A close-up of the head and shoulders of an Anhinga looking straight at the camera. The bird has black and brownish-gray feathers sticking out in all directions on its head. The long bill almost disappears as it is shown straight on. And the blue-green eye skin around the large eyes look almost like goggles. The neck is sleek black and the top of the back (all that is shown) is black with white spots. The background is blurred winter vegetation in a tan color.

This just feels like a Monday kind of post. Anhinga looking at the camera straight on. #BrazosBendSP (TX), March 2026.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A close up of the head and upper body of an anhinga shows bright blue and green eye skin and tufts of lighter feathers on the head and neck that indicate breeding plumage. Otherwise, the bird is a deep black with white markings on its back. The anhinga has its long neck partially retracted into an s-shape and its long dagger-like bill that is mostly gray on the top and mostly dull orange-yellow on the bottom. The background is totally blurred out and is just a neutral canvas.

Happy #FeatheredFriday!! From yesterday at #BrazosBendSP (TX), this Anhinga let me get up close and personal. Since he was sporting his breeding attire, I can only assume that he was out in the open looking for the ladies!
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A carolina wren perched on a crooked branch is facing to the side with beak wide open, singing away.

#BirdoftheDay
#Songbird

From last month at #BrazosBendSP (TX), this Carolina Wren was singing its little heart out!!
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A Little Blue Heron in hunkered down in pond vegetation on a cold, windy day. The hair on its head is raised up in a crest due to the wind blowing from behind. The bird is standing in profile, clearly showing off its two-toned bill, dark at the end and light toward the face. The plumage doesn't show as blue, but more of a slate gray on the body and a lavender gray on the head and neck. During breeding season and in the right light, blue herons can look very blue.

#BirdoftheDay
#SideProfiles

Little Blue Heron sporting a nice 'do! #BrazosBendSP (TX), December 2025
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

This is a very monochromatic photo with the bird all greyish and brownish against a jumble of bare gray branches. The heron is perched in profile on a branch and its bill is wide open. This bird was talking a lot and loudly.

This anhinga was either a female or an immature bird and sported tan and brown plumage. It is perched on a bare branch over brown lake water and has its head raised and turned to the side with its bill wide open.

#BirdoftheDay
#ShoutitOut

I had to hit the archives for this theme so I picked two from March 2025. A juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron at #BrazoriaNWR and an Anhinga at #BrazosBendSP. They both had things to say!
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A young white ibis is perched near the ground on a tangle of branches. This ibis still has its juvenile plumage of a textured brown and white and a light pink bill that will eventually turn bright pinkish red.

#BirdoftheDay
#BestoftheMonth

Happy #FeatheredFriday!! Of the photos that I haven't already posted, this is probably one of my favorites. This juvenile White Ibis was just so handsome! #BrazosBendSP (TX)
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

The bittern is now well camouflaged in a scene of buff and tan and gold and brown.

#BirdoftheDay
#BirdsinTheirElement

A story in 4 parts

Part 4
As I rounded the corner of the trail, I looked back. With foliage instead of sky and pond behind it, the American Bittern was finally well camouflaged. The End #BrazosBendSP, February 2025

#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

4 of 4

A grebe floats along on a pond with a very small fish in its bill. The fish is still flapping around.

#BirdoftheDay
#CollectingFood

From yesterday's sojourn to #BrazosBendSP (TX), a Pied-billed Grebe with really fresh fish for breakfast.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A yellowthroat is perched at an angle on some wintery reeds, showing off a bright yellow chest and throat and a dramatic black mask.

#BirdoftheDay
#WinterSurvivors

Birds survive pretty easily in South Texas with our milder weather, but I'm working with the theme! Common Yellowthroat, January 2026, #BrazosBendSP. I'm heading back to Brazos Bend momentarily to look for more survivors!
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A red-bellied woodpecker clings to the side of a tree. Its back, an intricate pattern of black and white is mostly in shadow, but the front of the bird is bathed in early morning sunlight, highlighting its red head and white face and belly. The background of the photo is blue sky.

#BirdoftheDay
#Red (alternate)

This Red-bellied Woodpecker basks in the early morning sunlight. #BrazosBendSP (TX), January 2026.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A close-up of the head and upper chest of a red-shouldered hawk. The head of the hawk is in warm shades of light brown, buff and rust with a large brown eye and a two-toned beak, yellow at the base and dark gray at the tip. The chest is patterned in warm buff and rusty/reddish bars. The background of the photo is blue sky and bare branches.

#BirdoftheDay
#FavouriteoftheMonth

I really enjoyed watching all the Red-Shouldered Hawks in January. Not only were they plentiful, they were also very cooperative models. #BrazosBendSP (TX)
#FeatheredFriday #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A small dark image of a female northern cardinal on the left in front of a backdrop of Spanish moss.

The photo of the cardinal isn't good, but that backdrop of Spanish moss is pretty cool. #BrazosBendSP from yesterday.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Two hawks are perched closely to each other on the end of a branch with blue sky and a tangle of bare branches in the background. The hawk on the left has its back to the camera and is looking to its left. The hawk on the right has its front to the camera and is looking to the right.

I haven't done a #Twosday #twofer in a while. How about Red-shouldered Hawk bookends? #BrazosBendSP, January 2026
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A tiny bird with a short very pointed beak is perched in profile on a thin branch basking in the early morning light. The bird's coloring is a mix of olive green, gray and pale yellow, darker on top and lighter on the chest and belly. There are white wing bars visible. The background is blurred greenery.

