Recap of the Year

I've been meaning to write about a lot of things all year but somehow got to actually doing it only when things were down to the wire. Only a few hours of this year remain and I am trying to get a snapshot of the year. It was a year of healing! The process that has only just begun, though the quest has been on almost all year.

We made an overnight trip to Galveston early spring, visited the Smith Oaks rookery, rode the ferry, walked along the strand and had a leisurely break. 

At LaFitte's Cove, Galveston

Great White Egrets getting ready to nest

Love is in the air 

A brutal summer followed a pleasant spring, and an extreme drought challenged every gardener. Water restrictions made it even harder. I have so much more respect for plants that hang in there in such adverse conditions and still manage to bloom and bear fruit.

In October, we went on a road trip to Colorado. It is the perfect time to visit and we got to experience some of the finest vistas nature has to offer. 

There were some surprises too, like the Cadillac Park at Amarillo, Texas, on our way to Colorado.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

Driving up to Pikes Peak was an exhilarating experience. Driving up to the peak and down are both sure to get the adrenaline flowing!

On the way to Pike's Peak Summit

One of the 14ners, mountains that were 14,000 feet or taller, driving to Pike's Peak was a wonderful day trip.

The long and winding road to the top, hardly any vegetation at that altitude!

View from above at Pike's Peak, CO

I will write more about the other places we visited later. Durango, Mesa Verde, Ouray were all just spectacular!

Diwali, Thanksgiving, and finally Christmas and almost New Year! Here we are! The end of another year! Goodbye 2023! 

Much Awaited Tiny Visitors- The Hummingbirds

Once again this year, the yard did not have much to offer to migrating birds in spring, March/April. A few freezes during winter had affected most plants and there were hardly any flowers to attract hummingbirds and other birds. 

Then we had a pretty rough summer, and it started early. May was hotter than usual, and June which brings the most rainfall of the year was dry! Every week, the news people updated drought conditions in the area, and the hottest July ever recorded with hardly any rain put our area in extreme drought. Burn bans were in effect throughout the state, and watering plants had to be done only on certain days. The poor plants were bearing the brunt. Blooms looked smaller on some plants like Duranta, while native plants like Salvias, Cosmos, Rudbeckia, seemed to be faring much better. 

I read people posting that the hummers were in the area and were visiting yards frequently. No sighting was recorded in my yard all of July. In the first week of August, I saw them a couple of times, but only for a moment or two. I was beginning to feel bad. These little guys have the power to uplift the mood immensely. Last year, they had made the garden their home for over a month! I had written about it here. 

From mid-August, the rain department decided it was time to bless the scorching earth and we had several showers that seemed to transform the garden! Plants reward you with blooms almost immediately. 

The hummingbird favorites from last year- Celosia spicatas were throwing out flower spikes of pink all over the yard. Duranta flowers got bigger and more abundant, the cute red Cypress vine flowers began to appear. A Mexican sunflower plant that was eaten up by rats and rabbits two or three times finally managed to grow and the first flower appeared in the last week of August. Zinnias in a variety of colors added oomph, and so did four to five kinds of salvias! 

With such a colorful garden beckoning, the little guys soon were seen visiting often. 

A new favorite this year was this Vitex. I have the faint pink, almost white variety as opposed to the common purple one. They are seen feeding on it very often.

A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on Vitex

A cattle panel arch is their favorite perch. Lots of drama as they sit there resting between feeding flights. 

A Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Taking off on a feeding flight

Another new favorite this year- Firespike Gomphrena

On a hot day, beak open, trying to cool itself

On a rainy day, enjoying the cool weather

Like I said before, lots of drama while taking a break on this perch, strange pose there!

Bending even further, a leg seems to be scratching the back

A better angle showing the leg used for a head massage

Feeding on Mealycup Sage (Salvia farinacea)

Another shot of it feeding on Mealycup Sage

This is not a great picture, but I am including it here to show the variety of flowers that it likes to feed on. It visits this Althea often.

Mexican sunflower aka Tithonia is a treat!

