Final Texas Pictures

These final photographs round out my adventures in west Texas with Bill Drummond and the gang from April 2012.  It's taken me a long time to edit them all, but it's amazing after almost a year how fresh and vivid the memories remain.  The opportunity to commune with a pair of Montezuma Quail definitely stands as the highlight of the trip, and as you can see below, they let us approach quite close!  Great times and great memories.  Thanks, everyone!  Feel free to click on an image to see a larger, clearer version.

One surprise visitor after another came to this water feature.  We were delighted by the arrival of a Townsend's Solitaire!

Ash-throated Flycatcher, on the edge

Montezuma Quail!  This male was the highlight of the trip!

Although this very happy deer was a close second.

All I see is a bunch of rocks.

Not quite as inconspicuous when he stands up

But dapper and dignified

Black-headed Grosbeak

Phainopepla, drinking his fill

Everyone's favorite Northern Cardinal

Acorn Woodpecker, one...telephone pole, zero

Motherly love (Javelinas)

MacGillivray's Warbler, hangin' out

On the runway

Prepared for takeoff

Liftoff

A successful launch

House Finch, common, beautiful

This Cassin's Kingbird is authorized.

Black-necked Stilt

American Avocet with Wilson's Phalaropes

The colorful phalaropes are the females!  The drabber one in the middle looks like a male.

This pair of Clark's Grebes put on a show.

Perpendicular

Family Trip

Long-billed Dowitcher

Hop, skip, and a jump

Most likely all Long-billed Dowitchers, the middle one still in nonbreeding plumage.  That center guy is a tough call, and the characteristic hump in the back doesn't really show when he's not feeding.  But the general look of the bill, the darker pattern on the flanks, and the range map suggest that he's probably a Long-billed.  But I wouldn't bet my life on it.

Female Wilson's Phalarope

Phalaropes are "polyandrous," meaning that the females pursue multiple male mates.  And the females, consequently, are brightly-colored, while the males are a drab gray.

Wilson's Phalarope with Northern Shovelers

Stilt and Shovelers

Clark's Grebe close-up

Northern Shoveler, catching the sunlight

Male Ladder-backed Woodpecker

In costume

And here's the female Montezuma Quail!

Imagine trying to look for her amid the gray rocks and grass!

A little easier to spot when she stands up

Not much to say, just a beautiful bird

So many different patterns!

Female Montezuma Quail close-up

Mesmerizing back pattern!

You'd think he'd be impossible to miss.  But when he crouches down low, he's invisibile.

Unsettling requirement

Wildflower

Female Hooded Oriole

The curved bill and long tail give her away.  If you look closely, you can also see the pale edges to her wing coverts, and the pale edges to the secondary flight feathers that stay pale all the way to the base.

Another flower I wish I could identify.

I'm sure this Cactus Wren could ID the flowers, but he's content to stay silent.

Budding

Graylag Goose

Not a native speaker

Great Kiskadee

Don't jump!

Last but not least, an Elf Owl, peeking his head out just after sundown

Thanks for looking, everyone!  I'll be back later next week with my first installments of photos from my trip to Arizona last May.  Hooray for hummingbirds!

Oh, I do have one last little bonus.  Here are two videos I shot of the Montezuma Quail!