Clay Taylor took the 115-mm objective module to Hazel Bazemore Park, Texas, in fall 2020. Discover what birds he encountered.
Dawn at Hazel Bazemore Park, Texas
“Arriving at the Hawk Watch Platform at Hazel Bazemore County Park in Corpus Christi, Texas, you do a lot of “bird-listening”, not bird-watching, as the light is slowly creeping in from the East and the birds are waking up and doing their dawn songs.
Setting up the ATX 115, I start to scan the telephone poles and power line towers far out across the Nueces River watershed. A mile and a half away, there is a “lump” on a tall transmission tower cross member, silhouetted against the brightening sky to the East. The 115 scope set at 70x clearly shows that the “lump” has two “ears” sticking up, and I can see them move as the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) turns its head back and forth, making a final survey of the territory before it heads to its day roost.
FROM AFAR THIS GREAT HORNED OWL LOOKED JUST LIKE A “LUMP”.
– CLAY TAYLOR
The early
birds…
Now the birds are starting to come in to the bird seed that I scattered by the water drip. So it is time to attach my Mirrorless SLR camera and take photos of the Green Jays (Cyanocorax yncas), Inca Doves (Columbina inca), and Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) that are coming in for breakfast. The additional resolution and light gathering of the 115-mm objective module are a great advantage for wildlife photography.
A little Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) visits the feeders and sits for a few minutes.
A Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) bathes in the water drip.
The hawks’ rise
As the morning progresses, the heat comes up. Thus, thermal updrafts are forming, meaning that the hawks will soon take flight and continue their migrations south. Initially low enough for great views through my binocular, the hawks will ride the warm air currents high enough that they will look like tiny specks even with a 10x or 12x binocular.”
take advantage of thermal updrafts, which form as the morning progresses.
About the author:
Clay Taylor
Clay Taylor became a birder in the mid-1970s, both watching and photographing birds in the Northeastern United States. Today, 45 years later, he still enjoys birding, especially the challenge of finding and observing birds in THEIR world, not ours. As Senior Manager of the Naturalist Market at SWAROVSKI OPTIK North America, he brings people closer to nature.
Join him and Joel Simon on their birding adventure in West Texas or check out the birdlife of the Texas Gulf Coast.
