Eastern Bluebird, Brazos Bend State Park, Elm Lake

I pretty much never tire of these guys. They don’t even have to be doing anything interesting and I’ll watch them for as long as they will allow. The first time I ever spotted an Eastern Bluebird was a year ago at the Riverpark Nature Trails. At that moment my heart literally soared. I had spent the entire morning hoping, wishing to see one until right when I was ready to leave I spotted a pair, even snapped a few pics of the male glaring angrily at me. On the hike back to my car I couldn’t stop smiling – that was when I knew I was hooked. That I had developed Obsessive Birding Disorder. That this would be a lifelong thing for me, that I didn’t care what anyone else thought about it, that it was one of the few activities where hours would go by and they would seem like mere minutes or seconds, that no matter how long I was out with my camera chasing birds, it wouldn’t be enough. I would want to get up the next morning and go again and again. Always something new and interesting to see, and for the days when I didn’t, well, it just made the good days even more exciting. There is skill but so much of it is chance, and for that I love birding. Every time I lay eyes on an Eastern Bluebird I remember that moment and the same giddy feeling washes over me. When was that moment for you? What bird was it?