Nov. 5, 2009 …. Cedar Hill State Park and Painted Buntings
It was a painted bunting that first drew me to this Texas State Park. It took three days of breaking spider webs on trails and one day of slogging through mud after a night of rain, but I eventually found one of these clownish-colored birds.
When in the open, you can’t miss the male of this species. He has a bright blue head, a scarlet breast, a green back and a red rump. The female is more subdued, dressed all in shades of green, with the breast leaning toward yellow on the color wheel. These birds, however, feel more comfortable when ensconced in thick foliage.
I finally found the bird that would become No. 383 on my birding life list in a tree near a small pond. The painted bunting is nicknamed nonpareil (without equal) in French and mariposa pintado (painted butterfly) in Spanish because of its spectacular appearance.
Sad to say, its beauty has made it a hot item with the international pet trade and its numbers have declined over 50 percent during the last 30 years. The birds are particularly popular as pets in Asia and Europe.
I’m now up to bird 682 on my life list, the result of a lot more traveling around the country in an RV with my black cocker spaniel, Maggie, as my copilot.
Recently, however, I decided to sit for a few months and let the birds come to me. I jumped at an opportunity to volunteer, in exchange for a free RV camp site at Cedar Hill. This is where I’ll be through mid-December. It’s the wrong time of year for painted buntings, but the crows that have been landing on the roof of my RV are keeping me entertained in the meantime.
Mockingbirds, cardinals, chickadees, roadrunners and phoebes are still hanging around as well.
Pat Bean's blog 
I too live in Cedar Hill, TX and because a portion of our property backs up to the park, have been privileged to see many of its fine feathered friends. Late yesterday afternoon (7/7/11) and then again later in the evening, I thought at first I must have been seeing things, but a pair of binoculars confirmed a beautiful male painted bunting eating at my birdfeeder.