Recent Odds and Ends…..

The weather is continuing to be warm, read very warm, and the birds continue to be stressed and they keep to themselves hidden somewhere in the trees and landscape.  However, that doesn’t stop Ann and I from getting out a couple of hours each morning.  Although not getting many images, I have lucked out and got a few nice ones.  Here is a collection, mostly from the past several months that I believe that I may not have ever posted here.  Some may be even older.  My Facebook readers will probably recognize many of them.  If you can, PLEASE view this on a computer.  That way if you click on any image, you can see some very beautiful enlargements.

This Painted Bunting we found at an old mudhole that was on the verge of drying up.  If I were to go there this morning, I am sure it would be dry.  Anyway, I think this is one of my favorite photos of this bird, and I think it is a great start to this blog post.

Painted Bunting

This Greater Roadrunner that I photographed yesterday at San Angelo State Park ranks as one of my best of that species.  I love the way the light enhanced the various colors of the feathers.

Greater Roadrunner

Since I have been spending more time in the house, I have been at the computer going through images from the past few months, that I hadn’t edited or sorted.  This Pyrrhuloxia was photographed in the early morning light of July 21 of this year.

Pyrrhuloxia

We came across this Greater Roadrunner one day at San Angelo State Park.  He was so close to me that I opted to get a portrait of him.  I found it quite interesting.

Greater Roadrunner

I never pass up a chance to photograph these tiny Vermilion Flycatchers

Vermilion Flycatcher

In the birding community, the females don’t usually get their due.  The female Grosbeak, in my opinion is a beautiful bird as you might agree.

Blue Grosbeak – female

One of the cutest birds that I know of, is the Black-crested Titmouse.  But they also are very feisty and you don’t like to be messed with.

Black-crested Titmouse

At the Hummer House down near Christoval, Texas I as enjoying photographing the many, many hummgbirds there.  I thought this image moved the cute meter up a notch.

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Of all of my Great Horned Owl photos, I rank this image as one of my personal favorites.  I try to photograph this species at every opportunity.

Great Horned Owl

This photo would fool you.  As a juvenile Curve-billed Thrasher, it has neither the curved bill nor the orange eye of the adult.

Curve-billed Thrasher – juvenile

Another bird that is difficult photograph is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  To happen to catch one with the red crown showing is a bonus.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Another one with the same degree of difficulty is the cute little Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

When I was much younger and not at all interested in birds of any kind, I used to think that all the little ones were sparrows.  The medium size up was all pigeons.  The really big birds. think large and XX large, were all eagles.  Then the ones on water were all ducks.   But now that I am getting more educated in the avian species, boy, am I ever getting surprised.   I have found that there are over fifty different species of sparrows alone. Wow! Holey-moly, Batgirl!!  Who’da thought!  Well, this Grasshopper Sparrow is one of the more unusual ones.

Grasshsopper Sparrow

I think that will be all for this post.  I hope you have enjoyed reading and seeing the photographs.

’til next time,

Happy Birding!!!

Why it Pays to Edit

Ann and I were out near Middle Concho Park yesterday.  It was getting late in the morning, the light was harsh and contrasty, and the birds were laying in for the afternoon.  However, as we were driving along, Ann was startled to see a Great Horned Owl fly from a branch near the car.  We followed along to where we thought it had landed, and eventually spotted it far back in the woods.

I turned the car around so I could get a shot through the trees from my driver’s side window.  I was using my Canon 7D Mark II and a Tamron  150-600mm lens.  Shutter priority, 1/2500 sec. @ f7.1, ISO 3200.  This is original image.

orig – Great Horned Owl

Now, this image, in itself is really not a bad photograph.  Most people would be happy to have it.  However, with a bit of cropping for composition, some color and lighting adjustments for the bright conditions, I was able to come up with this final photograph.

Great Horned Owl

So as you can see, the camera really does lie.  It cannot always cope with difficult lighting conditions.  In this case, bright sun high in the sky, making harsh shadows.  I would prefer softer lighting, i.e. clouds covering the sun, or even overcast.  But, when trying to capture wildlife, you deal with what you have to work with.  I edited this image in Photoshop, but the minor adjustments I made could be done with any inexpensive software.  Click on either image to see enlargements.

