Birds, Birds, Birds

I'm not the only one who goes for a morning and evening walk on the beach.  Walking in the sand is good for my feet.  The sand softens the skin and walking in it without shoes gives my feet the full range of motion and burns more calories than walking with shoes on a hard surface.

The path to the beach has a long, blue plastic rug that keeps the sand in place.  Plants like sea oats and cactus grow on the dunes on the way to the beach.

The Sea Turtle Institute is right next to the birding center so I walked over there to see the rescued turtles including this beautiful 3 legged one with a beautiful shell.

At the birding center this tri colored heron posed for a photo shoot in the sun.

All of the American wigeon had white head stripes.  Some had a brilliant green head color in preparation for breeding and others were still dull.  I thought they were two different species of ducks.

I went on a guided bird walk today.  This is a showy egret.  Earlier, before the tour, I was so pleased with myself.  I found a long billed curlew all by myself and I identified it correctly.  Another lifer for me.  The long billed curlew has a long bill.  How long is the bill?  The bill is ridiculously long. Cray Cray long.  It's a Pinocchio bird.  If I had a lens as long as the bill of the curlew I could have taken a picture to show you just how long it is.  Google it.

This little blue heron is admiring it's shadow.

This is a pied billed grebe.

I think the great blue heron is one of the most magnificently beautiful birds ever.

Here is a list of all the beautiful birds I've seen here on Padre Island (a place where I can envision spending a winter some time in the future):  great tailed grackle, long billed curlew, laughing gull, ring billed gull, brown pelican, red winged blackbirds, roseate spoonbill, mottled duck, American wigeon, American coot, gallinule, pintail duck, osprey, double crested cormorant, rock pigeon, Eurasian collored dove, Caspian tern, Royal tern, great blue heron, little blue heron, snowy egret, reddigh heron, tri colored heron, great egret, white winged dove, redhead duck, white ibis, red breasted merganser, albino egret, black skimmer, sand piper, black crowned night heron, blue winged teal, and greater yellow legs.