First up is the Red Bellied Woodpecker.  I’m pretty sure there is a nest nearby, as both parents are constantly feeding from the primary feeder.

Red Bellied Woodpecker With Nut In Mouth From Bird Blind

Next is a Bluejay.  I thought we just had two of them as I see them bathing every day in the bird stream, but today I saw a total of three.

Blue Jay With Nut In Mouth On Feeder

Next is the Tufted Titmouse.  We often hear these birds, but they don’t stay too long at the feeder.  They grab a nut, then head off into the trees to eat.

Tufted Titmouse About To Grab A Nut

Finally we have a male Northern Cardinal.  These guys are present all year round.  They also tend to be the most patient in using the feeder.  Whereas some of the other birds tend to dominate the feeder, these guys will just wait until early evening to get their meal after everyone else has left.

Male Northern Cardinal About To Feed

Sure enough, one of the two resident Red Bellied Woodpeckers will appear on the feeder.  They’ve become so accustomed to me, I can get rather close to the feeder to take pictures of them.

Red Bellied Woodpecker Proudly Displaying Nut

For what it’s worth, the Carolina Chickadees also have me trained.  They will start chirping near the area where I feed them meal worms.  Once I hear their chirping, I behave like a well trained rat, run inside to get some meal worms, and place them in their feeding dish.

Lately a Mockingbird has discovered the meal worms and actually started pecking on the window letting us know they are out of meal worms.  I don’t mind sharing a few meal worms with the Mockingbird, but this crazy bird will take a mouthful of meal worms, not just one or two like the other birds.

I’ll also say this.  The bigger SD card you can get, the better.  The BirdCam does take lots of pictures and/or videos, and if you have a pesky Squirrel or two like I do, you will end up with lots of images of that.

One of the funniest pictures taken was of this Red Bellied Woodpecker.  As I was looking at this picture, it took me a moment to see what the Woodpecker was looking at.  Look in the left hand side of the picture.  Did you notice that Squirrel in the Rose looking very guilty?

Red Bellied Woodpecker And Squirrel In Background

The Birdcam also captured a couple of birds that I have never taken pictures of before.

One was of a Brown Headed Cowbird.  If seen this bird in the backyard before, but not so frequently I’ve ever been able to take a picture.

Brown Headed Cowbird Captured With WIngscapes Birdcam

A second bird that I’ve never take a picture of before was of a Common Grackle.  In this image, the Mourning Dove looks a little intimated by the Grackle.

Grackle With Mourning Dove Captured By Birdcam

I was hoping I would be able to take some decent video with the Birdcam and overall I’m reasonably satisfied.  My one disappointment with the video capabilities of this Birdcam is that the maximum amount of each video is only 10 seconds.  I wish I could choose on how long it would record each video.

The most entertaining video that was recorded was of a little spat between the Common Grackle and the Red Bellied Woodpecker.  The Woodpecker didn’t seem to pleased about the arrival of the Grackle.

It was a little foggy this morning, but good enough to bring out my one man chair blind to take some pictures.  The sign in the bottom right hand corner was attached to a former bird house and says “Bed and Breakfast.”  Many birds were illustrating that theme this morning.

Red Bellied Woodpecker Joins The American Goldfinches

We arrived at the park at 7:00 am, but it wasn’t quite open yet, so Leecy took a quick cat nap, and I, well I fidgeted.

My intention was to use my Feisol CT-3472 tripod and my Induro GHB2 Gimbal Head (see here and here for my review).  I also intended using the Canon 1.4X II and Canon 2x II teleconverters.

I quickly found out that bringing the tripod was a mistake.  The birds at Brazos Bend are way too quick for using a tripod in most circumstances, and the park is really large so carrying a tripod gets really heavy.  Thankfully, Leecy wasn’t carrying anything so I gave her the tripod to lug around.

I hadn’t intended to use the 2x teleconverter all that much, but with these birds I really needed the extra reach that the teleconverter offered.  I must say, I was really impressed by how much detail I was able to capture with this teleconverter!

