Bulletin #59 – Austin TX #1

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
December 9, 2008

Bulletin #59 – Austin Texas #1
Hello friends,

Some of these photos were taken in the Dripping Springs area west of Austin and some at Pedernales Falls State Park. The park is a great place for birders and bird photographers, as they have a nice blind and feed the birds up close to the blind. There are a couple of volunteers (Don and Joan Felch) who keep the feeders stocked and can ID the birds for those who have trouble.

I always enjoy watching wrens. These little brown active birds are great singers and seem to have the loudest songs relative to size of any of my back yard birds.

Here is my local wren, the Carolina Wren (Thyrothorus ludovicianus). The photo was taken in the park. The ID is the bright white stripe over the eye and rufous underparts.

http://www.pbase.com/davidmcd/image/105948193

The Bewicks’s Wren (Thyromanes bewickii) is a duller brown wren of the western USA. The underparts are gray. This photo was also in the park.

http://www.pbase.com/davidmcd/image/105948196

The third wren is the Canyon Wren (Catherpes mexicanus). I think that this spotted wren is the prettiest in the USA. Both back and breast are spotted brown.

http://www.pbase.com/image/105868666

2 species of goldfinch were in the area. I had not been able to get any good photos of the Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria). The male is black above with white wing patches and yellow below. Interestingly, they do not molt to a dull plumage in the winter.

Here are 2 photos of the male. Of note, in the western part of their range, the males have a black head and green back.

http://www.pbase.com/davidmcd/image/105868703 click ‘next’ once

The female Lesser Goldfinch is mostly greenish above and yellow below.

http://www.pbase.com/davidmcd/image/105868707

The Pine Siskin (Carduelis pinus) is a brown streaked bird with just some yellow on the wings. Here are 2 photos from the park.

http://www.pbase.com/davidmcd/image/105948202 click ‘next’ once

Working in the photo blind in the park allows some extreme close-up photos of birds that are easily spooked.

Here are the male and female Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris). The male has white spots on his red head.

http://www.pbase.com/davidmcd/image/105948175 click ‘next’ once

This Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata) is a dull olive colored warbler with no obvious distinguishing marks. His breast has some faint streaking on it, but this feature isn’t shown in the photo.

http://www.pbase.com/davidmcd/image/105948154

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2006 - 2008 David McDonald