Specialty birds in the Lower Rio Grande Valley , TX - Part 1 - Least Grebe and Green Jay

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INTRODUCTION

The next few posts will provide updates on my efforts to capture images of birds, that in the United States, are seen primarily in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The series is merely a visual checklist. The descriptions of the birds are terse.

The Least Grebe and Green Jay are featured in this post. The photos shown were captured during my current visit to the area.

The combination of the Olympus OM-1 camera and the 150-400 mm f/4.5 TC lens was used to capture all the images displayed in this series.

Least Grebe, Santa Ana NWR
Focal length: 438 mm
1/800 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1250
Handheld

The Least Grebe is a small bird with conspicuous golden yellow eyes. The body is mostly gray. But, as The Cornell Lab, All About Birds states, it has a “tuft of white at the stern”.

Least Grebe, Santa Ana NWR
500 mm focal length
1/1250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800
Handheld

The Least Grebes in the Lower Ro Grande Valley are year-round residents.

Green Jay, Estero Llano Grande State Park
Focal length: 500 mm
1/250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 2000
Handheld

The striking green, yellow and blue colors of the Green Jay make it easy to identify.

Green Jay, Bentsen Rio Grande State Park
Focal length: 188 mm
1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 6400
Handheld

Green Jay, Bentsen Rio Grande State Park
Focal length: 244 mm
1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 6400
Handheld

Green Jay, Estero Llano Grande State Park
Focal length: 438 mm
1/250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 2000
Handheld

In the Lower Rio Grande Valley area the Green Jay is listed as "All Seasons - common".

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.