Oh, before I forget, I think Leecy and I had a great time at the park, except for one circumstance.

There was this grumpy old man riding a bike with a large lens taking pictures.  He kept starting and stopping taking pictures so we weren’t sure what he was actually doing.  As were walking around one of the lakes, we walk past this guy who promptly gave us a lecture about how we should have been more considerate when someone is taking pictures as we just scared off the Vermilion Flycatcher he was taking a picture of.  Whatever!  The guy was sitting right in the middle of the walking trail for several minutes and moving around so we didn’t know what the hell he was doing.  I kept my mouth shut, but Leecy was none to pleased about this guy’s attitude and gave him a nickname.

Anyway, so now for the bird pictures.  Many of these birds I’ve never taken pictures of before, and I was really pleased about how many were keepers.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip was of this Ruby Crowned Kinglet.  These are really cute birds, but damn, are they hard to get pictures of.  They never stop moving!

Ruby Crowned Kinglet Eating Seed Around Moss

Ruby Crowned Kinglet Eating Seed Side Profile

I also managed to capture one of these birds in flight, but don’t ask me how I did it.  It was nothing but pure luck.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet In Flight Brazos Bend

Even though the old grump guy acted like the Vermilion Flycatcher was the only one in the park, I captured a few shots of this bird in another area.

Female Vermilion Flycatcher In Golden Light

Female Vermilion Flycatcher On Branch

There were lots of Woodpeckers throughout the Park, and you could constantly hear them knocking on the trees.  One of the most common Woodpeckers that I saw was the Red Bellied Woodpecker.

Pair Of Red Bellied Woodpeckers In Tree

This one Red Bellied Woodpecker found a nut (I think that’s what it is) and kept looking for a place to hide it within a tree.  I didn’t realize they did that, but it certainly appeared to be what was happening.

Red Bellied Woodpecker With Nut

Red Bellied Woodpecker Hiding Nut In Tree

One of Leecy’s favorite birds to see were the Ibises, both the White Ibis and White Faced Ibis.

White Faced Ibis At Brazos Bend State Park

The White Ibises where I took the majority of these pictures were all lined up on a large tree branch.  There must have been close to a dozen of them all sitting side by side.

White Ibis Sleeping Brazos Bend State Park

Two White Ibis Standing On Large Tree At Brazos Bend

White Ibis Standing On Large Dead Tree Brazos Bend

Leecy always likes Ducks, so I made a few captures of Blue Winged Teals.

Blue Winged Teal In Water Brazos Bend State Park

The picture below is a Male Blue Winged Teal surrounded by Common Moorhens.

Male Blue Winged Teal Surrounded By Moorhen

Speaking of Common Moorhen, I really like this next picture.  The reflection of this Common Moorhen makes it look like it has a small fish in its mouth, at least to me.

Common Moorhen Reflection On Water

I didn’t really spend any time attempting to take pictures of birds in flight, but when one of these Double Crested Cormorants (I think that’s what this is) flew by, I started snapping away.

Double Crested Cormorant In Flight

One bird that has a really pretty song is the Carolina Wren.  This bird was sitting on this large branch just singing away.

Carolina Wren On Dead Branch Brazos Bend

I really had no idea what this next bird was, all I knew was that it seemed to walk on water.  If I’m not mistaken, this is a Swamp Sparrow.

Swamp Sparrow Brazos Bend State Park

Last, but not least, I got a few shots of the Yellow Rumped Warbler.  It’s another cute little bird.

Yellow Rumped Warbler On Tree With Moss

Overall this was a great little trip.  I learned I can bring a tripod if I’m really interested just in focusing on a couple of birds, but for walking around the whole park, it would have been better if I left the tripod in the car.  I also wish I would have brought along my flash, as it could have really helped lighten some of the shadows or to capture some of the birds that were in darker cover.  For the life of me I don’t know why I only brought along one compact flash (CF) card, but next time, I need to bring a couple, as it is very easy to fill up an entire card at this park.

