Day 3, Double-crested Cormorants, Aransas boat tri…
Day 3, nesting Great Blue Herons, Rockport rookery
Day 4, Sedge Wren, Aransas Park
Day 4, Salt Marsh Moths / Estigmene acrea, mating,…
Day 4, Loggerhead Shrike / Lanius ludovicianus, Po…
Day 4, Common Gallinule, Leonabelle Turnbull Birdi…
Day 4, Black-bellied Whistling Duck / Dendrocygna…
Day 4, Alligator, Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Cent…
Day 4, Common Gallinule, Leonabelle Turnbull Birdi…
Day 4, Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Day 4, Royal Tern / Thalasseus maximus, Mustang Is…
Day 4, Royal Terns, Mustang Island, Texas
Day 4, Laughing Gulls, Mustang Island, Texas
Day 4, Laughing Gull / Leucophaeus atricilla, Must…
Day 4, Royal Terns / Thalasseus maximus, Mustang I…
Day 4, Aloe vera, Bishop City Park, South Texas
Day 4, Red Saddlebags? dragonfly, Bishop City Park…
Day 4, Silver argiope / Argiope argentata, Bishop…
Day 4, Silver argiope / Argiope argentata, Bishop…
Day 5, King Ranch, South Texas
Day 5, Bronzed Cowbirds / Molothrus aeneus
Day 5, White Prickly Poppy / Argemone albiflora
Day 5, orange tree, King Ranch, Norias Division
Day 5, Thistle, King Ranch, Norias Division, South…
Day 5, wildflowers, King Ranch, Norias Division
Day 5, Painted Lichen Moth, King Ranch, Norias Div…
Day 5, Harris's Hawk, King Ranch, Norias Division
Day 5, Vermilion Flycatcher / Pyrocephalus rubinus…
Day 5, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, King Ranch
Day 5, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, King Ranch, Nori…
Day 5, Moth, King Ranch, Norias Division, Texas
Day 6, Cardinal male, National Butterfly Centre, S…
Day 6, Cardinal female / Cardinalis cardinalis
Day 7, Green Jay / Cyanocorax yncas
Day 6, Plain Chachalaca / Ortalis vetula
Day 6, White-tipped Dove / Leptotila verreauxi
Day 6, Plain Chachalaca / Ortalis vetula
Day 6, Great-tailed Grackle male / Quiscalus mexic…
Day 6, Golden-fronted Woodpecker male / Melanerpes…
Day 6, Northern Cardinal male / Cardinalis cardina…
Day 6, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Day 6, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons
Day 6, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Day 6, Purple Martin / Progne subis
Day 6, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron / Nyctanassa vio…
Day 6, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron / Nyctanassa vio…
Day 6, Purple Martin / Progne subis
Day 6, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron / Nyctanassa vio…
Day 6, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron / Nyctanassa vio…
Day 6, Purple Martin / Progne subis
Day 6, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron / Nyctanassa vio…
Day 7, Northern Cardinal male
Day 7, Hong Kong Orchid tree, Estero Llano Grande…
Day 7, Hong Kong Orchid tree, Estero Llano Grande…
Day 7, Brown Anole with extended dewlap, Estero Ll…
Day 8, bird blind, Santa Ana National Wildlife Ref…
Day 9, Couch's Kingbird, Resaca de la Palma SP, Te…
Day 9, Great Crested Flycatcher / Myiarchus crinit…
Day 9, Couch's Kingbird / Tyrannus couchii, Resaca…
Day 9, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Resaca de la…
Day 3, Whooping Crane colt flexing its wings, Aran…
Day 3, Whooping Crane colt, Aransas, Texas
Day 3, Whooping Crane adult, Aransas National Wild…
Day 3, leg band & tracking device, Whooping Crane…
Day 3, Captain Kevin's twin boat for Whooping Cran…
Day 3, ENDANGERED Whooping Cranes / Grus americana…
Day 2, Fox Squirrel, Pelican Bay Resort, South Tex…
Day 2, Crested Caracara immature / Caracara cheriw…
Day 2, Savannah Sparrows, Rockport, South Texas
Day 2, young White Ibis, Connie Hagar Cottage Sanc…
Day 2, Turkey Vulture / Cathartes aura
THE TICK THAT BIT ME in South Texas! LONE STAR TI…
Day 2, Savannah Sparrow, South Texas
Day 2, sunrise 8
Day 1, Turkey Vultures / Cathartes aura
Day 1, Thistle / pink form of Cirsium horridulum,…
Day 1, Thistle / Cirsium horridulum, southern Texa…
Day 1, Thistle sp., southern Texas
Day 1, Thistle sp., southern Texas
Day 1, Thistle sp., southern Texas
Day 6, Northern Cardinal male, southern Texas
Day 7, Hong Kong orchid tree / Bauhinia (blakeana?…
Day 6, Green Jay / Cyanocorax yncas, southern Texa…
Day 7, Brown Anole (?) extending dewlap, southern…
Location
See also...
