South Llano River SP report

We traveled to the South Llano River State Park as we had planned.  However, we picked the wrong day to go.  The morning that we left, was the morning that the weather decided to take a wrong turn.  A cool front moved in and strong winds changed to come out of the north.  Needless to say, the birding there was not up to the usual standards for that park.  But that didn’t keep birders, including us, away.  The blinds were crowded with “snow-birds”.  Those people from the northern states that spent the winter there and hadn’t decided to go home yet.  I can’t say that I blame them from hearing reports of winter staying longer in the northern states.

A few pictures that I managed to get.

American Robin

Field Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow

We did manage to add three more photos to our 2016 list.  That helped salvage the day:  A Black-chinned Hummingbird, a Purple Martin, and a Yellow-throated Vireo.

Back here in San Angelo, we got out to bird in the local areas.  We saw various birds, including a 1st year Orchard Oriole.  It was too far away for a decent photo, although I got a salvageable image to make an ID.  That was another for our 2016 list.  Also we spotted another owl’s nest and I got this photo from about 75 yards away.  It is tightly cropped for the close-up.

Great Horned Owl – female on nest

Driving around the San Angelo State Park I picked a couple more images.

White-winged Dove

Vesper Sparrow

That’s about it for the past few days.  Migration is starting so we will be watching for some Bullock’s Orioles and perhaps some Painted Buntings and several more species by the end of the month.  Let’s hope. 🙂

Happy Birding!!

Sparrows, Sparrows, Sparrows

Since this blog is basically about birding, and bird photography, I have been sitting here pondering what to put in my next (this) post.  Thinking back, I didn’t know a sparrow from a pigeon before I got into serious birding.  Well, I guess pigeons were bigger, right?   Anyway, now I have come to appreciate just how many species of birds there really are.  In the area where I live, according to the people that know these things, there are thirty different species of sparrows alone.

To be perfectly fair, actually they are not all sparrows.  Four of those species classified in the sparrow family are towhees, three are longspurs, and one is a junco.  That still leaves twenty-two named sparrows, just here in the Concho Valley.  There are more than fifty species including other regions of the country. 

Like any other non-birder, I thought all sparrow looked alike.  Wrong!  Since I now consider myself a birder, albeit a little new at it, I have discovered that there are really many beautiful sparrows to be seen and photographed.  You can see from the following examples.

House Sparrow

Pictured above is the common House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).  Now I ask, isn’t this a pretty little bird.  Nice rich colors of brown, with that little patch of gray on his head, and that black chest, not to be confused with the Black-throated Sparrow.

Black-throated Sparrow

The above is the afore-mentioned Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata).   Another little cutie.

Lark Sparrow

Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)  Another pretty bird with distinctive markings that you can’t miss.

White-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). 

Field Sparrow

Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla).  So these are five of my favorites.  Now when you see a sparrow, take a closer look, and you may be surprised at what you see.  Click on any image to see an enlargement.