A second post from the USA, this time with some American birdlife as well. We recently moved into our new house, after 3 months of temporary accommodation. Last weekend I hooked up my desktop computer and finally downloaded some pics that had been filling up the memory cards over the past few months. There were still a few pictures from Brunei on these. After too many banded krait roadkills, I was very happy to see a live specimen crossing the road on my penultimate night drive in Brunei. Unfortunately I only got one picture in before the snake disappeared in the grass. These snakes are relatively common in Brunei and this is one of the more, if not the most, venomous terrestrial snakes in Borneo. Luckily they are typically not aggressive.
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| Banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus) |
During my final evening in Brunei I took the car for a very short spin around Panaga and snapped a few last shots of the commonest night bird that can be found in the coastal grasses: the large-tailed nightjar.
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| Large-tailed nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus) |
And now over to you, Houston. It's been quite busy here these last few months; the new job, house and a toddler require a lot of my time. But I do try to have my camera close by and there has been the odd occasion to snap some of America's birds. And what better bird to get on camera than a national symbol of the USA: the bald eagle! This individual we saw on a trip to a very cold Wisconsin in early December.
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| Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) |
This wasn't the only individual we came across. On one of the fields we drove past some carrion had been put out and attracted around 15 eagles.
In Brunei I had always found raptors relatively scarce and good picture opportunities hard to come by. Here it seems quite the opposite. Perhaps it is beginners luck. Another obliging raptor was seen during a walk in one of Houston's parks; a juvenile Cooper's hawk. These 3 different mugshots are hardly cropped.
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| Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) |
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| Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) |
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| Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) |
This Osprey was seen in Baytown, a good birding area close to Houston. The subspecies
carolinensis that is found here is different than the
cristatus subspecies that is found on Borneo. It appears that carolinensis is much easier to see up close.
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| Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) |
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| Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) |
I'm looking forward to the next weeks; spring is knocking on the door and that means loads of migrants passing through Houston.
Folkert, 14/03/2015
