that's okay.  I welcome all of our visitors, even the common and always multiplying House Sparrows and Great-tailed Grackles.  It doesn't have to be a new yard bird to interest me-- but the count is fun.  Blogging and keeping a Year List made backyard birding even more fun this year.

I'll finish the interrupted post now by adding the rest of the bathing photos. I'll keep  the original date  of December 12 on the post, but confess that it is actually December 30.    I'm writing the end of this in a hotel as we stop for the night on our trip from Missouri to South Texas after a lovely holiday.  I'm eager to get home for the last few hours of 2010 and especially looking forward to the first bird of 2011 to start my new list.

Here are the remaining photos from earlier in month:

Altamira Oriole and Great Kiskadee

House Sparrow and male Northern Cardinal

A delicately colored female cardinal seems to be anticipating the drop of water that comes slowly from the dripper in this bath. Just before I took this photo, I had adjusted the water so that it was no longer running as fast as in the previous photo.

This female Pyrrhuloxia is similar to the Cardinal but note the pattern of red around the eye and the yellow of the beak. (If you can't see her clearly, click to enlaarge. She's worth a good look.)

A pair of Great-tailed Grackles visit a ground bird bath.  The brown female lacks the blue-black glossy feathers of her mate but is still quite attractive in her own way.

This shot of the driveway shows the location of two of the bird baths. Note the Cedar Elm that is beginning to show a bit of fall color now that it is mid-December. My little blind is hidden in the brush along the right side of the drive in this photo, across from the pedestal bath.

Okay, this guy isn't bathing, but how could I pass up an opportunity for another Green Jay photo?  Sometimes I fill the water holders with seed since there's never enough for the ravenous jays.

A Long-billed Thrasher spends most of the day thrashing in dead leaves, but he hops to the saucer occasionally for a quick bath.

 White-eyed Vireos seem to be bright, inquisitive birds.  They travel around the yard with kinglets and warblers, eating small insects and singing cheerfully. This one was awaiting its turn at the bath below the fiddlewood shrub.

Who would ever tire of seeing the Yellow-throated Warbler? When they are not gleaning insects high up in the palm trees, they enjoy a quick stop at the bird bath. 

One final thing to add to this post is a list of birds seen in the yard (or from the yard or over the yard) for 2010. Starting Saturday I'll have my 2011 list in the side bar and this one will disappear from that location, so I'll put the final 2010 list here.   I'm a dozen or so short of my year goal of 200--but maybe some never-before-seen species are awaiting my homecoming tomorrow (Jan. 31) when  I should have a couple of hours of daylight left!

A Year in the Yard:  Birds of the Baughman Yard, 2010



As of December 12, there were 185 species on the 2010 Yard List. With the addition of the Pine Warbler to our all-time yard list, the total (1996-2010) is now 265! Here's what we've seen in 2010:

Pied-billed Grebe; American White Pelican; Brown Pelican; Double-crested Cormorant; Neotropic Cormorant; Anhinga; Magnificent Frigate Bird; Great Blue Heron; Great Egret; Snowy Egret; Little Blue Heron; Tricolored Heron; Reddish Egret; Cattle Egret; Green Heron; White-faced Ibis; Black-crowned Night Heron; White Ibis; Roseate Spoonbill; Wood Stork; Black Vulture; Turkey Vulture; Black-bellied Whistling Duck; Fulvous Whistling Duck; Greater White-fronted Goose; Snow Goose; Mottled Duck; Blue-winged Teal; Northern Shoveler; Bufflehead; Ruddy Duck; Osprey; Swallow-tailed Kite; White-tailed Kite; Northern Harrier; Sharp-shinned Hawk; Broad-winged Hawk; Cooper's Hawk; Harris' Hawk; Swainson's Hawk; White-tailed Hawk; Red-shouldered Hawk; Red-tailed Hawk; Northern Caracara; American Kestrel; Merlin; Plain Chachalaca; Wild Turkey; Northern Bobwhite; American Coot; Common Moorhen; Sandhill Crane; Killdeer; Black-necked Stilt; Willet; Spotted Sandpiper; Upland Sandpiper; Long-billed Curlew; Stilt Sandpiper; Lesser Yellow-legs; Laughing Gull; Franklin's Gull; Ring-billed Gull; Herring Gull; Gull-billed Tern; Caspian Tern; Royal Tern; Sandwich Tern; Forster's Tern; Least Tern; Black Tern; Black Skimmer; Eurasian Collared-Dove; White-winged Dove; Mourning Dove; Inca Dove; Common Ground-Dove; White-tipped Dove; Green Parakeet; Yellow-billed Cuckoo; Barn Owl; Eastern Screech-Owl; Great Horned Owl; Common Nighthawk; Lesser Nighthawk; Common Pauraque; Chimney Swift; Buff-bellied Hummingbird; Ruby-throated Hummingbird; Black-chinned Hummingbird; Rufous Hummingbird; Ringed Kingfisher; Belted Kingfisher; Green Kingfisher; Golden-fronted Woodpecker; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker; Ladder-backed Woodpecker; Willow Flycatcher; Eastern Phoebe; Great Crested Flycatcher; Brown-crested Flycatcher; Great Kiskadee; Couch's Kingbird; Tropical Kingbird; Western Kingbird; Eastern Kingbird; Scissor-tailed Flycatcher; Loggerhead Shrike; White-eyed Vireo; Yellow-throated Vireo; Warbling Vireo; Blue-headed Vireo; Philadelphia Vireo; Red-eyed Vireo; Green Jay; Purple Martin; Tree Swallow; Northern Rough-winged Swallow; Cave Swallow; Bank Swallow; Cliff Swallow; Barn Swallow; Black-crested Titmouse; Carolina Wren; Bewick's Wren; House Wren; Ruby-crowned Kinglet; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; American Robin; Gray Catbird; Northern Mockingbird; Long-billed Thrasher; Curve-billed Thrasher; European Starling; Cedar Waxwing; Blue-winged Warbler; Orange-crowned Warbler; Nashville Warbler; Northern Parula; Yellow Warbler; Yellow-rumped Warbler; Black-throated Green Warbler; Yellow-throated Warbler; Pine Warbler; Cerulean Warbler; Black and White Warbler; American Redstart; Prothonotary Warbler; Worm-eating Warbler; Ovenbird;Kentucky Warbler; Hooded Warbler; Wilson's Warbler; Canada Warbler; Summer Tanager; Olive Sparrow; Chipping Sparrow; Clay-colored Sparrow; Lark Sparrow; Song Sparrow; Lincoln's Sparrow; White-throated Sparrow; Northern Cardinal; Pyrrhuloxia; Rose-breasted Grosbeak;Black-headed Grosbeak; Blue Grosbeak; Indigo Bunting;Painted Bunting; Dickcissel; Red-winged Blackbird; Eastern Meadowlark; Great-tailed Grackle; Bronzed Cowbird; Brown-headed Cowbird; Orchard Oriole; Hooded Oriole; Altamira Oriole; Baltimore Oriole; Bullock's Oriole;Pine Siskin; Lesser Goldfinch; American Goldfinch; House Sparrow


The best part of listing a Year-in-the-Yard is that it motivated me to begin blogging.  I won't have to find scattered bits of papers and try to find misplaced journals to know what happened in 2010.  And the world of blogging is a whole new way of keeping in touch and even making new friends.  I never expected that when I embarked on this blogging adventure a year ago!