More Recent Random Images

May16

Sorry to say that nothing exciting has happened the past few days, but we are getting settled in after our Big Bend trip. I have been busy editing some of those pictures and trying to keep up with other blogs that I follow.

One of my many favorite blogs is Jo Woolf’s Journal. She lives in Scotland with her husband, Colin, and they have been showing the great landscapes from Skye. The mountains and cliffs along the ocean remind me of the landscape of the Big Bend here in west Texas. The only difference is that the cliffs at Skye are along the ocean, whereas as here they are surrounded by desert. Also, Colin is a fantastic water-color artist. Click here to see his stunning wildlife art.

Mountains in the Mist – Big Bend National Park

While editing some of my Big Bend trip photos I came across a couple more images hopefully for your enjoyment. How about another shot of the Scaled Quail.

Scaled Quail – hiding in plain sight.

These Curve-billed Thrashers are always fun to photograph, too. I love their fierce expressions.

Curve-billed Thrasher on wire fence.

I have been keeping up with the Great Blue Heron nest downtown along our Concho River. The kids are growing up. If you remember, a couple of weeks ago I published a photo of the nest, and you could only see the head of one of the chicks above the nest. Here what they looked like yesterday.

Great Blue Heron with chicks

We took a short drive to Middle Concho Park and came away with this shot of a Bullock’s Oriole. They are quite plentiful around here now, but very elusive when trying to photograph them.

Bullock’s Oriole on mesquite limb.

I hope you enjoyed my photography again. Click on any of the images to see an enlargement.

Part II – Birding in the Big Bend

May13

I believe that I was telling you about our Wednesday adventures at the end of Part I of our Big Bend adventure. Well, Wednesday evening after another fun day, we decided to go to Long Draw Pizza. A hearty meal and cold beer was a great way to end the day.

Ann at the Sotol Vista overlook high in the Chisos Mountains.

On Thursday morning after breakfast at Big Bend Cafe in Study Butte, we headed to the old Sam Nail Ranch. There are only a few ruins of some adobe walls there, and a windmill that the National Park Service has kept working to pump a bit of water. It provides moisture to this oasis-like setting among large cottonwood and mesquite trees, and other brush. Many birds frequent this area. Here I was able to photograph a Yellow-breasted Chat. Click on it, and all other photos to see enlargements.

Yellow-breasted Chat

After spending a couple of hours there, we left and headed farther south down the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to the Cottonwood Campground, another hot birding spot. There we saw several Painted Buntings, Yellow-rumped Warblers. and several species of flycatchers.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Western Wood-Pewee

We also saw a Swainson’s Thrush, one more for my life list.

Swainson’s Thrush

Here is another shot of that Scaled Quail that I showed you in the previous post. In this pose he is calling for his mate.

Scaled Quail

After a really fun four days we finally left for home, but not resisting one final shot of this Swainson’s Hawk, sitting on a fence post as we left the park.

Swainson’s Hawk

For the week, we saw an astounding 66 species of birds. For animal life, we saw 11 Pronghorn Antelope, 2 jackrabbits, 8 cottontail rabbits, 1 muledeer, 2 javelinas and a partridge in a pear tree.

Here is a complete list of our 66 species seen from the time we left home until we arrived back in San Angelo.

Northern Bobwhite
Whitewinged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
House Sparrow
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Great-tailed Grackle
Turkey Vulture
Barn Swallow
Swainson’s Hawk
Chichuahuan Raven
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Red-tailed Hawk
Blue Grosbeak
Scott’s Oriole
Eurasian Collared Dove
Lark Sparrow
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Western Meadowlark
Scaled Quail
Western Kingbird
Chipping Sparrow
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Bronzed Cowbird
Wilson’s Warbler
Vermilion Flycatcher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Spotted Sandpiper
American Coot
Red-winged Blackbird
Cactus Wren
Greater Roadrunner
Pyrrhuloxia
Canyon Towhee
Summer Tanager
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Mexican Jay
Curve-billed Thrasher
Black-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Savannah Sparrow
Black-crowned Night Heron
Green Heron
Western Wood-Pewee
Lesser Goldfinch
Pied-billed Grebe
White-crowned Sparrow
Eastern Phoebe
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Common Blackhawk
Brown-headed Cowbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Painted Bunting
Orange-crowned Warbler
House Finch
Yellow-breasted Chat
Clay-colored Sparrow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Mallard
Common Nighthawk
Brewer’s Blackbird
Wild Turkey
Common Raven
Swainson’s Thrush
Common Raven

Birding in the Big Bend

May11

Ann and I are back after spending a delightful four days in the Big Bend area of west Texas. The weather was great, actually better than normal, as the temps barely reached the 100 degree mark in the afternoon. Cool nights made the sleeping easy.

On Monday afternoon, after arriving in Marathon, Texas, to stay the night, we decided to go to the nearby Post Park, a very nice birding area. We saw several species there and also met another friendly birder, Dean Hansen, who was helpful in identifying some of the birds. It was there that we picked another one for the life list. A Red-breasted Nuthatch. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo to show you. By the way, it does not have a red breast, instead it was more yellow.

Yours Truly

Cholla Blossoms

We stayed Monday night at the historic Gage Hotel in Marathon, then Tuesday morning took the 75 mile trek south into the Big Bend National Park. After stopping at the park headquarters at Panther Junction we made the drive up in to the heart of the Chisos Mountains to where the Basin Lodge is located. We didn’t intend to stay there, but the trails leading from there make for great scenics and birding. There was a black bear alert for a mother and four cubs that had been seen nearby, but as luck would have it, we didn’t get to see them.

