My mission is to experience as much of the vernal migration through south Texas as I can. South Padre Island is the best place I know to meet these birds. It lies at the crossroads of their trip from Mexico, Central and South America, before they scatter with the winds that will carry them to the far reaches of North America to procreate.
I recently gave myself a guideline of a half-day limit on shooting pictures, so I can keep pace with an every-other-day shooting schedule. By using the time in-between shooting days to process images and tell my stories, experience has shown me this is possible. However, this past Thursday I broke with this pattern and shot an entire day. As expected, it cost me a skipped day in the field. The payoff for staying late was getting intimate shots of the male Prothonotary Warbler that eluded me on my past several visits to the island.
Of particular interest to me were the reports of male Prothonotary Warblers that seemed missing from the Convention Centre. I had Prothonotary Warblers on my radar. They gave me distant views several times during the day, before finally providing me with a long, intimate encounter late in the afternoon. And while I could not get a picture, a probable Yellow-Billed Cuckoo gave me a quick look before disappearing into the mangroves. The usual marsh mix of shorebirds and waders foraged or rested on the mudflats near the boardwalk.
In particular, a Roseate Spoonbill splashed and bathed only a few feet in front of me. I managed some closeup images with water flying everywhere. Green Herons are nesting within view of the boardwalk, and I could see pale blue eggs through the tangle of sticks they use for nidification nest building. Read More. This male warbler was having a field day with the tiny insects hiding in the grass stalks.
Green Herons had pale blue eggs in their nests and were especially feisty. Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck. Black-Bellied Whistling-Ducks are fixtures in the marshy wetlands. Black-Bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis. Black-Necked Stilt. Black-Necked Stilts on the marsh. Black-Necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus.
