Birds and Nature

I photographed this Cattle Egret during the Weslaco Christmas Bird Count. It reminded me of Pegasus, the mythical winged horse. SeEtta

A specialty of southern Texas and eastern Mexico, this Long-billed Thrasher also came in to the water features (there are three) at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge for a long drink. SeEtta Moss

This RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN, a vagrant from Mexico, has been seen at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge over a month ago and is still being seen regularly. I arrived at 10:15 and was amazed when it showed up at 10:23. It stayed for about 2 minutes as it drank 7-10 times from the water feature next to the Visitor Center about 25-30 feet from where several of us birders watched. It was pretty shady in this area so the photos were a little dark I included the rear view pic as most birders only post frontal photos, while there are times in the field when birders only get to see a bird from behind. Double-click on each photo for closer views. SeEtta

I photographed this Carolina Wren at Hildago Pumphouse (where they used to pump water from the Rio Grande River for many farm fields). South of the McAllen,TX, this location is adjacent to the Rio Grande River and just across the border from Mexico. There were also 2 Black Phoebes on the Hildago Pumphouse grounds. SeEtta