Two young owls are seen in the eaves of a small pavilion. (The pavilion was in need of repair when the barn owls nested there last year. When they repaired the pavilion, they left this opening in the eaves in case they came back. They did.) The two owlets are quite fuzzy with the big heart-shaped face of the barn owl. One owl is standing higher up and the pink on the face indicates that the owl is still very young. The other is lower down in the eave with its head tucked under the other owl's chin.

#BirdoftheDay
#Juveniles

From last month at #AnahuacNWR, a couple of young Barn Owls snuggle up while waiting for the parents to get back.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A white tern with a black cap and yellow bill and feet hovers over the water with its wings in a v-shape and its head down. There is some small unidentifiable sea creature held in the tip of the bird's bill. The background is rippling bay water in shades of blue with brown shadows.

#BirdoftheDay
#Snacks

Although you can barely see it, this Forster's Tern did manage to come up with a little sumpin' to snack on after putting on a diving show for me last month at #AnahuacNWR.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A tall slender hawk is perched atop a post on a barbed wire fence (an old rusted strand with a newer strand above) with a blurred field of scrub and prairie grasses in the background. The hawk has a brown back with white spots and a white belly with brown streaks. The head is brown with a white neck and a yellow eye. The tail is wide and long and has thick bands of dark brown alternating with a medium brown, giving it a striped appearance. The legs and feet are yellow with black talons.

#BirdoftheDay
#BestoftheMonth

One of my favorite photos from March that I haven't posted yet is this immature Cooper's Hawk posing for me at #AnahuacNWR. I seldom get to see the Cooper's so it was a real treat for me.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A common yellowthroat is perched precariously with a foot on each of two fairly widespread branches. The bird has an olive brown head and back and a bright yellow chest. The face has a thick black mask with white outlining. The background is a tangle of mostly bare branches with tiny buds popping out against a pale blue sky.

#BirdoftheDay
#Yellow

A Common Yellowthroat doing some stretches last week at #AnahuacNWR.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A tricolored heron takes off from a shallow pond with long wings fully extended to the sides, long legs dangling and long neck slightly curved. The bird is showing mostly soft blue with white on the wing tips, down the front of the very long neck and in a small tuft at the back of the head. The long bill is blue toward the face and almost black at the tip. You can barely see the lavender coloring on the back of the neck. The pond from which it is taking off shows golden from the early morning sun.

#BirdoftheDay
#Blue

A Tricolored Heron taking off at #AnahuacNWR this week.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

This is a seriously cute bird! The stilt has a black head, neck, back and wings with a white throat, chest and belly. It has a patch of white over the eye which really makes its big brown eye stand out. The black bill is long and thin. And the legs are long and pink. The bird is standing on one leg with the other pink foot hanging below its body. The bird is standing in shallow pond water and is backed by winter vegetation.

#BirdoftheDay
#OneLeg

From yesterday at #AnahuacNWR, this Black-Necked Stilt is standing on only one of his/her stilts while still managing to look incredibly cute.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A close up of a backlit Great Egret with beak open and tongue showing. The bird is shown from the side and has its long neck mostly crooked into its body. The background is blurs and bokeh.

#BirdoftheDay
#OpenBeak

I couldn't find a recent photo for today's theme before leaving for a day of birding this morning. Luckily, I found several that "fit the bill" including this Great Egret.
#AnahuacNWR #birds #originalcontent #photography

A northern shoveler rests on the rippling surface of a shallow pond. The shoveler has a large filtered black bill that is used to shovel in food from the water. The eye is gold and the head is a dark iridescent green. The chest and bootie are mostly white with chestnut brown on the side. The tail is black with white edging on the feathers. And this photo reveals just a bit of the sky blue and bright avocado green that is usually only visible during flight.

#BirdoftheDay
#Tricolour (birds of 3 or more colors)

A Northern Shoveler at, appropriately enough, Shoveler's Pond in #AnahuacNWR in January.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A mostly gray bird with a white throat and belly is perched in profile on a tree that is bare except for a bunch of dried seed pods. The small branches have many spikes on them. The background is blurred sky and winter vegetation. It's actually a pretty bland picture colorwise, but I like it because of the bird's large black eye with white eyering, one of my favorite things about this breed.

#BirdoftheDay
#BugCatchers

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, #AnahuacNWR, January 2026.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A little warbler perched on small branches with its head stretched up as if to see something in the distance better. The bird has a chestnut cap and markings on the face and neck, a yellow throat and chin and a buffish-yellowish front with subtle dark markings.

