Before the semester fully revs up and things got too busy, Ben and I decided to take a short half-day trip down to Quintana and Surfside, hoping to see a Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow, which neither of had seen yet. Since they winter in saltmarsh down on the Texas coast, we had a good chance. And indeed we did see not one, but several! We stopped along Crab Road in Surfside, where they had been reported. While looking at reddish egrets, tricolored herons, a bubblegum-colored spoonbill, and great egrets, we kept hearing this one-note metallic clink-chip. We didn't even think it was a bird at first, because it sounded kind of weird. The sounds were everywhere around us. Then all of a sudden we looked into the marsh and there was a Nelson's sparrow sitting in the reeds staring straight at us! Encounters with Ammodrammus sparrows tend to be of this startling, "whoa moment" nature. I think it's because the birds have such striking faces, yet they remain so still and quiet and hidden.
Can you find the sparrows here?
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| Surfside town viewed from Crab Road |
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| Winter colors at the Quintana bird sanctuary |
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| Mist shrouds the empty, palm-lined street. |
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| Some leaves holding onto their summer colors |
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| Milkweed in various states (buds, flowers). |
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| An Eastern phoebe. |
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| Orchard oriole nest. |
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| Reddish egret. |
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| Turnstones on the Quintana jetty. |
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| Willet |
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| When you look up close, even the great-tailed grackle, one of the most common birds around here, looks striking. |
1 comment:
I like the Willet!
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