Birds and Nature

I spotted this Black-throated Green Warbler at Quinta Mazatlan Birding Center. It shows the bright yellow face with olive auriculars but little of the black colored throat found on males of this species. Instead the small amount of black on the throat is indicative of a female or immature bird. Photos show the white belly with blackish streaks on the side that are also field marks of this species. SeEtta

I spotted this Gray Hawk on a utility line next to Military Highway south of Pharr,TX. It spent it's time watching mostly on the ground below it for something presumably to eat. Gray Hawk is a tropical species found only in a few southwestern states bordering Mexico and mostly right along the border. They are one of the specialities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. As it is noted that this species mainly eats small birds and lizards I suspect it was watching for lizards in this location next to the very busy Military Highway. It seemed odd to me to see this tropical hawk amongst all this urban utility wire clutter.  SeEtta

 This female Summer Tanager is almost brown. Birds of North America online says females plumage varies from yellow to mustard yellow.  I looked up mustard yellow and as can be seen from the bottom pic that does pretty much describe this female's plumage.  SeEtta

 I went back to Roselawn Cemetery this morning to try to get better photos of this and other birds than I got yesterday.  While still not sharp these pics are certainly better than the one I got yesterday.

 I also found this male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and the poor pic of the Yellow-throated Warbler also at Roselawn Cemetery today.  They were part of a mixed species flock foraging around the many trees in this cemetery.  SeEtta

 I found this bright male Summer Tanager today at the Roselawn Cemetery in McAllen, TX.   I also found a female Summer Tanager, also brightly colored, but didn't any pics of her.  SeEtta