Great Egret
I am on my way to New Mexico for the Festival of the Cranes, but I still have birds from Texas to finish up. This Great Egret was about to fly from its perch at Edinburg Scenic Wetlands World Birding Center in Edinburg, Texas. The light was still subdued on an overcast day, which is friendly to white birds. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Curved Billed Thrasher
So yesterday I confused the Rio Grande Valley speciality Long-billed Thrasher with the more common Brown Thrasher, because of the rufous on the wings. This is, I am pretty sure, a Curved-billed Thrasher, based on the overall grey look :). National Butterfly Center, Mission Texas. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Long-billed Thrasher
A Long-billed Thrasher from Edinburg Wetlands Scenic Wetlands World Birding Center in Edinburg, Texas. Edinburg Wetlands is my second most favorite place to photograph birds in Rio Grande Valley (after Estero Llano Grande State Park and World Birding Center in Weslaco). This Long-billed Thrasher was posing nicely near the entrance gate where they have constructed a new water feature and hung some hummingbird feeders. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Vermillion Flycatcher
Like the Green Kingfisher, the Vermillion Flycatcher is a bird that I do not like to leave South Texas without seeing, and, hopefully, photographing. Estero Llano Grande is always a good spot and they tend to hang out at the west end of the two big ponds…one or the other…on most visits. Sometimes they are close, and sometimes, like this year, they are at the limits of what my camera can manage. This shot is at 1200mm equivalent using Clear Image Zoom past the optical limit, and fairly heavily cropped at that. Still, the Vermillion Flycatcher is certainly one of the more spectacular examples of the species. This one was very busy hunting bugs over the water of the pond, and came back to sit in the same tree on an island about 50 yards from the boardwalk. Sony Rx10iv. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And here is a slightly heavier crop.
Scissor-tail Flycatcher
I was leaving the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas when I spotted my first Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (of this trip) on the wires over the road. The light was good, and there happened to be a wide enough margin between the road and the fence of the Butterfly Center for me to pull off, so I did and walked back for a few shots. The Scissor-tailed is certainly one of the more beautiful of North American flycatchers. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And, of course, I saw a dozen more Scissor-tailed Flycatchers on the wires in the first few miles of my way back to Harlingen.
Green Kingfisher
I always feel any trip to south Texas in not complete until I have had a chance to photograph a Green Kingfisher, and I do come home some years without one. This one was distant…way across a pond at Estero Llano Grande World Birding Center in Weslaco Texas…but it caught some kind of eelly thing and ate it…and with Clear Image Zoom out to 1200mm equivalent, I could just barely do it justice with a heavy crop. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
I went to Edinburg Wetlands World Birding Center in Edinburg Texas to look for kingfishers…some days you can see all three US kingfishers there: Ringed, Belted, and Green. Not yesterday. I had glimpses of Ringed and Belted but came away with no kingfisher photos. So it goes. The consolation prize, of which there were, of course, many, was this nice Buff-bellied Hummingbird posing at close range. Sony Rx10iv at 1200mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Cue the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
One of the last “lessons” in my Advanced Field Techniques class for Point and Shoot Nature Photographers is “birds in flight” and yesterday, at Estero Llano Grande World Birding Center in Weslaco Texas, we came back to the deck at the Visitor Center overlooking the pond to see if anything would give us a chance to practice. Cue the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks! We had two groups circling the pond in the space of 30 minutes, giving us plenty of opportunity to practice our skills. Most P&S superzoom cameras (or “bridge” cameras as they are sometimes called) have an effective “sports” mode that works well for birds in flight, so it is not as hard as it sounds. And, of course, my Sony Rx10iv has wonderful tracking auto focus and shots at up to 24 frames per second, with makes it as good as any camera made of bif. The light was less than ideal…one of those grey cold front south Texas days…but still, needs must. And we could not have had better targets. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Green Jay. We must be in the Rio Grande Valley
The other way you can tell you are in Texas, specifically in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, is the Green Jays. This one is at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, but they are present in large numbers everywhere in the Valley. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Kiskadee: This must be Texas!
We will take a break from Uganda today. I am in Texas for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, one of the oldest birding festivals in the US, and still going strong. This year we are in the brand new Harlingen Convention Center. I took a walk at the Hugh Ramsey Nature Park on the east edge of Harlingen yesterday morning, and this is the obligatory Great Kiskadee. We must be in Texas! Sony Rx10iv at 1200mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.