So, enough about editing.  Monday afternoon, Ann and I were sitting in front of our house watching the neighborhood birds.  This juvenile Curve-billed Thrasher landed in our ocotillo, and minutes later an adult arrived and began feeding it with an insect of some type.  I cursed myself for leaving my camera inside.  I ran to get it, but by the time I got back the adult was gone.  However, I got some images of the young bird.  Interesting, though, that if I hadn’t seen the adult, I may not have recognized the bird for what it was.  I realized that with the juvenile, the bill is shorter and they eye has not yet achieved that fierce orange color.

Curve-billed Thrasher – juvenile

Driving near O.C. Fisher Lake at San Angelo State Park on Sunday afternoon netted me a couple of other photos.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Common Nighthawk on mesquite branch.

Well, that’s it for this post.  Catch ya in a few days.

Happy Birding!!

 

Mid-week Bird Images

In between storm alerts, showers, and chores, I have been able to get out among the birds a little bit.  We have been to the ‘mud hole’, the local parks at Lake Nasworthy, and out to the San Angelo State Park.  Some of the birds have been very nice to get in position for some nice photos.

But first, I’d like to mention that my photo of an American Robin, pictured here, is on the front cover of the May issue of “The Messenger”, a local min-news magazine of Woodstock, Nebraska.  I have been published several times, but it never fails to thrill to see my photos in the print media.

American Robin

Now back to my photos for this post.  Click on any image to see some eye-popping enlargements, especially if you are viewing this on a computer.

There had been reports of this Summer Tanager existing in Spring Creek Park.  I had failed on previous attempts to find him.  But, finally, we were able to spot him in the trees.  He was moving around rapidly so I only had a few seconds to capture him.  He disappeared only seconds after I got this shot.  The winds messed his usual smooth hair-do a little bit, but not bad enough to make him un-recognizable.

A wind-blown male Summer Tanager.

A Curve-billed Thrasher is always fun to come across.  I love that fierce look.

Curve-billed Thrasher

This Spotted Sandpiper was strolling along the ‘mud hole’, just bobbing along.

Spotted Sandpiper

A Bronzed Cowbird was all by himself at Spring Creek Park.

Bronzed Cowbird

This is my firsst photo of the year of an Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

The Lark Sparrows seem to be everywhere.  No problem locating one for a photo op.

Lark Sparrow

Doves are another species that I tend to ignore.  I came across this one and immediatly realized that I might have been missing something.  A beautiful bird.

Mourning Dove

Last but certainly not least, is this Great Horned Owl.  Always a crowd pleaser, we came across this one by surprise when driving through Spring Creek Park.  We just happened to glance up in the trees and there he was, just staring at us.  I quickly maneuvered the car into position where I could get a shot from a distance, so as not to disturb him.  If I got a mesquite thorn in my tires, I still think it was worth it.

Great Horned Owl

I hope you enjoyed these photos.  I don’t know if I will get time to publish a post this weekend.  We are leaving early Monday morning to spend a week of birding and photography in and around Big Bend National Park.  We have lodging reservations at the Casitas at Far Flung Outdoor Center in Study Butte.  If any of you birders will be in the area, look us up.  If I don’t post in the next few days, watch for me in about a week and a half.

 

Happy Birding!!!

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!!

Fun April Birding

Migration is underway and we are still waiting for many spring birds.  Scissor-tailed Flycatchers have been sighted.  We saw three ourselves, but too far away for photos.  However, Ash-throated Flycatchers are beginning to appear in large numbers.  I got my first nice photo of one a couple of days ago.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

We had to make our regular stop at Spring Creek Park to check on our family of Great Horned Owls.  We caught the female off the nest, taking a break from caring for junior.

Great Horned Owl – female

Meanwhile, back at the nest it is ‘home alone’ all over again.  The kid seems to be gaining weight.  I would estimate him to be about three weeks old.

