Posts in Category: Rio Grande

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.

Dancing Cranes…

It has been one of the most spectacular weeks in memory at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and the Festival of the Cranes in Socorro, New Mexico. The birds are in and close, the light has been simply wonderful (even by NM standards, which is saying a lot), and there is a lot of action in the flocks. This “dance” is part of the year long mating ritual, and it is a behavior you will see if you spend any time watching cranes. Sony RX10iv in my customized Birds in Flight adaptation of Program Mode. Processed in Polarr.

Common Paraque, 2018 version :)

This Common Paraque has roosted beside one of the trails at Estero Llano Grande State Park and World Birding Center for so many years in a row that has to be the most photographed bird in Texas. There are always two along this short stretch of trail, but most years we only find one of them…this one, or at least the one sitting in this spot. This year the second was about 4 feet behind this one, kind of on the same line, and also in plain sight. You have to understand that “in plain sight” means something different for Paraques than it would for most birds. Even though I knew the second bird was there, since others were seeing it, it still took me 5 minutes to find it…sitting right out in plain paraque sight. The difference in the 2018 version of my yearly Paraque photo is that this bird is wet…or very damp at the least…since it was raining on and off the morning we visited Estero Llano Grande. Of course, I have only ever photographed this bird in sunlight once in all the years I have been going to Texas in November…even on a bright day it is tucked in under deep shade. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Anti-motion Blur mode. (A special mode that takes multiple images and stacks them for better performance in low light.) Processed in Polarr.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Here is something you don’t see everyday…a Yellow-billed Cuckoo sitting right out in plain sight. This very wet and very bedraggled cuckoo was feeding near the boardwalk at the Birding Center on South Padre Island, Texas, part of a wave of migrants coming through with the storm front. The bird continued to feed in plain sight as long as we watched it. It even perched on the boardwalk for a moment. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr.

Clouded Sulphur on Turk’s Cap

It was a very slow day for birds in the Rio Grande Valley. We went to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. Lots of butterflies and dragonflies…more than I have seen there in years, but practically no bird activity. Very strange. After Santa Ana we went to Fronteria Audubon in Weslaco, Texas where the buzz of the day was a intermittently visible Golden-winged Warbler. We missed the warbler by minutes on several occasions, but again the butterflies did not disappoint. This Clouded Sulphur on Turk’s Cap was one of the last photos I took there before heading back to the hotel to cool off before evening activities. Sometimes nature provides light you would be hard pressed to duplicate in the studio. I should add a disclaimer here. I am not a butterfly expert and if someone were to tell me this is an Orange Sulphur and not a Clouded, I would not be totally surprised and in no way offended. 🙂 Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr.

Take off…

Sandhill Crane, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro New Mexico

I have lots of images of Sandhill Cranes landing at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on the Rio Grande River, south of Socorro, New Mexico, but considerably fewer of Cranes taking off. Unless you can catch the whole sequence, which is interesting, there is way less drama in the take off. 🙂 This is such a sequence, done up into a collage in PhotoTangler on my Android tablet. It goes top left to right, and than bottom left to right, if that is not obvious.As you can see, the Crane runs a few steps before launch…or this one did. I have also seen them leap directly into the air where the water is a bit deeper. 

Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. My custom Birds in Flight Mode. 1/1000th @ f5 @ ISO 100. Processed in Snapseed on my Android tablet. Assembled in PhotoTangler. 

Just a few Snow Geese…

Snow and Ross’ Geese, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro New Mexico

Snow and Ross’ Geese rising from Flight Deck Pond, just moments after I first turned onto the Tour Loop at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro New Mexico last week. 

Sony RX10iii at 92mm equivalent field of view. 1/1000th @ ISO 100 @ f6.3 (Program Mode). Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.