Keywords
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
113 visits
Day 3, Cormorant drying its wings, Aransas boat trip
HAPPY EASTER, everyone! It seems an appropriate time to think of all those (around the world) who have been affected by the enormous damage that Notre Dame, Paris, has recently gone through. I can't remember if I have seen this stunning Cathedral twice or three times, many, many years ago. I was reading on the Weather Network this evening that three beehives had been installed in Notre Dame during 2013 as part of a city-wide initiative to boost dwindling bee numbers in the city. Nearly 200,000 bees have been found alive below Notre Dame's main roofing.
Having flooded my photostream with Whooping Cranes the last few days, today I am now flooding it again, this time with photos taken while stopping at a rookery during our day boat trip to the Aransas Pass Wetlands. There was a number of different species on this small 'island', but even the Herons alone looked so beautiful in their different positions, I just couldn't post fewer images. I want to remember as much as possible. Usually, when I am lucky enough to ever see a rookery, it is always seen from far, far away, so as not to stress out the nesting birds. This time, we were privileged to see one much closer, from our little boat, the "Lady Lori".
What an amazing, fascinating time we spent with the Whooping Cranes a bit earlier in the morning, and then these Herons and Egrets. Thank you, Lori, captain of the Lady Lori boat, for this wonderful experience! Something that will never be forgotten.
It was interesting to see the wooden platforms that had been built on the 'island' to replace the natural nesting places for the Herons, that had been destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. It was also nice to see that various species of Egrets were living very comfortably side by side with the Great Blues.
This private tour for four friends and myself was arranged in Calgary beforehand. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone!
Aransas Bay Birding Charters:
texasbirdingphotos.net/cgi-bin/p/awtp-home.cgi?d=aransas-...
The Whooping Crane family that we watched, with the youngster (colt) learning how to preen and how to catch food, especially from watching Dad, was wonderful. Our presence seemed to have zero affect on these Cranes, as they went about their daily routines. So neat to know that all these Whooping Cranes will fly north to Alberta, my own province, where they will spend the summer. Wise birds, avoiding our many months of brutal winter weather up north!
This is a Youtube video that shows the capture of a wild Whooping Crane adult and a tracking device being attached:
youtu.be/YtVt842trpo
"Before human interference, there were believed to be 15,000 to 20,000 whooping cranes, which fell to roughly 1,400 in 1860 and then plummeted to an all-time low of 15 birds in 1941. All signs pointed towards the end of the whooping crane.
The 15 surviving whooping cranes all belonged to one flock that migrated between Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada and the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Conservationists worked with local, federal, and international governments to protect the flock and encourage breeding. Their efforts paid off slowly as the numbers reached 57 by 1970 and 214 by 2005."
www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Birds/Wh...
"Cellular Tracking Technologies is privileged to be working with the scientists employed by both the US and Canadian federal governments in the international team effort to monitor and protect the last remaining natural population of the Whooping Crane (Grus americana).
The so-called “Wood Buffalo-Aransas” population is the only remaining group of Whooping Cranes that has continued to nest, migrate, and overwinter in the traditional areas where they were first documented by Western ornithologists. The entire Whooping Crane species consists of only 437 wild individuals among four populations, three of which were artificially reared and reintroduced to the wild, plus 162 individuals in captivity (as of 2011). However, the only surviving remnant of the naturally-occurring Whooping Crane population is the Wood Buffalo-Aransas flock, consisting of only 283 individuals (as of the winter of 2011-12). This is the only group of Whooping Cranes that has managed to continually pass on the traditional ways of life of this species, in an unbroken chain of chick-rearing and parenting by birds that can live more than 30 years in the wild.
The vital nesting grounds lie in the vast Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest national park in Canada. The park is an immense area, a sprawling 17,300 square miles (44,807 km²), spanning northeastern Alberta into the southern Northwest Territories. Amazingly, Wood Buffalo National Park is larger than nine US states.
