Rondeau Ric

yellow throated warbler, one last time , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. He's still hanging around,bullying the chipping sparrows and hogging the sunflower seed. It has been a week and the yellow throat hasn't moved on, which I find surprising. Another great visitor to the yard this morning - a pileated woodpecker. We rarely see them in the yard. Lots of other great spring arrivials - red headed woodpeckers, baltimore orioles, several types of warblers. The best thing is there are more coming. Have a great weekend.

Cats are crazy , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. what other animal, excluding druk college students, would willing climb into a clothes dryer? Crash was quite happy to have a nap inside the drum.

Only her hairdresser knows for sure. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. These are green jays which we saw in Southern Texas this spring. They were pairing up and I assume this grooming is part of the mating ritual. It reminded me of an old tv commercial about hair colouring.

prothonotary warbler. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Prothonotary warblers are very rare in Canada but were fairly common down south. We saw this one in Texas.

A limit too high , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. We've spent the last month birding in Texas and it was a lot of fun. Driving was a challenge on some of the roads. I think someone was a little optimistic when they set this one. We drove 11,909 km - 7,383 miles during our 28 days on the road. Texas is big

ferruginous pygmy owl , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. We went to a farm in Texas to see this bird. They nest in thier back yard and sit out during the day. They are about 6 inches long and are as cute as a button.

Really? , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. I knew you couldn't trust pelicans. With mouths like that, you know they are going to talk behind your back. Gangs of them hang around and then they mug some poor unsuspecting fish. And they don't have tails. Birds should have tails!

Common Pauraque , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. He/she is in there, you just have to look closely. I assume it was seen flying in because you would never find it just by looking. Another birder pointed it out to us.

Least bittern , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. This is the only time I've been so close to bittern that I had trouble focusing the camera. He kept coming until he was 5 feet away. My lens has a minimum of about 8 feet. We did have a great look, didn't need binoculars.

roseate spoonbill , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Such an improbably bird. The colour alone would make it unusual but when you add in the bill it really stands out. High Island Texas