May 2 -- High Island (Part 2)

It's now Monday, May 2, and it's been raining off-and-on for the past 2 days here in southeast Texas. Houston had flooding again, and even here on the Bolivar Peninsula, the coastline about a mile from High Island, high tides caused the sea to cross the main road. This morning I was looking at a "weather in motion" map on the Internet, and there was a heavy band of rain sitting off the coast. It could spell disaster for the migrating birds as they're hungry and tired from flying nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico and then they have to go through the bad weather before they can rest and refuel to head to their breeding grounds. As for me, I'm ensconced in Discovery II, my 2015 Lance travel trailer, at High Island RV Park. And having full electricity and water means I have a home here, albeit only with 16 feet of living space. But it's cozy --

But the mosquitoes (is that with or without an "e"? Shades of Dan Quayle's spelling of "tomato"). How do I keep the bites to a minimum, if that's possible? Well, I have a repellent arsenal. I'm experimenting as I will need to know what's most effective for me when I'm up in Alaska. Here's a lineup of what I've brought -- 

From the left, something to help with the itch (hopefully I won't come across poison ivy, too, but it's also used for mosquitoes), a Skin-So-Soft product with SPF 30 (though I had a bad experience with Skin-So-Soft when attempting to backpack in the Sierra a few years back), Cutter and Repel Lemon Eucalyptus spray, which is supposed to be an effective repellent without DEET -- and speaking of which, 2 DEET products on the right, Repel with 98.8% (why not 100%?) and Ultrathon with 30%. So what works best for me? Stay tuned..Though what works best for others may be different. 

Crocodiles...Alligators are usually found in salt water, while "crocs" are in fresh. So here's a baby crocodile, which we came across at the drive around Northern Shoveler Pond at Anahuac Nat'l Wildlife Refuge just north of High Island -- 

Cute, but just remember what they'll look like as an adult; the one below was on the lookout for careless Snowy Egrets and such at Smith Oaks' rookery --

We did get some good shorebirds along the Bolivar Peninsula. Here's a white-morph Reddish Egret -- 

And a Reddish Egret in breeding colors; the neat thing about being here in High Island during breeding season is the bright colors of the birds, which I never saw when I lived in southern California as the birds there tended to have a more "muted" winter look to them --

But I have to say my favorite place on High Island is the previously mentioned Smith Oaks, with its rookery, oak woods and 3 drips. Here's an interaction between a Worn-eating Warbler and Blue Grosbeak at Don's Drip --

Now this is one of the few warblers that I saw back in southern California -- a male Yellow Warbler --

But here's a new bird for me, so one to add to my Life List -- a male Blackburnian Warbler --

Another reason why Smith Oaks is my favorite place to look for birds is that the tree canopy is more open than, say, Boy Scout Woods -- and other birdwatchers I've come across say the same thing. It's easier to get in-the-clear photographs, though it's still a challenge. I waited a while for this beautiful Magnolia Warbler to get in the clear. I'd see a lot of these fellows during the next nearly 2 weeks, which is how long I stayed at High Island --

Here's another "lifer" for me -- Northern Parula. Many of these birds aren't seen west of the Rockies, so it's a real treat to be here east of the Rockies and see them --

Baltimore Orioles are fairly common here. I noticed that some birds would arrive in "groups" , perhaps migrating in flocks across the Gulf of Mexico --

Here's another bird that is new for me -- a White Ibis. And not only a White Ibis, but one in breeding colors --

One of the mornings I spent at the rookery at Smith Oaks was windy with bouts of rain, so many of the Snowy Egrets with their breeding plumage had a wind-whipped look to them --

I didn't know many of the bird IDs until I checked my bird book afterwards, which is why I wanted to get the best-quality photos. Luckily, I had just bought a Canon 100-400 Mark II lens, which proved to be superior in every way to the Mark I I had previously had. The image quality at higher ISOs is particularly impressive; this was taken at ISO 1600, which was the standard speed I used for the birds as the branches and leaves of the trees made for pretty dark lighting conditions. Here's a Black-throated Green Warbler --

And I end this post with another Mr. Magnolia Warbler photo. It's now May 6 and I'm about to head out from High Island, but there's still lots of birds left that I saw here in High Island and 2 trips to Sabine Woods, on the Texas-Louisiana border..