Split Season Mix

The first cool front has come through, the light is changing, and you can tell even now some birds are coming through, and some are gettin' ready to head south. Enjoy this week's offering of a split season mix.

 This furry-tailed tree rat doesn't even show the courtesy of using the provided eating utensils!

 The Yellow Warbler was spied out at the office, and now we've spotted one here in the yard. An unmistakable splash of yellow.

 The female Cardinal preparing to check out the drip for a quick bath.

 I heard the call of the Red-shouldered Hawk and just had to try to get a shot. Of course, as soon as I stepped into the clearing, he spied me and took off. I followed, and was able to get a couple of blurry long-distance shots. He was calling, another was calling, and he eventually flew back toward the other hawk.

 This Ruby-throat Hummingbird gave me a heated coal look!

 The male Lesser Goldfinch seems to like the black oil sunflower seed as much as the thistle, but more shells get dropped than eaten!

 Cardinal enjoying the water dish at the office deck. That's a young male House Finch getting a drink.

 Then the House Finches take their turn.

 The Chickadee dropped by and provided a pose.

 And the Black-crested Titmouse (Texas race) followed not far behind.

 A rare sighting at the yard bird bath; a Scrub Jay. 

We close with a special blessing on my birthday. A Blue Grosbeak dropped in below the old church feeder. I'm not sure that we've ever seen one here, and he was back this morning. Maybe we'll get some better shots before he moves on.

Late Summer Catchup, Vol. III

Well it's gettin' late, let's wrap this blog post marathon up! Enjoy Volume 3 of our late summer catchup. We offer a few shots of birds just passin' through, and some thrillers of the Ruby-throats.

 I do try to get shots whenever I can of birds around my flowering plants. This female Painted Bunting obliged by landing in the firebush plant close to the drip in the yard.

 A special favor in honor of our friend Annette Tewell, who loves those peaceful dove! This White-wing is not smart enough to understand this feeder is built for birds about a third his size! (oink, oink!)

 The young Mockingbird hanging around the office deck.

 The Kildeer frequent the fields up the road, but recently for the first time they visited our quickly drying pond. So at one time, the Kildeer and two kind of heron were out there partyin' it up!

 The young Night Heron still after it.

 My friend Nathan Motz will be able to explain the markings on this hummer for me. Obviously a Ruby-throat, but why just dots of color?

 What an amazing creation!

 So there!

 Just enough rain last winter to produce some berries on the Possum Haw Holly for this fall. Maybe I can get a shot of a Cardinal in the berries for Christmas. Stay tuned!

 Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Not skittish at all, will let me walk down to the edge of the pond for pictures.

 A little morning sun to light up the greens and golds in this female Ruby-throated hummingbird's back.

 I know they are out there, but rarely does the Yellow Warbler come up close to the deck at the office for a shot.

 He had to be passing through, because the Baltimore Oriole doesn't winter or summer in our area. Dan spotted this guy out beyond our office deck and said, 'Wes, I think there's something different out here!' Yup!

 This Ruby-throated Hummingbird has been very aggressively guarding the feeders at the office.

 Female Lesser Goldfinch.

 Looks like somebody switched on the throat light!

Looks like hot coals on his throat. Must scare somebody off!

Late Summer Catchup, Vol. II

The summer visitors provided a lot of variety this year, with our first sightings of a number of birds. Enjoy our volume 2 of our late summer catchup.

 This was a tough one to id, but I think we have a visiting Sparrow known as the Sharp-tailed Sparrow.

 Even now the Lesser Goldfinches continue to crowd the thistle sock as long as it's full.

 And late summer is when the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds show up. We have had quite a display from them recently.

 Some parting shots of the 'Wesley's Bunting'. His yellow bib on the breast sets him apart from other Painted Buntings. Haven't seen him recently, so we'll enjoy the pictures. (Thanks, Lucy!)

 This Painted Bunting was nicely framed by my oldest feeder, the old church house purchased in Fredericksburg.

 A little overexposed, but can't hold back that sun!

 Caught the Green Heron on our pond while we still had water. 

 He was clucking and flying back and forth, so I tried to get some shots of the action.

 So he lands by the big red-ear turtle, and I guess he's gettin' an attitude!

 And amazingly, the Yellow-crowned Night Heron drops by for some of the action as well. Interesting pose from the Heron.

 One more quizzical look from the Painted Bunting. Still seeing a lot of females, but the males are hiding in the woods.

 The tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, wheezing around up in the branches.

 The young Yellow-crowned Night Heron has been growing and honing his hunting skills on the pond.

We'll close with this shot of parent and child, lookin' for crawdads and minners!