Out on the Ranch...TEXAS (11 April)

Birding our way back from South Padre Island in south Texas to High Island on the Upper Texas Coast we opted to check in at a "photography ranch" in cowboy country (Tacubaya Ranch), where special blinds have been set up for keen photographers like us. Our most faithful subjects that morning were the ever-present Northern Cardinal, an under appreciated North American gem that is often undervalued due to its abundance in the east, and its cousin the impossible to spell, Pyrrhuloxia that made for nice comparisons of these relatives.

There was plenty more to come though, from down on the ranch...