Great Horned Owlet

Later, back on the nest, the mother seems to be daring me to step over that twig.

Great Horned Owl – mother on nest

I would like to mention that for these photos, I was around fifty yards away.  With my long lens, there is no need for me to get closer and agitate the birds.

Nearby, I captured this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in some bushes.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

We headed to San Angelo State Park where I managed to capture a few more resident birds.

Driving along the base of the O. C. Fisher Reservoir dam, Ann spotted a Rock Wren flitting around the rocks.  I had never been able to get a nice close-up of one before.  Up on those rocks, they are hard to see, and difficult to get one in the viewfinder of my camera.  But my perseverance paid off, and I was able to get this one, again with my long 150-600mm Tamron lens.  The image is still quite cropped to get this close-up.

Rock Wren

Elsewhere in the park, I got these photographs.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Lincoln’s Sparrow

American Robin

We finished the day by catching this hard to spell and hard to pronounce,  Pyrrhuloxia.

Pyrrhuloxia

So that’s all for today.  Tomorrow we are off to the South Llano River State Park.  Reports are coming in of several migratory birds there.  Plus, there’s alway great food at Lum’s Bar-B-Que before coming home.  I’ll report on the journey in a few days.

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.

 

White-throated Sparrow – A Lifer

To a birder, a lifer is a bird that has seen for the very first time.  Hence, we saw a White-throated Sparrow on the 29th of February, for our first time.  It was at Spring Creek Park, scratching in the grass.  It was that it was all alone that got our attention to check it out.  It is a rare bird here, but not unusual to see on on ocassion.  Anyway, it brings my life list total to 286.  The photo isn’t really great.  As you can see, it was right at the edge of shade and bright sunshine.  That makes for difficult exposures.  But what a great start to a fun couple of days birding.

White-throated Sparrow

As we drove through the park we spotted two photographers, both with the requisite camo clothes, tripods, and huge lenses.  Like I used to have.  They had out-of-state plates on their car.  Anyway, they had flushed that female Great Horned Owl off of it’s nest and it was resting high in a tree.  I stopped, got my little ‘ole 150-600mm lens out and nailed a great shot as it thankfully headed back to it’s nest.  I hand-held the camera and I was dressed in plain old clothes.

female Great Horned Owl heading to the nest.

I think those two guys were part of a huge bunch that was harassing the owl on Sunday afternoon.  That group was headed up by the Mr. Doe that was instrumental in saying that I harassed wildlife by sharing the info to knowledgeable birders.  Well, ’nuff said about that.

We continued on through Spring Creek Park then headed to the Middle Concho Park that is located just across the water, but since there is no bridge, it is about an eight mile drive around to get to it.

Here are a few more images from around that area.  Click on any image in this post to see some very nice enlargements.

First, is this little Pied-billed Grebe.  They just swim around, occasionally diving under the water for something and usually coming up with nothing.  But what the heck…..they look like they are smiling and happy.

Pied-billed Grebe

This Roadrunner was along the road, (where else?), looking for tidbits for lunch.  Since the little ground squirrels are coming out of hibernation, he should be able to start eating better very soon. 🙂

Greater Roadrunner

Can you take another owl?  This is the male that is supposed to guarding the nest where the previous female resides, sitting on the eggs.  He looks bored.  Wonder if he will make it another month or so.

Great Horned Owl – male

A lot of these Meadowlarks hanging around now.  There are usually a few European Starlings tagging along.

Eastern Meadowlark

There are also a lot of these Yellow-rumped Warblers here, too.  They will be leaving in mid-May, to return in October to spend the winter.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

The Sapsuckers can confuse a lot of people.  They look like the average woodpecker.  They used to confuse me, too, until I started to look for that white ‘stripe’ down the side of their feathers.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Let’s finish up with one of favorites.  I love photographing herons.  This is the same juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron from my previous post.  He has found a home across the water from Spring Creek Park. Always about 200 yards away. I imagine that his adult parent is watching from another hidden spot. This time he was more in the open, aiding me in getting a better image.

