Monthly Archives: November 2013

Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias)

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My, my, this bird is really amazing! The Great Blue Heron was foraging at the time, a sight that one of the teachers in my school, Mr. Morgan, really wants to see. When you see a Great Blue Heron foraging like that, you must be still. Observe carefully (Trust me, this is what every birder on the planet says, so you must obey it while watching birds!)

Great Blue Herons are normally quite stationary when foraging, probably because they can see more of the world, and prey can quickly be spotted. Any other pose and luck would run out fast (Unless you stuck your head underwater!)
However, luck came to this famished Great Blue Heron, and SPLASH! The Great Blue Heron was rewarded with a small transleucent fish. He opened his beak and..  … That was when we got a photo of him, just as he was swallowing his catch. You can see more in the Gallery.

Thus concluding the Great Blue Heron article, we shall move on to the Gallery. However, check out my friend’s blog, which is animalsinmyworld.com.

Gallery

– Great White Heron (A subspecies)

Western Willet (Tringa semipalmata inornata)

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Willets are the best birds for a good photo. Really. They pose so well one birder might even think that they are actually watching the people taking photos of them. Lucky for us we came across a Willet twice. That to the Willet posed for the camera. We got some awesome shots that would even put me in awe. They would be prime till the arrival of the new Great Blue Heron. A silent, soft bird, this bird is amazing. You can watch it when it poses on one leg sometimes (a neat Sandpiper trick.)

Unfortunately, you must lie down in the mudflats to get a good photo, which are probably covered in guano (actually, birds were sitting on a plant-covered island of Guano!), and scattered with half-eaten shells. (They probably have smelly meat inside.)

This, by far, is the latest post I have, but for now, watch out for the Northern Jacana.

Gallery 

– Eastern Willet

An Example of the Western Willet (Tringa semipalmata inornata).

An Example of the Western Willet (Tringa semipalmata inornata).

American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)

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The American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is a weird waterbird, namely because of its curved bill, something seen mostly in Curlews, another type of Sandpiper. They feed by whipping their long curved bills through the water (Weird, right?) 

American Avocets are easy to find, and you do not have to get down on the mudflats to see them (if you like on your stomach, you probably would get their legs!) They breed with Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), so do not think that I’ve got it all weird when I start talking about the Avostilt like mad (See Black-necked Stilt for this one.)

My friend, Ari, who is a amateur Ornithologist, has been dying to see the American Avocet. I can not wait till I tell him I have seen one close up.

Gallery 

– American Avocet (Only American Group)

American Avocet feeding.

American Avocet feeding.

 

 

 

 

Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)

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The Greater Yellowlegs is the largest of the two species of Yellowlegs native to North America, the other one being the Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipens). I saw this bird in the same mudflats where we also saw the Black-necked Stilt. The Greater Yellowlegs was with a Northern Shoveler duck, (see Northern Shoveler.) We saw only one Greater Yellowlegs, and this was pretty sad.

The Greater Yellowlegs has no subspecies, as this bird is Monotypic. Its cousin, the Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipens), is the same. They have long, thin, yellow legs (Hence the name, what else?) and a long black bill. (I suspect their diet contains heavily of worms and other invertebrates in the mudflats, as our Greater Yellowlegs was seen probing next to a duck.

Now that I have told some important facts of Greater Yellowlegs, you can look at our Gallery:

Greater Yellowlegs (Monotypic; I will just shorten it to M., but do not get confused with male!) 

– Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipens) 

Greater Yellowlegs