April 2014

It's late April and the Mulberry is in full fruit.
With it last week, we saw our first rose-breasted grosbeak pair and a yellow-breasted chat.
I am thankful for these frugivorous visitors.

January 22, 2013

Bird song.
Bird song in January.
Not calls; songs.
Robins, white-winged doves, cardinals, downy woodpeckers... all singing the songs of Spring... in late January??
What is going on?
The goldfinch are now down, en masse, and I saw my first pine warbler this last weekend.
I saw geese out in Katy, but have yet to see the geese from my own home this year. Too much concrete: a barricade to winter visitors in the habitat we exchange for driving cars and parking them.

Nutty year

It's early November now; hummingbirds are gone.
Never have I seen so great a mast crop: my pecan tree has filled my nut bucket, and acorns have been dropping for a month, so loud it sounds like small fireworks at night.
Is this because of last years drought? a push for a new generation, planted in the event of a repeat?

May 2, 2012

Good heavens! I forgot to post my sighting of the rose-breasted grosbeak that has been hanging out these last 2 weeks! So cool!
The squirrels are getting rambunctious so I need to keep the deer corn loaded in the squirrel station; keeps them from trying to make the 10 foot leap onto my feeders and scaring the bajeebers out of our feathered friends.
The doves are amazingly territorial, with their raised-wing-threatening-displays-- it's also interesting that the sparrows are not only "invisible" to the dove, I've actually seen an dove step on and over sparrows who are feeding in order to attack another dove that landed on feeding platform.
Hello?? Sharing? Baaaad bird. Oh well, natural selection has its ways.
I've not seen the cedar waxwings in a week; they left with the cool weather I guess.
I saw a female ruby-throat hummingbird this last weekend, but my nectar is mostly full when I change it with a fresh batch these days-- two weeks ago they emptied it of nectar.
All my winged migratory friends are going away these days; I guess that is an old cycle-- until we see each other again in September, right?

April 19, 2012

Spring means mulberries in my backyard. I saw my first rubythroat hummingbird( male) this week. My favorites so far are the orchard orioles and the indigo buntings. I also love the antics of the cedar waxwings as they swarm and descend the Morus. Locals include robins, bluejays, mockingbirds, white winged and mourning doves, house sparrows, house finches, cardinals, starlings and a possible bronzed cowbird.

March 10, 2012

My how I've been absent: so much happened this year in Houston.
In summary:

• The goldfinch finally arrive in December and left early February
• The warblers arrived in November and left us by end of February
• The mourning dove are decreasing as the white-wing dove continue to increase; neither seem to be migrating anymore.
• I saw my first brown-headed cowbird gnaming at the feeders, but am not convinced it was not the murderous step-brother of missing Carolina wrens
• The other locals are represented in pairs: cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds and C.wrens

The mulberry has now erupted in foliage and begun making sugars, that in time will become impregnated as berries. For now, I listen to the doves' relentless coo ing.

May 30, 2011

This morning saw pair of bronzed cowbirds; earlier last week saw my first feeder-visit by house finches. Chickadee, sparrow, mourning dove and red-belly wp's all have their young with them this morning at the feeders... a family outing apparently in bird world.