Painted Bunting

Painted Buntings make a strong impression on people. The mature males are small songbirds sporting bright red, blue, and green. They are migratory, and they breed in the Texas Hill Country in the summer. We usually see them in the neighborhood during Spring migration, but they don't usually use neighborhoods for nesting. In my experience you have to get on the outskirts of town before you can find them singing on their breeding territories. So I was pleasantly surprised last weekend when I heard a Painted Bunting singing on Lake Creek Trail near the footbridge. I played a recording of its song on my iPhone and was able to coax it to come close enough for this photo:

I'll be keeping my eyes and ears open for this species on the trail throughout the summer. Maybe there's a breeding pair in the neighborhood this summer!

Besides the Painted Bunting, I found several interesting dragonflies, damselflies, and other things on the trail. Here are my photos and observations on iNaturalist for 6/9/2013. And here is my complete bird list on eBird.