Freebird

Howdy folks! My apologies, it has been a while since hearing from me. Been a bit of a struggle with my injury and the therapy exercises are pretty much wiping me out after the 4th session of the day. The thought of then trying to type with one hand turns into a frustration bridge too far. The good news is every day is an improvement and more of a check of my expectations than a criticism of the healing progress. Linda can confirm, I’m hard to handle when not getting my miles in – fortunately, I have been able to walk ~7 miles a day so that is burning some of the crazies off. A heaping dose of gratitude to Brad for holding down the Intrigued complex while I’m trying to get better. Figured we would give him a rest from having to deal with not only posting, but also keeping those pesky lawyers in line – like trying to get mercury back in the bottle. Note, did anyone else use to have quicksilver races on the school bus when they were kids? We use to put drops in the channels in the tread between the seats and bet on which one would make it to the back first – it was a different time for sure ha. I digress, how about we get to today’s feathered feature of the day.

Tricolored Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center January 2022

Hit the jump to read more about this glamorous Heron.

In honor of “trying” to accelerate this healing process, thought it would be fitting to go with a “try” of a different sort – a Tricolored Heron! As typing to the right of the ‘H’ is a pain in the GrASShopper Sparrow (link here), this will be more of a visual post than a textual one.

Tricolored Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center January 2022

In a recent post, Brad took you through all the details of this lovely Tricolored Heron (link here), so I am just going to focus on the location where this particular specimen was found – South Padre Island. In particular, the South Padre Island Convention Center (link here).

Tricolored Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center January 2022

You may be asking yourself, why is a Tricolored Heron hanging out in a convention center – easy, to see the Blue Herons in concert of course! (link here). (Mental note, I must NOT go to music sites, it just depresses me as I will be unable to drum for many months to come aaaarrrggghhhh.) Joking aside, this Tri was actually hanging outside the center enjoying the waters of the Laguna Madre Bay.

Tricolored Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center January 2022

I have talked a LOT about how wonderful the SPI Birding and Nature Center is on the island. It is in my top 5 birding locations and we never pass up the chance to visit when we are hiding out from the freezing temps of the Midwest (link here). With that said, we will admit it is a bit expensive – $10/day for adults and only offer annual passes ($75) which doesn’t fit our limited visits. I look at it (and all payed admissions) as price per bird and there are ALWAYS good birds there that are very human tolerant giving great opportunities for gallery shots… and they have some monster Gators for the bonus! It just so happens there is a cheaper alternative at the Convention Center which sits right next door. In fact, their boardwalks parallel a large section of the Birding Center.

Tricolored Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center January 2022

This free alternative can net you many of the same species that hang out next door, case in point, this Tricolored specimen. It is also less traveled giving you a lot more intimate experience with whatever happens to be hanging out in the reeds. Our Heron here had zero interest in our presence giving me ample time to try out different settings and angles producing probably my favorite series of this elegant creature.

If there is a downside to the Convention Center nature trail/boardwalk, I would have to say the vegetation is significantly denser and tighter to the boardwalk. Anything that hangs back a bit into the reeds or mangroves is probably going to go unnoticed and getting a clean shot of a bird – say the Mangrove Warbler, would be very difficult on that side. Should have mentioned this earlier, the $10 fee to get the Mangrove Warbler at the Birding Center is WORTH IT (someday I’ll feature that beauty!).

Tricolored Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center January 2022

If you do happen to make it to the Convention Center, be sure and check out the tidal pools and the mud flats to the right of the convention center. Recommend a 4 wheel drive vehicle if you intend to go out on the flats. Load up an empty digital card as you will likely find yourself filling it up with all the shorebirds that hang out there (Peeps, Plovers, Oystercatchers, Skimmers and maybe if you are lucky one or two Gulls ha), Save some shots for the sunset as they are absolutely gorgeous – Linda just won first place in a “reflections” theme competition at our local fair with a snap she took there last January.

Grab yourself a bottle of wine, push play on some lovely romantic Blue Herons tunes, kick back and watch the sunset next to your special someone – life really doesn’t get any better.

66 thoughts on “Freebird”

    1. C’mon. How could you not like three lead guitars, neither stepping on the others, on a song like that? Starts out slow, almost like a ballad. Slowly picks up and before you know it everyone in the room is playing air guitar, all three parts.

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          1. The single was 4:41. It became Skynyrd’s signature song. Gimme Three Steps is one of my favorite Skynyrd songs. Only 3:17 on the single. I have trouble getting through songs over 3:00.

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            1. I do like Gimme Three Steps – “And the water fell on the floor”. My favorite is actually Gimme Back my Bullets (lots of Gimmes in their titles) – I look at it as them coming back to their senses after the disparaging song about the Saturday Night Special. Also comes in at a respectable 3:29.

