Quiet Weekend (with a touch of blue)

It was a very quiet weekend, attributable, I believe, to a transition point in Spring migration. On Saturday I paid visits to a couple of places I'd not visited before, looking (unsuccessfully, I might add) for Clay-colored Robins. The first of these was the Frontera Audubon Thicket, site #58 on the Lower Texas Coastal Birding Trail
. The best bird on that stop would have to have been an Ovenbird who offered up some nice views but was a bit too far away for a photo. Next stop in the quest for the robins was Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge just a few miles down the road though again I came up empty with the robins. This Black-crested Titmouse was coming to the feeder near the refuge visitor center and the only bird that would come to it while a Fox Squirrel pigged out on sunflower seeds. It was kind of funny because the titmouse would fly in and grab a seed while the Red-winged Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles squawked and watched from the nearby trees. But as soon as the squirrel was gone it was a free-for-all for the Icterids*

Sunday was my last day in the area and I decided that I really needed some more shots of the blue Green Jay before heading up the road. The bird was making more frequent appearances this time and showed well on this trip to Laguna Atascosa NWR. It would be interesting to know the biological explanation for this bird's coloring and I will probably contact the refuge biologist. And will it mate and pass on the genes? I let you know if I find anything . . .