One of the many things I love about this festival is the hospitality. The staff is constantly striving to make sure you see birds and are having a great time. This morning I went to drop Denese off at her field trip and I was walking back to the rental car when the festival president, Father Tom Pincelli shouts from across the lot, "Hey, Birdchick, do you need a tropcial kingbird?"

I said yes and he pointed to one and I digiscoped it on the spot. The tropical kingbird is right below the loggerhead shrike--two great birds, right in the parking lot.

Father Tom also pointed out some other birds on a nearby telephone line. He said that the larger one was a parrot.

Two introduced species side by side: European starling and red-crowned parrot.

The parrots are native to Mexico, but this particular population in Harlingen is the result of escaped birds thriving in a metro area--which works out, red-crowned parrots in their native land are endangered.

Here's an up close shot of that kingbird in the morning light. Great birds, right in the convention center parking lot.