I am in Houston, making a short stopover on my way to Panama. Long story, but in order to arrive in Panama in time to catch the “shuttle” to Canopy Lodge for my tour, I have to be on the 9:45am flight out of here and instead of taking a red-eye and being exhausted, I decided to come a day early to bird High Island. The last time Avi & I were on High Island in April 2021, I listed 68 species in 3 days. I only got 27 yesterday and today, and none of them were new on my list - the primary difference is Spring Migration (and the bugs and the weather). I now understand why birders don’t frequent High Island in September - I did not see one other birder while I was here.
A few highlights…
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| Quite honestly, the cutest bird ever - just look at those big eyes! Black-bellied Plover, non breeding plumage |
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| Speaking of eyes… Neotropic Cormorant |
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| No trip to Anahuac NWR would be complete without an alligator photo. |
These are Golden Silk Orbweavers. They are not poisonous to humans, but they are some of the largest North American spiders - from toe to toe they were about 3” long. The High Island Smith Oaks boardwalk is lined with their massive webs. It’s creepy to say the least. I felt like a cat burglar dodging an intricate pattern of security laser beams. Needless to say, I didn’t stay long at this birding hotpot. (Oh, an interesting thing about these spiders - they adjust their position on their webs to regulate body heat, sometimes aiming their rumps toward the sun to shade their “abdomens”.)
Since you made it to the end, I offer you one last piece of cuteness before I head off to Panama…
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| Semi-palmated Plover |
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