white-eyed vireo | Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller

The Hummer House is actually a B&B resort near Christoval, Texas, about 20 miles south of San Angelo. It consists of the original Hummer House, the name of the first cottage constructed there, plus two newer additions, a four bedroom lodge, and a nice cozy one bedroom bungalow. In addition there is an observation room with a large window measuring by my own estimates about 30 feet long by about 9 feet high. A perfect setting to view and photographs birds and wildlife in air-conditioned comfort. However, guests have the option of roaming around the several acres of woodland and a flowing river.

On our visit, because of the heat, Ann and I opted to sit in the observation room. There were several other people in there doing the same. The birds were active, especially hundreds of Black-chinned Hummingbirds. Here is my favorite image of one of them. I got lucky and happened to get a head-on flight image.

“Gear down, full flaps, I’m coming in”.

By the way, I was using my Canon 7D Mark II and a Tamron 150-600mm lens mounted on a mono-pod. Feel free to click on any image to see an enlargement. They look great if you will view them on a computer.

One of the favorite birds that people like to see at the Hummer House is this Painted Bunting.

Painted Bunting

In addition, I was able to photograph this White-eyed Vireo, before the sun got to high. It was perched on a little wire structure over the water feature.

White-eyed Vireo

This Summer Tanager was doing the same, enjoying the water spray that comes on periodically.

Summer Tanager

The observation room is open to the public on Friday evening from 7:00PM until 9:00PM, and on Saturdays from 9:00AM until 3:00PM. Dan and Cathy Brown would welcome you.

I hope you enjoyed this post and the images.

Happy Birding!!

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.