Running late again……..

October 5, 2016 by Bob Zeller

After a very action filled ten days, I am finally back to write another post. Sorry about the long delay, but things happen. Currently, our A/C is not running. We have contracted to have a new complete unit installed, but that won’t happen until next Tuesday the 11th. The installing company did loan us one window unit, and fortunately the temps here are in the low 90s and will be in the 80s in a couple of days. So we cope. Also, about ten days ago, I was eating a chicken salad from Wendy’s and unfortunately I bit down on a tiny bit of something hard, perhaps a bone, and I chipped one of my front teeth. I know have a cute little gap, much like that little “What Me Worry” guy on the front cover of Mad Magazine many years ago.

Of course, part of my delay is that birding was quite slow for a few days. We would go out and wonder where did all of the birds go. So, for a change of pace, we made a trip to South Llano River State Park. It is noted for the great birding there. It really wasn’t that great their either, but with what I got there and what I have photographed the past three days, I feel I can contribute to a nice post for you. I know you like a lot of pictures.

Right now there are a couple of Great Kiskadees hanging out around Spring Creek Park, here in San Angelo. A fellow birder, Randy Hesford informed us of them back on September 25. Kiskadees are very rare here. Anyway,we went out the following morning and spotted them about 200 yards away across the water. We were hoping they would come to our side, but they stayed where they were so I tried to get photos with my Tamron 150-600mm lens. Here is one those distant photos. Heavily cropped so the image quality is not very good.

Great Kiskadee – 1/1250 sec @ f6.3, +0.7 EV, ISO 6400.

Nearby a Great Blue Heron was grazing.

Great Blue Heron – 1/1250 sec. @ f6.3, +0.7 EV, ISO 6400

There was nothing more happening, so we went home. The following morning we were back to see if the Kiskadee were still there. I got another shot from a little farther away, but it shows both of the birds.

Great Kiskadees – 1/1000 sec. @ f6.3, +0.7 EV, ISO 6400.

On the following day, we decided to go to San Angelo State Park. We were a little later than usual, so we didn’t know how successful we would be. But luck was with us as we drove along one of the many roads there. We had been seeing a Kingbird, in the area. We were thinking Western Kingbird. But after thinking about it, we realized it was all alone, and we remembered that most of them had already left. So as you suspect, I had been ignoring it. But I decided to try and get a good photo and look at it closer. Well it turned out to be a Cassin’s Kingbird, a bird seldom seen here. It goes to show you, during migration, anything can show up, such as those Great Kiskadees. Here, I might add that Randy Hesford saw and photographed a Couch’s Kingbird hanging out with the Kiskadees. Another rarity. So here is the photo of the Cassin’s Kingbird.

Cassin’s Kingbird – 1/1000 sec, @ f7.1, ISO 200.

After driving through the State Park and not getting anything more interesting, we decided we still had time to go to Middle Concho Park. There I was able to photograph this gorgeous Vermilion Flycatcher. The amazing part was that I happened to drive close by this tiny live oak tree. A brilland flash of red caught my left eye. There, only about eight away, was the tiny bird sitting. I quietly got my camera off of my lap and started shooting. He must have sat there for around three minutes. He then moved to another branch, just a little farther away, maybe ten feet. Again, I was able to take my time a get several more images. Here are two of them. I hope you like.

Vermilion Flycatcher – 1/1000 sec. @ f5.6, +0.7 EV, ISO 2500.

Vermilion Flycatcher – 1/1000 sec, @ f6.3, -0.3 EV, ISO 3200.

The next day we decided to go to South Llano River SP. They have four different bird viewing blinds. We usually try to hit all four, as we can see a variety of birds at each one. We have had better days there, but we saw enough to make the trip worthwhile. Here are a few images from that little jaunt down to the Junction, Texas area. Randy Hesford accompanied us, and while were there, we ran into another birder friend, David Hunt.

Northern Cardinal – 1/1000 sec. @ f5.6, +1 EV, ISO 2500.

Yellow Warbler – 1/800 sec, @ f6.3, +0.3, ISO 400.

