2012 Yearlists page 2

I haven't been out much, but I did increase my count a bit at Brazos Bend State Park.

142 Anhinga
143 Green Heron (fishing with insect lures - fun to watch)
144 Common Moorhen - adults and youngsters
145 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (I have to make sure I didn't already count these, but Excel doesn't think so. I can't imagine why. They are all over the place now.)

Images
1. The Anhinga - juvenile I think
2. An Anhinga with fish snack
3. A collage I put together on the Green Herons.
4. A young Common Moorhen in early morning light. I didn't correct the color and left the golden hues.
5. Same CM, but this time I color corrected the image to show his real colors.

Thanks, Resin. Great explanation!

P_Edens, Beautiful pictures. I really like the Common Moorhen and its reflection.

#140 Northern Bobwhite (lifer)
#141 Sedge Wren This was pretty neat because we found it on our own. Last year we saw our first with the aid of experienced birders.

I love the fourth shot of the Moorhen, Patti. Looks like Narcissus admiring his reflection.

Patti, those pictures are GORGEOUS! Love the anhinga with the fish speared through its bill and that common gallinule with its reflection is just stunning. I'm counting the Mockingbird until I hear otherwise and maybe I'll still count it then! I did not count the falcon though.

Chily, congrats on that Sedge Wren. That's one of my favorites. I haven't found them to be easy to see. I've heard them a lot more than I've seen them, and I've never gotten a good pic of one. My camera broke on Friday, so it'll be a while.

"Corn Crake" -- and I thought the Aussie's had corned the market on fun bird names. Nice one.

Here's a lousy pic of that Aplomado Falcon. My friend has a fancy camera and has sold his bird pics and his picture of this bird on this day wasn't any better, so sometimes conditions just don't permit a good pic period. Still, I think you can imagine how beautiful he was.

Family shot here ... Sigh. One day I'll learn to preview before posting.

Patti, can't believe that I automatically called it a Common Gallinule b/c I refused at first to call it anything but a Moorhen for a long time. For some reason, the powers-that-be are constantly changing bird names. The Common Moorhen is now the Common Gallinule. Resin informed me that the Sandwich Tern is now the Cabot's Tern although no one else in the US seems to know this so I'm now labeling it the Sandwich/Cabot's Tern.

Love your family pic. Not sure why you needed to preview. I watched a pair of Purple Gallinules with babies and a pair of Common Gallinules with babies all in the same area at Sheldon Lake. None of them liked me looking at them and they did not let me takes baby pictures!

Yep, the powers-that-be have split Gallinula galeata (Americas) from Gallinula chloropus (Old World), so Moorhen is retained for the Old World species (which has always been called Moorhen), while the American species reverts to its old-time (pre-1980s) name of Common Gallinule. The reason for the split is that Tristan Moorhen (Gallinula nesiotis, an endemic on Tristan da Cunha) and Gough Moorhen (Gallinula comeri, endemic on Gough Island) proved to be more closely related to Gallinula chloropus than Gallinula galeata is. Complicated!!

Nice family pic, but can't tell if that is 'Mom', or 'Dad' - they can't be sexed easily! (and both parents help care for the young)

Resin

#142 Grasshopper Sparrow, this is a lifer for us.

I thought we gained another life bird today, but alas, a juvenile Song Sparrow. Those birds gave me the fits last year, but I went this far into summer without one fooling me. It was time, I suppose. :P

Though not a lifer, I am hopping up and down excited that we saw some Bobolinks! We had not heard or seen any males in awhile, so thought nesting was done and they moved on. Well the Bobolinks are flocking now and a large group rested and fed in our pasture this morning.

I've only seen Bobolinks once and I totally get how awesome they are. Congrats on the lifer. That's a beautiful sparrow.

I had Western Sandpipers the other day which was a year bird, but otherwise, the usual suspects.

First new for almost a month . . .

211 - Stilt Sandpiper

A very good bird here, first Northumberland county record ever, and less than annual in Britain as a whole.

Got some piccies, but sad to say, they're going in the 'Awful pics' thread, as that's definitely where they belong!

Resin

haha. That's where so many of mine that are I need to ID are.

Congrats Resin! That's awesome.

No new ones here. My friend needed Swallow-tailed Kite, so desperate for birding entertainment, I went with him to find one. We searched the skies between the small towns of Dayton and Liberty near the Trinity River. We finally found 4 soaring together. In the 2 hours before we found them, we saw 23 Mississippi Kites! I was pretty amazed by that.

351 -- Sharp-shinned Hawk

143 Carolina Wren- 11 August(Lifer)
144 Red-eyed Vireo- 11 August
145 Warbling Vireo- 11 August (Lifer)
146 American Redstart- 11 August (Lifer)

Plus some annoying peeps I am working on IDing. Though not a year bird, we were thrilled to see a Great Egret again. Last time one was in flight while we were in the car.

Good ones Chilly. I was excited to see a Wood Stork circling in the updraft with a Black Vulture. Not a year bird either but one I don't see too often. I'll share a couple of pics of it although they're not very clear. He was way up in the sky by the time he got closer to me.

212 - Little Stint.

Autumn migration is well and truly in progress now! (Little Stints breed in arctic Scandinavia and Russia, and pass by here on their way to their winter areas in Africa).

Resin

213 - Greenish Warbler

First of the autumn passage warblers from the east.