If you live in the Houston area, I highly recommend a visit to Brazos Bend State Park if you’ve never been before.  It’s a wonderful place to take pictures of birds and other wildlife.  Just be prepared, as the park is quite big, and it’s easy to get worn out carrying lots of camera equipment.

Despite the lack of pictures, I can give everyone a verbal update.

The Purple Martin babies (the original 5) all seemed to have fledged now.  There are probably 20 Martins flying around every night.  I think there may even be more babies, but when I contemplate checking the Martin house, the Martins start rioting.  I do need to check the house to make sure the original 5 are doing okay, and check the other nest boxes to make sure all is well.

I don’t see any Pipevine Caterpillars, but I do see a few Chrysalises along the edge of the house between the roof and brick.

The single Monarch that I saw a couple of weeks ago laying eggs has not returned, nor have I seen any Caterpillars from her egg laying.  Leecy and I have been collecting the Milkweed seeds like crazy.  She actually created this cute little seed packet and information card and was giving some seeds to our friends and colleagues.  If we end up having more seeds then we know what to do with, I may offer a first come, first serve type thing for whoever needs some.  There’s no way we could plant all of them and I have a pretty big back yard.  If you’re really desperate for some Milkweed seeds (Mexican Milkweed) then let me know.

MJ, the big female Bullfrog hasn’t been seen in weeks.  I can’t remember if she goes off somewhere in the Summer or if she might be just laying low somewhere in the ground trying to stay cool and moist.  We’ve had very little rain so far this year and I wonder if that makes an impact?

Speaking of Frogs, they are creating quite a chorus at night.  There’s normally a little green Tree Frog on the kitchen window every night.  If we could actually get some decent rain I bet many of them would head over to the Pond to do some mating.

The cute little Red Eared Slider that I found in the Pond a few weeks back hasn’t been seen recently.  The Koi are too small to eat the Turtle and I don’t have any predatory birds around the Pond, so I’m not sure what happened to the little thing.

The Box Turtle that the neighbors brought to my house was released back into the wild behind my house.  There’s lots of vegetation and protective cover back there.

We seen quite a few Giant Swallowtail Butterflies flying around and occasionally laying eggs on the Orange tree, but damn if we ever see the Caterpillars.  I don’t know if some insect is getting to them, or the birds, or what.

Once again, we have some Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillars.  We did have 1 Caterpillar a few weeks ago, but like many things, it also disappeared before it got very big.  It was on the Spicebush plant.  Today we counted 7 Spicebush Caterpillars and some of them are on the Sassafras plant, some on the Spicebush.  They are really tiny.

We have lots of Songbirds (Cardinals, Doves, Blue Jays, Woodpeckers, Mockingbirds) right now and they are eating lots of bird seed.  They also are starting to eat some Tomatoes, Grapes, and Blueberries.  Just once I would actually like to be able to taste one of the Grapes we have each year.  I’m too afraid to put a net on the plants as I don’t want one of the birds to get entangled in the net.  There is also a single Male Ruby Throated Hummingbird hanging around.  It’s been typically avoiding any feeders and going directly to the plants for nectar.

Plant-wise it’s just a jungle in the backyard.  The vegetable garden is being taken over by the Cherry Tomatoes. We pick close to a dozen of them every night.  Oh, we also have a Turnip in the garden.  The problem is we didn’t plant any Turnips.  I’m going to guess this is like last year when we had all these Cantaloupes we didn’t plant.  It’s my guess that those lovely bird poops turn into a plant occasionally.

The rescued Kitten we adopted (Delilah) is growing like a weed (to me).  Leecy asks me every night if I can tell how much bigger she has become.  I just offer the “head bob” and the “of course, Honey” when she asks.  The kitten really likes to play with Chloe (the other cat) and to nap near the dogs.  The only interaction I’m not quite comfortable with is Delilah and Coco (African Grey Parrot). I can’t tell if Delilah wants to play with her or eat her so I need to work with both of them on that.

