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Index of Interesting/Unusual/Rare birds

Last Updated: February 26, 2021 All birds were photographed in Texas unless stated otherwise:

Two Emperor Geese, from near Seattle, Washington .
A male American Wigeon with a striking head pattern .
An American Black Duck from Fort Worth, Texas .
A female Common Pochard from Fort Worth in November 2003 - sadly too far away for definitive pics .
Poor flight pics of a female-type Harlequin Duck near Fort Worth, Texas .
Female Common Mergansers at sunset, from west Texas .
A Masked Duck from the Corpus Christi area - plus Lesser Black-backed Gull and Cassin's Vireofor an unlikely one-day Photo Triple ! .
A pair of Masked Ducks from south of Kingsville  .
A male Alternate plumage Ruddy Duck taking a bath, from the central coast  .


A bit of fun with some Least Grebes... .
A Clark's Grebe at sunset, from west Texas -.
A rare opportunity to photograph six species of grebe including Red-necked Grebe at Balmorehea Lake, western Texas.

an immature Brown Booby from Port Aransas, Texas.

A Great Blue Heron swimming with cormorants near Fort Worth .
A group of Snowy Egrets fishing on-the-fly in San Antonio .
An Ashy Cattle Egret from Houston .
A flying Least Bittern from coastal Texas  .
The first ABA Area record of Bare-throated Tiger-Heron  .

A striking Basic I Mississippi Kite from the central part of the Rio Grande drainage in Texas .
A bit of fun with two Northern Harriers near Fort Worth... .
Two interesting Northern Harriers from north-central Texas .
A wonderful hour of hawkwatching that included eight dark-morph Broad-winged Hawks - six photographed, plus a nice flock of Wood Storks .
A wonderful ninety minutes of watching more than 35.000 Broad-winged Hawks lift off and kettle over a McAllen, TX neighborhood .
A January juvenile Broad-winged Hawk from coastal south Texas .
Two Gray Hawks from SE Arizona; one a 2CY completing its PB1 molt
An immature Roadside Hawk from southern Texas .
Two light-morph Short-tailed Hawks from southern Texas in 2004 and 2013 .
This Bald Eagle from Alaska is a two-fisted killer! .

A pesky yet impressive Peregrine: you go girl!  .
A flying Peregrine carrying unexpected prey - WARNING: it's a little bit gruesome... .
A flying Peregrine stirring-up gulls feeding over a pack of cormorants .
A confiding Prairie Falcon near an Icterid-packed feedlot in south Texas .
The first Gyrfalcon for Texas.

Five Whooping Cranes near Fort Worth; now with sound! .
TWO(!) Common Cranes near Muleshoe, Texas;.

All three species of Ptarmigan, from Colorado and Alaska.

The amazing first ABA Area record of Rufous-necked Wood-Rail from New Mexico!.
Virginia Rail: headline:- "Migrant Derailed by Front; Circumstances Grave..." .
A Spotted Rail from southern Texas  - added December 23, 2020.

A reflective American Avocet from the north-central Texas.
A white Killdeer from north-central Texas .
The 1st and 2nd U.S. Collared Plovers, from south Texas.
Some Collared Plovers from CHILE showing broken fore-collars and broad side-collars .
Portraits of some Mountain Plovers from near Pearsall, south Texas .
Some tail-shaking Mountain Plovers from near Pearsall, south Texas .
A Mountain Plover from near Pearsall, Texas; it is a male in breeding plumage in January - ? .
A Semipalmated Sandpiper wintering in Texas (it has a deformity).
part of a Megaflock of Buff-breasted Sandpipers on the Texas Coastal Plain.
A juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper from the Texas Panhandle.
A first-summer Surfbird from the central Texas coast .
Wandering Tattler - Texas's only record  .
Two dueling Solitary Sandpipers from the central Texas coast .
Three Ruffs from Texas .
Three Northern Jacanas from south Texas .

