Rondeau Ric

Golden fronted woodpecker , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. This bird is similar in size and shape to our red bellied woodpecker up north. Same type of call.

American oyster catcher , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Just how fast do you have to run to catch an oyster?

reddish egret , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Seen on South Padre Island at sunset

buff bellied hummingbird , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. We saw these last year but we didn't see colour like this. weather is still good, 80s, no snow.

Least grebe , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. This is one of the south Texas specialties. Temperatures in the 80's and sunny. Beats Canadian winters.

white tailed kite , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. I'm glad I developed an allergy to snow. It has given me a chance to see some great birds down in Texas. This white tailed kite was sitting in a small tree beside the road.

Wh00o dat? , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. A bald eagle was circling above the great grey owl on the weekend. He was very vigilent in keeping track of where the eagle was. I wonder what owl tastes like to an eagle. Chicken, perhaps.

owl crowd , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. This is only a portion of the crowd that came to see the great grey owl that has been vacationing from northern Ontario. There were another 70-80 people on the other side of the road. The police came several times to get people off the road as thye were blocking traffic. This road is an 80k (50 mph) speed limit. It is nice that a lot of people were interested enough to come out to view the bird but to many were crowding the bird.

Pushing water , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. A pair of bufflehead were moving rapidly away from the dock after they spotted me. Understandable as it is still hunt season. If you look at it in large you will see the water running up the male( on the right) almost to his bill.

Fairy Dust , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. At least that's what they tell me.

Did you want whipped cream on your berries? , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Winter showed up yesterday, in a mild form, light snow and below freezing temperatures. These left over berries stood out against the dusting of snow.

The incredibly rare Duck Woodpecker , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Found only in Southwestern Ontario, usually in the early winter. Only one confirmed record. Range - unknown Breeding habits - unknown Foods - unknown