Here Comes Spring Birding

Spring comes on the World –
I sight the Aprils –
Hueless to me until thou come
As, till the Bee
Blossoms stand negative,
Touched to Conditions
By a Hum.—Spring comes on the world, Emily Dickinson

Battling Moorhens, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas
Let ’em Have it, Stan! Battling Common Moorhens, Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. February through March is the time see Common Moorhens fight it out for territorial dominance in Texas marshes. Photo taken during the first week of February. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.

Even though it’s the middle of winter, signs of the drive toward life and impending spring are all around, hinting at much greater changes to come.

Some herons, night-herons, egrets, and Double-crested Cormorants are sporting breeding plumes, some of the early bloomers like redbuds and Mexican plums are starting to pop, and there are splashes of color everywhere. Soon, the most exciting time of the year begins with the return of the spring migrants . . . .

Snowy Egret Chick Stretches its Wings, Smoth Oaks Rookery, High Island, Texas
A Snowy Egret Chick Stretches its Wings, Smith Oaks Rookery, High Island, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/600mm f/4L IS (+1.4x TC). Natural light.

Territorial displays and fights, singing, courtship and nesting behavior will be all around shortly, also. Baby birds will quickly follow. But, after a few months of chasing birds around in the Texas heat a new longing will begin  . . .  a longing for the first blue norther of fall . . . .

Monarch Butterfly, winter, South Padre Island, Texas
Monarch Butterfly, in Early Winter, South Padre Island, Texas. Canon EOS 7D/100mm f/2.8L IS Macro. High-speed synchronized ring-flash.

©2016 Christopher R. Cunningham. All rights reserved. No text or images may be duplicated or distributed without permission.