Golden Fronted Woodpecker - Male

This picture was taken on March 5th 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission, Texas. These guys eat as much fruit and nuts as it does insects. In the summer time, their face is often stained purple from eating the fruit of the prickly pair cactus.

Orange Crowned Warbler

This picture was taken on March 5th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission Texas. Their range extends as far north as Alaska in the summer time.

Altamira Oriole

This picture was taken on March 5th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley, Mission Texas. Unlike most Orioles, Altamira's do not migrate but are permanent residents. Southern Texas is there most northerly habitat.

Mockingbird

This picture was taken on March 5th, 2009 at the Bentsen, Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission, Texas. Mockingbirds actually played a role in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. When visiting the Galapogos Islands in 1835, he noticed that Mockingbirds varied slightly in appearance from Island to Island and from those in South America. This plus observations of other species eventually led to the theory of evolution.

Great Kiskadee

These pictures were taken on March 5th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission Texas. Note the second picture and tell me what you think of it. It is actually a duplicate of the top picture but in the Photoshop tool I use there is a filter feature called Artistic Poster edges. It makes the picture look almost like it has been painted. Double click to enlarge the image. I'm not sure what I think of it but I'd like to have your opinion.

Green Jay

These pictures were taken on March 5th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission Texas. I've posted many pictures of these guys in the past but they are such a pretty bird that another couple shots of them is always nice.

Javelina

These pictures were taken on February 25 and March 5th, 2009 at Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park. Although they look like pigs and act like pigs, they are actually Pecaries. They wander throughout the park and usually don't bother people, but recently some people have been feeding them. This shouldn't be done as it makes them very bold and will approach people looking for food and occasionally will growl. I always carry a stick if I have to approach one. A friend of mine was in the park once with his wife and all of a sudden, about six Javelina's surrounded her looking for food. She got scared and climbed up on a steel bench and called her husband. He did what any good photographer would do. He took her picture along with the Javelinas.

Great Tailed Grackle

This picture was taken on February 25th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission, Texas. Most photographers just ignore grackles and other common blackbirds, but they can be quite pretty.

White Tipped Dove

This picture was taken on March 5th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park. Southern Texas is the northern part of this birds range. They are almost always on the ground which isn't the best for photography.

Ladder backed Woodpecker

These pictures were taken on February 19th, 2009 at Salenano, Texas. Their range is restricted to desert or climates with an arid condition. Their favourite nesting spot is in cactus.

Orange Crowned Warbler

This picture was taken on March 5th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission, Texas. This is one of the most common warblers and has very little markings such as wing bars, stripes or spots.

Texas Brown Tarantula

These pictures were taken on February 22nd, 2009 at the Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort, Mission Texas. This particular brand of Tarantula is very docile and makes a good pet. Their leg span is 4-5" but the length of their body is less than 2". They eat small insects such as grasshoppers and hunt their prey down rather than catching them in a web. It takes them 7 to 10 years to reach maturity. Males don't live long after reaching maturity and will probably die within a year of reaching maturity. Females on the other hand will live for 25 to 35 years.

Audubon's Oriole

This picture was taken on February 19th, 2009 at Salineno, Texas. Up until 1983, it was known as a black headed Oriole, but its name was changed to avoid confusion with some old world birds.

Altamira Oriole

These pictures were taken on February 19th and March 5th at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission, Texas. They are the largest North American Oriole ranging from South Texas to Mexico and Central America. their nests can be as much as 25" in length.

Great Kiskadee

These pictures were taken on February 19th & 25th at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission, Texas. Kiskadee's are classified as one of the larger members of the Tyrant Flycatcher family and occur from Southern Texas through Mexico to Central and South America.

Great Tailed Grackle

This picture was taken on February 25th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission Texas. This is the largest of the North American Grackles and measures up to 18" in length. Throughout the last century they have slowly been increasing their range northward from Mexico into many of the southern States.

Northern Cardinal, male

This picture was taken on February 15th, 2009 at the Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Mission, Texas. The Northern Cardinal is probably the most popular bird in North America and is the state bird for seven different States. The male defends it's territory aggressively, and if it sees its own image in a mirror, will fight the imaginary intruder for hours.