AZ - Varied Bunting - 07/27/10

Varied Bunting - male, Kino Springs, Santa Cruz Co., AZ. July 27th, 2010. Another beauty from the Birdfinders' Arizona folder last year. This unusually approachable male was singing just a few miles from the border with Mexico at Kino Springs.'Digi-scoped' using a Canon Poweshot A560 through a Swarovski HD spotting scope.

TX - Varied Bunting and Hutton's Vireo - April 16th.

An afternoon visit to the always productive Lost Maples State Park on the Edwards Plateau gave us two rather unexpected species with, firstly, an adult male Varied Bunting right outside the Visitor Center. Despite its gaudy colors it was often extremely difficult to see remaining high in an oak for much of the observation. We later had a fabulous walk up the East Trail finding a pair of Hutton's Vireos nest building quite literally above the trail!

Varied Bunting. Adult male, Lost Maples SP, Bandera County, TX. April 16th. Described in the 'Handbook of Texas Birds' as an uncommon to rare summer resident of the SW Edward's Plateau.

Hutton's Vireo. Adult at nest, Lost Maples SP, Bandera County, TX. April 16th. Described in the 'Handbook of Texas Birds' as a 'possible' very low density resident on the Edward's Plateau.