About Me...The Bird Brained Up Close & Personal

For the last 4 years of what is now going on 11 years living here in the Coastal Bend of the state of Texas, I have become an avid birder and amateur photographer of such. Bud and I were talking about the birds we've seen while birding and both wondered just how many different birds have been recorded in our state. Collectively, during migration, there have been a phenomenal number...recorded total [according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife site] is 615!! Some of which are only migratory, being that they don't 'settle' here but migrate in Spring and Fall from northern North America or south to the tropics of Central and South America...but, their migratory flight path crosses Texas. Of the 615, an estimated 333 cross our area of Texas to vast areas for breeding or southern wintering grounds. That boggles my mind.

Some have asked me how I got so interested in bird photography. Well, my previous paragraph kinda explains that in a nutshell. I live in Texas. But, I can tell you my 'love' of birds, as far as I can remember is around the tender age of 6 or 7. I got a chance to spend a month with my aunt who lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. I had a special upstairs room where...


...I slept there while visiting with her. Of course, we baked and played games, like any aunt would entertain her young guest...but my room was my young girl's sanctuary. And it had a window on one wall that looked out to a Black Walnut Tree!! It was a huge tree and not because I was so small...it was huge even when I returned as a married adult. Anyway, this one time of year I was there with her, a mating couple of Northern Cardinals nested and raised a family in the tree just outside that window. The beautiful red of the male, I looked forward to seeing daily. It has remained my all time favorite because of the 'history tied between me and the Cardinal".

Back in Colorado, as a youngster and teen, the Bald Eagle was my fascination. We'd see a lot of them nesting on the Rocky Mountain cliff-sides near where we lived. A few Golden Eagles could be seen at times. AND...my folks, even at their ripe, golden olden days before passing, had bird feeders. Oftentimes I'd sit and watch birds with them. After marrying Bud, one of the first things I had him do for me was to build bird feeder boxes that stretched across the entire window sills just outside the house....a huge picture window, the entire window boxed with feeders. We'd have dozens of seed eating birds frequent the feeders different times of the year. My favorites back then were the boisterous Blue Jays.

Then, retirement...we moved from the snowy land of the Colorado Rockies to the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Here, the Cactus Wren and Gambel's Quail caught my interest. Among other colorful birds we never saw in Colorado.

Texas then entered our lifestyle, only 'cause for decades I wanted to live in a mild clime with the sea close to me, after 50+ years of being landlocked, I wanted the vast open space and the salty air of nearby ocean...the Gulf of Mexico was a good choice. And I was flabbergasted as to the different birds, the numbers, we saw in our first season here. I had to have a good camera, and we decided it was healthy to go birding. We have been out and about, birding, at least three times a week since my passion erupted. Not only hunting for a certain species, but getting in a LOT of walking along the coast, the shorelines, and finding bird sanctuaries in the surrounding areas. To name a few, Indian Point, Port Aransas, Pollywog Pond, numerous parks, state and federal parks, Lake Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Brownsville, Victoria, Falfurrias, the Rio Grande Valley, Goliad, Rockport, Portland, and local areas within just minutes of home. On a side note: we flew to Hawai'i and found the state bird there...the Nene.

Other than expensive cameras, the hobby is minimal in cost, and a challenge to find some "new" bird. My count is up to 215 different species since I began charting the many birds in our area.  114 different bird photos are now framed and hanging in our dining room that we now call our bird sanctuary.   The one bird that was a challenge for me and my piddly 'little' camera was the one bird that is rare in our midst! The Brown Booby. Since it's not a bird that was supposed to be in Texas, and it showed up in our bay, the two of us decided to charter a boat and ask the boat owner to take us out into the bay for a close up photo session...he got paid good, so he obliged. And I got close up photos of the booby that I would have never been able to get without a large zoom that I didn't have back then.

I've learned a lot; birding!!! The seasonal plumage colors of any bird can change almost over night. Knowing now, there are at least 35 known sparrow families in America. The calls/songs are becoming more recognizable to me now. Like so many people who 'flock' to San Juan's Mission for the return of the swallows, I look forward to the Largest Land Bird in America, the Whooping Crane, to return to Texas with their offspring each year.  The habitat ranges I pretty well know, so if a vagrant shows up in our area, I know it's rare. For instance, the glossy ibis vs the white faced ibis [near identical coloring, but the eye ring is the tell-tale, distinguishing mark for difference in the two, also it's a bit warmer in color, but not all that much when viewing them in separate instances.  During breeding season, the difference is the glossy ibis has a 'broken' eye ring] Or the Ani....there are two. Groove Billed and Smooth billed. One is found in Texas while the other is more in Florida...The Texan "Ani" is groove billed!!! Other than the bill, the too are identical. We have put up with hungry insects, extreme heat, been caught in surprise storms...and come into contact sometimes near noisy, ignorant. people [considering themselves birders, yet...] who don't realize in order to see/find a particular bird, silence is golden!! I've also met some great people who are willing to share their knowledge and expertise in the subject of birding. One thing tho, sadly, our Audubon Society here in my area leaves a lot to be desired...the Audubon Family here seem to be interested in few birds...but loving their get-togethers for pot lucks and little birding excursions like I would be interested in doing!!

SOMETIMES I TRY TO ZOOM IN Up Close and Personal...



Tri-colored Heron


Great Tailed Grackle
The Grackle family have a few different species, but all so very similar. The closest to the Great Tailed in features is the BOAT Tailed Grackle. The boat tailed, tho, has dark eyes instead of the pale yellow as the Great Tailed. The common grackle are smaller with a 'not so broad' beak!! They're ALL found throughout Texas.

A few of my favorites other than the Cardinal I've sighted - by thumbnail [enlarge if interested]:

Raptors/Fishers:

Osprey the Fisherman of birds also known as the Fish Eagle

Most colorful:

Painted Bunting [male]...the female is beautiful too with mostly brilliant lime green plumage

Oddest:

Roseate Spoonbill

Songster/songstress:

Tho the Texas State Bird, the mockingbird has such an array of calls, and a most beautiful sound, it's such a frequent visitor in our area, I would rather say my favorite song I hear would be from the:

The Common Loon

The rarest...all the way from Europe to Texas:

Bar Tailed Godwit

::spotted, photographed at Hans Suter Refuge in our city! Then again, later in the season at Cole Park in town::

Most challenging:

ANY WARBLER!! or

Chuck Will's Widow [highly elusive and VERY skittish!]

Water Bird:

[rare, not seen but on water usually]

Magnificent Frigatebird

Ugliest:

You'd probably suspect I'd say either of the two vultures seen in Texas. But no. It's the:

Wood Stork

...Spotting and photographing a 'new bird' is always exciting!  Several are still on my 'local' list to photograph; a couple would be the pileated woodpecker [reported seen at times near Victoria, Texas] and the Wood Duck! The ducks are in the Corpus Christi area, but I haven't found one yet!!  I've painted one tho, and framed the watercolor as I've sketched and painted other birds...you can find some on my sidebar, linked just under my easel in a drop down menu.  My next art project, which I've sketched on my watercolor pad, is the woodpecker mentioned.  Sometime soon I'll begin painting it.