Black-crowned Night Heron – juvenile

Well, that is about it for this post.  I had fun writing it and I hope you had fun reading it.

‘Til then, Happy Birding!!

 

American Robin – A sign of spring?

In my previous post, I posted a photo of an American Robin.  It was the first that I had seen this year.  Yesterday, I saw another.  Are they really a harbinger of spring?

American Robin

Actually, the range maps show they are residents of most of Texas, including my area, the year around.  I guess they don’t like to show unless the weather is on the mild side.  Of course, that could also be said of me. 🙂

While we were in the area at Spring Creek Park here in San Angelo, we decided to have another look for the nest of a Great Horned Owl.  Our friend, Randy Hesford, showed us where it was at.  It turned out that the nest is down in the fork of a tree, and can’t be seen unless the female is on the nest, as only her head shows.  I took this shot.  The light was in the wrong place at this particular time.

Great Horned Owl – female on nest.

As you can see, she really blends in, and is very difficult to spot.  It will be really fun to watch for the young owlets to fledge in a couple of months.

Earlier we visited the water treatment ponds at Eldorado, Texas, about 40 miles south of here.  A plethora of water fowl were in attendance.  The ponds are huge, about 250 yards across.  Of course, the ducks are usually on the far side, too, making photography difficult in the bouncing waves.  I didn’t get any photos of them on the water that I was really proud of.  I did get this shot of some Northern Shovelers in flight.

Northern Shovelers

Nearby, this American Kestrel took flight.

American Kestrel

Back in San Angelo, I had an opportunity to photograph the state bird.  The Northen Mockingbird.  For some reason or other, I have a tendency to ignore these birds, probably because there are so many of them.  However, I liked the pose that this one presented.

Northern Mockingbird

That’s it for this time.  Enjoy the photos.  Click on any of them to see enlargements.

 

Happy Birding!!

Brief Post – Great Horned Owl

This post will be a bit brief.  I received my new computer a few days ago, and I am in the process of setting it up, installing programs and files, and all of that complicated technical stuff….. 🙂

But before I shut down the old computer, Ann and I  got out for  few minutes one morning.  Can’t say for sure which day.  Right now I am in a bit of a brain-fried fog.  But, I got very lucky at Spring Creek Park.  As we drove through, Ann exclaimed, “Bob, there’s an owl!”  Sure enough, there in plain sight, with no obstructions and about 25 feet above the ground was this huge Great Horned Owl.  He was sitting on a branch of a mesquite tree.  I stopped and turned off the engine.  He posed for me for several minutes while I took several images.

Great Horned Owl

I was amazed how long and patient he was.  I could hear some faint”hoot, hoots” coming from some nearby pecan trees.  I suspect that he was guarding a nearby nest, but were not able to see it.  After about 15 minutes I decided to leave him alone.  As magnificent as he looked, I didn’t feel the need to stay.  I didn’t want to agitate him further, event though I was about 30 yards away and hunched down in my car.  When we drove off, he was still there, watching us intently.  But I was content, feeling that I got the best photo of a Great Horned Owl that I have ever had.

If you click on the image, you will see a very nice enlargement.

Happy birding!!

Pre-Super Bowl Images

I don’t know if I will go out birding tomorrow, so I will show you some photos from yesterday and this morning.  Of course, there is the possibility that I may get out Sunday morning, but if I do, I will show them in my Post-Super Bowl post. 🙂

These photos were all captured at Spring Creek Park here in San Angelo.  In no particular order, as we were just taking our time driving around.  Click on any image to see enlargements.

This is one of the bluest Western Bluebird that I have ever seen.  It was probably due to the early morning light.

Western Bluebird

We saw this Red-tailed Hawk across the water about 200 yards away.

Red-tailed Hawk

He didn’t hang around long.

Red-tailed Hawk

Also across the water about the same distance, this Great Horned Owl sat on a bunch mistletoe in a mesquite tree.  We had been following him around all morning.

Great Horned Owl

Last but not least, was the cute little Orange-crowned Warbler perched in the early morning sun.

Orange-crowned Warbler

That is probably it for the weekend.  Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Happy Birding!!