A feathered ember in a desert landscape, the male Vermilion Flycatcher is exactly what its name says: a brilliant red bird that hawks flying insects from conspicuous perches on shrub tops and fences.
This perfectly describes these birds. (taken from All About Birds).
I “chased” these birds around the park for four days. I was able to capture the female pretty well; however, the male was more difficult. He didn’t sit still very long. They are fun to watch. They land on a tree branch and fly up into the air to catch bugs.
Male
Females are delightful in their own way, subtle gray-brown birds with a warm salmon-red blush to the underparts. Though they barely reach the southwestern U.S., this species is common all the way through Central America and much of South America.
Female
I did see a male Vermillion Flycatcher at Torrey Island Campground near Belle Glade, FL. It is listed as rare for this area.
~South Llano River State Park, Junction, TX, November, 2017
Howard and I spent several days, during the Thanksgiving holiday at South Llano River State Park. Because, it was a holiday weekend the campground was full and crowded. Lots of people enjoying this beautiful park, birding, walking, hiking, biking and fishing.
South Llano River
~
~
Fallen
~
Me and my buddy!
~
A little Fall color
~
Hiding in the Woods
~
Clear Water
~
Mules
Of course some of us were enjoying taking photos. More to come from South Llano River State Park.
Well, it has been eleven months since we have traveled in our RV. We arrived home at the end of March, 2016 and haven’t been out on the road since. We elected to stay home with Kloudy, because of her illness and we have no regrets with that decision.
A week ago we decided a change of scenery was needed, so we hit the road. Our first night we stayed in Lamar, Colorado, second night we stayed at Amarillo Ranch, in Amarillo, Texas, the third night, Lake Colorado City State Park, in Colorado City, Texas.
OoO Lake Colorado City State Park:
Site 46 at Lake Colorado City State Park. Quiet, nice sites, not crowded, beautiful sunsets.A great place to spend a couple quiet nights. Lots of space between sites.
For four nights we stayed at South Llano State Park in Junction, Texas. This state park is a birders paradise and one of my favorites. The weather has been wonderful, not too cool and not too warm, and no rain! The park is still experiencing late winter, but if you look closely you can see spring trying hard to grab hold. Also, the male birds are dressed in breading plumage and chasing the ladies around. I wish it was April, because I believe we would have seen a lot more birds.
OoO South Llano State Park, Junction, Texas
Site 33. Huge sites, plenty of birds and deer, lots of hiking trails.
We have seen twenty-five species of birds, including Wild Turkeys, which this park is known for. We enjoyed a few fun walks and a few trips into town to eat at some of the local restaurants. Junction has some excellent BBQ places. And, we met lots of wonderful, nice people. Why is it that we find the people down south so darn friendly?
OoO We are headed somewhere we have never stayed before. Waco, Texas here we come!
I want to walk around The Silos, eat at some of the food trucks located there, and of course eat a cupcake at Joanna’s Bakery. I have fallen in love with the Gaines family from Fixer Upper and thought, what the heck, lets go visit Waco.
Hoping to tour downtown Waco and find a few neat shops to browse. And, maybe tour a few antique stores, if I can convince Howard what fun that might be!
It is amazing how many people are staying in Waco, just to visit The Silos. We arrived today at Riverview RV Park, Waco, Texas, after trying several other parks (all full). A neighbor told us that he felt there were at least four hundred people at The Silos on Thursday! Wow!
Our ride here from South Llano State Park, at first was most enjoyable, traveling the back roads of Texas (which we love to do) on highways 377 and 29. Beautiful, rustic towns along the route, especially Mason, with Bluebonnets blooming almost the entire way.
Bluebonnets along the side of a Texas highway. Taken from a pull-off, when we stopped for a short break.
We wanted to get on I-35 at Georgetown, which we did without any trouble. But, further north driving through Tempe it was awful, lots of construction, which had traffic backed up for miles. There were two accidents within a mile of each other, one going south bound and one going north bound. Horrible!
OoO Anyway, I have several photos of the birds I saw at South Llano State Park, which I will be posting. It will be to get back to blogging, it has been awhile.
Vermilion Flycatcher. Check out the new growth.
Has anyone been to Waco, Texas to visit The Silos?