Tag: Buff-Bellied Hummingbird

Spin the Wheel

True to Brad’s comment on a previous post, I did manage to find a 4th end of the candle to light ha. Tonight will be the last bit of rest before we start hauling everything down into the valley for the big event. By rest I mean squeezing in an 8+ mile night run (there is still a race to be ran after all this), assembly of a couple of remaining props and …well this rush of a post, Note, it would be incredibly gracious if I could get everyone out there to combine their willpower on a single objective..make it stop raining here!!! Similar to my last post, going to go with a truly random assortment of shots. Basically, opened the gallery folder of unpublished shots from our Texas trip back in January 2025 and spun the wheel on the mouse. Wherever it landed..that’s what you get – a couple of times my finger slipped and you simply got the next one, but all is good.

No time to waste, let’s get to ‘dem shots!

Various shots from trip to Texas in January 2025

For our first entry, the wheel has chosen a resident of Anahuac ….oops again, Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge. They have a LOT of these prehistoric creatures laying on their banks – this one was one of the larger ones we have seen there.

Hit the jump to see where the wheel takes us next!

Continue reading Spin the Wheel

Buffy the Nectar Slayer

If a +3 three weekend is worth celebrating, then surely adding another +1 for the week is worthy of a Snoopy happy dance.  I would do just that, but Linda is home and knowing her she’d sneak a picture of it and then post it on Facebook to all her friends. Then Facebook would probably mine it and start sending dance lesson opportunities.  It’s amazing when you pre-think through your actions how boring your life becomes.  Maybe this is the key difference between childhood and adulthood – The Embarrassment Factor. If had actually considered some of my actions when I was a kid, me thinks I would not have had nearly as much as fun as I did.  Granted, I would have had far less stitches and Tetanus shots ha!  This all brings me full circle to today’s post.  Linda is forever embarrassing me by retelling my reaction to learning that a Painted Bunting was hanging out at place we visited in Georgia (wait, hmmm, that post may not be out yet – ignore that if it isn’t).  It is this ribbing I take that has caused me to pre-think my actions when I learned this Hummer was hanging out at the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park near Mission, Texas.

Buff-Bellied Hummingbird found at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park January 2018

In a much more controlled manner, I calmly walked out of the visitor center and forced a restrained walk over to the specified spot – a feeder we actually passed on our way in.  Successfully prevented another embarrassing Facebook post, although my inner being was doing one hell of a Happy Feet rendition.  This was one of the new birds I was hoping to get in the tin on our birding trip last January 2017.  Here in the Midwest (link here), we are treated to only one kind of Hummer unless one gets mistakenly lost during migration.  I did pick a new one at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve – the Black-Chinned variety (link here).   Other than that, the list is pretty bare when it comes to these incredibly fast creatures.

Buff-Bellied Hummingbird found at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park January 2018

Hit the jump to find out more about this bird.

Continue reading Buffy the Nectar Slayer