The Bay Mudflats on South Pedro Island - Part 2 - Roseate Spoonbill & Great Egret

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The first part of this series presented photos of a Roseate Spoonbill and a Tricolored Heron feeding in close proximity at low tide in a small pool of water on the mudflats on the bay side of South Padre Island. Part 2, this entry, continues with two photos having only a single bird feeding in the frame (the same spoonbill featured in part 1) and 10 additional photos of the bird feeding next to a Great Egret.

Roseate Spoonbill - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024
All of the photos in this series were taken with an Olympus OM-1 camera and a 150 - 400 F/4.5 tc lens.
Focal length varied from 340 - 500 mm, shutter speed from 1/800 sec to 1/1600 sec, and ISO was set to either 800 or 1600.

Roseate Spoonbill (with minnow) - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024
Small minnow, large bird.

Juxtaposition of Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Merriam-Webster defines juxtaposition as the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect. Juxtaposition is often used in photography by placing two or more objects close together to contrast them in an interesting or thought-provoking manner. Photos contrasting new vs old, young vs elderly, straight vs curved, or a bright, sunny landscape with a dark, stormy background are examples.

At low tide a variety of species are often seen feeding in the same small residual pools of water on the mudflats at South Pedro Island. Because of the proximity of the birds in the small pools, I was sometimes able to capture, in the same photo, images of birds of different species, sizes, shapes, and colors. Some photos also illustrate differences in methods of searching for, capturing, and consuming prey. Photos in which the physical features and instances of the behaviors of the Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret are juxtaposed are shown below.

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret (with minnow) - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret (with minnow) - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret (with minnow) - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret (with minnow) - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret (with minnow) - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret (with minnow) - South Padre Island, TX - January 13, 2024

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit. 

The Bay Mudflats on South Pedro Island - Part 1 - Roseate Spoonbill & Tricolored Heron

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During the two months I spent avoiding the snow and ice in Colorado by birding in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, I especially enjoyed birding the mudflats on the bay side of South Pedro Island. Padre Island extends along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas from Corpus Christi south to Port Isabel, a distance of about 130 miles. The Laguna Madre separates the barrier island from the mainland. South Padre Island became separate from North Padre Island (Padre Island National Seashore) when a navigable waterway into the Gulf of Mexico (the Port Mansfield Channel) was built in the 1950s.

The bay mudflats on South Padre Island are a short distance north of the South Padre Island Convention Center. A sand trail (marked Drivable Trail) can be used to reach areas (represented by the camera) suitable for photographing the areas (symbolized by the rectangle) where the pelicans, gulls, terns, skimmers, raptors, and shorebirds may have gathered at the edge of the changing tide. The upward directing arrow points to images of birds photographed at such a location. Also, at low tide, a vehicle can be driven on the mudflats and used as a moveable blind to photograph birds feeding in the smaller residual pools of water in the area.

A panorama illustrating one such gathering observed on December 15, 2023.

The out-of-focus pelicans and other birds at the top of the image are at the edge of the tide. The Great Blue Heron is strolling behind several pools of water where wading birds, shorebirds, raptors, gulls, and terns are often found actively feeding.

A variety of species are often seen feeding in the same small pool of water. In this photo taken on January 13, 2024, a Snowy Egret, white morph Reddish Egret, Yellowlegs, and Common Merganser are sharing the same small pool.

Because of the proximity of the birds in the small pools, I was sometimes able to capture, in the same image, dramatic differences in the physical features of the birds, as well as the methods used to search for, capture, and consume prey.

Click on the arrows to view 8 images of a Roseate Spoonbill and a Tricolored Heron feeding in one of the pools on January 13, 2024. This series focuses on the differences in methods of feeding and the unusual positions of the birds relative to each other. Subsequent blog entries will highlight other differences that were observed in this type of setting.

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit. 

Specialty birds in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, TX - Part 5 - White-tipped Dove & White-winged Dove

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INTRODUCTION

A continuation of a visual checklist of my efforts to capture images of birds that in the United States are seen primarily in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The descriptions of the birds are terse.

The White-tipped Dove and White-winged Dove are featured in this post.

The combination of the Olympus OM-1 camera and the 150-400 mm f/4.5 TC lens was used to capture all the images displayed in this series.

White-tipped Dove, Bentsen Rio Grande State Park
Focal length: 445mm
1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 4000
Handheld

Note the pale grey forehead and whitish throat of the White-tipped Dove. The tip of the tail is white, but this may not be visible unless the bird is in flight. The bill is black, the legs are red and the iris is yellow. Click on either of the two photos of the bird to see a larger view and the color of the iris in more detail.

White-tipped Dove, Bentsen Rio Grande State Park
Focal length: 400mm
1/320 sec at f/5.6, ISO 4000
Handheld

The White-tipped Dove is a permanent resident throughout its range which includes southernmost Texas in the United States and extends through Mexico and Central America south to western Peru and central Argentina as well as the offshore islands of northern South America.

White-winged Dove, Estero Llano Grande State Park
Focal length: 500mm
1/225 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800
Handheld

White-winged Dove has a black mark on the neck and a prominent white stripe in the wing. Click on the image of the bird to see a larger view that will make the blue eye ring and red eyes more visible.

White-winged Dove, Estero Llano Grande State Park
Focal length: 500mm
1/200 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1250
Handheld

The early range of the White-winged Dove overlapped the range of the saguaro, their favorite food, and extended from the Southwestern United States through Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The North America range has been greatly expanded as agriculture in North America began providing alternative reliable sources of food for this species.

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit. 

Specialty birds in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, TX - Part 6 - Inca Dove and Golden-fronted Woodpecker

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INTRODUCTION

A continuation of a visual checklist of my efforts to capture images of birds that in the United States are seen primarily in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The descriptions of the birds are terse.

The Inca Dove and Golden-fronted Woodpecker are featured in this post.

The combination of the Olympus OM-1 camera and the 150-400 mm f/4.5 TC lens was used to capture all the images displayed in this series.

Inca Dove - Quinta Mazatlan, TX
Focal length: 150 mm
1/320 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 2500
Handheld

Small, gray pigeon-like birds with long tails, Inca doves have a distinctive fish scale pattern on their breast, head and back feathers.

Inca Dove - NABA International Butterfly Park, TX
Focal length: 400 mm
1/1600 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800
Handheld

Inca Dove - NABA International Butterfly Park, TX
Focal length: 158 mm
1/1600 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800
Handheld

The chestnut wing patches become visible when they fly.

Inca doves are found from south-central Texas, Arizona and New Mexico south to Mexico and Costa Rica.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker - Estero Llano Grande State Park, TX
Focal length: 500 mm
1/1250 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 1600
Handheld

The Golden-fronted Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker, plain buffy-brown overall with black-and-white barring on the back. It is a close relative of Red-bellied Woodpecker. Golden-fronted are distinguished in appearance by the golden color on their nape and above the bill.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker - Quinta Mazatlan, TX
Focal length: 500 mm
1/2500 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 2500
Handheld

Golden-fronted Woodpecker - NABA International Butterfly Park, TX
Focal length: 406 mm
1/5000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 3200
Handheld

Golden-fronted Woodpecker - NABA International Butterfly Park, TX
Focal length: 395 mm
1/6400 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 3200
Handheld

The Golden-fronted Woodpecker occurs from southwestern Oklahoma through Texas and Mexico as far south as northern Nicaragua.

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.