Texas. LRGV part 3: Waterbirds 1

All photos taken at the amazing South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, where the new boardwalks give wonderful photographic opportunities. Here is some evidence from an amateur photographer:

Great White Egret and Laughing Gulls competing for food

There was only one possible outcome...




Clapper Rail



Least Sandpiper

Roseate Spoonbill


Lesser Yellowlegs

Marsh Wren


Tricoloured Heron

Black-bellied (Grey) Plover


Little Heron plus a birding gentleman who gave me something that he said changed his life: a Gideon's Bible

American Coot



Great (White) Egret

Caspian Tern





Snowy Egret

Pied-billed Grebe

Very cute!

This delightful Least Sandpiper at South Padre Island, Texas is a nice reminder of warmer times on this snowy, freezing December day in England.
Nice isn't it?

Frost at home and work

2nd-winter Glaucous Gull, Dogsthorpe Tip, Peterborough

Another roadrunner

Greater Roadrunners galore

The classic crest-up, tail-up pose



Greater Roadrunners appear to be habitual sunbathers. They turn their backs to the sun and raise up the feathers on the rump, lower back and mantle. The feathers appear to be incredibly erectile all over, but they are also able to sit very flat, so that the roadrunner can be a remarkable shapeshifters.



Preening poses



The crest is particularly erectile




This bird was so tame, it was coming straight for me, looking for food nearby. I really had to back off to get all (or even most) of the bird in the frame, even though I was using a 300mm lens.


Look at the change in shape between this and the previous photo

When they want to, roadrunners can flatten themselves as low as lizards, to creep along on their bellies and get under the lowest-hanging branches. Their legs appear very strong and flexible.