We’ve had a Great Blue Heron hanging around the neighborhood for the past few months. It’s quite a sight, especially when winging its way over the mesquite-dotted pasture that surrounds us; there’s a vaguely prehistoric look to its flight. While it prefers to wade along the shoreline of the two ponds, it’s not unusual to… Continue reading Great Blue Heron in Distress
Category: Wildlife – Birds
Barn Swallows: Winning the battle, losing the war
As you may recall, I was successful in convincing the local barn swallows that our porches were sub-optimal for nest placement. That battle was messy and frustrating for both sides, as battles always are, and neither side emerged feeling entirely satisfied with the outcome. During the aftermath, it became obvious that barn swallows are masters… Continue reading Barn Swallows: Winning the battle, losing the war
Nature Walk
Debbie and I went for a walk around the ponds this morning after breakfast, and as usual, encountered some interesting animals. The geese are still hanging around. They were inexplicably strolling through the vacant lot across from our house (I saw one of them nip at some of the weed seed heads), and when they… Continue reading Nature Walk
Take a Gander at This
Debbie and I went for an early morning run around the neighborhood last Sunday and were surprised to see these guys at the pond area. According to my extensive (one or two clicks) research, these are Western Greylag (or Graylag, if you prefer the Americanized spelling convention) geese, with the pleasingly repetitive scientific name anser… Continue reading Take a Gander at This
Paging Ferlin Husky
I glanced through the window on our front door and saw this fellow crouching on the porch. At first, I thought it was a pigeon, but after observing him for a while, I’m pretty sure it’s a dove. I’ve seen white wild doves before, but they are not common. He seemed a bit wilted by… Continue reading Paging Ferlin Husky
Oriole
A rare sighting of an oriole in our neighborhood
Dove Update (or…”That didn’t take long”)
I just checked the dove’s nest in the palm tree and found it bereft of dove and eggs. I don’t know where the bird went, but the eggs are lying at the base of the tree, victims of poor architectural planning and some stiff West Texas wind. We can but hope that the local dove… Continue reading Dove Update (or…”That didn’t take long”)
New Neighbors
I recently wrote about the mockingbird nest in one of the trees in our front yard. The fact is, while we don’t have that many trees, and they’re not that big, those we do have are apparently quite attractive to the local birds. Besides the aforementioned mockingbirds, we have a western king bird nest in… Continue reading New Neighbors
Mockingbird Recording
As I sat on the front porch yesterday afternoon reading a book and enjoying the nice weather, I was aurally accosted by a loud-mouthed intruder who was so enamored with his own voice, I suspect he’d make an excellent Senator. Your browser does not support the audio element. Just kidding. Mockingbirds are too smart to… Continue reading Mockingbird Recording
Buzzards+Fort Stockton = Swallows+Capistrano?
One of the presumed harbingers of spring in West Texas is the return of roosting buzzards. If that’s true, then Fort Stockton has seen its last cold snap for the season, as evidenced by this iPhone video I shot last evening from my parents’ backyard: This is just a fraction of the flock of scavengers… Continue reading Buzzards+Fort Stockton = Swallows+Capistrano?