Raise your hand if you learned the Kookaburra song in school! (Raises hand.) I saw one at Sunken Gardens, I think. They are quite loud. The song made a lot more sense after hearing them.
Okay, it's time to play another round of help Melanie learn her birds! I went to Starbucks this morning and passed those cow pastures I've been telling you about. On the other side of the road, in the ditch, I saw what at first I thought was a white trash bag. But as I approached, I saw it had a head and was a bird! I kind of forgot about it and ate breakfast and yelled at the newspaper (one of the letters to the editor set me off). But then, I walked by my field guide and remembered I meant to look up that bird. And I can't, for the life of me, find it. So I drove back up the road to see if it was still there and it was on the opposite side of the road which was actually more convenient. And now I'm enlisting your help in identifying this thing. It's a large bird, and it's head looks like it belongs on a different bird's body. It's like Frankenbird. There is nothing in my field guide that looks like this, at least not under the white section, which is where I think one would look for such a bird. It's as tall as the Great Egret, but obviously very different. Help a girl out, would you?
FYI, all these pictures were taken in a cow pasture. Fortunately for the birds, this thing floods all the time. Although, we've gotten quite a bit more rain than usual this winter. During the summer this thing is so flooded the cows don't even come into this part. I think this guy is a Little Blue Heron but my book has about four pictures of what they look like in their various states. So help me out and tell me if you agree or not.
And way in the back was one of those White Ibis.
A little further down the road I saw what was either a Cattle Egret, Snowy Egret, or what my book says could be a juvenile Little Blue Heron. I didn't want to pull over again because I was on the main thoroughfare through my neighborhood and there isn't much room to pull over so it's not exactly the safest thing to do. I would put my money on the Snowy Egret which probably means I would owe someone money. I'll try to keep my camera on me and find some convenient places to pull over. I may have to make friends with some homeowners. A coupe of months ago I saw two Roseate Spoonbills in this same pasture so it seems like a pretty good place for birding.
Birds really don't like you to get close. A lot of butterflies let you approach but birds are much more elusive. Still, I think I got some good pictures. By the way, it just rained here. I don't know what effect that has on bird behavior, but I thought I'd mention it.
And bird watching is such a joy!
I guess I need to flip through this thing a little more. My book says the Wood Stork is endangered. That's why I learned it back in school. So I guess it's good that I saw one? It looked happy. A little wary of me, but happy.