The first South Polar Skua for the Gulf of Mexico.
A Little Gull in full juvenile plumage, from Texas in November .
First-cycle Black-legged Kittiwakes from the central Texas coast in early Spring and from south Texas in February .
Five species of Tern in thirteen days at Lake Benbrook, near Fort Worth - including Sooty Tern .
Two inland waifs from Hurricane Dolly in July 2008: a close Sooty Tern, and a distant Storm-Petrel  .
A Brown Noddy from inshore south Texas waters .

Two male eastern Ruddy Ground-Doves from southern Texas .

A gray-morph Chuck-will's-widow from the Texas coast .
Three Eastern Whip-poor-wills: from Corpus Christi, Texas.

Two Snowy Owls from Texas .
A ghostly pale Great Horned Owl from west Texas .
A Long-eared Owl on a day roost in San Antonio, Texas .
Record pics of a Mountain Pygmy-Owl from Big Bend National Park, west Texas.
A Northern Pygmy-Owl from Washington State .
This Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl from southern Texas had to play second fiddle, despite showing very well....

A Plain-capped Starthroat from SE Arizona .
A male Broad-billed Hummingbird from OUR BALCONY (!) in San Antonio, Texas .
A male Broad-billed Hummingbird plus adult female Magnificent and male Black-chinned Hummingbirds from SE Arizona .
A male Broad-billed Hummingbird from Houston, Texas.
A juvenile Magnificent Hummingbird from near San Antonio, Texas .
Male Magnificent Hummingbirds plus adult male Calliope from SE Arizona .
A male Green-breasted Mango from South Texas .
A male Buff-bellied Hummingbird from South Texas .
An adult Violet-crowned Hummingbird from west Texas .
A female Calliope Hummingbird from west Texas .
Male Calliope, Broad-tailed and Black-chinned Hummingbirds from west Texas .
Four species of hummingbird: Allen's, Calliope, Rufous and Black-chinned (plus a bonus bird and butterfly!) on a February day in San Antonio, Texas .

A "southern" Red-breasted Sapsucker from West Texas .
Williamson's Sapsucker a male from west Texas.
A mixed pair of Red- and Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers interacting.

Male Elegant Trogon and Blue Bunting from south Texas on January 14-16 2005.

A flying female Ringed Kingfisher from south Texas.
. All four Texas kingfishers in just over six hours! .

A Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet from south Texas .
A Buff-breasted Flycatcher from the Davis Mtns, Texas .
A Greater Pewee wintering in southern Texas  .
An unexpected Thick-billed Kingbird at Portal, SE Arizona .
A couple of Fork-tailed Flycatchers from Texas .
The first documented record for North America of Social Flycatcher, from southern Texas .
Poor pics of a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher from the upper Texas Coast  .

A young male Rose-throated Becard from southern Texas  .
An adult male Rose-throated Becard from southern Texas  - added December 10, 2020.

A leucistic Loggerhead Shrike from San Antonio .
Three of six Northern Shrikes in three days in the Texas Panhandle - plus the first one from the Trans-Pecos in 25 years... .

Two Black-capped Vireos from the Hill Country .
A Hutton's Vireo from San Antonio.
A Bell's Vireo from the southern coast .

Two Tamaulipas Crows from Brownsville, LRGV .
Two Fish Crows from eastern Texas in the summer of 2013 .

Some southwestern Purple Martins from southeast Arizona nesting in Saguaro cactus .
Four western Purple Martins from southeastern New Mexico .
Two eastern Purple Martins from southern Texas with very different P-molt timing... .
Pioneering Purple Martins from the eastern Trans-Pecos of Texas that are nesting inside light pole fixtures and on ledges under metal canopies .
A Violet-green Swallow from Fort Worth .
A Violet-green Swallow from Colorado .
A selection from a huge Swallow drop-in near Fort Worth - .

A Golden-crowned Kinglet flashing his crest, from Washington State  .

The first White Wagtail for Texas!.

At last, a Juniper Titmouse from Texas!.

A comparison of Brown-headed and Pygmy Nuthatches from Texas and Colorado .
A Brown Creeper from eastern Texas -.

Phainopeplas from west Texas  .