Cactus Wren – singing a welcome song at the Panther Junction park headquarters.

Later that afternoon, we headed out of the west side of the park into Study Butte, where we had reservations at one of the little ‘casitas’ at Far Flung Outdoor Center. That was to be our home for the next three nights. After unloading our luggage and settling in, we headed to the La Kiva restaurant. Happy hour at 5:00 featuring one dollar margaritas. We shared a 12 ounce T-bone and were back at the cabin by 7:00 to sit on the porch and enjoy the desert evening.

Scaled Quail, also known as Blue Quail.

Wednesday morning we were ready to head to Rio Grande Village RV Campground on the far east side of Big Bend NP. It is one of the prime birding areas of the park, and it did not disappoint. We saw several birds to add to our burgeoning list of birds we’ve seen in the park. We learned of a rare nesting pair of Common Blackhawks that were nearby. The area is roped off by the National Park Service in deference to a possibility of some newborns. One of the below photos is of one of the hawks eating a lunch, while the other adult in the second image is watching over the nest. We believe that there may already be eggs there, or will be soon.

Common Blackhawk – eating lunch

Common Blackhawk – watching over nest in lower left of photo.

That is all for this post. In a few days I will tell you about the rest of the trip and another lifer. Enjoy the photos, and click on any of them to see enlargements.

Going to the Big Bend again

May4

Monday morning we are heading back to our favorite place, the Big Bend area of west Texas. This time we are hoping to get in on the spring migration if we are not too late. A couple of weeks ago we attempted the trip but returned after one day because of some health issues. Now we are feeling up to snuff again. We will be staying at the Gage Hotel in Marathon on Monday night. Then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we will be at the Far-Flung Casitas in Study Butte.

Here are a few photos that I managed to get this week between the cold spells that were coming and going the past few days.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

young Great Horned Owls

Great Blue Heron with young

Enjoy the photos and click on any of them to see enlargements. I’ll be back with a new post next weekend. You can also follow me on Facebook.

Parliament of Owls……Still in session

May1

I have been informed that a large group of owls is called a “parliament of owls”. Of course, I should have looked it up, or Googled, and found that out for myself. However, I am glad the my readers brought me up to date on that. So, again, parliament is still in session, minus a few that decided to go home to their constituents.

As you remember, in a previous post I and Ann had seen a startling total of eight owls and owlets at Spring Creek Park. We went back Monday morning to see how many were still there. We counted one adult and three owlets in the original tree. In the second tree there were none.

For these photos, I again set my Canon EOS 7D with a 1.4 teleconverter on my Manfrotto tripod. I also use a sturdy Wimberley gimbal tripod head. With the combined weight of my lens and camera being about 15 pounds, I really need dependable support.

The lighting was very bad this particular day. A very bright, sunny, mostly cloudless day. A typical west Texas day. It made for bright highlights and harsh shadows. However, I managed to get a few acceptable photos whenever a stray cloud covered the sun. I am particularly proud of this photo of one owlet.

Hoooooo are you looking at??

This one turned out pretty decent, too.

Young Great Horned Owl

In the one below, you can see how I tried to adjust those harsh lighting problems that I mentioned above.

Young Great Horned Owl

This Bullock’s Oriole, (Icterus bullockii), was in a nearby tree witnessing the proceedings.

Bullock’s Oriole

Again, click on any of the photos to see some enlargements. Thank you for reading.

Little Blue Heron – a lifer

Apr29

First of all, as I like to do occasionally, is to bring attention to other nature artists that impress me. Lyndi Simms is one of those and her work is stunning. Check out her work by clicking HERE.

Okay, when Ann and I were out hooting for the owls last week we had another experience. Glancing towards the river, we saw a flash of blue out of the corner of our eyes. We looked to see what had distracted us, thinking maybe we were spotting a Great Blue Heron. But what a surprise, when we discovered that it was actually a Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), a smaller relative. They are in fact about 18 inches smaller than the Great Blue. They are permanent residents to the gulf coast, but summer throughout the southern states. They are very rare to this west Texas area where I live, and this is the first one I have ever seen. Number 254 to my life list. Click on either image to see an enlargement.

Little Blue Heron

One more bird that I don’t want to forget to mention is this Bronzed Cowbird, (Molothrus aeneus). They summer mostly to the southwest of San Angelo, but a few do make it into the area. Difficult to photograph because of the black, glossy feathers, but if successful, the bluish feathers really pop. This one I got lucky with when it was hopping in the grass nearby. Ya gotta love that red eye, too.

Bronzed Cowbird

Here is a reminder to my new and older readers. If you will click on “sign me up”, in the upper right of this page, below all of my copyright fine print, you will receive an e-mail whenever I publish a new post. That way you will never miss any of my narratives or nonsense.

Green Herons have arrived…..

Apr28

The Green Herons have been arriving in the San Angelo, Texas area for their annual summer stay. On Friday, while I spent most of the time photographing those Great Horned Owls, I did spot a Green Heron sitting on a dead tree branch overhanging the river at Spring Creek Park.

The Green Heron, (Butorides virescens), is relatively small as herons go. They are only about 19 inches tall. These photos are of an adult with breeding plumage.

I was amazed at how I was able to get close to him. Of course, he was pretty intent on staring at the water in search of some tasty morsel. I got the following two shots of him there. Click on any of the seven photos to see some incredible enlargements.

Green Heron

On Saturday morning we drove downtown to check out the Great Blue Heron nests along the Concho River. Although we observed three chicks on those nests, the conditions weren’t good for usable photos. I will be back there in a few days. However we did see another Green Heron along the opposite bank doing a little fishing. Here are the results of his endeavors.