The equally vital wintering grounds lie in southern Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. In winter, Whooping Cranes are seafood aficionados, preying on blue crabs and clams in the brackish Gulf Coast marshes. Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, near Rockport, TX, is one of the few areas of protected public property where people can reliably visit and expect to see these rare and special birds. This is also the exact area where Hurricane Harvey came ashore as a powerful Category 4 storm on 26 August 2017, with sustained winds of 130 mph (209 km/h). Hurricane Harvey went on to set records for both the astounding amounts of rainfall in the Houston metropolitan area, as well as the cost of the damage inflicted to human structures. The storm is currently tied with 2005’s Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cyclone to hit the United States. Luckily, the Whooping Crane population was still up in Canada when the storm hit." From link below.
celltracktech.com/portfolio/whooping-cranes/
Having flooded my photostream with Whooping Cranes the last few days, today I am now flooding it again, this time with photos taken while stopping at a rookery during our day boat trip to the Aransas Pass Wetlands. There was a number of different species on this small 'island', but even the Herons alone looked so beautiful in their different positions, I just couldn't post fewer images. I want to remember as much as possible. Usually, when I am lucky enough to ever see a rookery, it is always seen from far, far away, so as not to stress out the nesting birds. This time, we were privileged to see one much closer, from our little boat, the "Lady Lori".
What an amazing, fascinating time we spent with the Whooping Cranes a bit earlier in the morning, and then these Herons and Egrets. Thank you, Lori, captain of the Lady Lori boat, for this wonderful experience! Something that will never be forgotten.
It was interesting to see the wooden platforms that had been built on the 'island' to replace the natural nesting places for the Herons, that had been destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. It was also nice to see that various species of Egrets were living very comfortably side by side with the Great Blues.
This private tour for four friends and myself was arranged in Calgary beforehand. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone!
Aransas Bay Birding Charters:
texasbirdingphotos.net/cgi-bin/p/awtp-home.cgi?d=aransas-...
The Whooping Crane family that we watched, with the youngster (colt) learning how to preen and how to catch food, especially from watching Dad, was wonderful. Our presence seemed to have zero affect on these Cranes, as they went about their daily routines. So neat to know that all these Whooping Cranes will fly north to Alberta, my own province, where they will spend the summer. Wise birds, avoiding our many months of brutal winter weather up north!
This is a Youtube video that shows the capture of a wild Whooping Crane adult and a tracking device being attached:
youtu.be/YtVt842trpo
"Before human interference, there were believed to be 15,000 to 20,000 whooping cranes, which fell to roughly 1,400 in 1860 and then plummeted to an all-time low of 15 birds in 1941. All signs pointed towards the end of the whooping crane.
The 15 surviving whooping cranes all belonged to one flock that migrated between Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada and the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Conservationists worked with local, federal, and international governments to protect the flock and encourage breeding. Their efforts paid off slowly as the numbers reached 57 by 1970 and 214 by 2005."
www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Birds/Wh...
"Cellular Tracking Technologies is privileged to be working with the scientists employed by both the US and Canadian federal governments in the international team effort to monitor and protect the last remaining natural population of the Whooping Crane (Grus americana).
The so-called “Wood Buffalo-Aransas” population is the only remaining group of Whooping Cranes that has continued to nest, migrate, and overwinter in the traditional areas where they were first documented by Western ornithologists. The entire Whooping Crane species consists of only 437 wild individuals among four populations, three of which were artificially reared and reintroduced to the wild, plus 162 individuals in captivity (as of 2011). However, the only surviving remnant of the naturally-occurring Whooping Crane population is the Wood Buffalo-Aransas flock, consisting of only 283 individuals (as of the winter of 2011-12). This is the only group of Whooping Cranes that has managed to continually pass on the traditional ways of life of this species, in an unbroken chain of chick-rearing and parenting by birds that can live more than 30 years in the wild.
The vital nesting grounds lie in the vast Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest national park in Canada. The park is an immense area, a sprawling 17,300 square miles (44,807 km²), spanning northeastern Alberta into the southern Northwest Territories. Amazingly, Wood Buffalo National Park is larger than nine US states.
The equally vital wintering grounds lie in southern Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. In winter, Whooping Cranes are seafood aficionados, preying on blue crabs and clams in the brackish Gulf Coast marshes. Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, near Rockport, TX, is one of the few areas of protected public property where people can reliably visit and expect to see these rare and special birds. This is also the exact area where Hurricane Harvey came ashore as a powerful Category 4 storm on 26 August 2017, with sustained winds of 130 mph (209 km/h). Hurricane Harvey went on to set records for both the astounding amounts of rainfall in the Houston metropolitan area, as well as the cost of the damage inflicted to human structures. The storm is currently tied with 2005’s Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cyclone to hit the United States. Luckily, the Whooping Crane population was still up in Canada when the storm hit." From link below.
celltracktech.com/portfolio/whooping-cranes/
- Keyboard shortcuts:
Jump to top
RSS feed- Latest comments - Subscribe to the comment feeds of this photo
- ipernity © 2007-2024
- Help & Contact
|
Club news
|
About ipernity
|
History |
ipernity Club & Prices |
Guide of good conduct
Donate | Group guidelines | Privacy policy | Terms of use | Statutes | In memoria -
Facebook
Twitter
Sign-in to write a comment.