Wednesday Warblers

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia)


Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea)


Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina)


Northern Parula (Parula americana)


Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca)

All were taken last spring at HAS Boy Scout Woods in High Island, Texas.

As always, you can click on any of the images above to see a larger version. Also, check out World Bird Wednesday for more great bird photos from around the world.

Pretty in Pink

Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)
Spring fever is in the air all along the Texas Gulf Coast! And from what I hear, the rookery at High Island's Smith Oaks sanctuary is all aglow with the greens and pinks of happy egret pairs and spoonbill couples. (Can you say "twitterpated"?)

Unfortunately, I still have a week or two before I get to make that trek to High Island, so I'm biding my time by looking back at the shots from last year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.













Hopefully I'll get some better ones later this month!

As always, you can click on any of the images above to see a larger version. Also, check out Bird Photography Weekly #128 for more great bird photos from around the world.

On the Wing

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Taken at the Smith Oaks sanctuary in High Island, Texas.


As always, you can click on the image to see a larger version. Also, check out World Bird Wednesday for more great bird photos from around the world.

Wednesday Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica)

Nesting at the Rookery

We are counting down the days until spring migration and nesting season hit the Texas Gulf Coast.






nesting Great Egrets (Ardea alba)
Taken last spring at the rookery at Smith Oaks sanctuary in High Island, Texas.


As always, you can click on any image to see a larger version. Also, check out Bird Photography Weekly #128 and World Bird Wednesday XII for more great bird photos from around the world.

World Bird Wednesday: Prothonotary Warbler

Here is another bird I am looking forward to seeing again when spring migration wings its way through the Texas Gulf Coast in a couple of months. I spotted this pretty little female Prothonotary Warbler last spring at High Island.


Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)
As so often is the case in the world of birds, the male Prothonotary far outshines the female in terms of pure color and audacity. Unfortunately, the best shot I have yet to get of a male of the species pales in comparison to the image above. This one is from the year before, down at Brazos Bend State Park:


With a little luck (and a whole lot of time and patience), I hope to get some better views of this radiant warbler once April rolls around again.



As always, you can click on any image to see a larger version.

For some great bird photos from around the world, check out this week's installment of World Bird Wednesday.

The Daily Bird: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)

Signs of Spring: Yellow-Rumped Warblers

I'm beginning to see more and more of these little fellows all over town. We must be getting closer to spring.




Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)

Taken last spring at the Smith Oaks sanctuary in High Island, Texas.


As always, you can click on any image to see a larger version. Also, check out Bird Photography Weekly #127 for more great bird photos from around the world.

The Daily Bird: Swamp Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)
Taken last spring at Boy Scout Woods in High Island, Texas.

Dreaming of Spring

Today's downpour and the promise of more rain and cold over the next week have me dreaming of warmer, sunnier days. And nothing warms the soul like the radiant colors of tanagers during spring migration.


Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)
These two fellows were both life birds for me, seen last spring at Boy Scout Woods in High Island, Texas, just up the coast a couple of hours from Houston.


Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out this week's installment of World Bird Wednesday.

Blackburnian Warbler

This weekend I got to meet and spend the afternoon with fellow bloggers Dawn and Jeff Fine (of Dawn's bloggy blog) out at High Island, Texas. Dawn and Jeff are the nicest folks you could ever meet, and were quite willing to help this poor little warbler-ignorant blogger find a few treasures. And treasures there were aplenty!

The morning was a bit nasty, with rain and then a heavy foggy mist covering the area like the proverbial pea soup. Which, to our luck, turned out to be the perfect weather for bringing migrants in for our viewing pleasure. There were warblers, warblers everywhere! One of my favorites — a new addition to my life list, in fact — was this male Blackburnian Warbler:


Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca)




I'll post a few more pics from the High Island Migrant Extravaganza as soon as I have time to get them uploaded. In the meantime, check out Bird Photography Weekly #88 for more great bird photos from around the world.