Birds
“The art of finding birds is turning your ears into eyes.”
TIME FOR YOUR CLOSE UP – This Red-shouldered hawk allowed me to approach within ten feet to capture this magnificent profile.
TOP GUN – An aerobatic marvel of nature, the Scissor-tailed flycatcher performs feats of spectacular flying that would make a Top Gun pilot jealous.
SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER – The simplicity of this shot allures me. The perfect profile. The angle of the limb. The contrast of the white head with the bronze background.
BURROWING OWL AT SUNSET – This Burrowing Owl of Central Texas posed for me on a barbed-wire fence just as the sun said adios.
OWL IN THE TREE – I placed a 24mm Venus Laowa Periprobe lens in the hole of a hollow tree and discovered an Eastern Screech Owl burrowed inside. I love the unique perspective and how the Screech owl's feathers blend in with the trunk.
LITTLE BLUE HERON – Connemara Meadow is a nature preserve tucked in the suburban sprawl of Allen, Texas that's surprisingly rich in wildlife variety.
SCARLET TANAGER – A recent arrival to the Bolivar Peninsula of Texas, this male Scarlet Tanager prepares to find a mate. Scarlet Tanagers are seasonally monogamous and pair together for one breeding season.
GO TIME – I squatted in the marshy bogs of Hornsby Bend observing this Vermilion Flycatcher's flight pattern for almost an hour. Eventually, I was able to capture this last tippy-toe moment before he went 100% airborne.
BELTED KINGFISHER AT SUNRISE – In the faint light before sunrise at Deaver Pond in Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, I heard the familiar high-pitched stuttering call of a kingfisher. He lit on this dead tree in the middle of the pond as the Texas sky became a lake of fire.
THE GREAT HORNED OWL OF BRECKINRIDGE PARK – Hundreds of joggers, cyclists and pedestrians pass through Breckinridge Park daily oblivious that they are being watched by this local resident.
BROWN PELICAN ON THE BEACH – Vicious northerly winds along the Bolivar Peninsula coast create havoc for large waterfowl and migrating songbirds from Central America. But for a photographer, the winds create a wonderful opportunity to capture birds in flight as it slows them down significantly.
SUMMER TANAGER IN SPRING – After long migratory flights from Central America, Summer Tanagers arrive in High Island, Texas in April to rest and recover in preparation for breeding season. This Summer Tanager posed perfectly no more than four feet from my lens in Smith Oaks Sanctuary.
KITE IN WHITE – A regular summer resident of my neighborhood, this Mississippi kite perches daily atop the tall Italian Cypress behind my house. As the small raptor balanced on top of the cypress, I imagined it as a white angel adorning the top of a Christmas tree. I composed the shot accordingly and overexposed the background to create this celestial effect and waited for the kite to take off heavenward.
THE FLYCATCHER OF HORNSBY BEND –(Int'l Photography Awards Official Selection) In the marshy bogs of Hornsby Bend, Texas, a Vermilion flycatcher triangulated between a patch of reeds, a finger-like branch and dead tree stump in search of food for its morning breakfast.
