Spring 2025
Introduction
Date: April 1, 2025
I thought for a new blog post, I would provide occasional updates during Spring 2025, to showcase and provide a bit more background on some of the photos I’ve shared, and travels I have been fortunate enough to go on during this wonderful time of the year. We do have quite a few big things going on right now. We are expecting a baby girl due around late July/early August, so there have been regular doctor appointments, and we haven’t been able to travel too far. We have been making regular trips to Colorado during late May, and we were considering traveling to Boston and possibly a few other states in the Eastern U.S., but that will probably be put on the shelf for at least a few more years. Also, we have been slowly renovating our front and backyard, making them a bit more enjoyable for us. Even though photography hasn’t been a big priority for me, I’ve still been blessed with time to visit some locations and photograph a few of our wonderful breeding songbirds.
Wildlife In Focus
I am very thrilled to say I am participating in the 2025 Wildlife In Focus (WiF) photo contest. WiF is a 501c3 non-profit organization, with the goal of protecting and preserving Texas land, and its wildlife and habitats. Landowners and Photographers team up in a roughly 3.29 month period, to participate in (my opinion), the best conservation themed. photo contest the state of Texas has to offer.
I am partners with an excellent photographer and great friend Mark Deschner (Instagram: @mark.deschner), and Transition Ranch owned by Dr. Sandy and Leslee Hurwitz. When you think of the word, “creativity” Mark is that guy with his photography. The work Mark has on his instagram page is so clever, and his ability to see a great image out in the field is one of the best out of anyone I’ve ever had the pleasure to shoot with. With Mark’s eye for creativity and my knowledge of the birds of Texas, I feel we make a great team! I’d highly recommend anyone to follow Mark on instagram and check out his work.
In my opinion, Transition Ranch is simply the best ranch in the entire contest. We have made 3 outings so far, and each trip easily could have been a birder/bird photographers best day for an entire year of birding. Simply put, the avian wildlife diversity in this region is one of the best Texas has to offer. Birds like Black-Throated Sparrows and Canyon Towhees are in such great numbers here, I can only best compare it to visiting and counting a local city park’s House Sparrow population. It’s just that amazing to see birds any bird photographer in the entire country would drool over, be so common in this area. The main reason why Transition Ranch has such a great diversity of avian wildlife, is due to it’s location. Transition Ranch is nestled in the convergence point of four eco-regions in the heart of Southwest Texas. To the North, the infamous Texas Hill Country; out West, the vast Chihuahuan Desert; just South, the Tamaulipan Plains; and stretching Southeast, the South Texas Plains. Dr. Sandy and Leslee also are true stewards of their land, and always working on making it a great habitat for Texas wildlife. They are some of the kindest, thoughtful, and most caring people I have ever met, and Mark and I are both blessed to be working with them.
Below is an image of a Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay I captured on our first outing to Transition Ranch, a day after the contest began:
Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay perched on Ashe Juniper with Ashe Juniper foreground.
As we inch closer to the return of more breeding songbirds, I look forward to the opportunity to photograph birds I don’t spend too much time with such as Varied Bunting and Black-Capped Vireo. As I continue this Spring 2025 blog post, I hope to share some more images of birds photographed at this amazing ranch, and provide more pictures and video of this stunning 2,000 acre property. Thanks Dr. Sandy and Leslee, you are the best partners Mark and I could have ever asked for!
A Couple of Parulas
Date: April 18th, 2025
Thought I’d provide a quick update on how Spring 2025 is going. So far, I’ve had a lot of great opportunities to photograph some of the early arriving songbirds. By now, a lot of these birds have begun nest building and attracting mates. This Tropical Parula I have photographed for a couple of years in a row now, but has been seen in the same area for much more time. Here in Central Texas, we had many of these Texas Redbuds go through some late blooms after a few late February cold blasts. This Tropical Parula was pretty easy to find. I have learned over the years the slight difference in their calls, and I used that to determine I had a Tropical Parula around me before I even saw it. Eventually, it landed in this Texas Redbud that is located next to a beautiful stream of river. A dream shot has now become a reality.
In a small town not too far away, I discovered a great location for multiple breeding Northern Paulas. I noticed Box Elder were growing along this river at eye elevation. This Northern Parula was very comfortable with people. This park is a popular walking trail, and I think that is what helped me to get so close to this bird.
It’s so special to have such a wonderful day of photographing beautiful songbirds during the spring season, after such a long period of cold, dull winter days.
