The Very Rare Golden Cheeked Warbler

MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
edited April 25, 2008 in Wildlife
Okay, so I am very excited about having seen, observed and photographed these guys. What an experience! Unfortunately, I didn't get the National Geographic image that I was hoping for as I could not coax any GCW to the blinds. So I went ahead and did this the old fashioned way seeking them out in the tree. The second day at Los Madrones Ranch proved successful in that venture. These pictures are pleasing to me because they show the GCW doing what it does best: Hanging out in the deep foliage of the trees foraging and at this time of the year singing and protecting territory.

These are the first images....

I spotted one high in a juniper
GoldenCheekedWarbler8.jpg

Kept tracking it hoping to get a clear shot.
GoldenCheekedWarbler3.jpg

Threaded the needle so to speak between branches and leaves to get this shot. Had to use the flash because of the shadows.
GoldenCheekedWarbler1.jpg

The male just did not want to come out.
GoldenCheekedWarbler15b.jpg

The female finally started to get more out in the open but not by much
GoldenCheekedWarbler6.jpg

GoldenCheekedWarbler10.jpg

Okay, more to come later....
Stephen
www.capture-the-pixel.com

Comments

  • Ric GrupeRic Grupe Registered Users Posts: 9,522 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2008
    Only the hardest photographic pursuit there is!

    Small, shy birds...exasperating sometimes.

    Good hunting, Stephen.:D
  • jdmphotojdmphoto Registered Users Posts: 159 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2008
    numbers 4 and 6 are my favorites. bowdown.gifclap.gif I have never senn or heard of one before but the male is beautiful. Persistence pays off.
    See my photo's athttp://jdmphoto.smugmug.com/

    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
  • bfjrbfjr Registered Users Posts: 10,980 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2008
    Man I remember how I felt when I 1st saw an Orange Bishop !!

    So I'm right there with ya, Congrats on the Find thumb.gif
    Benjamin
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  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2008
    Ric Grupe wrote:
    Only the hardest photographic pursuit there is!

    Small, shy birds...exasperating sometimes.

    Good hunting, Stephen.:D

    Thanks Ric. The owner of the ranch has been a photographer for 30+ years. He is the former photo editor of Texas Highways Magazine. He told me that in all his years of photographing different subjects birds were definitely the most challenging. Makes me feel better.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • dbaker1221dbaker1221 Registered Users Posts: 4,482 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2008
    really cool find Stephen:ivar :ivar
    **If I keep shooting, I'm bound to hit something**
    Dave
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2008
    jdmphoto wrote:
    numbers 4 and 6 are my favorites. bowdown.gifclap.gif I have never senn or heard of one before but the male is beautiful. Persistence pays off.
    Thanks John. They are very rare birds because of habitat loss. They will only nest in junipers and occasionally the different oaks of the Texas Hill Country, but unfortunately since the 1800s, ranchers and farmers and cleared juniper as if it were a nuisance weed to make way for cattle and crops. Like many wood warblers they are very striking in color. Currently, they only nest in a relatively small area of the Texas Hill Country before heading back to Chiapas, Mexico where it spends most of the year.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2008
    Congrats Stephen on those captures. thumb.gif

    Great post as you show the excitment and the frustration of wildlife photography. I have done different types of photography and wildlife shooting by far is the most challenging.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • RhuarcRhuarc Registered Users Posts: 1,464 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2008
    Harryb wrote:
    Congrats Stephen on those captures. thumb.gif

    Great post as you show the excitment and the frustration of wildlife photography. I have done different types of photography and wildlife shooting by far is the most challenging.

    I prefere wildlife that has nowhere to go! aka, the zoo! LoL, and I find it much easier to photograph larger specimens, elephants, giraffes, you get the idea! LoL...

    Great shots Stephen! Looks like that little bugger is as hard to capture as the elusive Kingfisher!
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  • raptorcaptorraptorcaptor Registered Users Posts: 3,968 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2008
    Very cool Stephen! Congrats on your great find!
    Glenn

    My website | NANPA Member
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