Texas Trip - South Padre Island

On the grounds of the South Padre Island Convention Center is a nature area that consists of a boardwalk through a cattail marsh and a water feature that works like a small re-circulating stream. The water feature, along with the trees that surround the convention center, are a popular place with migrating warblers. The marsh had just about everything you would expect including Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibis, Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Least Bittern, Clapper Rail, Black-necked Stilt, Great Blue Heron, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Alligator etc. etc.. A mudflat adjacent to the marsh contained various gulls, terns and black skimmers. A helpful birder from Dallas pointed out a pair of Magnificant Frigatebirds flying above the area.


The boardwalk has its pros and cons as far as photography is concerned. I gives you the ability to enter the marsh and most of the wildlife appears to not notice that you are there. However, because the boardwalk is elevated you end up shooting down on most of your subjects. It is almost always better to shoot as close to eye level as possible.

Tricolored Heron

1/200, f6.3, +1/3 exposure compensation, iso 200, 400mm

Clapper Rail
1/640, f5.6, + 1/3 exposure compensation, iso 400, 400mm

Dunlin
1/640, f7.1, + 2/3 exposure compensation, iso 200, 400mm

Magnolia Warbler
1/400, f5.6, + 1/3 exposure compensation, iso 500, 400mm

Alligator
1/400, f6.3, iso 200, 400mm

Texas Trip - Laguna Atascosa

Laguna Atascosa NWR is located on the Gulf of Mexico about 15 miles north of where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf. This 45,000 acre refuge has the greatest number of recorded bird species of any National Wildlife Refuge. It also provides habitat for the endangered ocelot and jaguarundi.

I arrived just as the sun was coming up and due to cloud cover it was virtually dark. Before I could finish attaching my camera to the tripod a Wild Turkey and a Chachalaca ran across the parking lot and green jays were flying around in the trees. I knew it was going to be a good day.

Plain Chachalaca
1/200 sec, f5.6, 400mm

The refuge has two driving loops, a lake loop and a gulf loop. I started with the lake loop and soon saw a sign for a alligator pond. I hiked out to see the alligators but was disappointed to find out that the pond was completly dry. It would be nice if they posted a sign.

I then took the longer gulf loop. This route takes you along the gulf through some very interesting landscape. I was able to see Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibis, and Redish Egret. At one point I had to stop and wait for a Tortise (Texas Tortise?). I pulled over and got out to watch the Tortise when I noticed a huge shiny black snake crossing the road. I estimated that it was around 7-8 feet long. Maybe a Texas Indigo snake.

Reddish Egret
1/400 sec, f8.0, +1 Exposure Compensation, 400mm

After finishing the gulf loop I headed back to the visitors center where they have some feeders set up. In a short period of time several bird species visited including; Chachalacas, Green Jay, White-tipped Dove and Magnolia Warbler.

Green Jay
1/200 sec, f5.6, -2/3 Exposure Compensation, ISO 1250