Birds of the Riverwalk (ACTFL 2007 Va)

I spent almost a week in San Antonio for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages convention; I had two whole extra days for tourist stuff. We didn't get much outside the Riverwalk area, but there were plenty of birds there.

On the water were mainly mallards, but also one cormorant - I love how his feet fold over the edge of the channel. Also, in the Convention Center one morning was a green heron - and the first morning, an egret came out of the river level, beating its wings against the wind and almost rising vertically out of the passage. If I'd had my camera ready it would have been such a great shot - but I didn't have it out as I was hurrying to make my meeting. Still, it was a beautiful sight.

Otherwise, it was mostly house sparrows and great-tailed grackles. The former were displaying a full range of plumage, from large black throat spots to almost none, as the winter arrives. The latter are an extremely attractive bird, with a proud step and broad tail, the males shining blue in sunlight and black in shadow, and the females cinnamon and buff.