Birds and Nature

I photographed this young Painted Bunting on South Padre Island in early May when a lot of neotropical migrants were stopping over so I couldn't keep up with them all.  I believe this is an immature male as in addition to the greenish upperparts there is almost reddish feathering on it's underparts. Like a number of songbirds it waited for other birds, especially big ole grackles, to get out of the water before it entered.  It finally go in but it was in a location that I couldn't get pics.SeEtta

I spotted this Painting Bunting at Hugh Ramsey Nature Park this afternoon but was only able to get these pics that were from 70 or so feet away (used 300 mm lens which has equivalent to 450 mm as my camera is not full frame, then cropped the pics severely). These green buntings are either females or subadult males. As I see some blue on its wing and maybe on it's back I expect this is a subadult male but am hoping that I may get some feedback from those who have more experience with this species who can clarify this (and that is why I am putting the bottom pic here as it is not very good. Also saw a Black-throated Green and 1-2 Chestnut-sided Warblers and a couple of empidonax flycatchers. SeEtta

In addition to the rare warblers below, there were a lot of other neat migrants at the South Padre Island Convention Center Gardens this past week including 2 male Painted Buntings. Interesting how the light changes the shade of the colors on this/these bird(s) (not sure if these were of the same or different birds) There was only one Rose-breasted Grosbeak. But a group of 5 male Dickcissels that fed together and also perched near each other. SeEtta

I couldn't help but take several photos of the colorful bird. It looks like it is one of the first to return to this area. SeEtta

I birded an area called Chalk Cliffs Park (actually a private location that has day passes for $8 for those not staying there. I hadn't even gotten out of my car when I spotted this beauty. SeEtta

This is another bird that I saw at the So Padre Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary. This bird appears to be a male but it certainly is not in full Definitive Basic/Alternate (same for males) plumage like the Painted Bunting a few posts below. I suspect this bird is in partial Pre-Alternative Molt. According to Birds of North America online, this molt occurs for this species between Jan 1 and May 31. SeEtta

This female Painted Bunting was foraging in the same location as the male pictured in the post below. Though her plumage is not as brilliant as that of the male, she was still quite colorful with her bright greenish feathers. She was less reticent than the male so I got to watch her for several minutes and got several pics. A few blue feathers on the shoulder area and a few around the head area show up in several pics. Birds of North America online states that females in Basic I plumage may have blue feathers on their heads. This female and the male Painted Bunting, in addition to foraging close together, interacted at one point. This makes me wonder if they are paired-up. SeEtta

I found this male Painted Bunting at Santa Ana NWR today. These guys are one of the brightest and most colorful landbirds that we see in the U.S. Do double-click on the pic to enlarge it--the close-up is even better. SeEtta