My closest photos to date of a Cara Cara came on Highway 532 east of Gonzales, close to the small town of Nickel.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Rockport.
Male Wigeon, Rockport
Red-tailed Hawk beside Texas Highway 35 south of Houston, 2-11-2012.
Male Pintail Duck, Rockport, 2-11-2012
Male Pintail Duck, 2-11-2012, Rockport.
Pintail Duck
Pintail, Rockport, Texas February 2012.
Redhead Duck, Feb 11,2012, Rockport Texas.
Eastern Phoebe, Rockport, Texas Feb 11,2012.
Whooping Crane in flight, Rockport, Texas Feb 11th, 2012. We saw a dozen or so in 6 hours at different locations.
Three Redheads take off from Rockport pond, Feb 11, 2012.
Gull gets a fresh water sip at a duck pond north of Rockport, Feb 11, 2012.
Whooping Cranes, Rockport, Texas Feb 11,2012.
Wood Duck male at McGovern lake at Hermann Park, January 2012. Distance was about 40 feet.
Grackle, Galveston Ferry staging, Galveston Island, January 25, 2012.
Avocets on the wing, Bolivar Flats, Texas. January 25, 2012
Long-billed Curlew, Bolivar Flats, Texas Janaury 25, 2012.
Marbled Godwit, Bolivar Flats, January 25, 2012.
White-tailed Kite, western end of Bolivar Peninsula, January 25, 2012.
Horned Lark, Bolivar Peninsula, January 25, 2012
Black Skimmer, May 21, 2012 Galveston, Texas from about 50 feet away. You can tell by the thin wake that the bird had a lot of speed-perhaps 25 MPH or more. Capturing a clear image in focus was difficult.
Galveston, Texas May 21, 2012. Black Skimmer fishing in a brackish water marsh pond.
Black Skimmers are agile flyers, as this high speed pass and last second pullout attests. See next frame.
A high "G" fighter plane-styled pullup keeps the Skimmer out of the grass.
Black Skimmers catch small fish on the fly by quickly closing their bills when they strike one. Galveston, Texas May 21, 2012.
Early morning light casts a golden glow on this Snowy Egret. Galveston. Sportsman Road.
Our target bird for the day was a Reddish Egret. BINGO! There are only 2000 pairs in North America, so this was no guaranteed sighting by any stretch.
Reddish Egrets are highly animated and fan their wings out to form shade for fishing. They dance around, flap their wings, and change speeds and direction rapidly as they hunt for small fish.
This Tri-colored Heron fished right in front of me less than 15 feet away at times. They are much calmer and more calculated than the Reddish Egrets. Sportsman Road, Galveston Island, Texas. May 2012.
Clapper Rail takes home a crab. He walked right by the Reddish Egret, who took notice but did not harass him. Sportsman Road, Galveston, May 2012.
The Reddsih Egret seemed at ease with our presence and wandered quite close, as you can see here. Sportsman Road, Galveston , May 2012.
Reddish Egret dances in its feeding ritual.
Reddish Egrets will hold out their wings like this and scoot around the shallow water of a salt-water marsh pond, fishing.
Reddish Egret.
A Tri-colored Heron may also do some of the Reddish Egret moves, as this one did, especially if they are sharing the same waters.
Reddish Egret fishing, Galveston
Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
Little Blue Heron picks up a small meal.
Black-crowned Night Heron, probably less that 15 feet away. Brazos Bend State Park, 40 Acre Lake. May 3, 2012.
Black-crowned Night Heron from about 18 feet away.
Close up of a Purple Gallinule. Brazos Bend State Park, May 3, 2012. There was lots of Gallinule activity that day with nest building and mating, much of it out in the open.
This Purple Gallinule was roaming and feeding like normal but quickly changed directions and headed for a female a few yards away. I captured them mating in the following photos. Brazos Bend S.P., May 2012.
