Readers’ wildlife photographs

November 30, 2015 • 8:00 am

Reader Damon Williford from Texas sent us some photos of birds and insects. His notes:

Attached are photos of South Texas birds and a couple of insects from this summer and fall.
The first are some shorebirds, including a migrating Red Knot (Calidris canutus), Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) which is winter resident on the Gulf Coast, and an American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus, a permanent resident).
2015-09-27 Red Knot (Beach Access Road 2) 2
2015-09-27 Piping Plover (Beach Access Road 2
2015-09-27 American Oystercatcher (Beach Access Road 2) 2
The next two are migrating songbirds, Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) and Hermit Thrush (Cathartes guttatus).
2015-11-01 Northern Parula (Paradise Pond)
2015-11-01 Hermit Thrush (LT Birding Center Port A) 2
Some more permanent residents from South Texas:
Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris), a Neotropical version of a Downy Woodpecker.
2015-11-15 Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Paradise Pond)
Two photos of a Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus), the largest tyrant flycatcher in the United States.
2015-10-17 Great Kiskadee (TAMUK) 3
2015-10-17 Great Kiskadee (TAMUK) 4
A Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana). Unfortunately the quality of the photo isn’t great due to poor light conditions on the day I took the photo. Kingfishers are just not easy birds to photograph.
2015-10-17 Green Kingfisher (Dick Kleberg Park) 2
The last two photos are of insects, including a pair of mating Common Green Darners (Anax junius) and a pair of blister beetles. The website BugGuide helped me identify the genus of blister beetles (Epicauta); however, the species (E. albida) is uncertain. I’m guessing that the larger of the 2 beetles is the female.
2015-08-16 blister beetles (Epicauta albida)--Kingsville
2015-11-01 Comon Green Darner (Paradise Pond)

8 thoughts on “Readers’ wildlife photographs”

  1. The oystercatcher is eye-catching. Especially the business end. I’d love to see some film of feeding behavior.

  3. Great captures! I’m liking the shore bird photos of late. The piping plover has a great expression.

  4. Very good. The 1st 3 pictures are of wading birds with different beak lengths, and are used as an resource partitioning. This is where species that coexist by being specialists in a way that reduces direct competition for limited resources.

  5. As well as their beauty, I enjoyed how all the birds are checking out their photographer. 🙂

  6. The red knot is tagged. Any information about that? Are these shorebirds in Galveston Bay? I love the oystercatcher!

  7. Here in Southern California, we think of the Ladderbacked Woodpecker as the desert version of the Nuttall’s Woodpecker, although it’s more likely to be that the Nuttall’s is the coastal and foothill version of the Ladderbacked.

Comments are closed.