#BirdoftheDay
#TreePerchers (alt theme)

From last week's trip to #AnahuacNWR, I caught this Palm Warbler trying to look just a bit taller.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Bright morning sunlight pours down on a roseate spoonbill standing in shallow pond water and taking a break from fishing for breakfast. This is a big goofy looking bird with a long bill shaped somewhat like a paddle, but it is a beautiful bird with mostly light pink coloring, but a slash of hot pink along the side. The bird's reflection gives a double dose of color.

#BirdoftheDay
#Reflections

From last week at #AnahuacNWR, a Roseate Spoonbill in the morning sun.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Orange light on the horizon is reflected in a large pond with several birds hanging out. The grasses are reflected in the pond as well.

I haven't posted a #Stunday photo in a while. This is from Friday's birding trip to #AnahuacNWR. #sunrise #originalcontent #photography 📷

A cormorant is perched on a tussock in a shallow pond with its wings spread in the sunshine.

#BirdoftheDay
#WingsOpenNotFlying

From the archives, Double-crested Cormorant drying its wings. #AnahuacNWR, February 2025.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A shoveler is standing in very shallow water with his back to the camera but his head turned so that his big beautiful shovel beak can be seen in profile. He is surrounded by dormant vegetation. The light is hitting him on one side so that his deep emerald green head and neck feathers show as well as his golden eye. The body is white and honey brown and the wings and tail are black with white markings. His legs are bright orange. To his right, almost completely out of frame, you can see just a bit of his mate. She is mostly brown and buff and much less flashy than the male.

#BirdoftheDay
#Photogenic
#LightandShade

I'm going for a twofer today. Personally, I think this Northern Shoveler is quite photogenic. And I like the interplay of light and shadow as well. #YMMV #AnahuacNWR February 2026
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A young cormorant sits in profile on a pile of dormant grasses with a pond in the background. The plumage is mostly brown; it will be mostly black when its adult plumage comes in. The bird has a long bill with a hook at the end, a blue eye and orange skin behind the bill. That orange skin is arrow shaped where it terminates, helping to identify it as a neotropic cormorant. Double-crested cormorants have that same yellow skin, but its termination is more squared off.

#BirdoftheDay
#SideView

From December at #AnahuacNWR, this juvenile Neotropic Cormorant posed beautifully for me.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A group of 10 ducks standing in shallow water. All but one of them has its head tucked under the wing. The 10th duck seems to be on alert. The water is beautiful. It is reflecting the winter vegetation and appears a shimmery gold.

#BirdoftheDay
#FourOrMore

From February at #AnahuacNWR, a few Black-bellied Whistling Ducks taking siestas and one on guard duty.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A yellow warbler is perched on mostly bare tree branches. There are a few yellow fall leaves on the tree which blend nicely with the warbler. The background is blue sky.

#BirdoftheDay
#PrimaryColours
#Songbirds

I got a twofer today on @alan678.bsky.social's themes for the day with this Yellow Warbler. #AnahuacNWR, December 2025.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A warbler is perched on a large eroded stone and is partially shaded. The back and tail appear somewhat dark in the shadows, but the bird's round lemon-yellow belly is visible as is its rust-colored cap. There are also rust-colored streaks on its chest. The background is blurred foliage.

#BirdoftheDay
#Borb

This Palm Warbler from last month at #AnahuacNWR is the most borb-ish I have to offer from my recent photos. It's not as round as @jon5cents.bsky.social's great offerings, but it will have to do!
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A red-tailed hawk is perched among a tangle of bare branches against a backdrop of blue sky, looking to its right. Its feathers are slightly ruffled.

#BirdoftheDay
#RuffledFeathers

I had to go back to the archives for this one. Red-tailed Hawk, #AnahuacNWR, February 2025.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A small bird is perched on a tangle of small branches and vines. The bird has interesting patterns on its plumage. The head is gray with two thick rusty brown lines forming a V. The chest and belly are buff and a yellowish-buff color with small vertical slashes of brown. The back is tan with dark brown feather tips giving way to wings and tail of rusty brown. For a little brown bird, it is quite lovely.

