[BrassMan]

Love that oriole picture! That's a prize-winner. I have only a little shirt-pocket camera, so I don't get a lot of great bird pictures. I do better with cats. Here's the best bird picture I ever took. Hard to believe I actually snuck up behind this critter, but I did. He was resting out of the wind on our balcony. That's a 2 x 4 he's perched on, which'll give you an idea of how big he was.

 

[BrassMan]

No, I don't mind. Here's a shot of what I was dealing with. I sneaked up behind this fella, stood to one side, held out the camera and clicked. Would you believe, with me inside the glass, and the wind howling outside, he/she heard that click and swiveled around to look? I had kept my arm in position and clicked the shot you saw above.

Here's another, later shot of the same owl, or a relative. I put out some hot dog pieces to attract it.

I have no idea why it was out in the daytime--ailing, perhaps?

 

[BrassMan]

We had quite a number of painted buntings migrate through here last month. They've headed north now. I never could get a decent picture of one, but a local photographer got this one. They're tiny!

 

[BrassMan]

I LOVE these pictures! That painted bunting is gorgeous! In which part of the country are they found?

I can't find my wife's bird book right now, but as I recall they migrate between Central and South America and the northern U.S. and Canada. As many species do, they tend to funnel through South Texas when they're on the move. Hummingbirds are big attractions here during migration season. Watchers along the gulf coast can see eight or more species on a given day. (They fatten up before flying all the way across the Gulf of Mexico.)

We might've seen a dozen or two painted buntings around our feeders over about a month. Neighbors three miles away, also with bird feeders, didn't see one. I guess we're lucky or just in the right place.

 

[BrassMan]

We have some friends in Mabank, Texas that had painted buntings this spring. I had never seen any. There is quite a big bird watching group here year round, but it is during my t'ai chi time so I can't go.

OK, I found my wife's bird book, and I was wrong about about the range of painted buntings. Their summer breeding range includes Texas, the border areas of Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Louisiana, as well as small bleedovers into neighboring states. The winter range is the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of southern Mexico, the southern tip of Florida, and Yucutan.

The owl picture, like I said, was the best bird photo I ever took. These are more typical of my bird-snapping efforts. I guess if I were serious I'd get rid of my shirt-pocket camera and get one of those "big gun" digital SLRs. I have better shots of hummers at feeders, but that doesn't seem fair.

 

[BrassMan]

SEEEE! Now that kinda stuff is what makes me wanna read a certain book. If I know the characters, when I read I feel at home.

Oh? Well, I can tell you if I knew there was a book where a kid thought clowns drove cars and had little clown kids, I'd check that book out!

 

[BrassMan]

Back to birds. Here's a heron I shot at Choke Canyon State Park (TX).

Full disclosure: this is two pictures. I got the bird flying across a trashy parking lot, but it looked better once I moved it over the lake. Both pictures were taken in the same place, at least, and fifteen minutes apart.

 

[BrassMan]

Great hawk, great pelicans!

We had some bird experts over last night and finally identified a bird we hear all the time but had never seen: the common paurauque. We thought it was some kind of whipoorwill because of its call. Turns out it's a night bird and it stays low in the grass after insects, so we're not likely to get a picture of it. There was a nearly full moon last night and no wind. We could hear several of these birds a couple hundred yards off.

Here's a shot from a friend in town. He heard a thump against a window and found this guy, knocked silly, on the ground. But he revived in a few minutes and zipped off.

 

[BrassMan]

Yup, cattle egrets. We're 200 miles south of you, Jeff. We've got 'em too.

 

[BrassMan]

Hmmm...not exactly birds, but since you brought it up, try this varmint:

These are actually neighbors:

OK; back to birds. Our bird expert friends say the owl I posted several pages back is a great horned owl. Here are some more local birds. In the second picture, it's not dead, it's just taking a dirt bath.

 

[BrassMan]

Nah. Not a contest. Besides, that was a Mexican longhorn, from Monterrey.

BTW, I shot some pelicans from a T-head restaurant in Corpus Christi a couple years ago:

 

[BrassMan]

It doesn't seem fair to post someone else's picture, but this one, which came from I know not where, you just gotta see. These are supposedly Australian parrots.

 

[BrassMan]

That was a friend holding the hummer. I guess his wife took the picture. The closest I ever came to holding a hummingbird was way back in junior high. We were at a cookout with friends, and I was wandering around their back yard at dusk--I could barely see. There was a clothespin left on their clothesline, and I grabbed it to pull it off...and it flew away! It was a surprised hummingbird. So I can't actually claim to have held one, but I did touch one once.

 

[BrassMan]

Nuts! I meant to post this on the pets thread. I'll move it. My bad! Sorry!

 

[BrassMan]

OK; back to birds. I love these guys. They're so curious and quirky. I've heard they can be trained to come up for hamburger, but since we have cats that probably wouldn't work.

 

[BrassMan]

Brassman, couldn't resist showing off one of my former neighbor's bulls. This is a Watusi in case you haven't seen them before. Awesome.

My apologies to all the bird people. I promise not to do it again.

Holy bull horns, Batman! That thing could gore an eighteen wheeler!

 

[BrassMan]

How did this thread get so low? Any pictures, anyone? I need pictures!

OK, OK. I warned you. Don't get me started!

Here are some wild turkeys which wandered across our yard a while ago. They're all around here but it's unusual to see them close like this. Usually we just hear them gobbling at sundown.

At no extra charge, here's a great horned owl:

Feel better now?

 

[BrassMan]

I think you're confused, Al. THIS is Wild Turkey:

Man, I'd love to see a flock of those in the back yard. Never much cared for the gobbling kind--I let those guys walk on through. Your kind I would have thrown a net over!

 

[BrassMan]

BrassMan,
Those turkeys are awesome! Thanks so much. Now I feel better....

Uncle Al, the sailor's pal! Just call--that's all.