Sometimes you get lucky. There was this tiny bird flitting in and out between the twigs and leaves of the dense canopy of this Houston tree. It was super fast, so very difficult to see clearly, let alone capture on camera. We needed a photograph to subsequently identify it.

Out of numerous shots of twigs, leaves and blurred birds, just one was adequately focused for identification purposes. It turned out to be a blue headed vireo. These songbirds are apparently winter visitors in the south eastern US and spend the breeding season in the Appalacheans or further north.

It appears very similar to Cassin’s vireo, which ranges smilarly up and down the western states of the US.