sirlarus's Favorites

Nature is metal, as they say.

There were tons of gulls and blackbirds at Kings Beach today. And there were tons of people watching and photographing the gulls. But nobody seemed to be paying much attention to the blackbirds which, I guess, is to be expected. But that was unfortunate for them because when blackbirds scatter and/or fly off in a flock, it's worth taking a closer look.

As I walked past a tree filled with blackbirds, their chatter increased and they quickly bolted. I looked up and saw one bigger bird amongst the crowd. Sure enough, a Peregrine Falcon swooped in for some takeout!

Within seconds, the Peregrine Falcon had caught, killed, and flew off with its lunch. Crazy fast and I'm willing to bet that I was the only person to even notice. Even in a developed area such as this, awesome nature interactions are taking place!

I was taking pictures of a mallard and her older ducklings crossing the path, standing well back; when the last duckling entered the water the mink grabbed it (I believe from the culvert/pipes under the path) -- last photo is the accidental and blurry photo of this. The rest of the photos are after the mink stashed it, and returned to check me out where I stood on the path. Could be the same mink I got a photo of a couple weeks ago, or one of the opposite sex.

Photo used for

Genomic divergence in allopatric Northern Cardinals of the North American warm deserts is linked to behavioral differentiation

(Provost et al. 2018)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/20457758/2018/8/24

Mangrove Finch
Camarhynchus heliobates
one of the rarest birds in the world, less than 100 are thought to survive.

Black Turtle Beach
Isabela Island
AKA Albemarle Island
Galapagos Islands
Ecuador
8 July 2003

These same photos have been published in several Galapagos bird books, newsletters, and other publications about the Galapagos. More info on this bird may be found on my web site at:
http://www.greglasley.net/mangrovefinch.html
if interested.

Note tall black crest and dark “spur” on the side of breast; small red patch on ear; red undertail coverts. White tips on tail feathers. This species has been introduced to Florida, California, and Hawaii.

I was driving S on Tx Hwy 35 when I notice a "road kill" on the side of the bridge over Artesian Creek at Hwy 35. I thought it might be a nutria, which are common in this area of TX, but something about it didn't look right. So I pulled off the road and went to look at the carcass. It was definitely not a nutria, so I took several photos of it. Looking at these later, and comparing them to photos of the N. American River Otter, I believe this is, in fact, a river otter. If so, the location of this road kill would probably be in an area which represents the expansion of their range in Texas.

Unfortunately, I am removing the exact pin due to unethical behavior observed at the location at a later date (people crowding rails and attempting to flush hiding birds in order to try and get better photos). Note to photographers, you will need to be extremely lucky to get a photo this clear. The rail in the photo was injured after being nearly eaten by a Great Blue Heron. A healthy rail will not be sitting still for your photo, they move very quickly and are in great danger of being food for a variety of marsh animals. Flushing rails is very stressful to the birds and will cause the bird to be vulnerable to predators.

This bittern, which has proven to be extremely difficult to view let alone photograph, came out of the reeds about 10-12 feet from me.

Unfortunately bad lighting combined with slow shutter speeds to compensate for a camera with poor iso performance turned what could have been some spectacular images into a dismal disappointment.

Some of the better pics for what it's worth.