Well, I solved the mystery. The Mystery Bird mystery. I found a new tool that is really quite incredible. It is the Merlin Bird Id by Cornell Lab of Orintholgy. This is an app for iPhone (and other smart phones). Easy as can be to use and zeroes right in on identifying birds.
In this case the bird was a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. The first I have ever seen.
If you are a birder, you likely already know of this tool, but if not check it out. Just Google "Merlin Bird Id".
I managed to spend a couple of day out in the woods not far from Lake O' the Pines on some land that is being sold by a friend of mine. He left a four-wheeler on the 565 acres for me to use while I explored and took pictures for him and his sales prospectus. I had a ball. It is a thick mixed forest with lots of water. Since I was dashing about on the 4-wheeler I didn't see a lot of birds - the noise scared them off usually. However, I did spot some of the common ones I see all the time: mockingbirds, crows, and vultures. I did scare up a Harris Hawk and a flock of Lesser Scaups. I heard some other ducks as they paniced and took off, but the brush was too thick to see them.
I also got some great pictures of the woods there. Will post some soon. One of the best is to the right.
The next day, I was at the Upshur County Landing, again taking pictures and saw an Osprey diving into the water, catching his breakfast. He was too far away for me to get pictures with my little 200mm lens, but I did enjoy the show.
Michael is a former biologist and Texas Master Naturalist. Originally from Newsome, Texas (Between Pittsburg and Winnsboro), educated in Dallas & Garland schools, then off to the University of Texas system where he received a degree in biology and worked as a biologist with the University of Texas system. After many years away from nature and biology, he relocated to the banks of Lake O' the Pines where he has been rediscovering the joys of nature. He is somewhat surprised that he has become a birder. Most of his interest in nature was centered around reptiles. Perhaps just like birds evolved from reptiles starting in the late Jurassic, he has begun his own evolution. During his formal education, his interests in biology/nature grew to include community ecology and population studies, all with a binding of evolutionary processes. He liked birds, but they were secondary at best. All at once he finds them fascinating.
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