#BirdoftheDay
#Short Beaks

For today's theme, I give you a Ruby-crowned Kinglet with a petite little schnoz. #BrazosBendSP, December 2025
#FeatheredFriday #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A White Ibis standing in profile amidst low green brush near the water. The bird is solid white (black wing tips aren't visible in this photo) with a coral colored face, long curving bill and legs. The eye is blue.

#BirdoftheDay
#LongBeaks

"I like long beaks and I cannot lie." 😉
A throwback from last February at #BrazosBendSP, one of my favorite birds to photograph is the White Ibis.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

An American Bittern is standing perfectly still among the reeds with its head held straight up. The buff and brown streaked coloring of the bird allows it to blend in to its environment well except for the two eyes that give it away.

#BirdoftheDay
#Natural

One of my favorite recent captures is this American Bittern along a lake, doing its best impression of the reeds in which it is hiding. (Look closely!) #BrazosBendSP
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A large, lean, long black bird with a long s-shaped neck and a long tail and a long dagger-like bill is perched on a branch with wings out to dry. The wings are black with silvery white feathers. It is a striking bird.

#BirdoftheDay
#Feathers&Form

Happy #FeatheredFriday!! A recent sighting of an Anhinga drying its wings and showing off its feathers seems like a good fit for today's theme. #BrazosBendSP
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A woodpecker is hanging on a very thin branch and reaching over to grab a dark berry from several in a tangle of limbs. The bird is showing its front which has pale red coloring on the belly. It also has a bright red crown. The backdrop is blue sky.

#BirdoftheDay
#FoodFinds

From last week at #BrazosBendSP, I got a good look at why these guys are called Red-bellied Woodpeckers as this one was reaching for some berries.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶
#WoodpeckerWednesday

A small wren in buff and brown blending in with its surroundings of brown winter vegetation. There is a bit of a glow from the morning sun over the scene.

#BirdoftheDay
#GoodLight

A very happy #FeatheredFriday to all!! I love morning light for photographing birds. Marsh Wren, #BrazosBendSP, from New Year's Eve day.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A small sparrow seen perched on a thick blade of grass with tall grasses on either side of it and blurry brown winter foliage behind.

#BirdoftheDay
#Sparrows (alternate)

From my final birding trip of 2025, yesterday at #BrazosBendSP, I hunted down this very elusive Swamp Sparrow hiding in the marsh grasses.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

Happy New Year and Good Birding, Y'all!!

A Little Blue Heron, looking more lavender and gray than blue in its non-breeding attire is standing on an island of partly brown and partly green water plants. The heron is in profile and has its neck completely retracted and it feathers floofed. The feathers on its head are raised like a crest.

Happy #FeatheredFriday!! It was a cold morning at #BrazosBendSP on Tuesday and this Little Blue Heron was hunkered down and letting the sun do its work.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

1 of 2

A bird with a gray head and chest, brown patterned wings and warm coral flanks is sitting on a notch of bare branches with its dramatically long tail trailing behind. The tail is slightly longer than its entire body. The background is blurred greenery and gray skies.

#BirdoftheDay
#LongTails (alternative)

I just so happen to have a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher photo that I hadn't gotten around to posting yet. #BrazosBendSP Oct 2025
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A large mostly black bird with a long curving neck and long pointed bill is perched on a tree limb just above the water and has its wings spread out to the sides to dry. There are some white accents on the wings and shoulders of the bird.

#AlphabetChallenge
#WeekVforVowels

A is for Anhinga. This one was busy drying its wings. February 2025, #BrazosBendSP (TX)
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

I guess this one can double for #BirdoftheDay #OntheEdge. Way too many hashtags!

A red-winged blackbird shown in silhouette within a tangle of bare branches with tail feathers fanned out. As it was a cloudy day, the effect is monochromatic and somewhat stark.

#BirdoftheDay
#Silhouette (alt)

Red-winged Blackbird, #BrazosBendSP, Nov 2025
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷🪶

A small bird is standing on a large angled limb that is covered with Spanish moss and is leaning forward with a curled up worm in its beak. The bird has a light gray head, dark gray wings and tail and a buff-colored belly.

#BirdoftheDay
#ShadesofGrey

Tufted Titmouse getting a nutritious breakfast!
#BrazosBendSP, November 2025
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷

This immature gallinule, a chicken-looking bird, has the gray and brown coloring and white side stripe of the adult but lacks the bright red face shield and upper bill of the adult. This gallinule is starting to show the yellow tip at the end of the bill, but it isn't as bright and well-defined as it will become later.

#BirdoftheDay
#CootsandMoorhens

Moorhens are known as Gallinules on this side of the pond. Here is an immature Common Gallinule standing in a bed of water lettuce at #BrazosBendSP (TX), October 2025.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷

A large dried up lotus leaf is folded over on itself and a small brown head with a curved beak is sticking out from the fold.

Happy #WrensDay!! From yesterday at #BrazosBendSP (TX), a House Wren hiding in a dead folded over lotus leaf.
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷

A purple gallinule with deep bluish-purple head, chest and belly and iridescent green, blue, gold and brown back and wings clutches two dragonflies in its bill. The gallinule is standing on a large lily pad on yellow legs. The background is pond water with water foliage.

From last week at #BrazosBendSP, a Purple Gallinule with two dragonflies for breakfast. #birds #originalcontent #photography 📷

A red-shouldered hawk is poised on a branch in the break of a leafy tree and is looking over his/her shoulder.

Another long driving day ahead of me ... just enough time to share this Red-shouldered Hawk from last week at #BrazosBendSP. Have a great week!
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷

A close up of the eyes and snout of an American Alligator sticking out above the water. Under the water, the rest of the gator's head and neck show.

Happy #Critterday! No, that is not a log floating on the water.
#BrazosBendSP, September2025
#birds #originalcontent #photography 📷