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            3. Ahh, the Molly – I just never really got into them for some reason, given the choice I always leaned toward Lynyrd and 38 special more. My favorite was always Dreams I’ll Never See, but then I found it that was really just a rework of an Allman song and just decided to listen to that version.

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            4. Almost forgot .38 Special. Many of my friends had older siblings with much wider tastes. I was exposed to some of the “milder” versions of them. I’ll have to review my vinyl collection sometime to prompt my memory.

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            5. I tell everyone I am an old soul when it comes to music as I only listened to albums and 8 tracks my brothers had and listened to their stations in the car so I am steeped in classics of the 70s and then branched out from that base. First album I ever bought for myself was Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

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            7. Ah Boston…I heard them so much when I was younger that I always turn the station when they come on. Always brings up memories on their lead singer’s suicide which is pretty bizarre.

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            8. Those are good tunes. Here’s Leo Moracchioli metal cover of Free Bird: https://youtu.be/gX_d641zrmM. It’s not as way out there as some of his metal covers. If you don’t know Leo, he metals out all kinds of stuff. He’s mostly annoying, be there are a few songs that his versions are great like Africa and Come Together.

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            9. Wow, never heard of that guy before – very nice metal-ish (mostly in the later half) version of Free Bird. Banjo cracked me up. Will have to check out his over offering – oh, I did immediately play Africa as Toto are top tier musicians (huge session musicians and did a lot of work on Michael Jackson’s stuff). That song has some wicked swing drumming in it – lost a bit of that feel, but rest was pretty good (liking Hannah as well). Leo reminds me of Alex Melton that converts songs to sound like Blink 182 (https://www.youtube.com/@AlexMelton)…he nailed it on this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VUz5bmUVPw Thanks for the link!

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            10. Oh yeah. I like the sound of Alex Melton. I’ll have to check out more of his converted songs. I sent you an email! Only 102 shopping days until Halloween! Here’s a nice version of Africa by an Italian group (Leo’s Italian but he lives in Denmark or some place north and cold like that): https://youtu.be/uolDTn5Aoxo

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            11. Damn, that lady has a nice voice wow. I see they solved the very difficult “swing” technique on the drums, just take it out ha. Do like the strings addition. Then I checked out their Coldplay cover (Fix You) – I absolutely despise Coldplay but much more tolerable with their version ha. Will go check out my email now!

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            12. It seemed like a lot of the major groups were doing Africa a few years ago. Kind of like The Sound of Silence. I can’t stand Disturbed’s version of The Sound of Silence.

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            13. Disturbed is an acquired taste for sure, we kind of have to support them as they are an Illinois based band and beyond the Pumpkins, Cheap Trick, REO, Styx and a handful of others, we are pretty thin on the band list.

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            16. ABBA, for whatever it’s worth, produced some really decent music for what turned out to be silly songs. Now that might be a bit oxymoronic.

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            17. I’ve been FORCED to go to the Momma Mia play and have seen both the movies – now from personal experience I know that experience was more painful than slamming into a tree.

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            20. I saw Azucar Moreno upchuck and personal in Spain: https://youtu.be/LxrUkFQHYpg. The sisters look beautiful and hot on their album covers and in the video. Up close in person they were nothing more than drug-addled skeletons. They would have been perfectly frightful for your trail.

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  3. Perhaps not as good musically as The Blue Herons, but the Tricolored Heron is a snappy dancer! They have apparently seen the success of the Reddish Egret as it does the mud flats flamenco and snaps up confused little fishes.

    SPI is a really special place! Great photographs.

    Continuing to keep you in mind as your healing progresses.

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    1. Thank you Wally! Stitches came out this morning and the Doc says everything looks really good – even recommended I start back up my ultra training. The Tri has definitely learned some useful tricks from the Reddish. Still hasn’t mastered the Reddish canopy/shading of the wings technique yet, but I am sure that will come along soon. We definitely like SPI and although we have spent many a winter there, we never get bored – not to mention it is easy to pop over to Brownsville/Weslaco etc. to catch the rarities coming up from the south. Appreciate you keeping me in mind…note, I might have fibbed a bit regarding the recommendation to get back to training – unfortunately, Linda was with me in the office and she believes she heard something entirely different ha! Thanks for coming by Wally.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed Mike/Kellye! Hopefully, one day you will get to experience one in the wild, they are quite beautiful and as Wally mentioned below, they are very entertaining to watch while they are hunting – quite the dance. Take care and appreciate you coming by!

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  5. Welcome back Brian. Hope the Intrigued medical team have cleared you to return to work. Playing with mercury on the bus? That explains a whole bunch. Very nice intimate photos of the Tricolored; I’m a bit envious of the close range. The lawyers were easy to distract. I simply mentioned that there was an unsafe condition on a trail someplace, with an errant root sticking up, and they were on their way, briefcases in hand. Watch out for them on your next run.

