On my first birding trip of the year on Sunday, I went to Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR for the first time in a long while and saw so many raptors, including this Short-eared Owl. Also saw an American Pipit. Both were new lifers. Bodes well for the year! #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Speckles&Spots From last month at Estero Llano Grande NWR (TX), this Ladder-backed Woodpecker was bedecked and bedazzled with speckles and spots! #birds #originalcontent #photography

#BirdoftheDay #CaughtinMotion From last month at Estero Llano Grande SP (TX), I caught this Black-chinned Hummingbird (either female or immature male) at the photo blind. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #GoodLight A very happy #FeatheredFriday to all!! I love morning light for photographing birds. Marsh Wren, #BrazosBendSP, from New Year's Eve day. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Sparrows (alternate) From my final birding trip of 2025, yesterday at #BrazosBendSP, I hunted down this very elusive Swamp Sparrow hiding in the marsh grasses. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶 Happy New Year and Good Birding, Y'all!!

#BirdoftheDay #Reflections A pair of Blue-winged Teals from earlier this month at #AnahuacNWR. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

For #TextureTuesday, there is a lot happening visually in this photo of a Green Darner from November 2025 at #AnahuacNWR, but I like it! #nature #randomnature #originalcontent #photography 📷

#BirdoftheDay #BranchingOut Not a new lifer, but the first time I got a decent photo of a Clay-colored Thrush was at Estero Llano Grande SP earlier this month. Also, not the most exciting bird but we all have our place in this world! #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #BirdButts This Wild Turkey from Bentsen-Rio Grande SP (TX) from earlier this month seems to define ruffled feathers! #birds #originalcontent #photography

From earlier this month at Bentsen-Rio Grande SP (TX), this is definitely the best photo I got of a new lifer, a Harris's Hawk that posed oh-so-nicely for me! #birds #originalcontent #photography #birdoftheday #favourite 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Outstretched An American White Pelican coming in for a landing at Edinburg Scenic Wetlands (TX) in maximum stretch mode. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Happy #FeatheredFriday (and Eat Pie for Breakfast Day)!! From my #mostrecent birding trip to #AnahuacNWR, a Burrowing Owl hopped out into the open from under a boardwalk and I got precisely one photo before s/he flew off. #birds #birdoftheday #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Happy Holidays from Texas where we generally spend Christmas Day in short sleeves in the sunshine. (I loved that bear!)

#BirdoftheDay #Contrast #FaceOff I have a twofer for today's themes. This Altamira Oriole certainly stands out whilst also giving me quite the look! Estero Llano Grande SP (TX), December 2025. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

From earlier this month, a #TextureTuesday offering. (Also #somelines for @johnmurrell.bsky.social!) A detail from an exhibit at the MFA Houston. See below for the full picture. #art 1/2

#BirdoftheDay #SideProfiles I finally finished going through photos from South Texas. At 9 venues along 145 miles, I saw roughly 92 different species with 6 new lifers. And 2 days out of the week were bad weather! White-tipped Dove, Estero Llano Grande SP #birds #originalcontent #photograpy 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Grounded I loved the detail that I was able to capture of this beautiful little Olive Sparrow, taken at Laguna Atascosa NWR (TX) earlier this month. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

I'm still going through photos from my week-long trip to South Texas that ended a week ago (I try to take fewer photos, but I never do.) This one from Laguna Atascosa NWR felt like a Monday kind of post. It reminds me of Houston rush hour, but prettier. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #AbouttheKids From earlier this month at South Padre Island Birding Center, I saw my first juvenile Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. The head and eye are unmistakable, but the rest of the color pattern will change a lot going into adulthood. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Happy #Critterday!! From my recent trip to South Texas, I got a better look at a Nilgai at Laguna Atascosa NWR than the last time I was there. I'm including more info in an article in the replies explaining how this invasive species came to S Texas and what it means. #originalcontent #photography 📷🦊

It's been way too long since I've gotten out here for sunrise! #AnahuacNWR #originalcontent #photography 📷

#BirdoftheDay #BirdsonFeeders Happy #FeatheredFriday!! Just enough time to share this Golden-fronted Woodpecker from Estero Llano Grande State Park last week. Have a great day! #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #QuietObservers This is literally the last picture I took on my final day of birding in South Texas last week. Poor weather with fog had me about to give up, but I went down one last trail and found this new lifer, a Black-throated Sparrow. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Groups Thankfully, I have my ducks in a row for today's theme of #Groups! (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, #AnahuacNWR, November 2025. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Last week in Mission, Texas, I saw a new lifer in a most unexpected way. I didn't even have my camera with me! As I walked out of a restaurant, I was greeted with the cacophony of a group of wild Green Parakeets. #birds #originalcontent 1/2

