Birds - personal observations

[doglegg]

A few pics taken by my son at Ft. Davis

[doglegg]

A few more of Bryan's pics.

[Waukonda]

Thank you, Floyd.

Have you ever been down around any of the South Texas birding hotspots?

[Ripster]

A few pics taken by my son at Ft. DavisIMG_9027.JPGIMG_9029.JPGIMG_9037.JPGIMG_9019.JPGIMG_9041.JPGIMG_9055.JPGIMG_9058.JPGIMG_9083.JPG

Floyd ,
Thank you and your Son for the great Scenery and birds . What a great birding haven .

[Dinadan]

Wow, Doglegg, another incredible array of photos. It has been a few years since I went west of the the Mississippi, but one of the highlights of my vacations was the western birds.

Here are a couple of photos from my backyard yesterday.

Brown Thrashers

Cardinal

[Waukonda]

Wow, Doglegg, another incredible array of photos. It has been a few years since I went west of the the Mississippi, but one of the highlights of my vacations was the western birds.

Here are a couple of photos from my backyard yesterday.
Brown Thrashers11.jpg

Cardinal12.jpg

Nice ones, Mel. Brown Thrashers are one of my favorites, but I rarely get photos.

[doglegg]

Thank you, Floyd.

Have you ever been down around any of the South Texas birding hotspots?

Ike, I have not but would love to.

A few pics taken by my son at Ft. DavisIMG_9027.JPGIMG_9029.JPGIMG_9037.JPGIMG_9019.JPGIMG_9041.JPGIMG_9055.JPGIMG_9058.JPGIMG_9083.JPG

Floyd ,
Thank you and your Son for the great Scenery and birds . What a great birding haven .

Thank you JP. We are very fortunate here as so many birds funnel through here.

Wow, Doglegg, another incredible array of photos. It has been a few years since I went west of the the Mississippi, but one of the highlights of my vacations was the western birds.

Here are a couple of photos from my backyard yesterday.

Brown Thrashers11.jpg

Cardinal12.jpg

Great pics Mel. We get a good mixture of East and west here.

[Dinadan]

Thank you, Floyd.

Have you ever been down around any of the South Texas birding hotspots?

I am not Floyd, but here is my comment. About fifteen years ago I waas heading out to Big Bend National Park on a solo trip. There were several birds I wanted to see, especially raptors. At the top of the list was Caracara. When I searched the www for places to see Caracaras in Texas one place stood out. Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge: located between Houston and San Antonio. I had my doubts, but since the refuge was just about a good day's drive from my home, I stopped for the night in Sealy.

Next morning I was at the refuge bright and early and my hopes were more than fulfilled. I spotted a Caracara within minutes of arriving. And shortly thereafter the White-tailed Hawk was added to my life list. Lots of other birds were there, but those two raptors were the ones I was most pleased about. The Caracaras were not very shy, and the way they liked sitting on fence posts made it easy to get good views.

Over the next few years I visited the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge two more times and saw Caracaras each time.

Caracara

Caracara

[doglegg]

Great pics Mel. Caracaras sometimes make it to the Dallas area but I've never seen one. Big Bend is a wonderful place to visit.

[Dinadan]

Thanks, Doglegg.

May is the best time of year to spot Kites in my area. Today I took a drive out into the country, and sure enough, I spotted plenty of Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites, along with some other birds. Kites are hard to photograph in flight because of their erratic flight as they pursue bugs and and just generally cavort in mid air. I thought I had lots of good photos, but most turned out to be either blurry or missing part of the bird.

Mississippi and Swallow-tailed Kites

Mississippi Kite

Swallow-tailed Kite

While I was watching the Kites an immature Bald Eagle flew across the pasture. He seemed to make the Kites leave for a few minutes, until he was past.

Eagle

Eagle

Eagle

A Red-tailed Hawk also soared over the pasture.

Red-tailed Hawk

And this Kingbird was sitting on a wire at the edge of the pasture.

Kingbird

All in all, I spent a pretty nice hour or so in that one area.

[MadeinUSA]

Male Baltimore Oriole enjoying the grape jelly

[MadeinUSA]

[doglegg]

Very nice Mel and Jim

[Dinadan]

Thanks, Doglegg.

Jim, those are some very cool Oriole and Woodpecker photos!

[Waukonda]

There have been several Cedar Waxwings feeding in a Mulberry tree at the edge of the yard. I haven't managed to get a decent pic yet. A Bluebird perched out in the open while I was trying to catch the Waxwings.

[Dinadan]

There have been several Cedar Waxwings feeding in a Mulberry tree at the edge of the yard. I haven't managed to get a decent pic yet. A Bluebird perched out in the open while I was trying to catch the Waxwings.

Nice shots, Ike. My Mulberry Tree has been a real bird magnet. The leaves are so dense that it is hard to get good photos of birds feeding in the tree. But every now and then a bird pops out into the open for a photo shoot.

[doglegg]

Thanks for sharing Ike.

[doglegg]

Happened up on this hawks nest while out walking the other day. Pretty excited to notice it.

[Waukonda]

Thanks for the comments, Mel and Floyd.

Floyd, those are some good pictures! Did you see any adults?
There is a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks who have a nest in a grove of trees bordering my yard. It is pretty much hidden from my vantage point on the ground, no photos. That was a great.find for you, you can check them out from time to time, should be interesting.!

[Quick Steel]

The photos on this thread are superb, from Kites to Cedar Waxwings to ..........

[doglegg]

I went by the Red-shouldered nest for a while last evening. Mom stopped by a couple of times but was quick. The babies are getting big. A lot of wing flapping. Thanks for looking.

[Ripster]

I went by the Red-shouldered nest for a while last evening. Mom stopped by a couple of times but was quick. The babies are getting big. A lot of wing flapping. Thanks for looking.DSCN8359.JPGDSCN8401.JPGDSCN8412.JPGDSCN8422.JPG

Some excellent photos ! They’re growing fast .
Thank you for sharing . Have a great memorial weekend down there

[doglegg]

I went by the Red-shouldered nest for a while last evening. Mom stopped by a couple of times but was quick. The babies are getting big. A lot of wing flapping. Thanks for looking.DSCN8359.JPGDSCN8401.JPGDSCN8412.JPGDSCN8422.JPG

Some excellent photos ! They’re growing fast .
Thank you for sharing . Have a great memorial weekend down there

Thanks JP, enjoy yours as well.

[royal0014]

The hawk chicks brought a smile to my face.
Thank You

[doglegg]

The hawk chicks brought a smile to my face.
Thank You

Chris, they make me smile too. Thanks.