Readying for another splendid month of migration madness on the Upper Texas Coast, we ventured to Anahuac NWR, and as well as several obliging King Rails and a Bittern (see below), we saw many birds typical of this freshwater refuge. Pied-billed Grebes were out in force, many of which sported the black chins of breeding dress.
The mallard lookalike, Mottled Duck, a southern specialty, was hugging the edges on several muddy pools too.
The dominant grackle in such marshy areas was the dark-eyed Boat-tailed Grackle, displaying and calling from a dead snag in the first rays of morning sunlight.
Then on the way out we found a stellar Swainson's Hawk perched just of the highway, that eventually took umbrage to its picture being taken, and drifted off towards the refuge. There's nothing like being at Anahuac just after sunrise or at sunset when the light catches the birds, and the reedbeds, so well. I am looking forward to returning again soon! Tomorrow more to come from High Island and the coasts of the Bolivar Peninsula. I feel a shorebird bonanza coming on!
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