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    1. Ummmm, I find that if you don’t explicitly “ask” they can’t say “no” when it comes to our medical team – they can be sticklers on that whole healing thing and like required self-help training…we need none of that hehehe. I am beginning to think that game wasn’t as pervasive as I once thought – it is quite fun, a bit in the “unhealthy” category of entertainment, but they wouldn’t put it in easily accessible thermometers if it was dangerous now would they!?! I can see it now, lawyers harass Army Corps of Engineers, they get pissed listening to the whiny lawyers and next thing you know every damn root and trail side tree in the reservoir is painted a bright, glow in the dark orange with a giant sign at the entrance – “You can thank Brian for this. ”

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        1. I had to laugh when I showed up at the aid station for CMAR this year, we found out they moved it from the raised porch they used the year I went down – apparently the thought of me passing out and falling down the steps made them change hehehehe.

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  6. Good to hear from you, Brian, and glad to hear your healing is progressing. Great shots of this Tri-color, it was definitely in prime color, and the ability to get close yielded great photos. I’ve added yet another “Wildlife recommends” to my birding locations list, thanks! And thanks also for the link to the Blue Herons, I’d not heard them before, and they have a great sound.

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    1. Thank you Sam, I am definitely on the mend now and the stitches came out this morning so tomorrow I should be good to go to start hitting the trails again. Definitely check out the convention center area at SPI – I’ll probably do a post on the mud flats there as that yielded some incredible birds when we were there back in January – have to watch the tide though, Madre isn’t relatively shallow and can change dramatically with very little increase in water. Thrilled you enjoyed the Blue Herons – they are great when you want to brighten things up a bit and I absolutely lover Gretchen DeVault’s voice. She is a bit quirky and in several bands (most popular is probably the Icicles), but I like her Herons work the best (probably because it has better drums ha). https://gretchendevault.com/music/ – umm, Linda just saw my trail comment … looks like that is going to be met with some resistance hehehe.

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  8. What a beauty! It’s always rewarding when a bird tolerates our presence and allows us to take photos to our heart’s content.
    What is the best time to visit the lower Texas coast. In mid-winter, or in April, during migration?

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    1. Hmmm, good question Tanja. May be better directed at Sam (https://rappentest.wordpress.com/) who lives down there as I have only been there during the winter months so far – although, we are thinking about changing it up a bit for the next snowbird season. I can tell you I have a great time birding during the January months. A large majority of the migrants are based there during that time and we usually get to enjoy several rarities coming up from Central America (note, this year was a little thin on the rarities). Probably the one bird I do miss that doesn’t really show up until the April timeframe are the Purple Gallinules which are definitely in my favorites list. I am aware that migration is fantastic in the High Island area and from what I’ve read and seen pictures of, can rival our Dauphin Island experience. I’ll ask around and get back to you on that.

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    1. Thank you Jerry – always good to find an accommodating subject. Admittedly, I’ve had my share of injuries over the years from running, but far less than my days in the dojo and showing up for work the next day with black eyes and various appendages in splints. The best thing is it allows me to spend all day in the field without getting tired. So far the knees have been rock solid..knock on wood. Appreciate you coming by.

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        1. We cast no shade on any grammar mistakes – if you only knew the number of typos Brad catches on every one of my posts and I am sure his two staff editors do the same for him…

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    1. Thanks CJ, I really like that shot as well – wish I could have found a way to get a little lower on it, but the thought of Gators hanging out in the reeds gave me second thoughts.

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    1. Thanks Steve! I am able to peck my way through a post (at least on the right side of the keyboard, the left hand is might pissed it has to keep popping over to the other side ha). It will be a significant while before I can take pictures again, but I can at least get out and visually enjoy the birds now – also gives me time to chip away at my massive backlog of images. Appreciate you dropping in.

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      1. Good luck with the backlog. In 2018 I was laid up for a couple of months and was determined to catch up on my cataloging. I’m still determined to do it. 🙂
        The point of being out in nature is to enjoy it and, if we are lucky, to come back with some good images of what we see. Have a good time seeing.

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        1. Well that isn’t encouraging hehehe. To be honesy, I have pretty much given up on trying to get caught up and converted my queue to a LIFO stack per strong encouragement of some of my readers that wanted more recent stuff. Every once in awhile I’ll reach back when I want to feature a particular bird or place although at this point I am starting to forget the details behind the shoot ugh. Thinking about adding some quick image posts (few words) just to get some of them out there. I was just talking to someone about how sometimes the camera is a hindrance as it narrows your focus on the field – I’ll get to test that theory out now.

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