Last but not least, the reason for my delay in posting is because we got a new TV and entertainment system. On just the 2nd day I had the TV the high definition channels wouldn’t work so I immediately called Comcast to tell them where was a problem as I was looking forward to seeing the Three Stooges in high definition.  The person at Comcast thought I was crazy for calling at 6 am to report that kind of outage:-)

This bird has also been making quite a bit of noise in the trees behind my fence.  I’m guessing if it doesn’t already have a nest, it soon will.

Red Bellied Woodpecker Standing On Bird Feeder

They typically grab a nut, then fly off.  They do not like the other Birds around when they are feeding.

Red Bellied Woodpecker 7D

Here’s another shot

Red Bellied Woodpecker Looking Away 7D

By all indications, this “should” be a Red Bellied Woodpecker, but this one has a white head.  Not sure what that indicates.  Is it just a young Red Bellied Woodpecker or does the white head indicated something else?  Whatever it is, I think I’ll call this one Curly since it’s “bald.”

Based on this next picture, it looks like a little patch of color is coming in on the top of its head.

I’m going to try the early morning Saturday ritual and get some pictures. It’s supposed to be really hot and humid tomorrow so I’m sure I’ll be sweating like a pig.  It’s so humid here, especially in the morning, that I have to take my camera outside 30 minutes before I shoot just to let the lenses defog.

There is one image I’m hoping to capture.  We have a Woodpecker, but it has a completely white head.  I’m not sure if that means it’s a young Woodpecker or some albino type thing.  I saw it for the first time this afternoon.

Tonight Leecy and I saw Michael J. Frog for the first time in weeks.  I guess the one and a half inches of rain brought him out from wherever he’s been hiding.  As usual, he was in the pool.

Something I almost forgot. We had a little scare earlier in the week.  Back on Sunday I guess it was, I asked Leecy to trim Maggie’s back legs just a bit.  That was a mistake.  Leecy trimmed one side almost to the skin, but left the other side noticeably longer.  Not wanting Maggie to look like a complete freak, I brought out the clippers to give her an even trim.  It was then that Leecy and I noticed that Maggie had this 2 inch lump just below her rib cage.  That scared me, so the next morning I called the vet to bring both Maggie and Sascha in for their yearly checkup.

Well, leave it to Leecy to freak me out some more.  The next night when we were placing Coco’s cover on her cage, Leecy says to Coco, “Say A Prayer for Maggie, Coco.”  I look at her (Leecy) and asked why she said that.  I knew what Leecy was thinking (cancer), but I was purposely trying not to think too negative.  However, after that comment to Coco, I decided to call the vet the next morning and see if we could bring Maggie in later that afternoon.

We did end up taking Maggie to the vet the next day for a thorough exam.  The vet said that the lump was just a “fatty deposit” and nothing to worry about.  He said her teeth were immaculate.  However, she did have a yeast infection in her ears (not too uncommon for a floppy eared dog).  And, last but not least, Maggie weighed almost 60 pounds.  I almost fell over when I heard that as Maggie has never weighed that much in her life.  A gave a quick scowl to Leecy for making me, Maggie, Sascha, and Chloe all fat.  We also did a comprehensive blood work exam since Maggie is now 8 years old and considered “senior.”  One last thing.  Maggie apparently does not like going to the vet anymore.  She acted freaked out the whole time, which is highly unusual for her anywhere else.  You would have thought she’d been traumatized at the vet based on how she acted.  I guess as she gets older, the vet seems more scary.

Now fast forward to Friday for Sascha’s appointment.  Sascha, the dog with limitless energy, was the perfect calm patient.  Confidently walked into the vet, greeted everyone appropriately, sat down perfectly when necessary, and let the vet poke and prod her for the exam.  She didn’t even flinch when they checked her ears (she doesn’t even like her ears getting wet, much less someone sticking their fingers inside them).  Sascha now weighs 75 pounds and other than that, had perfect health.  Teeth, like Maggie’s, were immaculate.

At the end of the visit today they reviewed Maggie’s blood tests with me.  Everything was normal and looking good.  No cause for concern.

Here’s the Woodpecker squawking just a little louder.

Sorry, I kinda messed up on the crop of this picture. Click on it to see the dove (and understand the title)