View allAll Photos Tagged CrossTimbers
this ancient gnarly forest marks the western limit of the Eastern deciduous forests, and the eastern border of the Great Western Plains
Here is a photo of what use to be a Sears store, at the corner of Crosstimbers and N. Shepherd Drive, on the north side of Houston Texas, USA. My family shopped here a lot when I was a kid. The toy department was up stairs and at one time there was a cafe in the corner that the camera is pointed at. The photo was taken back in August 2022, with a Canon 80D with a EF-S 18-135mm lens with adjustments made in post-processing. Enjoy!
Lots of tanagers breed in the oaks of the Central Oklahoma Cross Timbers, a long, skinny ecoregion that separates the big forests of the East from the Southern Plains. Blackjack and Post Oaks are the predominant trees. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
deep in the crosstimber woods of rural Oklahoma...nearby (out of frame) lies a recently skinned deer carcass and discarded bloody gloves
This striking bird has a place in culture and literature. The Cherokee used its image as a war symbol, and it makes an appearance in Longfellow’s epic poem The Song of Hiawatha, telling how a grateful Hiawatha gave the bird its red head in thanks for its service. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
I never tire of observing and photographing these stunning little neotropicals. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
We watched this bunting and his mate who was building a nest for quite some time. He sang a little, but was mostly just flitting around watching the female. What a great way to spend a Spring morning. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
We've seen a female RBWP for weeks at this location, but she was always alone. Today she had a mate and he is gorgeous. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
A colorful neotropical that Americans only see in summer. While here they mainly eats wasps and bees caught high in the canopies. But most of their year is spent in the tropics where they mainly eat fruits. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
Male bunting on a breeding territory with female. Oklahoma Cross Timbers. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
We encountered a small flock of these little warblers, wildly chasing one another around a big pecan tree. This one finally settled, fussing at another perched above it. They are welcome winter residents in the Oklahoma Cross Timbers.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
At first look in the brush we thought this was a female bunting. But, there is a hint of blue on his wing and it soon started singing, which is male behavior. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
Buntings eat a lot of insects in spring when they are feeding their young. As seeds mature and become plentiful in summer, they begin to eat mainly seeds. These birds are small and when down in the grass foraging for seeds, they pretty much disappear. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
Some folks down in Louisiana call this bird "nonpareil.” The French word 'nonpareil' means "without equal." Our beautiful world, pass it on.
Painted Buntings are pretty aggressive to other members of their species. When the males aren't challenging with a song or fighting, they spend a lot of time hiding from predators. As brightly colored as they are, it's difficult to spot them back in the shade and leaves. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
New winter visitors have arrived in the Oklahoma Cross Timbers!
Flocks of stunning Cedar Waxwings have graced our oak woods, their silky brown-gray feathers, elegant crests, black masks, and signature red "wax" wing tips catching the light.
These sociable nomads descend in flocks, filling the air with high, thin whistles as they feast on juniper berries (especially from eastern redcedars) that sustain them through the cold months.
Watch them pass berries beak-to-beak in perfect harmony—true symbols of winter wonder in our tangled oak-juniper landscape!
Have you spotted any yet this winter? Share your sightings!
This buck was nibbling acorns when he alerted to a couple of does. No chasing does anymore. They just came up and dined together. We will know the rut is ended for sure when the bucks start forming small bachelor bands again. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
This female is gathering nesting material. I have a general idea where it is. Will try to locate later after it is built. Once she has an investment or even an egg in the nest, she's not likely to abandon it. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
These little beauties only travel through Oklahoma in spring and fall. This makes an encounter even more special. This bird likely bred in Canada or the Great Lakes region and has traveled, mostly a night, hundreds of miles to Oklahoma. But it still has hundreds of miles left on its journey to its winter home in Mexico.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
Winter birds in Central Oklahoma. Had a half-dozen or so on seed at the old briar patch. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
A tireless songster that is often heard, but seldom seen. But, every once in awhile we get lucky! Our beautiful world, pass it on.
The first neotropical to arrive in our birding spots in the Oklahoma Cross Timbers is the active little black-and-white. They are always on the move scampering around the bark of the oaks like nuthatches. This one is perched on the budding branch of a blackjack oak. Two no-fail signals of springtime in the Cross Timbers.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
A whitetail buck in the oaks of the Central Oklahoma Cross Timbers. The oaks are the last trees to change color. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
The Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) is a small, inconspicuous flycatcher found in eastern North America’s deciduous forests and woodlands. A rather unremarkable neotropical flycatcher. In Central Oklahoma, we are just west of its range, but we find a few in the Cross Timbers ecoregion, where the flora and fauna of the East and the Southern Plains overlap.
