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