Welcome to my world!

Backyard Birding in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas:
Surrounded by great birding destinations, our favorite patch is still the backyard (or the front), where we've seen more than 270 species of birds. Sit awhile, and watch the river and yard with us!




Sunday, February 13, 2011

Backyard Birds: This Week's "Camera Critters"


The first half of February has been great for watching birds in the yard. Since a picture's worth a thousand words, I'll post photos and forgo the words for this posting of "Camera Critters."  (Well, most of the words.)


I'm pretty sure that just one round blue-black berry in the Cedar Waxwing's mouth is worth 900 words.


The other hundred would be dedicated to describing the exquisiteness of feathers that look as if the ends were dipped in pots of brightly colored wax.   Or the sleekness of a black mask outlined in white.


Altamira Orioles can be enthusiastic and somewhat messy eaters when slurping nectar from a hummingbird feeder (click to enlarge if you can't see the sugar water he's slinging about)

or gobbling pulp from orange halves on an icy morning.


If you think this Northern Cardinal was enjoying his dip in the saucer bath, 


you should have seen this one!


And if you think the cardinals splashed a little water out of the tub, 
you should have seen the Green Jays!



Before this Golden Fronted Woodpecker found two fresh orange halves on the south deck,


she had passed up the frozen ones on the north side of the house!
A year-round resident of our back yard, it's safe to say she had never before seen an ice storm in Arroyo City--and neither had we!


I'm sure this Northern Mockingbird appreciated the oranges we put out for him, 
but he sure looks angry about the ice on his tail!


I'm just an amateur photographer with a point and shoot camera, but the subjects of my photographs more than makeup for my lack of professional skill. If you  focus on the birds and not my fuzzy focus, I think you'll like the critters I share a yard with here on the banks of the Arroyo Colorado.


 To see other "Camera Critters," check out this blog where some really fine photographers have posted their photos.

10 comments:

Francisca said...

What a lovely series of birds! And lucky you, in your back yard! We live in a bird sanctuary, but none of our birds are as colorful as yours. And whatever your camera, you need not apologize... these are lovely images!

john said...

Wonderful photographs. I must confess to having a fair amount of curiousity about what the general terrain is like in your area. I'm especially curious to know what it was like originally, and how much land has been preserved, or is being restored?

Penny said...

These are wonderful photos, what is your camera because if it is just a point and shoot as you say I want one!
I love following your blog, so different from my part of the world in Australia and its fascinating to hear about weather and all the little things that make blogs around the world interesting.

KaHolly said...

Delightful series of pictures!! I loved the birdbath photos. We had a pair of Golden-fronted Woodpeckers hang out with us yesterday!! I was so excited to see something different. The Mockingbirds have started to belt out their repetoire from the treetops - clearly, harbingers of spring!

SKIZO said...

Excellent
pictures
good creations

dguzman said...

Hi Kay, thanks for stopping by my little blog! You've certainly got some talent, for all your "lack of professional skill" -- those images are great!

I can't WAIT to get down there for my big birding adventure; I'm originally from Harlingen, so I'll be coming home again.

I can't believe you got so much ice down there; it was terrible up here, but that's normal -- down there, the birds must've thought they'd been teleported to Canada!

Marco Luijken said...

Hello Kay,
What a wonderfull pictures of these special birds. I like them very much with their beautiful colours. Nice shots!!

Greetings, Marco

KaHolly said...

Hey, Kay, is it almost time for you to post again?? I miss you. I'll bet you've had some new visitors! I'm having a little give-away this week. If you have time, pop on over! ~karen

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Southern California

I am your newest follower. I invite you to visit my blog and follow me if you want too.

God bless you :-)

~Ron

Suzanne said...

This is my new favorite blog. I'm keeping a birding blog for a multimedia journalism class and wish I had such lovely subjects and photos as you do. Congrats on your RGV Birding Festival win!