Rio Grande Delta

Pitter-Patter of the Caterpillar

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:54:00 +0000

With the Valley so green it's a great time for caterpillars, here are a few I've photographed the last few days.

Gulf Fritillary

Rustic Sphinx?

Julia Heliconian

Harris Hawks

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:18:00 +0000

I recently found a nest of Harris Hawks and have been working them for a few mornings now. Here is a shot from today.

Zoinks!

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:20:00 +0000

As if that last post didn't have enough images, here are some random shots I've taken recently as well.

A Breath of Fresh Air

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:04:00 +0000

Finally have gotten a chance to pull my nose from the computer screen and breath deeply the crisp cool air we've been blessed with these last few weeks. Some shots from today.

To Kill Yah!

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:30:00 +0000

Well it's that time of year again at the Gorgas Science Foundation, we're having our 2nd annual tasting. Last year we had Whiskey, this year it's Tequila and like last year, the tasting is the opening for one of our exhibitions: Viva La Revolución! Of course this means lots of work and I've been busy doing graphics design for various invitations, posters, etc... so no photography. But, here is an Ad I just did for the tasting, hope to see you there!

Not-So-Ruby Throated

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:27:00 +0000

Young Ruby Throated male making its way South for the winter.

Crossing Starr County

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:29:00 +0000

I accompanied Dr. Paull, Dr. Wilson, and students on a field trip across Starr County yesterday. While it was officially a "Geology" and "Cultural Geography" trip, I think the focus leaned more heavily on apertures and focal lengths. The Doctors are both shutter bugs and well, you know me, so it was a fun trip.

We started out at the Los Ebanos Ferry, which is the last hand-drawn ferry on the Rio Grande, and then moved west to the Santa Cruz Cross in Rio Grande City. After lunch at Caro's we continued westward to Roma, first at the bluffs and then town square. While it was a lazy day in Roma, Mexico was quick to scramble a helicopter after seeing our group aiming big lenses on tripods at the city of Miguel Aleman. They circled several times as Dr. Paull obliviously framed his shots, luckily no confrontations were had.

From Roma we continued upriver to the Santa Margarita Ranch for its stunning view and on to Salineno for the cool shade and river access.

For now here is one picture I took of the Ferry, more to come later (maybe!).

Creepy Crawly Valley

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:23:00 +0000

Sunset on the Bahia

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:35:00 +0000

Ike-a-rumba!

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:29:00 +0000

Hurricane Ike swept across the gulf this weekend making landfall along the upper coast of Texas. Remarkably little impact was felt here in the Valley, little to no rain and insignificant winds. The one thing that we did get was storm surge, which in its own respect was very impressive. Several people found their vehicles stranded on the beach Thursday night as Ike pushed the gulf waters right up to them. By Friday morning the Gulf was flowing freely across the North end of the Island and into the bay at all of our "beach access points." It really makes you appreciate a continuous line of sand dunes, keeping the inner island--our homes--safe from the rising waters.

Of course, with heavy surf, comes surfers!

Birds, Butterflies, and Bulls

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:19:00 +0000

Ran up to the Western end of the Valley this weekend to photograph the only (blood-less) Bull Fighting ring in the states. On the way I shot some flutter-bys and some birdies too... here are a few shots, I'll (hopefully) post more later.

Jabiru

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:12:00 +0000

I'm sure by now everyone is aware of the dinosaur roaming through the still-flooded fields outside of Raymondville, here are some photographs I took earlier today.

I Toad You!

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:26:00 +0000

Well, Hurricane Dolly has come and gone and left plenty of destruction in her path, some of which I've photographed and will post at a later date. For now, here are a couple shots from last night.

Mexican Burrowing Toad

Sheep Frog

Some little Scarab Beetle floating on a log in the pond.

Outer Bands

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:16:00 +0000

Got some okay shots today, but after 10am or so the sky went gray and the light was bland so I went boogie boarding with my aunt! For sunset I rushed out to the beach to try and catch some shots of the first major bands from Hurricane Dolly moving in.

Calm Before the Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:52:00 +0000

Went out to photograph the sunrise this morning, a sort of calm before the storm if you will. It's looking awfully dark to the South-east right now... here comes Dolly!

Shoot the Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:17:00 +0000

Tried photographing the moon the other night, amazing how fast it can move out of frame.

Pier'n on Nature

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:05:00 +0000

I went back to check on the terns I had previously photographed, unfortunately none of the nests were there anymore. I think the heavy rains we had flooded them out and once the eggs were left unattended the predators moved in. I saw several broken egg shells with large gull-like foot prints all around them.

After that I went to the jetties and it was so packed I left as quickly as I came. On the way out of Isla Blanca I decided to stop off by the old causeway for the sunset and I am happy I did, nice place for photography.

Tri-colored Heron

Rosette Spoonbill

Tri-colored Heron

Tri-colored Heron catching shrimp.

Couch's Spadefoot Toads

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:01:00 +0000

Can't Beat the Beetle

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Ox Beetle

Carolina Tiger Beetle

Rain Worshipers

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:20:00 +0000

Tonight was ridiculous. I drove from Port Isabel out to Laguna Atascosa, up highway 106, cut across to Los Fresnos, hopped over to Brownsville, and jumped on 511 till I found myself on Highway 4 and heading toward Boca Chica. Why, might you ask all this driving when gas prices are at an all-time-high? I was following the frogs!

