Birds of Corpus Christi

 The area around Corpus Christi is a well know destination for migratory birds. I thought it might be  interesting to see what different types I could spot in our campground. There are all kinds of ducks and shore birds like the sandpiper but I only include those we don't usually see at home. This is a female Great Blue Heron.

All of these photos were taken within 100' of our motor home unless indicated otherwise. On the sign for our campground it says "a birders paradise". It was lots of fun trying to figure out what each bird was. This one is an immature Great Blue Heron.

This is a mature male Great Blue Heron. Don't the 3 look different? It took some research to find what each was for sure. I borrowed a birding book from a neighbour and spent hours trying to figure out what all these birds were. It was actually fun; maybe I'm turning into one of those weird "birders". This species migrates south from as far north as Alaska.

This bird, although it looks the same is actually a Little Blue Heron. Whats the difference you ask? No idea, except it is smaller; hmm, maybe thats a clue. It doesn't migrate either so you won't see it very far north.

This white beauty is a Great Egret. Its about the same size as the Great Blue Heron. I'm not sure what the difference between a heron and an egret is, maybe the colour? It migrates down from the northern states in winter.

 This is a Snowy Egret, which is much smaller than the Great Egret. This one has breeding plumage which makes it all lacy and fluffy. Because of their beautiful plumage, they were almost hunted to extinction but have come back. They migrate down from the northern coasts of the US.

This is also a Snowy Egret. I took the first picture in early December and this one in February. Notice it no longer has the lacy plumage because its out of the breeding season. Now, how would you know they are the same species? This birding is harder than it looks.

If you recall my blog from Florida last year, I had a picture of an Anhinga. When I saw these birds, I said "Aha", I know these. Wrong-o. My in depth research concluded that they are "Double-crested Cormorants". Don't ask me to explain the difference, just trust me on this one. What confused me was that they spread their wings to catch the sun, the same as the Anhingas did. It appears that both species lack oil glands for preening and need to dry in the sun. They summer as far north as Alaska and Newfoundland.

 OK, your turn. Whats this? I'll give you a hint; its the same bird as in the next photo. Not likely you say. From the bill and the fact that the picture in the birding book looks exactly like this one, I was able to determine that this was an immature White Ibis. It is from the familia Threskiornithidae. I just threw that in so you don't think I'm making all this up.

I shot this picture out of our bedroom window in the motor home. The sound of opening the window caused them to fly. They are fully white; I don't know why so many wading birds are white, perhaps there was a lot of snow this far south millions of years ago. Or not.

This is a Roseate Spoonbill. This one I knew. Although I had spotted some other times, I could never get a picture so this is the best I got, at dusk with maximum magnification. You can tell from the bill.

This is the only photo which wasn't taken within 100' of our motor home. It was actually taken at the Aquarium we visited awhile back. I just wanted to show you what an actual Roseate Spoonbill looked like close up. Kinda ugly, huh.

This is a White Pelican. Big deal. You see them everywhere. That doesn't matter, as a dedicated researcher I can't just focus on the exotic and impressive now can I? Besides, they are really big; their wingspan can reach 96". The thing I didn't know about them was that they don't dive for fish. They fly over low and scare the fish into the shallows where they scoop them up in their bills.

The last bird in my little ornithological opus is the Brown Pelican. Its a bit smaller than the White Pelican with a wingspan up to 90" which is still big. This pelican is an expert diver and likes to dive into the surf for fish. Good thing he's not doing that here, the waters only a couple of feet deep in this bay. I've enjoyed the research and the interesting facts about these flying wonders although my main reason for doing this blog is to show pictures of exotic birds in azure seas kissed by trade winds carrying the scent of bouganviellia, while you shovel snow. Ha Ha.