My wife gave me her old workhorse of a camera when she upgraded. I’ve been getting used to it and have started taking pictures of the birds at Birds of Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, where I volunteer. My duty station is the Nature Center, a structure you pass as you make your way in the park. The first couple of attempts at photography were disastrous, but I’m getting much more confident. Below are some images I took on March 6, 2025.

Folks from all over the world come to visit Bentsen to see birds from all over the world. Some pass through as migrants and some make the Rio Grande Valley home. One that is abundant in the park is the Green Jay (below), a relative of the Blue Jay of Northern climes and is much in demand to see. Green Jays are most abundant in tropical areas, but their northernmost distribution is south Texas.

The Great Kiskadee is shown above. As with the Green Jay, the Great Kiskadee is mostly tropical in distribution. Many reside in the Rio Grande Valley year-round.

The Red-Winged Blackbird (shown above) is found in almost every state of the United States (not so much in Alaska or Hawaii. They have a raucous call and are easy to spot with the patch of red and yellow color on their shoulders.

There are about nine species of orioles. The most common in the Rio Grande Valley are the Altimira and Hooded. The Altamira Oriole is shown immediately above and below. As with most of those shown above, the northernmost distribution of the Altamira Oriole is south Texas.

This guy (above) is a female Hooded Oriole. It’s quite a bit smaller than the males.

Males of the Northern Cardinal (above) have vivid red plumage and can be found from the central US eastward and southward into Texas. Many are year-round inhabitants.