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Welcome
to Brazos Bend State Park. That's me on the trail. One of the most
popular
reasons for people to visit BBSP is to see the birds. Although *I*
started
going to the park
mainly for the alligators, one cannot be there for
long
without learning to enjoy the birds. Over the years, I've captured a
few
pictures and video clips of them, and here they are.
On 03/05/2023 Spoonbills were active around
the islands in 40 Acre Lake through most of the day. I tried
different camera settings and shot a few bursts of photos, and
I accidentally caught a bit of snarky behavior (or...perhaps it was
flirtatious) between them. I think some of the pictures turned out
quite well! So, here they are.
The
images below show the extreme flexibility of a Spoonbill's neck. In the
first 3 images below, the bird seems to be preening or grooming by
arching its neck backwards and rubbing
the back of its head and neck on its back.
In
the 4th image above, and the first 2 photos below, the Spoonbill was
twisting its head rapidly side-to-side. It was possibly shaking water
or detritus off its bill. But, look at that kink in its neck,
just behind its head!
In
the 3rd and 4th image above, the first 4 photos below, and the
first 2 below those, I accidentally caught this brief "clap fight" (or
whatever one calls a contest involving such ridiculous weapons).
It
was over in seconds, before I realized it was happening. They moved out
of frame, but I caught some very nice shots! I don't know if
this was a minor aggression over a spot on the bank, or
some
kind of flirtatious activity as an introduction to courtship.
The
birds never tell me what's going on. The final two images 2 rows down
show one wading into the lake, and I liked the
perspective of the bill.
On 02/26/2023 Roseate
Spoonbills (Platalea ajaja) were working around the islands near the
East corner of the of 40 Acre Lake. The colors of the
Spoonbills
stood out
against the overcast grey of the day. The
chewed-up
dirt in the foreground was from the Feral Hogs that had been foraging
over the past weeks. I could see the Spoonbills catching prey near
the islands. They
were about 50 yards away and moved quickly, so even through
binoculars I couldn't see what they were catching. My photos couldn't
slow the action, so I shot video.
One of them was catching something large. I cropped and
slowed the video to see what it was. I cropped the video even
more, and then slowed it 4 times. Now we can see that it
wasn't
catching multiple items, but only juggling one. AND...it was
a crawfish! It's all
visible in the video clip.
Apparently
the Spoonbill had
to chew on the crawfish a bit before eating it. The crawfish
was
moved back towards the throat, then up to the spoon, then dipped in the
water, then back in
towards the throat. I counted 7 times that the crawfish was
put back towards the throat
before being swallowed the 8th time. But you can count if you
wish to watch the video.
I
have some of the clips playing half-speed so we can see it
foraging. I just like to watch Spoonbills at
work.
Algae
was sometimes coating its beak when it left the
water. Then the
Spoonbill
encountered a bit of "traffic". This Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) was
moving a bit slower, but looking for the same kind of prey. It has a
yellow face and the bill is black, so it was not a young
Little Blue Heron.
(Egretta caerulea)
That's also
visible in the video clip.
From BBSP on 07/03/2022 We'd
had many Roseate Spoonbills nesting in Pilant Lake this spring. By this
time, the juveniles were large, but they still begged the adults to
feed them. This
Juvenile was with an adult on an exposed mudflat
island. The juvenile bobbed its head when approaching the adult, and if
the adult stood still long enough, the youngster poked the end of its
bill
at the joint of the adult's bill. Sometimes, it was fed. This
was
at the beginning of the drought I describe on
this page.
From BBSP on 06/12/2022 While
passing by the wading bird rookery at the West side of Pilant Lake, I
noticed these two young Roseate Spoonbills. They were
perched on top
of the branches, and were both flapping their wings, almost in unison.
I stopped to watch. They rested, flapped, rested, seemed to
chew
on something hidden among
the leave, the repeated the drill. They
seemed to flap their wings faster in each bout. I thought they might be
practicing for flight, so started filming. After a few minutes, one,
then the other
took made a short flight (about 8 feet or so) to the
next tree. One jumped down a few branches and started poking around,
while the other one turned around and went back for another
successful flight. The images below show them during their warmups. The video is here(mp4).
From BBSP on 06/05/2022
Due to trail construction, lack of rain, and the heat, the water level
in Pilant Lake has dropped dramatically over the last month or so.
The
Spoonbill chicks' bills are starting to get their...spoons.
From BBSP on 05/15/2022
Springtime at BBSP has been quite pink lately. The pink that
is bringing happiness is
carried on the back of the Roseate Spoonbills that have nested among
the
other birds in the "rookery" that has grown on the West side
of Pilant Lake. BUT--on this
day, there were chicks! Spoonbills, sitting on nests, with
chicks, in Brazos Bend State Park, about
30 yards away from the trail. WOW!
The
nests all the waders there are secured within the branches of the
trees. But, I was able to find a gap in the branches and
shoot
through it enough to see the chicks while their parent
took care
of them. I tried video too, but I haven't even tried to do
anything with that yet (maybe later, and I'll update when I check it).
I was really happy to get these!
More pics of the mom
Spoonbill and babies.
Update 05/20/2022--
When I reviewed the video, I
found only 47 seconds of good footage. I've edited it into this video, with a replay slowed 3
times. The images below are frames from the
video--where we watch one of the nestlings
get fed. Over the 20 years or so that I've been volunteering
at
BBSP, I've talked to hundreds of visitors about baby alligators--many
times while
we were watching a pod of them out in the wild.
Many folks have asked if the mother gator feeds the babies,
and I
say that after they absorb their yolk sac, the babies forage for
themselves.
