Back after a brief rest……

I have been reminded that it has been about ten days since I last posted.  Sorry about that, folks.  It has been a somewhat traumatic ten days.  I was diagnosed with a severe urinary tract infection nearly two weeks ago.  An anti-biotic was prescribed.  It was the type that can have a nauseous side effect.  And it did.  We had previously made plans for a three-day trip to the Big Bend, leaving the 26th.  Up until that date, we were trying to decide if we had to cancel, as I was having some difficulty.  We decided not to cancel, and on the 26th we left, after Ann loaded the car.  I wasn’t feeling really great, but decided the worse that could happen would me spending a restful three days in a motel bed.

Well, that was not to be.  I started to have serious problems with light-headedness, nausea, and nearly passing out as soon as we arrived.  The EMTs were called to the motel, and after much discussion, we decided to return to San Angelo the following morning, with orders to see the doctor to have the meds changed.  We ended up going to the Emergency Room here in San Angelo.  By then, we were informed that the urinary tract infection was gone and to stop the meds.  To be brief, it was determined that the unsteadiness, headaches, etc., were caused by a serious sinus infection.  We had been thinking that the all the problems were caused by the prescribed antibiotics.

The sinus infections has improved although not completely gone, and I have been able to get back out the past few days and catch up on the avian populations in the San Angelo area.  We are now seeing returning grosbeaks, buntings, flycatchers and others.  All good signs of returning summer birds.

Here are a few images that I have captured since my last post.  These are from San Angelo State Park.  Please click on the images to see enlargements at their best.

Lark Bunting

Northern Bobwhite

Red-winged Blackbird

Bullock’s Oriole

Blue Grosbeak – female

Ash-throated Flycatcher

On Sunday, May 1, we ventured out to the Twin Buttes Reservoir.  I managed to get these photos although we were constantly near a bunch of noisy off-roaders in the vehicles.  Of course, the area is open to everybody, but I think a few of them were trying to make it uncomfortable for us.

Lark Spararow

Lark Bunting

Cactus Wren

Killdeer

By the way, lest I forget, during the few hours that we were in Big Bend National Park, I came away with the only photo of the short trip.  this Cassin’s Kingbird on an ocotillo branch in the desert.

Cassin’s Kingbird

The Shot that Started it All.

Most of you don’t know it, but I used to be just a flower and landscape photographer.  I had absolutely no interest in photographing birds.  That changed in October of 2006, just only about ten years ago.  We were visiting our dear friends, Deb and Paul, in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Deb is an excellent photographer, too.  She, at that time, was shooting with a Nikon Camera while  I had my Canon.  (Deb now uses Canon equipment).  We were discussing the attributes of each brand when  I saw some birds in a large evergreen tree outside of their living room window.  I decided to try and shoot some photos, and Deb generously took the screen off and opened the window for me.  I started shooting and this image of a House Finch is the very first photo of any bird that I have ever taken.

House Finch

A few minutes later, I followed up this one of a Red-bellied Woodpecker, the second bird photo that I had ever taken.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Those two photos really got me hooked on bird photography, and birding in general.  I had never realized how many beautiful birds there were in the avian world.  The experience taught me that if a person opens his or her eyes and really looks, they can discover that there are wonders in nature all around us.  Of course, I still love my landscape photography, especially when I get to go to the beautiful Big Bend area of west Texas.  But even while there, I am always on the lookout for some great bird photo opportunities.

With the wind and some thunderstorms, the birding has been slow, but here are some images from the past few days.  These were taken at San Angelo State Park.  I prefer to not use the blind there, although I do go there on occasion.  I have much more fun hunting and photographing from my car.  I can catch the birds in more natural settings, sans bird feeders, etc.

Canyon Towhee

Savannah Sparrow

Lark Bunting

All in all, I would say that I have come a long way in the past ten years.  I hope you agree.  Be sure to click on any image to see an enlargement.

Happy Birding!!

Buntings of the Concho Valley

I have spent these cold days at the computer, re-editing some older images that I had made several years ago.  Since my post-editing has improved with newer software, I thought that I would post some of those older photos again.  Of course, my favorite of the buntings here in west Texas has to be the Painted Bunting.  Truly, a bird that has colors, that on close examination, appears to be hand-painted by the Man upstairs himself.  There are even smeared spots that it looks like He got a bit “outside the lines”.

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting – singing from the highest treetops.

Painted Bunting – bath time.

Painted Bunting – female of the species.

Equally pretty, is the the Lazuli Bunting.  This one photographed at the Hummer House Bird Refuge at Christoval, Texas.

Lazuli Bunting

Then we can’t forget the Indigo Bunting.  This one seems to be enjoying a shower under an artificial mister.  Photographed at the same location.

Indigo Bunting – shower time

Below we have the Lark Bunting.  This specie is actually in the sparrow family, a Calamospiza, where the other buntings are Passerinas.  I have included it simply because of the name.  This is an adult winter male.  The summer adult male is black except for the white flashings on the wings.

Lark Bunting – adult winter male

Lark Bunting – adult winter male

There is another bunting in west Texas that I have yet to see or photograph, and that is the Varied Bunting.  I hope to get an image of it this year and you will be the first to know.  I hope you have enjoyed these.  Just click on any of them to see some nice enlargements.

Prints of these photos are available for sale, as is my book “Birds, Beasts and Buttes”.  Contact me for more information.

Easter Weekend Photos

I decided to get out Saturday morning and see if anything was happening at San Angelo State Park.  It had been several weeks since we had visited the bird blind there.  I got a few images there, then we drove through the park to see what birds if any, might be hanging around.  I really wasn’t very impressed at the time that I had anything of quality.  I uploaded what I had and I found that some of them weren’t too bad.  I’ll let you have a look at them.

White-crowned Sparrow

Curve-billed Thrasher

Canyon Towhee

Cedar Waxwings

Lark Bunting

I hope you enjoyed these pictures.  Click on any of them to see an enlargement.

 

 

Return from Big Bend – Part III

I need to digress a bit.  Actually before we entered the Big Bend National Park the previous day, we stopped at Post Park in Marathon, Texas.  It is a neat little place about 5 miles south of the city.  A small creek flows through the park, and it had

Lark Bunting

been recently stocked with 2,000 small Rainbow Trout.  There were many people there, all with their chilldren trying their luck at making the catch of the day.  So any birding activity was brief.  However, we did catch a photos of a Lark Bunting, (Calamospiza melanocorys), and a Sage Thrasher, (Oreoscoptes montanus).

After our little trip to the Rio Grande Village, we ended up staying in a little “casita” at Far Flung Outdoor Center in Study Butte.  This village

Sage Thrasher

is about three miles outside the west entrance to the BBNP.  Our room had a nice porch with rocking chairs overlooking the large courtyard that was planted with a variety of desert plants.  There were also bird feeders around and I got a nice photograph of a female Pyrrhuloxia, (Cardinalis sinuatus).

That evening we decided to eat at one our favorite night spots in the Study Butte/Terlingua area.  The place is call La Kiva, meaning ‘the cave’.  A fun delightful spot that serves excellent coussine and cold margaritas.

female Pyrrhuloxia at a feeder

That is, of course, ahem, if you indulge in that sort of stuff. 🙂  But, alas, Ann and I have mellowed in our ages and we are pretty much early birds.  After we split a 12 oz. rib-eye steak and each a margarita, we headed back to our motel.  The following morning we wanted to head to Sam Neal’s ranch for some birding.  And that, of course will be after we have a great breakfast at the Roadrunner Deli.  Frank Jones, the owner will have our coffee ready.