Tag Archives: STARR COUNTY
Gallery Updates…
I’ve been pretty busy trying to download more images to my website galleries. I think I’ve FINALLY locked on to a decent system…we’ll see!
This is a pretty little Black-Throated Sparrow that I photographed a couple of months ago down at the Santa Clara Ranch. I’ll be heading back down there at the end of April for another shoot.
Just had a busy weekend down in Rockport, TX. I tried to get out both Saturday and Sunday mornings to shoot, but just didn’t find anything happening. I watched a really nice Kingfisher work for a while, but couldn’t get a decent image made.
Met with the owner of a nice gallery/restaurant on Saturday night. I’d really like to get some of my images exhibited there. We also discussed another potential opportunity that I can’t discuss right now. It is potentionally VERY exciting.
OK…Please take a look at some of the new galleries. Let me know what you think…SEF
Doves
Doves certainly aren’t the most exotic species of birds at the Santa Clara Ranch. In spite of this, I really enjoy watching…studying…and photographing them.
The Doves we saw at the Santa Clara Ranch readily came to the blinds for food and water. These Common Ground Doves are pretty comical as their heads bob up and down. Please take a look at my other Dove images at Stephen Fisher Photography.
Santa Clara Ranch
(Sorry for the delay in a post up here. I had some growing pains as I migrated to this new WordPress platform. I think I have it now…maybe…)
I just returned from three days down in Starr County, Texas at the Santa Clara Ranch. Dr. Beto Gutierrez has created an awesome place for photographers to come and make images of South Texas nature at it’s finest. The ranch is a 300 acre sanctuary of untouched brush land. No hunting…never plowed…PERFECT!
There are a total of five photography blinds here. Four of these blinds have small pools of water that attract wildlife of all kinds. The blinds are constructed below ground so the pools are at eye level. Two of these blinds are positioned for morning shooting and two are for afternoons. There’s also an elevated Raptor blind. (Please take a look at the above link to the Santa Clara Ranch for pictures of the blinds and guesthouse.)
Two of my good friends from Rockport, TX…John Martell and Mike Collins…along with a friend of John’s from Boston made the three hour drive down to the ranch. We were met at the ranch gate at 6:00am on Saturday by Hector Astorga. Hector is an accomplished nature photographer who served as our guide for the first day. His local knowledge of the Santa Clara Ranch was invaluable and really maximized our time.
This image is a pair of Green Jays. Other species of birds we saw were Northern Cardinals, Northern Bobwhites, Mourning Doves, Golden Fronted Woodpeckers, Long Billed Thrashers, Curve Billed Thrashers, Black Throated Sparrows, Green Tailed Towhee, Audubon’s Orioles, Harris Hawks, Crested Caracara, and the Tufted Titmouse. On the mammal side, Javalena, White Tail Deer, and Cotton Tailed Rabbits were all over the ranch.
More image galleries can be found at Stephen Fisher Photography. I’ll also post more here tomorrow…SEF