Some of people ask why the mother gator doesn't feed the
babies, and I'll usually suggest that any prey large enough for the
mother gator to notice and catch would be too large for the baby
gators
to eat. Out of all those hunrdeds of people--one visitor
suggested that the mother gator could regurgitate-feed her babies (like
the Spoonbill is doing here). What a cool idea! I'd never
thought of
that! At the time, I just said that I had never seen anything
written-or observed myself-anything that suggested that alligators
could do that. But I had to think about it. This Spoonbill
is
feeding its nestling by using material stored in its crop. In
birds, a crop is a sac or pouch that food can sit in on its way from
the mouth to the stomach. We can see the nestling poking its
head
into the adult's throat until it can reach that stored food.
Alligators don't have a crop, and their esophagus is long--it
has
to reach the stomach which is pretty far to the rear. So,
alligator
moms can't feed their babies this way.
04/24/2022. Springtime has brought new
life and activity to the park. I
mentioned Spoonbills at the beginning of this entry. Around 3:00, I saw
them flying from the nesting area (rookery) at
the West side of Pilant
Lake to the islands in 40 Acre Lake. I watched them for a while
while they prospected for branches. I didn't see any feeding activity.
When they dipped their bills into
the lake, they seemed to be looking
for branches and twigs (at least that's what they came up with). So
here are some pictures of the Spoonbills. Spoonbill 01 below is opening
a branch
office. Spoonbill 03 is photo bombing some Black-bellied
Whistling Ducks (or vice-versa). I've also got this short video showing the spoonbills
at work, and a bit of stick stealing. So many
wonderful birds at BBSP!
03/06/2022. Around
8am, the air was 72�
F-compared to 34� F a
week before! Roseate
Spoonbills (Platalea ajaja) landed in
trees West end of the island across from the Observation Tower.
Spoonbills are beginning to build nests in the "rookery area"
that has developed on the West end of Pilant Lake over the
last
few years. While building the nests, they are foraging nearby
for
branches and other building materials. If I'm lucky, I get to see
them poking around on the islands in 40 Acre Lake. The first series of
4 images below show one of the Spoonbills pulling on one
of the
branches...only to discover that it was still attached to the
tree. There was another Spoonbill near it, and I might have
been
looking at a courting pair. During courtship, Spoonbills present
gifts of nesting material to each other. That
morning was a bit overcast,
which gave everything a "grayscale" appearance, with colors
all
muted. In those conditions, the Spoonbills almost seemed to
glow!
04/11/2021 I've gone to BBSP again!
It sure is great to be back. During 7 hours on the
trails, I did interpretation for about 80 people. Of course, there is
lot to see while
I'm out there, and between question-and-answer
sessions, I got to watch the wildlife. Oh...and I'd also led a hike
(the 80 contacts does not include the hike total).
Over
the past...maybe...5 years, wading birds have set up a rookery just
North of the West end of 40-Acre Lake. This year, Roseate
Spoonbills (Platalea ajaja) seem to be nesting
in that area, too.
So, throughout the day, I could see them flying from Pilant Lake,
across the trail, to the islands on 40-Acre Lake (and back again). At
the islands, I could watch them
forage, preen, bathe, argue, and
gather sticks. This was best seen through binoculars, or some
other magnifier, because the islands are about 50 yards from the trail.
Spoonbills always
stand out, since they are large, and pink.
Now, during courtship/mating/nesting, their colors are sharp and
bright. I might have stayed there all day, but I
needed to
cover more ground--and I'd signed
up to lead a hike. However,
I passed through that area few times, and enjoyed the view. The images
below share some of my experience. I also shot video which I edited
into an 8
minute clip,
which
can be seen here.
In the clip, there is some foraging, a few bill-claps, a bit
of
feistiness,some stick retrieval and other "Spoonbillisms".
I've volunteered at
BBSP
for about 20 years. During all of that time I've learned
that conditions of the park can change every year. Occurrences
over the season of one year might not be repeated again the
next year...and may never be repeated again.
This
is 40-Acre Lake
With a Black-Bellied Whistling
Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)
A frame from the video.
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The
images below are cropped from larger photos I shot, and from frames
pulled
from the video clips I caught. Links to the video clips are below them.
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-
-
-
-
THE SPOON-SHAPED BILL
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-
FACE TO
FACE
QUICK
YAWN
THIS IS MY BETTER
SIDE
Spoonbills
Foraging near the Spillway Trail at Elm Lake mp4
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SWEEPING
A LITTLE BLUE
HERON
The
clip shows the sweeping motion of the bill. You
can see
that when it grabs something, the Spoonbill tosses it up and swallows
it.
The clip also shows a Little Blue Heron
passing, and then more Spoonbill
sweeps seen from the rear. Keep in mind that all of these
beautiful
birds
are free. That is, not in a zoo. The birds are in
their own habitat
and come and go as they like. And I'm lucky enough to see
them. Even with the dry conditions (and now heat
over 90 degrees) Brazos Bend
State Park is a joy to visit! The
clip shows a pair of the Spoonbills. There
seems to
be a moment when they look eye-to-eye, and the one on the
right seems to
signal with a slight opening of its bill. While
the
Spoonbills, and
other birds I've mentioned in these pages, can be sometimes be found
easily
if you know where to look elsewhere in Texas or the United
States--almost
ALL of the birds I've shown have been seen within
a mile and
a half radius around the observation tower! And they are ALL
WILD!
Brazos Bend State Park The main page.
Brazos
Bend State Park Volunteer's Page The
volunteer's main page.
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