Seriously, I drove all that way just to find a few frogs and toads out singing in the rain. It was actually rather strange to be honest with you, there were many of puddles along the way but few frogs to fill them. It wasn't until I got down to the border patrol check point, on the way to Boca Chica, that I found my froggies. I even did a u-turn to run by and give the border patrol officers a heads up as to why they might see me down the road with lights and flashes firing off while knee deep in muck.

I was surprised I didn't find any Couch's Spadefoots around, I generally find a lot of them in that exact spot. Tonight we had Gulf Coast Toads, a Leopard frog or two, a few Spotted Chorus Frogs, and my favorite, Mexican Tree Frogs! I heard at least 10 individual frogs and spotted 4 of them. So without further delay, here are a few shots I took:

Mexican Tree Frog

Gulf Coast Toad

Mud Flat Macro

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:56:00 +0000

I went out frogging last night only to find that there wasn't as much rain as I had anticipated. So I found myself out on some mud flats at 2am and shooting whatever came my way.

Carolina Tiger Beetle

Female Fiddler Crab

Mexican Shark Fishermen

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:29:00 +0000

These shots are older, and a just a taste of what I've shot down on Playa de Bagdad, but I think they convey a gritty truth. Thousands of these young sharks, among many many other species of sea life, are killed daily in gill nets along the coast of Mexico. Larger sharks were often a more common sight, now it's just all the babies.

What happens when the babies are no longer a common sight?

Gutted on the beach, these sharks are off to be rinsed in the Gulf.

Cleaning & gutting the mornings catch of juvenile Blacktip Sharks.

Having no monetary value, a bonito is abandoned on the beach.

Rio Randomness

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:15:00 +0000

Went out to Laguna Atascosa this afternoon, ran into Steve Sinclair and had a long chat with him. I hope he did well with the terns I 'terned' him on to! I didn't shoot a whole lot, went to Kidney pond but the gators were escaping the heat in their dug outs, went to shoot the oriole nest but the adults never came, so I drove the bayside loop looking for Aplomados but didn't find them. So here are a few shots I shot today.

Mockingbird and Crested Cara-Cara having a heated
disagreement regarding roosting proximity to nesting grounds.

Harris Hawk on Spanish Dagger Plant

Mexican Ground Squirrel

Your tern!

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:52:00 +0000

Okay, recently I've really started photographing birds and in doing so I feel I've garnered so much more insight into their natural history than ever before. For example, anyone who has been along the Laguna Madre or out on South Padre Island has seen those expansive stretches of "mud flats." They may not look like much--empty, barren, desolate, and to many of you they look like a great place to do donuts in your 4x4s but in reality they are teeming with life.

During the spring and the summer months our shore birds thrive on these mud flats for nesting habitat. All types of terns, willets, black-necked stilts, plovers, Oyster Catchers, etc.. etc.. etc.. Usually the eggs are small and the nests especially difficult to see. Once hatched, the chicks are well adapted in color and camouflage to lay flat against the mud and avoid detection. However these great techniques of avoidance also come at a high cost when humans are involved. One person running their truck out onto these mud flats and doing donuts and figure eights can destroy nesting populations.

Yesterday I went out early in the morning to the mud flats just south of Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island. Here there are easily two dozen or more nesting Least Terns, several Black-necked Stilts, Wilson's Plovers, and Willets. As soon as you approach the area all the birds start making a ruckus and the terns will start dive bombing you. This is a sure sign there is nesting around--otherwise the birds would just fly away. As I walked along the mud flats, surveying what was around I started to see the tern nests. It takes a trained eye to pick them out, but once you do you see them everywhere. Easily three fourths of the nests I found were laid in the depression of where someone had walked across the mud flats. I saw at least a dozen foot prints with two tiny little dappled eggs in them. Of course this means when walking across these mud flats if you're not paying attention you will be stepping on nests and eggs.

Worse yet, through the entire mud flat are deep tire tracks from a vehicle doing donuts. Of course when I start walking along these tire tracks, what do you think I saw? I found that the chicks especially liked the deep trenches of the tire tracks to hide in while danger was near. So should another vehicle visit the mud flats, we all know you tend to follow others tire tracks when you're driving in unsavory territory, they are almost guaranteed to kill every chick hiding in those old tracks. If they get off the tracks? They are destroying more nests and potential chicks hiding out in the open. There is no way you can spot these nests from a vehicle, especially at the speeds these people travel.

Last, but certainly not least, many of the walkers who do enjoy a tromp across the mudflats often let their dogs run free around them. These animals have a fantastic sense of smell and are unhindered in finding both chicks and eggs.

So in short, during the nesting months these wonderful mud flats are extremely fragile environments that should be protected and avoided. Is 15 minutes of driving in a circle really worth killing so many helpless little animals? I should hope not. Really the best remedy would be erecting impassable barriers around the flats, keeping vehicles out and posting signs as to the reason for this. But that's unlikely to ever happened as a lot of it is private property and for sale. So I hope that if we can educate people that should they get the urge to drive or walk across these flats, if they see birds acting funny and yelling at them, perhaps now isn't a good time to do it.

Least tern sitting on nest while mate brings breakfast!

Laguna Alligatascosa

noreply@blogger.com (Seth Patterson) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:21:00 +0000