Resin

352 -- Least Flycatcher

I went looking for migrating warblers but only yellow warblers so far and a few redstarts.

Cool bird, Elphaba! :) Though I cannot hope to get as many birds as you. The Least Flycatcher is my 149th and a life bird.

147- Also a Least, but a Sandpiper
148- Short-billed Dowitcher (Lifer)

Woohoo! Mourning Warbler - 353! Flew into my pond this morning while I was standing right in front of it! So cool! I just love warblers!

Chily, congrats on the lifers! Your list is fine. When I started playing on this forum, my life list didn't even have 100 birds. It's a journey not a race. Wish I could get a pic of that Mourning Warbler!

Congrats to all on the wonderful sightings!

Resin, I love to read about your sightings. They are often birds I've never heard of and will likely never see. I'll have to go to either the west or east coast and get very lucky to see a Little Stint and forget about a Greenish Warbler. Good to see you saw a Stilt Sandpiper!

Chilly, I would love to see those Bobolinks! Never seen one.

Elphaba, Very cool to see the Wood Stork. I know they are around here at times, but I haven't spotted one yet. I sure hope that Mourning Warbler comes back for a photo session!

I hope to get out soon and spend some time admiring my feathered friends. Keep those reports and photos coming!

Patti, I was at the San Jacinto Monument on Sunday afternoon and counted at least 14 Wood Storks. Some I didn't count b/c I thought they might be dups, so there may have been more. They were flying over head, one was perched in a tree under an osprey eating a fish, and bunch were working the far bank of the big water area. Some flew right over the boardwalk. If you get a chance, you might want to check it out. I bet you'd get some stunner photos.

Oh, sweet! Thanks Elphaba. I will try to head out there this afternoon. Wheeee.

Patti

Got that Wood Stork, thanks to Elphaba! Didn't get a good photo, but at least got to see one. Almost gave up after a couple hours of seeing lots of birds but not Wood Storks. As I was getting in the truck, one flew right over the parking area.

Went three places and added six birds to my list and a bunch of lousy photos - tough photography with bright, white cloudy sky and harsh lighting.

146 - Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
147 - Black-necked Stilt
148 - Wood Stork
149 - Yellow-crowned Night Heron
150 - White Ibis
151 - Belted Kingfisher

Patti, I'm so glad you got your Wood Stork! I'm surprised that there was only one but thank goodness there was at least one. Your pics are exceptional especially considering the lighting -- love the gnatcatcher. Congrats on all the new year birds!

Thanks, Elphaba. There were probably more wood storks and I just didn't see them. I did see both black and turkey vultures, but no wood storks among them that I could see. I even photographed most of them to make sure I wasn't missing any. I was just happy that I did recognize the one that flew over the parking lot. Birds were flying from every direction, so I could have been concentrating on one while a jillion wood storks were flying behind me. LOL. I see the value in having more than one person on a birding trip.

353 and a lifer! -- Brown Booby

Brown Boobies have been spotted at inland lakes in Texas for several weeks now. There was a red tide recently and I believe that happens when gulf temperatures are too high. Apparently, when water temps are too high, Booby food goes deep forcing the birds to find food elsewhere -- or at least that's the last theory I heard. If you live in Texas, look for this bird at any big body of water. There's one at Canyon Lake near San Antonio right now. This bird which was between the Baytown Nature Center and Lynchberg Ferry has not been seen since yesterday morning.

Elphaba,

Big congrats! I went out to the BNC and Lynchberg Ferry area all day yesterday, but didn't see the BB. I got there just a short while after it was last sighted and stayed until sunset, but never did see the bird. I did see a lot of other birds though, so it was a worthwhile trip.

Congrats on that one, Elphy!

from July and August…
80 - Northern Rough-winged Swallow
81 - Wood Duck
82 - Red-breasted Nuthatch
83 - American Redstart
84 - Pine Warbler

Nice group Mrs. Ed!

Patti, so sorry that you missed the Booby. It's too bad it didn't stay around longer.

I'm now at 86.

85-Chestnut-sided Warbler

Another dubious one . . . Ross's Goose, two of them. Likely to be escapes, so they're not being added to my total.

Resin

Nice ones Mrs. Ed! Wood Ducks are so beautiful - males and females.

I have a few to add to my list ...

152 - Black Skimmer
153 - Royal Tern
154 - Least Sandpiper (Thanks for ID, Resin.)
155 - Ruddy Turnstone
156 - Sanderling
157 - Magnificent Frigatebird

WOW, that frigatebird pic is GORGEOUS! All nice ones to get.

Enjoyed the first cold front of the year and added a year bird:
355- Nashville Warbler

I just realized that I put Mourning Warbler and Brown Booby as 353. That's why it looks like I skipped a number -- I did!

I don't want to count this unless I see it, but am excited to report I just heard a barred owl in the neighborhood. I hear it every once in a while the past few years (summers), but have never found it.

Very cool Mrs. Ed! Hope you see it. If there is water around where you are, check the wooded areas by the water. That's where I usually see them -- in the darkest trees in flooded forests or near lakes and wetlands. My friend and I saw one flying across a field the other day, so you never know.

356 -- Alder Flycatcher -- lifer! Thank goodness it called and my friend was there with his phone so we could compare Willow and Alder calls. Never would have gotten that bird on my own.