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

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

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?