Birds, Birds, Birds

What an incredible day it was here in the hills of South Texas.  I think winter has finally let go and spring is here.  It sure looked like it with all the activity on my bird feeders today.  There was so much action that I decided to blow off my work and try to photograph these beautiful little creatures.  One thing led to another and my day ended down by the Guadalupe River, sitting in the grass, listening to the river run, and catching a few more feathered friends on camera.

Shirley...Linda...these are for you :)

Pine siskins and gold finches

(You can enlarge any photograph by clicking on it.)

 

 

Here come the cardinals, cassin's finch, chickadee and little (but so noisy) wren.

 

 

 

 

This beautiful bird, the Golden-Fronted Woodpecker, has been around my feeders most of this wet, cold winter.  This is the female and I'm thrilled I was able to get these great photos of her. 

  

  

  

  

  

At dusk, I headed down to the river to see what other birds I could find and look what I saw:  the beautiful Eastern Bluebird...high in the tree, singing like there was no tomorrow.  What a gift.

 

 

 

And here is a Black Phoebe, a flycatcher with a beautiful song.  The image is a bit blurred.  She was *really* far away, but I wanted to post it anyway.

 

 

I had a such a wonderful day.  Needless to say, I didn't get *anything* done.  But today was one of those days that I will absolutely treasure.  There are so many other things I photographed today that I want to share.  But I'll leave it for another day.  It seems fitting to close this out with the beautiful sunset that ended this glorious day.