Goofball is tired and about to take a short catnap

There it is! A short nap after a busy morning

And off again to the Celosia spicata for a sip

This series on the cactus zinnias is my favorite

Love the feathers in a wave like pattern here

Sandwiched between two zinnias

Most of the time, just the male or the female visit the garden, but lately, I have seen both resting on the cattle panel sometimes. On this day, they were sitting beside one another, but by the time I got my camera, one had moved. 

 

Taking a break!

I hope they are here for a few more weeks before heading down south for the winter. 

Smith Oaks Rookery- 2- Great White Egrets and others

The Great White Egret is a majestic bird! Its size and pristine white color add to its grace and charm, and to watch one take flight is an exhilarating experience. 

They are usually solitary birds, but come breeding season, some very interesting changes begin. There are rituals. First, they need to find a mate, and shed their solitary habit for a few weeks. This takes some adjustment. One of the most showy aspects of the process is that the birds develop breeding plumage, long feathery plumes called aigrettes. You can see how one struts the feathers to impress! There is also the development of a beautiful neon green patch near the eyes and bill, called lores. 

 

There is an elaborate dance like sequence they engage in to get noticed. 

The beak goes up in the air and the aigrettes form a fan like pattern.

And more of the same!

Then there is a swoop, the neck goes all the way down. 

And back again to some showing off!

Pardon me if I have gone overboard with these pictures, but it is so fascinating to watch!

A chinaberry tree in bloom provides a perfect backdrop for this eye catching performance.

There are other birds around performing similar actions, or some already nesting or rearing young chicks.

Once the pair has chosen one another, there is some bill clapping. This helps in them getting to know one another. 

 There is loud squawking  during the 'getting to know each other' process. 

Once the pair is formed, they get busy, there is plenty to do.

Nest building is the next step for which stick gathering is a requisite. 

Sticks are presented to the mate as gifts.

There are many instances of stick stealing from other nests too. This leads to contentious arguments and fights between members of the same species and of different species (both intraspecific and interspecific). I got a couple of pictures but the fight was happening behind some branches, and the images are blurred. 

The demand for sticks seems endless. 

Nest building then begins. There is a lot of squawking and preening happening throughout the process. 

I did not get to observe mating. Finally, one to six eggs are laid. The eggs are smooth and a light shade of  greenish blue. 

Incubation. Both parents share the task. 

In about 23-27 days, the eggs hatch and the little fluffy hatchlings are welcomed into the world. 

Several families nest close to one another. 

The chicks have little else to do except eat, rest, grow and look around to see a lot of action. 

A parent flies in towards the nest. 

Landing to find an eager family waiting. 

Perfect family portrait!

Back again they go to find food.

The others wait, and the chicks forever hungry. Parents feed the chicks by regurgitation. The nesting period is about 25 days. The young ones stay close to the nest even after leaving it.

 

This nesting site houses several nests, and different kinds of birds.

There are Cormorants, White Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Snowy White Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons. I will post a few pictures of the others too. 

A Cormorant pair incubating eggs.

A Tricolored Heron flies in the hope of finding a mate. 

It lands on a tree with a promising prospect nearby. 

The dance begins. Note the cobalt blue patch near the beak, a part of breeding plumage for this species, along with long feathers on the back. 

The task of stick gathering again!

 This should impress her!

A Tricolored Heron and Great White Egret looking for sticks. The blue beak on the Heron is beautiful!

A courtship dance of Snowy Egrets. Apologies for the blurry picture.

Stick gathering is part of the process for all species. 

They sit by the water, and choose the strongest sticks.

The sticks are almost as long as the body length sometimes. 

The nest is then built, and eggs are laid.

Waiting for the eggs to hatch.

It is not an easy life for these creatures. There is competition, for mates, for resources, and then there are predators. See an alligator lurking at the back? 

A dead Spoonbill lies in the background. Probably due to a fight, or a predator. It's the cycle of life. New ones are born in nests in the trees above, and forces of nature that monitor balance of numbers are at play at the same time. The animal world still plays by those rules. To a large extent.