Photo ABCs

White-tailed Deer

White-tailed Deer roam freely on Goose Island, near Rockport, Texas:

Here is a young buck, with an older one in the background:

Goose Island State Park Birding: Northern Mockingbird, Ladder-backed Woodpecker

A Ladder-backed Woodpecker visits Goose Island State Park:

A Northern Mockingbird.

Some notable bird photographers say never to shoot a bird with side-lighting. What do you think?

(I actually avoid side-lighting most of the time, but when the background is dark I think it works just fine!)

Goose Island State Park Birding: Sparrows

Near Rockport, Texas is Goose Island State Park.

The park has feeders, which is an excellent place to see a variety of birds.

I'm always happy to see a Lincoln's Sparrow:

The Field Sparrow is only found in the eastern half of the United States, and in only a sliver of Canada or Mexico.

This is only the second Field Sparrow I've photographed, the other being in North Dakota.

Not a sparrow!

The female Red-winged Blackbird does look like an overgrown sparrow. Upon seeing one without its male counterpart nearby, it's easy to ask "What sparrow is that?"

Photographed in January of this year.

Red-tailed Hawk

This gorgeous Red-tailed Hawk takes flight.

Photographed along the roadside outside of Falfurrias, Texas, in January of this year.

Did you know?

Many Red-tailed Hawks in the east, like this one, are lighter in color than our Red-tailed Hawks in California and the west?

National Butterfly Center: Northern Cardinal

A female Northern Cardinal, photographed at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, in January of this year:

National Butterfly Center Birding: Audubon's Oriole

One bird we wished to see in the Rio Grande Valley was Audubon's Oriole.

The only location it had been recently sighted was at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas.

So that is where we headed on our last morning in Texas.

Sure enough, this beautiful bird, and others, visited the feeders:

South Texas is the only spot in the United States to see this lovely bird, though apparently its range is expanding northward.

Photographed in January of this year.

National Butterfly Center Birding: Altamira Orioles

Despite its name, the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, is a great place to see and photograph birds.

These Altamira Orioles were visiting its feeders on a rainy January morning of this year.

The adult Altamira Oriole is a rich orange color with a black back:

The immature Altamira Oriole has a more yellowish-orange color and an olive back:

Laguna Atascosa: Armadillo, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Little Blue Heron

After a very successful morning birding at South Padre Island, my birding friends and I drove to nearby Laguna Atascosa.

An armadillo greeted us in the parking lot.

We were disappointed to see very few birds. The visitor center was closed, with no food in the bird feeders, so the typical feeder birds were not present.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in and took a drink from the small pond, and was probably equally disappointed not to see the feeder birds!

This Little Blue Heron hunted in the nearby bay:

Photographed in January of this year.

Gray Catbird

A Gray Catbird, photographed on South Padre Island in January of this year:

Roseate Spoonbill

The Roseate Spoonbill is one of the more spectacular (and unusual) birds in North America.

While found in much of Mexico, Central and South America, in the United States it is found only in the gulf states and Florida.

Photographed at South Padre Island, Texas, in January of this year.