Dec. 18, 2011 - Estero Llano State Park

All of these photos were taken at Estero Llano State Park in Texas.

Our smallest grebe species, the Least Grebe, is only 9½“ long. It’s another of the many tropical species found in the southern part of Texas. Most of its time is spent in small ponds. Like other grebes, the legs are near the back of the body; a big advantage when diving but makes it almost impossible to walk on land.

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This group of Least Grebes is giving me the cold shoulder. Their diet consists mostly of aquatic insects. They catch insects by diving for them and also by picking them off the water and off the vegetation. One of my books says they have a sneaky way of catching dragonflies. They approach the dragonfly by swimming under the water. Then, in a surprise attack, they burst through the surface to catch it.

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Buff-bellied Hummingbirds are year-round residents of south Texas. At 4½“ long, they are a little bigger than our common Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

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One of the park rangers told me exactly where to find this Common Pauraque. It’s active at night and sleeps during the day. Two of them were within five feet of the path, but so well camouflaged that I would have walked right past if I hadn’t been told to look in that particular spot. This is another Mexican species that reaches the northern edge of its range in south Texas.

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This pretty flower is a Lantana. I think some varieties are native and others are cultivated, but I don’t remember if this one is native or not.

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Several Black-necked Stilts were feeding in a pond at Estero Llana. They always look so delicate, with their long, pink legs and needle-sharp bills. The calm water allowed me to get a nice reflection of this bird.

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Although it looks like this Eastern Cottontail Rabbit is delicately sniffing the flowers, it was actually eating them.

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