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Gallery of Texas 2016 images TEXAS FEBRUARY 2016 Nick has just returned from a birding visit to Texas, one of the best birding areas in the USA. Here are a few of his photos (NB he is still a fledgling photographer only!) which we hope might whet your appetite to join us on our tour to Texas which we are proposing for 2017. We're sure you will take your own much better photos! More details on our 2017 tour to Texas including a full itinerary will appear on the Birding Abroad website soon.
Texas
is the wintering grounds of the world's rarest crane, the Whooping Crane.
A superb half day boat trip into the coastal marshes at Aransas provided
great views of Whooping Cranes.
A wealth of different wildfowl, herons, waders, gulls and terns were also observed at various locations along the gulf coast. Here both American White and Brown Pelicans are seen together. The fields were full of wintering Snow and Ross' Geese with Sandhill Cranes never far away.
All
the reserves visited have great facilities, including boardwalks out
into the salt and freshwater marshes. Useful for getting great views
of the birds and staying well clear of the Alligators!.
Further
to the south-west in Texas, the Rio Grande valley provides an opportunity
to see some species more closely associated with Mexico. Several great
birding reserves were visited here, providing species such as Least
Grebe, Green Jay, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Green Kingfisher
and Altamira Oriole.
Birding
towers with canopy walkways, and feeding stations, provide good
opportunities to observe the bird life. Typical species included Crested
Caracara and White-tailed Hawk, various sparrow species including Olive
and Lincoln's were noted. Roadrunners always provoke a smile whilst
just as peculiar is the skulking Plain Chachalaca.
Some
species like to hide away and remain camouflaged, whilst others advertise
their presence with brilliantly bright plumage. Common Pauraque (a relative
of the nightjars) and Vermilion Flycatcher are examples.
The
tour begins and ends in Houston, where a visit to the NASA Space Centre
is part of our proposed tour. This is the home of Mission Control from
the Apollo moon landings, through the 'Shuttle' era to the modern day
International Space Station.
The
pine woods north of Houston provide our last birding of the tour, where
several species of woodpecker are found, including America's rarest
(Red-cockaded Woodpecker) if you accept that Ivory-billed is now extinct.
We then say farewell Texan style. |
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