Brown Pelican

These pictures were taken on February 16th, 2010 at the dock in Port Aransas. The Brown Pelican is the only pelican that will dive to catch fish.

Osprey

These pictures were taken on February 17th, 2010 At Aransas Pass. It is one of North Americas largest bird of prey and 99% of his diet is made up of fish. This guy can be found on all continents of the world except Antartica.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

These pictures were taken on February 12th, 2010 at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Weslaco Texas. Shooting hummingbirds with a flower is difficult. Not only do you have to get the bird in focus, but the flower should be in focus as well. For you camera buffs, I was shooting at 1/8,000 of a second, f 7.1 and ISO=800. The bird is in pretty good focus but the flower isn't. I've got lots to learn for doing this. A smaller flower would have helped.

Great Blue Heron

This picture was taken on February 17th 2010 at Rockport, Texas.

Black Crowned Night Heron

These pictures were taken on February 16th, 2010 at Paradise Pond, Port Aransas, Texas.

Great Tailed Grackle, female

This picture was taken on February 17th, 2010 at Pioneer RV Park, Port Aransas, Texas. This guy is pretty common here in Texas and they are often seen in parking lots picking dead bugs out of the grills of cars.

Blue Winged Teal male

These pictures were taken on February 17th, 2010 at Paradise Pond, Port Aransas, Texas.

Ring Necked Duck

This picture was taken on February 13, 2010 at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Weslaco, Texas. A better name for this guys would have been Ring Billed Duck as he has a very noticeable ring on his bill. Apparently he does have a purplish ring on his neck which is usually only noticeable if you were holding him in your hands.

Crested Caracara

This picture was taken on February 19th, 2010 at Choke Canyon State Park, Texas. It's actually in the Falcon family but acts more like a vulture. It is also called the Mexican Eagle.

Northern Shoveler, male

This picture was taken on February 16th, 2010 at Paradise Pond, Port Aransas, Texas.

Green Winged Teal

These pictures were taken on February 16th, 2010 at Paradise Pond, Port Aransas, Texas.

Blue Winged Teal male

This picture was taken on February 16th, 2010 at Paradise Pond, Port Aransas, Texas.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

These pictures were taken on February 5th, 2010 at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Mercedes, Texas. Camera settings are the same as those stated for the Ruby Throated Hummingbird below.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

These pictures were taken on February 5th, 2010 at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Mercedes, Texas. The first picture is a juvenile male and the other 4 shots are of a female. I was attempting to stop all wing motion. My settings were, f7.1, ISO=800, 400mm lens, 1/8,000th of a second, flash with a better beamer attached. Double click on the 4th image down. Even the wing tips are quite sharp. These setting are fine but there is a bit of a problem with the background which was about 10' away. It's a little underexposed and some pictures are a little grainy. As well, the ISO=800 has a tendency to make it grainy.

Great Egret

This picture was taken on January 31st, 2010 at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Mercedes, Texas. I'm afraid his eyes were bigger than his mouth. He never did manage to swallow it, even though he dipped it in the water a few times to make it slippery.

Black Necked Stilt mating ritual

These pictures were taken on January 31st, 2010 at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Mercedes Texas. This is a mating ritual that seemed to be initiated by the female. The female stands perfectly still, leaning forward and pointing with her beak which sometimes has its tip in the water. The male then goes from side to side dipping his beak in the water on each side and always crossing over behind the female. He does this about 10 to 15 times before mounting the female. When the mating is finished they walk with crossed bills for a couple steps with the males wing draped over her back. This can be seen in the second and third last pictures although her bill isn't visible. This ritual was very beautiful and I think my favourite picture is the last one where they walk away together.