Category: Wildlife – Birds

Nest Report

One of the guys at work claimed he’d seen a hummingbird nest in one of the trees outside our new office building. I was skeptical; in all our years of putting up feeders and watching the little guys, I’d never seen a hummer’s nest. So, today after lunch, Debbie and I walked past a live… Continue reading Nest Report

Mockingbirdlets

I discovered a mockingbird nest in the lower limbs of the Chinese pistache planted in our back yard. I had been hearing odd chirps coming at fairly regular intervals over the preceding few days, but didn’t really think anything about it until Saturday afternoon when I noticed some unusually persistent mockingbird presence around the tree. … Continue reading Mockingbirdlets

Return of the Quail

As an alert and perceptive Gazette reader, you no doubt recall this time last year when I undertook to stalk the wily blue quail residing in our landscape. I was able to see but not photograph the two baby birds that the adults were protecting. And shortly afterward, the entire family moved out, apparently tired… Continue reading Return of the Quail

Preaching to the birds

Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell–and great was its fall. Matthew 7:26-27 (NASB) I suspect that… Continue reading Preaching to the birds

We interrupt this hiatus for some important scavenger footage

I noticed this evening that someone had added my Twitter account to a group called “Bloggers in TX.” That poor misguided soul had apparently not noticed the infrequency with which actual blogging-like activity occurs around here, but now I feel obligated to live up to his expectations. So, here’re some buzzards. Capistrano has its swallows;… Continue reading We interrupt this hiatus for some important scavenger footage

Barn Swallow Sibs

The second brood of front-porch barn swallows has hatched and has become the avian equivalent of teenagers, meaning that they’re trying to simultaneously be completely free to do their own thing while expecting their parents to do all the important stuff for them. This has become increasingly difficult because, as far as I can tell,… Continue reading Barn Swallow Sibs

Flight Behaviors in Young Animals: More Questions Than Answers

I observed a couple of instances of unusual behavior on the part of some young animals this week, and they made me wonder about whether such behavior was learned or instinctive. My drive to work each day takes me for a mile down a street called Mockingbird, the length of which on one side is… Continue reading Flight Behaviors in Young Animals: More Questions Than Answers