Vermilion Flycatcher, female – 1/1000 @ f5.6m -0.3 EV, ISO 100.

Black-throated Sparrow – 1/1000 sec, @ f7.1, -0.3 EV, ISO 400.

Back to San Angelo. On October 2nd, my 82nd birthday, thank you very much, we decided to run to the State Park again. I came away with this nice close-up of a Grasshopper Sparrow.

Grasshopper Sparrow – 1/800 sec. @ f5.6, +0.7 EV, ISO 160.

On October 4th, we decided to go back to Middle Concho Park to check on the Vermilion Flycatchers. I got this shot of a female of the species.

Vermilon Flycatcher, female – 1/1000 sec. @ f6.3, -0.3 EV, ISO 640.

Also,

Ladder-backed Woodpecker, female. 1/1000 sec. @f7.1, ISO 1000.

In attendance was this Ladder-backed Woodpecker female.

So that is it for this post. It is lengthy, and I hope it made up for my lateness. 🙂

Please click on any image to see some great enlargements, especially if you are viewing this on a computer.

South Llano River SP report

April 11, 2016 by Bob Zeller

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!!

Birding South Llano River State Park

February 25, 2016 by Bob Zeller

On Wednesday morning, Ann and I, accompanied by a birding friend, Randy Hesford, decided to head to South Llano River State Park for a few hours of birding. We set out at 8:00 for the 90 mile drive. The skies were bright and sunny, with a slight breeze.

We arrived there at approximately 9:30, checked in at the headquarters and headed for the first of the park’s four blinds, the Agarita blind. Immediately we found that it would be a great place to photograph birds. Many were in attendance and we saw a lifer for Ann and I. An Olive Sparrow. We were quite lucky, as it scurried from beneath some scrubby brush, stay around for about two minutes, then disappeared to never be seen again that morning. Fortunately, I got a photograph.

Olive Sparrow

That brought my life list up to 286. Not great, but respectable. I still may get to 300 during my lifetime. Much higher if I was able to travel to the southeastern part of the state and to the gulf coast. Time will tell.

Anyway to get on with my story, we were kept busy at the Agarita blind. I managed to get quite a few photographs before we headed for the second of the four blinds, Juniper blind. There we saw a Western Scrub-jay and Dark-eyed Junco. They only made very brief appearances and I didn’t get photos. Only a few other birds made appearances there and at the the third and fourth blinds, the Acorn and Lora’s blinds. We were mildly disappointed in that, but we were perhaps rushing the season. We are used to seeing much more at all four blinds. Some more photos that I captured were

the Field Sparrow…….

Field Sparrow

the Spotted Towhee…..

Spotted Towhee

an American Robin…..

American Robin

a Northern Cardinal….

Northern Cardinal

a female Northern Cardinal……

Northern Cardinal – female

and a Black-throated Sparrow.

Black-throated Sparrow

In addition to all of the above, we also saw at the blinds, a Black-crested Titmouse, Pine Sisken, Whitewing Dove, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a White-crowned Sparrow. In addition, Randy spotted a Brown Thrasher, and a Carolina Chickadee. Ann and I missed those, much to our dismay.

After leaving the blinds, we drove through the park and along the river where we saw a Belted Kingfisher, a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, and a Bewick’s Wren.

That was all that we actually saw in the park itself. Along the highway coming and going, we added Common Raven, Black Vulture, Northern Mockingbird, American Kestrel, and Turkey Vulture. So in total for the trip, we saw only a total of 28 species. I am sure when we return later in the spring we will be seeing much more.

After we left the park, we drove into Junction and stopped at Lum’s Barbeque restaurant. We satisfied ourseves with huge chopped barbequed beef sandwiches, topped with onions and tasty jalopenos. A great finish to a fun trip.

Until the next time, Happy Birding!!

Photos from Here and There…..

June 30, 2015 by Bob Zeller

I don’t have a good story for you today. We’ve been spending the past week or two doing some things around house, and not getting much birding done, save for a couple of short outings here and there. So here are two images from a quick trip yesterday to South Llano River State Park. We didn’t stay too long, it was very hot and humid in the blinds, and even the birds decided to take a day off.

