Summer Tanager

2024-04-22 SPI Convention Centre
2024-04-22 SPI Convention Centre

Near mid-day the sky began a light rain at Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary. So, having already captured so many birds my head was spinning, I collected my gear and headed back…

2024-04-22 Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary
2024-04-22 Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary

Monday, the birding gods blessed us with a *significant* fallout. Most of us here have seen a *MAJOR* fallout, where birds carpeted the lawns and filled the trees. Monday’s event…

Memories of Kickapoo Caverns State Park
Memories of Kickapoo Caverns State Park

In October-2022, I spent two nights at Fort Clark in Brackettville Texas. It was my base camp during my tour of Kickapoo Caverns State Park, about 30 miles away. In…

2023-07-13 Paton’s In Patagonia
2023-07-13 Paton’s In Patagonia

My day at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds Thursday was lovely. I came early and stayed late. I spent some quality time with the site manager. He provided me with…

2023-07-12 Arizona’s Huachuca Canyon
2023-07-12 Arizona’s Huachuca Canyon

After coming off the Chiricahua Mountains Monday and getting breakfast in Sunsites, I pushed my way over roads I’d not traveled in a very long time. It carried me through…

2023-07-04 Gage Gardens, Marathon TX
2023-07-04 Gage Gardens, Marathon TX

Tuesday morning I broke camp early at the rest area 20 miles east of Marathon Texas. I drove to town and had breakfast at the Oasis Cafe. Marathon has a…

2023-Early July At Kickapoo Caverns
2023-Early July At Kickapoo Caverns

As I write these notes, I have returned to my southern California homestead. The past three weeks have been so hectic, I have not had time to properly tell the…

2022-09-11 Sunday on South Padre Island
2022-09-11 Sunday on South Padre Island

After breakfast Sunday, I stopped at Sheepshead, where I met a Northern Parula and a more typical female Blackburnian Warbler than the bird I met on Saturday at the SPI…

2022-09-06 SPI Convention Centre
2022-09-06 SPI Convention Centre

What can I say about the South Padre Island Convention Centre I’ve not said already? For me, last Tuesday had an added enjoyable dimension to my visit, when my friend…

2021-05-02 SPI On A Sunday
2021-05-02 SPI On A Sunday

I spent Sunday at South Padre Island (Texas) and couldn’t resist shooting flycatchers. For most of us interested in learning to identify birds, small flycatchers are among the most difficult…

2021-04-17 SPI, Great Birds, Lousy Weather
2021-04-17 SPI, Great Birds, Lousy Weather

Well friends, I said I would limit my photo shooting time in the field to half days. The strategy would allow me to process my images and tell my stories…

2021-04-15 SPI And Three Bags Full
2021-04-15 SPI And Three Bags Full

I had an exceptional day at the SPI Convention Centre. I met three new bird species: Veery, Dickcissel, and Black-Billed Cuckoo. Not that the rest of the birds I met…

2021-04-11 SPI: New Actors and Familiar Faces On Stage
2021-04-11 SPI: New Actors and Familiar Faces On Stage

I should have learned my lesson by now. This day reminded me when I’m trying to track a subject bouncing through the canopy, the effort is all-consuming. There’s not always…

2021-04-06 SPI Reruns
2021-04-06 SPI Reruns

If the show is good enough, it bears watching repeatedly. A second look may teach us something new. We might see something worthwhile that we missed on the first go-round.…

2020-05-15: The Bosque at Tingley Beach
2020-05-15: The Bosque at Tingley Beach

Sadly, my friend Jerry has since passed away. He is sorely missed. My friend Jerry Goffe retired from his forensic photography business a few years ago and devoted his time…

Memories of Breeze Lake Texas
Memories of Breeze Lake Texas

My first birding expedition into Texas was in the spring of 2020. After being on the road since February 21st, on Monday, March 23rd, the world-wide panic from the pandemic…

2020-04-17: Feeder Vigil in Brownsville
2020-04-17: Feeder Vigil in Brownsville

I believe I’ve identified the birds in the gallery below correctly, but I welcome any corrections that experienced Texas birders might care to share. I’ve always tried to be a…

2017-05-05 Best of Arizona
2017-05-05 Best of Arizona

I spent from 2017-04-22 through 2017-05-04 touring some great bird locations in Arizona. The places I managed to visit during this time were Agua Caliente Park, Sabino Canyon, Mount Lemmon,…

2017-05-01 2 Days In The Santa Rita Mountains
2017-05-01 2 Days In The Santa Rita Mountains

With instructions to find Florida Canyon, I headed south from Tucson to explore new places. I’ve visited nearby Madera Canyon twice before, but I’d been hearing about Florida Canyon for…