{"id":2823,"date":"2014-04-22T11:08:26","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T16:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/?p=2823"},"modified":"2014-04-22T11:16:54","modified_gmt":"2014-04-22T16:16:54","slug":"a-gem-in-the-hill-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/22\/a-gem-in-the-hill-country\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gem in the Hill Country"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I spent two days with Sandy and Leslee Hurwitz at their “Transition Ranch” northwest of Uvalde, Texas.\u00a0 They are in the process of building\u00a0the ranch into a nature photography destination, so I was\u00a0invited to provide advice.\u00a0 In my opinion, the greatest challenge to starting another photography ranch is having topography and wildlife that offer something different.\u00a0 The Transition has all of that.<\/p>\n

We photographed at a blind that is being constructed but where food and water had been in place for several months.\u00a0 Many species of birds visited that site.\u00a0 All that remains to be done there is to get the blind finished and prepare a number of good bird perches.<\/p>\n

Some of the birds you will see in this week’s newsletter were located in the oak and juniper (cedar) covered hills within the ranch.\u00a0 Most notable among the species in\u00a0this habitat are black-capped vireo, golden-cheeked warbler, and Montezuma quail.\u00a0 With just a little extra work, I think\u00a0some mammals like gray fox and white-tailed deer will be available at the blinds.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the bird photos from my two days at “Transition”.\u00a0 Remember, just click on a photo to make it enlarge and sharpen.\u00a0 By clicking the arrow on the right edge of each photo, you can advance to the next shot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Endangered<\/a>
Endangered black-capped vireo perched in hill country habitat,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Black-capped<\/a>
Black-capped vireo perched on dead juniper limbs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Golden-cheeked<\/a>
Golden-cheeked Warbler in juniper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Curious<\/a>
Curious endangered golden-cheeked warbler in prime habitat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Male<\/a>
Male hooded oriole at the creek blind in late afternoon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Western<\/a>
Western scrub jay visited the photo blind to feed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All of these bird photos were made with a Canon 7D camera, 500 mm IS lens, Feisol carbon fiber tripod and Wimberley head.<\/p>\n

\"Cautious<\/a>
Cautious male summer tanager coming in for a drink.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Black-throated<\/a>
Black-throated sparrows are abundant at Transition Ranch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cedar<\/a>
Cedar Waxwings are winter and spring residents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This blue grosbeak was looking for a perch with complimentary colors. This lichen covered rock was a perfect find.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lark<\/a>
Lark sparrows were a part of the bird diversity at a Transition Ranch photo blind.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lincoln's<\/a>
Lincoln’s sparrow\u00a0spot-lighted while taking it evening bath at the bird blind.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Prickly<\/a>
Prickly pear cactus covered in blooms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My visit to Transition Ranch was pretty much unscripted.\u00a0 While roaming the hills,\u00a0we photographed\u00a0prickly pear cactus in bloom, endangered birds, a quail nest and many other subjects.\u00a0 You should plan your April, 2015 to include a photo trip to\u00a0Transition Ranch.<\/p>\n

Accommodations and meals are a part of the nature photography package.\u00a0 All you have to do is relax and enjoy the scene.<\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I spent two days with Sandy and Leslee Hurwitz at their “Transition Ranch” northwest of Uvalde, Texas.\u00a0 They are in the process of building\u00a0the ranch into a nature photography destination, so I was\u00a0invited to provide advice.\u00a0 In my opinion, the greatest challenge to starting another photography ranch is having topography and wildlife that … Continue reading A Gem in the Hill Country<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2823"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2842,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823\/revisions\/2842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}