Inca Dove

Black-throated Sparrow – juvenile

Yellow-breasted Chat

I was reluctant to include the above photo of the Chat. I had a senior moment, I guess, and mistakenly used a shutter speed of 1/250 instead ot the intended 1/1250 per sec. It blurred the photo somewhat and I had to do some correction in post processing. I included it because I don’t see these very often, and it appeared for a few minutes at the water feature at the park.

The following are some photos that were in my archives that I thought you would like. By the way, click on any of the photos in this post to see enlargements.

First up, a Black-capped Chickadee that I photographed at my niece’s home in Interlochen, Michigan, back in 2008.

Black-capped Chickadee

A Savannah Sparrow that I photographed recently at the mud hole near Twin Buttes Reservoir in San Angelo, Texas.

Savannah Sparrow

A Yellow-billed Cuckoo, San Angelo back in 2011.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Black-throated Sparrow that I captured at South Llano State Park several years ago.

Black-throated Sparrow

A Northern Flicker photographed near Spring Creek Park in San Angelo, Texas.

Northern Flicker – (Yellow-shafted)

Two images of Cedar Waxwings near San Angelo, Texas. I don’t know which image I like best.

Cedar Waxwings

Black-headed Grosbeak. Photographed at the Davis Moutains State Park during a visit in May of 2014.

Black-headed Grosbeak

I hope you enjoyed the photos included here. I’ll try to have more in the near future.

Birding South Llano River State Park

January 26, 2015 by Bob Zeller

Note: This post is best viewed on your computer. You can then click the images to see the fine detail in the fourteen different enlargements.

We have visited the South Llano River State Park on a few other occasions, but I have never posted about it. It is located about five miles south of Junction, Texas. Junction is about 95 miles southeast of San Angelo. What I like about visiting that park is that they have four distinct blinds. It seems that each blind has it’s own characteristic. Each presents it’s own lighting positives or negatives, depending on what time of day you visit each one. Plus, it seems that, although it may be my imagination, sometimes you might find a bird in one blind, that you won’t find in the others. So we always visit each blind each time we make the trip.

On our visit this past weekend, it seemed that the Agarita Blind, (they each have a name), seemed to have the most bird activity. On other days one of the others may be more bird active.

But as I said, with so much activity in the Agarita Blind, we didn’t spend much time at the others. Here is a sampling of the birds that I photographed, in no particular order.

Carolina Chickadee

Black-throated Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Chipping Sparrow

Northern Cardinal – female

Field Sparrow

Western Scrub Jay

Spotted Towhee

Pine Siskin

Bewick’s Wren

Black-crested Titmouse

American Goldfinch – adult breeding female

After arriving back in San Angelo, we drove by our “K-Mart Creek” and saw this Norther Pintail to finish our day.

Northern Pintail

All in all, it was a great way to start the week, and we added six more to our 2015 Big Year list, to bring our new total to 92. I hope you enjoyed this. I appreciate any and all comments.

Birding South Llano River State Park

February 19, 2014 by Bob Zeller

Wanting to do some birding at a different venue for a change, Ann and I, along with Carl Williams, our neighbor, headed south to Junction, Texas and the South Llano River State Park. About ninety miles from here, it took about an hour and a half to get there. The weather was beautiful for us. Mild temps and high thin overcast to diffuse the sun, and prevent those nasty harsh, contrasty shadows that us photographers dislike.

We knew that we would see some birds that we don’t usually see here in at the areas we frequent. We were not disappointed. SLRSP has four different walk-in bird blinds. They are small buildings, with windows, and will seat up to a dozen people. We checked out all four, and although a park host told us that there were few birds, we saw thirty one species. All in a time frame of just over three hours.

I left my big 500mm lens home, opting to use exclusively my new Tamron 150-600mm lens. Again, I was impressed. I set the camera to Aperture Priority, using an opening of f7.1, and auto everything else. My Canon EOS 70D performed it’s job as advertised. I had nearly no bad exposures at all. Also, I took most of my images with the lens extended to the 600mm maximum. Here are some my efforts. All images have been edited and cropped for composition