Sharky and Frosty

For those of you that have adopted Frosty and Sharky and would like an update on them they are doing great. Sharky is playing with his pals Angel, Nicki, Buddy and the other boys and they are all spending time with the mothers and new babies. They do have to behave though and not get too rough with the new babies or Frosty will put the roughians in time out. Sharky really does enjoy being with the mothers and little ones and Frosty is busy keeping the peace.

First nest of Mangrove Warbler in U. S. with egg

Today with high tide I went into the mangroves by boat and found a nest nearby the other nest. WIthin fifteen feet of the other nest below I found this one with one egg. I took a few shots and backed off and immediately the female came in to the nest. So we should have babies in about two weeks. I think she will lay another egg or two. Dad was busy feeding the first clutch. Sadly some of the nesting material is mono filament and hopefully will not entangle the hatchlings. This nest is lower than the other.

Surf Scoter

Here is the surf scoter being seen around the Brazos Santiago Pass on South Padre Island
what a beauty. Incredible evening trip with Frigate Bird, Surf Scoter and Mangrove Warbler WOOWOO

baby and papa

Here is the baby and Dad feeding him just feet from the nest Dad is just to the left of the baby obscured by the twig

mangrove warbler nest found by John Bax first record for the U.S.

John Bax found this nest today of the male that we filmed only ten or so days ago. While Larry Ditto, Greg Lasley and Dave Welling and I were filming the male below I knew a nest was nearby for the male kept taking food into a tiny thicket just feet from us and I could hear the female calling softly to him. John and I were amazed the babies were already out of the nest being fed by mom and dad within feet of the nest. What a beauty of a nest... woo woo

mangrove warbler photos

This mangrove male warbler was filmed by me Scarlet Colley on a photographic trip out to see them with Larry Ditto, David Welling and Greg Lasley. I will post their photos soon. The females are on the nest now so we will not be doing any more photography trips out to the nest sights until the fledglings have hatched around the first week in June. We will take tours out to see the males from the boat.

one poor baby this year did not make it and after necropsy found it died of head trauma.
The new black baby is doing fine and still has his birth wrinkles.
The baby that died did have a shark bite on its chest. I found it early in the morning while leading a
group out to view our wild dolphin families.
I had seen a baby the night before acting very strange but the group was very far away and thru my binos I could see the baby was having trouble. I think this dead baby was the same one.
It is vital that all boaters on the bay pay attention to the water ahead of them and avoid running over the dolphin pods in the bay. They have the right of way.