#BirdoftheDay
#BranchBirds

A Lincoln's Sparrow perched on a tangle of small branches. #AnahuacNWR, January 2026.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A heron stands still on a tussock of grass emerging from a pond. The grasses of green and gold behind the heron are reflected in the water. The heron has its neck retracted into its body and is showing off beautiful blue gray feathers with lavender accents on most of its body and a white belly.

#BirdoftheDay
#PeacefulSolitude

I feel like herons are generally among the most chill of the #birds I see on a regular basis. Once they've done feeding, they just stand back and observe. Tricolored Heron, #AnahuacNWR, November 2025.
#originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A pair of cormorants create a wake as they emerge from underwater. The one on the right displays a curved neck and a straight bill with a hooked tip. The one on the left clearly shows the yellow throat skin as its head is pointed straight up. Only a small bit of throat, along with the head and tail feathers appear above the water. The water is blue and slightly choppy.

#BirdoftheDay
#DivingforFood

From a recent trip to #AnahuacNWR (TX), I sat and watched this pair of Neotropic Cormorants for a while as they dove for breakfast and kept coming up empty.
#FeatheredFriday #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A pied-billed grebe in mottled brown and buff hues with a black stripe across its whitish beak floats along on water that appears golden as it reflects the winter grasses along the banks of the pond.

#BirdoftheDay
#Serenity

A Pied-billed Grebe floating along on serene golden waters. #AnahuacNWR, January 2026.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A young Cooper's Hawk stands on a island of vegetation in a pond, bathed in the early morning light. The head is turned to showcase two large yellow eyes. The hawk is mostly brown on the uppers and white with brown streaks below. There is a dead bird of some kind at the hawk's feet which appears to be breakfast (but I tried not to look too closely). The water in the background is reflecting the winter vegetation as gold streaks in the morning sun.

#BirdoftheDay
#EyeContact

I saw this immature Cooper's Hawk earlier this month at #AnahuacNWR. Those yellow eyes!
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A close-up of a small sparrow standing on a rocky trail. The bird has its back to the camera, but is looking back over its shoulder toward the photographer. The back and wings are a pattern of dark brown and lighter shades. The sparrow has its crest up, showing brown with a streak of white on top. The face is a lighter brown with a dark brown streak behind the eye.

#BirdoftheDay
#BrownisBeautiful

So many little brown birds, so little time! Nice theme pick by @alan678.bsky.social today. Savannah Sparrow, #AnahuacNWR, December 2025.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A tricolored heron is shown standing in profile to the camera in a shallow pond. The heron has a long dagger-like bill, black on top and yellow underneath, a mostly light rust head and neck with a white throat, and a mixture of gray feathers on the body with rusty wing tips. The legs are yellow (and long). The background is pond water and wintering vegetation.

#BirdoftheDay
#Paddling (UK term; same as wading in US)

An immature Tricolored Heron seen at #AnahuacNWR in November 2025. The bird is starting to get some of the blue-gray coloring of adult herons, but still has rust-brown on the neck and wing tips.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Five ducks standing on a dormant grass island on a pond. They are all standing quite erect and are all facing to the right of the photo, as if in formation. These birds have buff faces, brown necks and backs, black bellies and white wing feathers showing. Their bills are a pale coral color and their legs are light pink. They also have what I refer to as a brown "mohawk" going from the base of the bill down to the neck. The eye is brown, ringed in white. The background is the brown and tan color of winter vegetation.

#BirdoftheDay
#Poise

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks standing at attention as they often do. #AnahuacNWR, December 2025.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A pretty little wren is perched on a small angled branch with dead leaves. The bird has a slightly hooked beak, dark on top and light underneath. The body is the same ... white and honey color underneath and a dark black, brown and white pattern on the head, back, wings and tail. The tail is standing at attention. The background is blurred brown and green.

#BirdoftheDay
#TailsUp

From the weekend at #AnahuacNWR, this beautiful little Sedge Wren got the #TailsUp memo!
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A pair of blue-winged teals with the female in front and the male in back glide along a shimmering pond that reflects both the birds and the wintering reeds which reflect as liquid gold.

#BirdoftheDay
#Reflections

A pair of Blue-winged Teals from earlier this month at #AnahuacNWR.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A green darner dragonfly with green head, blue body and diaphanous wings has landed on a plant with tiny white flowers and/or seed pods. The whole thing is lit up from the sunshine.

For #TextureTuesday, there is a lot happening visually in this photo of a Green Darner from November 2025 at #AnahuacNWR, but I like it!
#nature #randomnature #originalcontent #photography 📷