The ranch foreman at the Fennessey Ranch mentioned to me that he often sees vermilion flycatchers in a certain part of the ranch. Since the predator blind was slow, I decided to head over to the location. There were no blinds so if I were to photograph this guy, it would be done the old fashioned way, sort of. :-) The foreman had lent me his truck and I basically drove the truck up and down a small trail where the vermilions were supposed to be. After thirty minutes or so, I found them in the distance. The truck moving back and forth on the trail seemed to spook them so I decided to stop near a branch that both frequented. In fact, in watching them, I could tell that both had a sort of routine flying from the perch to the ground snatching insects from an irrigation canal and then returning to certain branches. I parked near one of the branches and waited. Sure enough, without all the movement, within twenty minutes, the vermilions began to ignore me and just hunt. This picture is one of the results from staking out this branch. The light was low, but still worth the time put in. Fennessey Ranch near Bayside, Texas, December 2008

The ranch foreman at the Fennessey Ranch mentioned to me that he often sees vermilion flycatchers in a certain part of the ranch. Since the predator blind was slow, I decided to head over to the location. There were no blinds so if I were to photograph this guy, it would be done the old fashioned way, sort of. :-) The foreman had lent me his truck and I basically drove the truck up and down a small trail where the vermilions were supposed to be. After thirty minutes or so, I found them in the distance. The truck moving back and forth on the trail seemed to spook them so I decided to stop near a branch that both frequented. In fact, in watching them, I could tell that both had a sort of routine flying from the perch to the ground snatching insects from an irrigation canal and then returning to certain branches. I parked near one of the branches and waited. Sure enough, without all the movement, within twenty minutes, the vermilions began to ignore me and just hunt. This picture is one of the results from staking out this branch. The light was low, but still worth the time put in. Fennessey Ranch near Bayside, Texas, December 2008