They are scarce and wary, so always fun to get one here.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
In the Oklahoma Cross Timbers, winter brings the quiet arrival of the Harris’s Sparrow—the largest of North America’s sparrows and a genuine prairie traveler.
These birds journey south from Canada’s boreal forests, finding refuge in brushy edges and thickets where seeds and berries sustain them through the Oklahoma winter. Their soft whistles and clear notes drift across frosted oak leaves, adding a soft melody to winter stillness. Watching a Harris’s Sparrow forage in leaf litter or perch on icy branches is a testament to the resilience of one of our migratory winter birds
Our beautiful world, pass it on..
I love the light on this edge just after sun-up! The first rays are caressing the golden oak leaves and this buck's antlers. This is a great start to a fall morning.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
A Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) works its way through the post oak–blackjack oak understory, navigating the dense mid‑story typical of the Oklahoma Cross Timbers. Even in the dormant season, it foraged actively, probing bark crevices for overwintering arthropods—its primary cold‑season diet. Its distinctive tail flick and rapid scolding call carried across the silent woods, a reminder of how well this species adapts to semi‑open, shrub‑rich habitats. In a landscape shaped by fire, drought cycles, and ancient woodlands, the Bewick’s Wren remains a small but reliable indicator of healthy edge structure.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
A teeny kinglet, not much bigger than a hummingbird, but capable of handling freezing winter nights. This little male is upset because some chickadees have interloped in his small patch of woods.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
One of the most strikingly-colored woodpeckers! We don't have them year-round in Central Oklahoma: they leave in spring and return in fall. Today, we saw a pair, and it was a treat! After spotting this pair, we checked another area we see them in with no luck.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
One of these little "rainbow birds" is on my list for every outing in summer. Checked it off early this morning in the Central Oklahoma Cross Timbers.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
There are three generations in this photo, one of which is just not visible yet. The fall rut is over, and almost all mature does are bred. So this doe is still teaching survival skills to last spring's fawn while she carries next spring's fawn-- or fawns.
Our beautiful world being passed on.
Ran across a lone female kinglet in a cluster of cedar trees with greenbriers invading their lower branches. Nice morning light, so I took a few pics of this tiny winter resident in the Oklahoma Cross Timbers.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
This large neotropical flycatcher often sits on a perch in the open where it sallies out and catches insects in mid-air. It winters way down in the Amazon basin where it eatus mainly fruit. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
The Central Oklahoma Cross Timbers are filled with this neotropicals loud songs in Spring. Pretty easy to locate, a little harder to photo because they stay high in the canopy. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
A lot of folks think this little flying rainbow is North America's most beautiful bird. I won't argue with them. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
The buntings have their broods raised and are switching their diet from bugs to seeds. They are hard to see on the ground, but often jump up and grab grass seed and that gives them away. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
We were birding out in the Cross Timber oaks when this little male flew in and landed in front of us. Sat there preening for several minutes. Unfortunately, the sun was at his back, so we didn't get to see that beautiful ruby-colored throat.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
A lone female kinglet; most of the time, we find these winter birds in pairs. Like all kinglets, she was flighty and difficult to shoot. Had a pair of brown creepers in the area at the same time. They were more difficult than the kinglet!
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
A singing male Indigo in the oaks of the Oklahoma Cross Timbers. These small neotropicals are actually black, but a unique feather structure makes them appear this beautiful blue in light. Often found in the same area as Painted Buntings, but the Indigos stay high, and the Painted Buntings stay lower to the ground.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
In winter the Cross Timber woods take on a dull brownish hue and at times can seem empty. But, in a flash this little bundle of energy can appear, hovering to pluck a dormant insect or chattering defiance to an intruding photographer. Kinglets are literally the definition of "frenetic" and always a challenge to photo.
Note the spider webs in this photo. Until I began photographing birds with a telephoto lens I was oblivious to just how many spiders inhabit the oaks of the Cross Timbers. Many species of birds depend on spiders as a component of their protein diet.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.
I'm just out of the range shown for this neotropical, but we get a few out in the Cross Timbers east of Norman. The Cross Timbers is a long, skinny ecoregion that runs from eastern Kansas across east-central Oklahoma and into central Texas. It separates the big forests of the East from the Southern Plains. Because it is so narrow there is a lot of overlap of species from adjoining ecoregions. We manage to find a few parulas here. One of my favorite haunts.
Our beautiful world, pass it on.