Harris' sparrow, warblers, blue-bird, pileated

WOW!! I was out walking and noticed this new kid on the block... I didn't know what it was but knew I had never seen one before. Turns out it is a Harris' Sparrow, and they are quite uncommon around here. This youngster was born in the upper areas of Canada, and came a little further south for wintering than usual... (in other words, be sure you have a warm winter coat!!!)

He is quite gorgeous!!

Here is the resident red-bellied woodpecker in my neighborhood.

Here is a beautiful male eastern bluebird.

This must be the year of the pileated, I see them frequently after not seeing any for a long time!
I thought this turned out cool even though auto focus doesn't always focus on what you want! (look what she is doing to the tree!!!)

Warblers are tough to identify (at least for me) but I think these 4 are all Yellow-rumped Warblers... Since they are the most common fall warbler down here, that seems like a safe bet.

Anyway, wow, it is a pleasure to see the beautiful colors and to appreciate how far these tiny creatures have flown!

hawks

A funny thing happened on my walk tonight... it was a bit overcast and kind of dark for taking pictures, so I decided to take my better camera along with a bigger f-stop but less of a zoom. I noticed this tree with a cooper's hawk sitting there....

I moved over to lean on a fence to steady the camera when suddenly the hawk took off as another large shape was flying towards the tree...

Wow, this one was a bigger, red-shouldered hawk, that chased the smaller one away from this choice perch overlooking Mary's creek!

I continued walking a couple miles, and on the way back suddenly I looked up, and in a tree not 10' away from me, and 6 feet off the ground, was this most beautiful bird!

It was sure a good thing I had the camera set right, for this Red-Shouldered Hawk was gone in 2 seconds. Beautiful, isn't it! Wow.

wonderful birding this evening!

Wow, I haven't been riding the bike for a few days because it was so windy... look what the wind blew in!! First this cutie was singing away so I had to take his picture, I love the Carolina chickadees !

Then, riding in Independence Park, just after I crossed the bridge I thought I heard a Pileated Woodpecker, so I scanned the area with my binoculars, and was SHOCKED to see this beautiful red-shouldered hawk sitting there! Wow!

Wow, this is amazing! This is a male, because of the red stripe that extends from the beak. Look at the size of the hole he is making! This was one tree over from where the red-shouldered hawk was !

Anyone care to spend the night balancing on one leg up on the power line? I was stunned to see these white ibis' up there!

I liked this picture because it shows the size difference between a great and snowy egret!

Wow, all this in one hour! Thank You, Lord!

blue birds , egrets, and spoonbills

Who says a photo has to be totally in focus to work? I liked this one near PHS at dusk.

It is really hard to get the "blue" on the eastern bluebird at this time of day. It looks patriotic, doesn't it!

Wonder why they didn't name this the "eastern red white and blue bird?"

This one has nesting material in his beak, trying to impress someone?

I don't think she was too impressed... (hint... try some food) :)

Looks like some friends having a meal together...

Another group of roseate spoonbills, with a snowy egret! (The star flew out of the picture, sorry!)

Cool bike ride at dusk

You would think the great egret would be in pain with a neck so crooked... (no, I won't mention anything about politicians but there is a resemblance).

What happened to his head in the reflection?

These may be immature spoonbills, they were quite pale, but funny to watch!!

Glad to see this little skunk is getting better. At least it had a good appetite.Here it is digging some more.

photos from the last week

I think this is an American goldfinch in his winter coat (in Illinois last week)

Back in Texas, here is a family of Black-bellied Whistling ducks near PHS

Love the eastern bluebird! Very cute.

Up on the rooftop... some mourning doves .

Aha!! A flying osprey over Mary's creek!!

I guess I forgot daylight savings time was over. Old luna sure looks neat tonight riding home in the dark! I am still amazed that this little camera can get so much detail!