An American Dipper from the western Texas, by Willie Sekula -.

The second Texas record of Northern Wheatear - plus Northern Jacana and Carolina Chickadee for an unlikely one-day Photo Triple ! .
Unexpected Western Bluebirds from San Antonio, Texas  .

A White-throated Thrush from southern Texas  .
A gorgeous male Varied Thrush from San Antonio, Texas.

A thought-provoking Tropical Mockingbird from the Upper Texas Coast  .
A Crissal Thrasher from west Texas.

A delightful Painted Redstart in Corpus Christi, Texas .
Another lovely Painted Redstart - this one from Arizona  .
A series of pages of various warblers from an amazing Fallout at South Padre Island :
     - male Bay-breasted Warbler.
     - male and female Golden-winged Warblers.
     - male Tennessee, Cerulean and Blackburnian Warblers.
     - male Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, and Black-throated Green Warblers.
     - male Northern Parula, American Redstart.
     - female Cape May Warbler, Philadelphia Vireo, plus "combos".
A scarce Black-throated Blue Warbler from the Central Texas Coast; an educational really dull female! - plus now a male from the same spot .
Yellow-throated Warblers from the central Texas coast  .
Palm Warbler from coastal Texas  .
Prairie Warbler
A black-throated Tennessee Warbler from south Texas.
A Hooded Warbler from the central Texas coast  .
A Worm-eating Warbler from the central Texas coast  .
An unexpected Lucy's Warbler from Port Aransas, Nueces county, plus Bar-tailed Godwit and Mag. Frigatebird from the same day! .
A Colima Warbler from west Texas .
Northern Parulas from the central Texas coast .
A Kentucky Warbler from the central Texas coast  .
A Prothonotary Warbler from the central Texas coast  .
Mourning Warbler two Spring males; two "broken eyering" immatures plus an unusual female from the Fall, from coastal Texas .
A MacGillivray's Warbler from the central Texas coast  .
Scarce Cape May Warblers from the Central Texas Coast .
A nice, clean-looking male Tropical Parula from San Antonio .
A cooperative Hermit Warbler from the Central Texas Coast  .
A rare Hermit Warbler from the Central Texas Coast .
An even rarer Red-faced Warbler from the same Central Texas Coast spot as the above Hermit Warbler; at bottom of page .
A Red-faced Warbler from southeastern New Mexico .
A lovely male Golden-cheeked Warbler from the Hill Country .
An obliging Swainson's Warbler from Corpus Christi .
A record shot of a Golden-crowned Warbler from south Texas .
A lovely Rufous-capped Warbler from south of San Antonio .
The long-staying Gray-crowned Yellowthroat from Sabal Palm, LRGV; but is it a pure bird??? .

An Olive Warbler from the Davis Mtns, Texas .

A Hatching Year Red-legged Honeycreeper from southern Texas; a potential First for the ABA area .

A cooperative Sagebrush Sparrow from west Texas .
A nicely-posed adult Golden-crowned Sparrow from west-central Texas .
Flight shots of the Lewisville, Texas Snow Bunting.
A male Varied Bunting from the central Texas coast .

A male Yellow-faced Grassquit from south-central Texas coast (plus a handful of interesting "photo-mates" from the same day) .
A male Blue Bunting from San Antonio, Texas - added February 26, 2021.
A Flame-colored Tanager from the southern Texas coastal plain .
Rare on the Texas coast, Western Tanagers; male and female .
A male Scarlet Tanager with golden wingbars from south Texas .

Male and female Crimson-collared Grosbeaks from the LRGV .

A wintering Scott's Oriole from Tarrant County, TX .
Audubon's Orioles from Bexar and Frio counties, TX; north of their tradional range .
A Black-vented Oriole from south Texas .
A "gray-morph" Orchard Oriole from Corpus Christi, Texas .
Yellow-headed Blackbirds in flight (landing) from the central Texas coast .

Four forms of Rosy Finch from Sandia Crest, NM; all 4 types in flight, standing, and together in one shot. 
A female Evening Grosbeak from west Texas .