Great Horned Owl update plus

Hi all.  It’s been another week gone by since my last post.  Trying to catch up with our yard chores, so we haven’t got out as much as we would like.  But in between errands we managed to make some short trips through the local parks.  We checked in on the Great Horned Owl nest at Spring Creek Park.  The mother is still sitting on her eggs.

Great Horned Owl – female on nest.

About seventy-five yards away, the father is still keeping a sharp lookout for any threats.  As you can see, though, he does take much-needed siestas.  He really blends in with the surroundings.

Great Horned Owl – alertly keeping an eye out.

Here are a few other images from that area.

I finally got a nice photo of a White-eyed Vireo.  They are another elusive, tiny bird.  This was the first time in many years that I had this opportunity to photography one.  I must give credit to our fellow birder friend, Randy Hesford, for pointing it out to us.

White-eyed Vireo

Also, we spotted this Marsh Wren.  It is the first decent photo I have of one of these species, too.

Marsh Wren

In the same reeds that we saw the wren, this Lincoln’s Sparrow made an appearance.

Lincoln’s Sparrow

There is an area near the south entance to Spring Creek Park, where we have observed some Black-crowned Night Herons.  Over the past few years, we have seen adults and juveniles.  This photo shows that one of the young ones is starting to show some maturing.  It is a first-year, I believe.  Notice that he/she is losing some of that baby brown, and developing the black back of an adult.

Black-crowned Night Heron – first year

Driving farther along the wider expanse of the water, I saw this Great Blue Heron about 250 yards away.  I hate to pass up a nice scene with one of my favorites of the herons.

Great Blue Heron

One windy afternoon, we ventured out to San Angelo State Park, and checked out a few birds in a short drive-around.  This is another photographic first for me.  I had never had to opportunity to capture some Tree Swallows.  There were around 100 sitting on some high lines.

Tree Swallows

To finish up the day, we checked the water level at O.C. Fisher Lake and saw a few Least Sandpipers scampering along the end of a boat ramp.

Least Sandpipers

That’s about it for this post.  I hope you enjoyed the images.  Click on any of them to see enlargements.  I’ll be back in a few days.