More Birds of Central Texas

All of the following birds are common in Central Texas. 

First up, the Tufted titmouse.  If they haven't yet been separated into two distinct species, there are two races of Tufted titmice in Texas and Central Texas is on the dividing line between populations.  There is apparently some hybridization between the races.  This photo is of a Black-crested race which is the more common of the two in the Central Texas area.  There is also a Gray-crested race of which I failed to get a good photo. 

 

This is a photo of an Orange-crowned warbler visiting a suet feeder.  Ironically the same species of bird was visiting the same feeder several months previously.  This photo was taken in February.  The same species migrates up here in the spring/summer, but I'm fairly sure that I have seen them in the winter here in the PacNW occasionally.  

 Another photo of the Orange-crowned warbler...

And finally for this post, a male American goldfinch in transitional plumage. These birds are very common in Central Texas in winter, but some also over-winter in the PacNW.  An interesting question, and one that also applies to the American robins, is do these birds migrate from somewhere else to spend the winter here or are the same birds year-round residents? 

Birds of Central Texas

I finally figured out the problem with uploads to my blog.  I can upload using Firefox but not Internet Explorer!  I may start updating my blog more often, so if you're not a regular visitor to the site you might want to check back several blogs to insure that you're not missing any. 

These photos were all taken in Central Texas in February of this year. 

Male Northern cardinal...

 Lesser goldfinch which can be found in Central Texas year-round...

Northern mockingbird... the official State Bird of Texas...

Bewick's wren... 

Southwestern US Driving Trip

My apologies for not posting more regularly during the past few weeks. 

I’ve just returned from a 3+ week photographic/driving trip to the southwestern US. The short version of the trip: Malheur NWR (OR), Ruby Lake NWR (NV), Saguaro National Parks East and West (AZ), Portal and Cave Creek area (AZ), Bosque del Apache NWR (NM), Zion NP (UT), a magical drive through the Cedar Breaks National Monument area (UT), Bryce Canyon NP (UT) and Bear River National Migratory Bird Refuge (UT). I drove through snow on several occasions… not just along the road but falling from the sky. In addition to birds, I encountered coyotes, some magnificent wild horses, antelope, prairie dogs, moles, chipmunks, lizards, a snake and a skunk. My computer now holds some 2,000 new images that I’ll have to process and I’ll try to post some of the best ones on my blog.

Among the birding highlights:

• A Wilson’s snipe sitting on a fence post vocalizing;
• Both Red-winged and Yellow-headed blackbirds displaying;
• Lazuli buntings perched on grass stalks eating seeds;
• Scores of Yellow-rumped warblers, Wilson’s warblers, Yellow warblers, Hermit’s warblers, a Painted redstart, possibly a Lucy’s warbler and one or two others I’m not remembering or didn’t identify at the time;
• Scores of flycatchers, many Empidonax, which sadly, for the most part will be unidentifiable;
• Hummingbirds;
• A Western bluebird which was so close my camera and lens wouldn’t focus on it;
• Coots with young; and
• Many, many species that we never see here in the Pacific Northwest.

I mostly relaxed in cool (in some cases, almost cold) temperatures in the morning but in some areas of Arizona and New Mexico I had to give up birding during the middle of the day due to heat. Upon arriving back home I was greeted by cool weather… it rained much of the night and at 6am on Sunday it’s 50-degrees.

My plan is to first start posting some of the birding photos I took in Central Texas and Big Bend National Park back in February, but for some unknown reason the Blogspot software has quit letting me post photos.  I'll try to get to the bottom of the problem in the next several days.  I then plan to post photos of this recent driving trip through the Southwest US.  After that will be photos from a CA trip from a couple of years ago (which include a California Condor) that I need to process and post.  There's a lot of material at hand but it seems that there's precious little time to process it all!