Birds and Nature

POST NOTE: I took most of these videos from between 50 and 75 feet and they are magnified by the fact I took the video through my spotting scope. I was able to take this and the previous videos this close because the wheatear flew into a wood pile about 50 feet from where I was standing. This last video clip is pretty short but quite nice because I had lighting that let the color on the bird show through. I am not enlarging the screen on this one because the original size provides a crisper view that stands out with the color. SeEtta

POST NOTE: The bird was about 50-60 feet away in the top pic as it had flown into a woodpile about 50 feet from me. The bird was more than 75 feet away in the bottom pic and on the other side of a barbed wire fence (slightly visible) in a field. In the top video clip the Northern Wheatear I videoscoped on Jan 6 in Bee County,Texas actually perches in one position for 19 seconds (quite awhile for this bird) on top the wood-pile then quickly flies down out of view. In the top video clip the bird bends forward as though to pick up a seed, then gives a rear view as it bobs it's tail. At the end it turns, looks towards the birders then scurries quickly out of view. By the way, I haven't noted that I am hand-holding the camera to my spotting scope so sometimes I'm not perfectly still. Stay tuned to next post for last video clip. SeEtta

POST NOTE: I took these pics by putting my camera up to my spotting scope which provides super enlargement. The bird had flown into a wood pile about 50 feet from me as I was talking to the property owners brother so the bird was from about 50-75 feet in these digiscoped pics. I have cropped the pics to enlarge them. I got to see another big rarity that was located north of Corpus Chrisi,Tx. This was another easy decision as it was less than a 20 mile detour off the highway I was taking north to San Antonio, on the first leg of my trip home. I have seen postings that this is a second Texas state record for this bird. According to the Patuxant Wildlife Research Center, "North American range restricted to parts of Alaska and Yukon-casual stray to rest of United States and Canada." SeEtta

Having found two LeConte's Sparrows in a week was made sweeter when this bird came out into the open and stayed put for at least 5 minutes while I snapped pics and slowly approached closer. I was very pleased to get the top pic that shows the bird's nape quite nicely. I got these pics from only about 25 feet away. At the CBC compilation we found out there were about 5 LeConte's Sparrows found on this count and all were in or around the Estero Llano Grande State Park.

First I spotted a LeConte's Sparrow during the La Sal Vieja Christmas Bird Count on Dec 27 then this one on Jan 3 during the Weslaco CBC at Estero Llano Grande State Park--these are the first two LeConte's I have ever seen. Only a few of these have been found back in Colorado where their status is of very rare vagrant. So it was pretty cool to find two in less than a week. SeEtta

POST NOTE: All videoscoping and digiscoping of the Bare-Throated Tiger-Heron by me were taken from a distance of no less than 100 feet but up to 160 feet and only from the authorized roads and trails authorized by Tx State Parks. I took these two video clips of the BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON on 12-31-09. They do not have as much action as my first video clip but they do provide a realistic view of a bird that stands in place to do much of it's hunting. In the top video the bird starts with it's head in a forward position and quickly moves it back up. Then someone walks in front of the spotting scope followed by the bird hunting in position but moving it's head small amounts back and forth. In the bottom video clip, which was taken not long after the video clip of the bird engaged in feeding behavior (and posted 2 posts below), displays some chewing-like behaviors towards the end of the clip (sorry for the white spot, it's some kind of reflection that can be diffi

This photo by Hays Cummins, Miami University is copyrighted and posted here by permission from his website A Tropical Bird Collection This is an ultimate photograph of a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron in Costa Rica that shows ultra-up close details of an adult bird. Compare the plumage of my digiscoped pics of the Bentsen BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON below. SeEtta