#BirdoftheDay #ScratchersandPruners Black-bellied Whistling Duck getting in a good scratch, #AnahuacNWR, January 2025. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #HeronsandEgrets Heading home momentarily! But in the meantime, enjoy this Great Blue Heron. His/her neck contraction looks almost as complicated as the combover-wraparound action of that orange weirdo. Laguna Atascosa NWR, December 2025. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Happy #Critterday!! Because sometimes you see more than birds on the trail. Javelina (Collared Peccary), Laguna Atascosa NWR, December 2025 #notabird #originalcontent #photography 📷🦊

#BirdoftheDay #Splashes Happy #FeatheredFriday!! (It is Friday, isn't it?) From this week at Estero Llano Grande State Park (TX), an Altamira Oriole enjoying a bird bath. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay, Part 2 #AlansNemesis I took this one about 2 hours ago at Edinburg Scenic Wetlands and World Birding Center (TX) of a Ringed Kingfisher flying low across the water. @alan678.bsky.social #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #AlansNemesis Is the Kingfisher a nemesis for @alan678.bsky.social because they are difficult to capture at times? I was lucky to catch this Belted Kingfisher pausing to eat its breakfast at #AransasNWR back in February. (Previously posted) #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Nestbuilders From the archives (March 2024) at Smith Oaks Audubon Sanctuary, High Island, TX, this Great Egret, displaying its breeding finery, gets ready to place a stick as it works to finish the nest. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Hope everyone is having a lovely day! I may be posting a bit irregularly the next week as I hit the road for a little birding in South Texas. From last December's trip to the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, some beautiful Brown Pelicans. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Movement From April at Estero Llano Grande SP (TX), this Black-crested Titmouse was hopping about in a successful effort to look totally adorable. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Happy #FeatheredFriday!! It was a cold morning at #BrazosBendSP on Tuesday and this Little Blue Heron was hunkered down and letting the sun do its work. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶 1 of 2

#BirdoftheDay #Songbirds Immature White-crowned Sparrow, Durango, CO, October 2025 #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekWforWindows Translation from Google Translate: "Behind these buildings, the Schwerin Synagogue has stood since 1773. It was destroyed during Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938. The new Schwerin Synagogue was inaugurated on December 3, 2008." Schwerin, Germany, July 2010

#BirdoftheDay #LookingatYou This Black-chested Jay was definitely looking at me and didn't seem all too pleased with me either! National Aviary of Colombia, March 2025. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Allen’s hummingbird, 12/02/25 #Birds #Photography #Nature #GumGrovePark

#BirdoftheDay #Stripes I spotted this Northern Harrier on the hunt last week at #AnahuacNWR. Here the harrier is looking down toward its prey, ready to pounce. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #LongTails (alternative) I just so happen to have a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher photo that I hadn't gotten around to posting yet. #BrazosBendSP Oct 2025 #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Reflections I've found that Black-necked Stilts are generally very cooperative models for reflection photos. #AnahuacNWR, December 2024 #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #BerriesandBeaks A Gray Catbird amongst the mulberries. In the Spring in South Texas, the mulberry trees are the main attraction for both locals and migratory birds. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Happy #Critterday!! My favorite local wildlife refuge abuts a cattle ranch and it isn't unusual to see them as you drive down the road. They always turn, look at me and seem to say "J'accuse!" I think I'll skip that Whataburger. #originalcontent #photography 📷

Another #random photo from the archives to cheer your day. Zinnias at Bellingrath Gardens in Alabama, May 2025. #flowerfriday #flowers #originalcontent #photography 📷

#BirdoftheDay #MorningLight Happy #FeatheredFriday!! (Also, Happy Have-Some-Pie-for-Breakfast Day. IYKYK) Tricolored Heron in the morning light at #AnahaucNWR from last weekend. That is one beautiful bird! #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

#BirdoftheDay #Headshots I've been looking for an excuse to post this beauty, a King Vulture seen (in captivity) at the National Aviary in Colombia. A face only a mother could love. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Happy Turkey Day, Y'all!! Wild Turkeys, Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, April 2025 #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶 #thanksgiving

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekVforVowels A is for Anhinga. This one was busy drying its wings. February 2025, #BrazosBendSP (TX) #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶 I guess this one can double for #BirdoftheDay #OntheEdge. Way too many hashtags!

Last week at Lost Maples State Natural Area (TX), I heard a lot of birds, but I only saw one during my morning of hiking. Thankfully, it was a cute one. Black-crested Titmouse. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