I'm still alive and well here in the rust belt. Not much shooting for me of late--no free time is one of the dangers of going to grad school full time. Membership has it's privileges, I guess.
I received word today from Sean Fitzgerald that he is offering a 2nd workshop at Los Madrones Ranch near Austin. The dates are May 28th - May 30th and the cost is a very reasonable $990. Sean does some outstanding work and I've heard nothing but very positive reviews about the workshop experience with him. More information can be found at this website or you can call 214-213-4193 .
I also received an e-mail from Bill Yeates, one of my photographer friends back in San Angelo. He has been spending some quality time down at South Llano River State Park and sent me some pretty images of an Indigo Bunting, a Lark Sparrow that was partially albino, and warbler that neither he nor I was able to identify. He also reports that he saw Painted Buntings, Black-throated Sparrows, and a number of other warblers. As you have read in these blogs before, I am consistently impressed with the blinds at South Llano River State Park and big kudos need to go out to the staff, management, and tireless volunteers for creating and maintaining what may be the best public land birding experience west of San Antonio.
On my current local front, I found what could be an outstanding blind here in the Dayton area. I will do an initial site report on it when I can find some time and I can get some other questions answered.
I hope that your bird photography experiences are going well during this spring. I hear wonderful things about the amount of precipitation that Texas has gotten and how pretty the wildflowers are. I don't foresee a trip home any time soon. I have a couple of weeks with no classes, but I need to spend some quality time on my thesis research. In fact, as soon as I finish this out, I have another 14 page scholarly paper I need to read before I start slaving away again at the keyboard. Just ten months to go...I can't wait ;)
Image: Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), Possum Creek Metropark, Dayton, Ohio, © Jim Miller
