One of the prettiest, flashiest birds in this area is the Northern Cardinal, (Cardinalis cardinalis). I photographed this male at the bird blind at San Angelo State Park when I was out there recently. With the overcast, cloudy skies acting as a diffuser, the colors really popped.
Northern Cardinal
I photographed this bird with my Canon 7D with Canon 500mm lens mounted on my tripod. Exposure 1/800 sec. @ f7.1, -0.3EV, ISO 1250. Center-weighted metering and aperture priority. Distance to subject approximately 35 feet. Shot in RAW with post processing in Photoshop CS5.
Click image to see an enlargement.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 