TEXAS TRIP REPORT: PAGE 2
March 17 to April 2, 2006
Text and images copyright Heather Forcier, all rights reserved

Lens and Land: Dos Venadas Ranch
From Roma I proceeded to my first ranch in the Lens and Land cooperative group set up for photography, Dos Venadas. The weather took a turn for the worst – dark overcast skies for much of the days I was there and even rain overnight, but in the company of friends Kristi Graham, Scott Elowitz, and Steve Bentsen, the ranch owner, it was still a great deal of fun.

Species of note included Rio Grande variety of Eastern Screech Owl, Scaled Quail, Northern Bobwhite, Black-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Northern Mockingbird, more of the Green-tailed Towhee, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, White-tailed Deer, Desert Cottontail, Javalina, Harris’s Hawk, Crested Caracara, Great Kiskadee, White-tipped Dove. The highlight at this ranch for me was photographing a Louisiana Waterthrush that worked its way around a small pool of water at the blind for literally an hour and a half, seemingly oblivious of the camera shutters and often within our minimum focus distance.

Although the light and weather didn’t cooperate, I like the ranch a great deal. The diversity of plant and bird life on this relatively small property is amazing.

Dos Venadas has a number of resident Eastern Screech Owls on the property. The Rio Grande variety is noticeably smaller than the Eastern Screech Owls even as close as Houston.

Lens and Land: Las Colmenas de los Cerritos
Onto my second Lens and Land ranch I visited with Lowry and Jessica McAllen at Las Colmenas de los Cerritos. Lowry pays special attention to details such as light angles, focal lengths, and distant backgrounds – those things that photographers need to concern themselves with. He has even set up perches at the blinds that can be easily moved for the opposite time of year for appropriate sun angle at that time.
Wild Turkey at Las Colmenas
Great Kiskadee at last light.

Looking back, it’s hard to believe I have spent just over two days at this ranch in the last year – in such a short time it was extremely productive for me. Notable species this year were Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Green Jay, Inca Dove, Common Ground Dove, White-tipped Dove, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Great Kiskadee, Black-crested Titmouse, Rio Grande variety of Wild Turkey, and after two years I finally got my first decent photos of Black-throated Sparrow. The hawk blind was very productive for Harris’s Hawk and Crested Caracara and was so amazing I spent two mornings in a row at it.
Crested Caracara pair at the Las Colmenas raptor blind.

 

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