Where the wild things are: on the hill!

 

Walking sticks have appeared
on our porch.

It must be spring, because all kinds of wild creatures are presenting themselves for observation at our country home.

We’ve seen some rare-to-us birds in the last few weeks. A golden-cheeked warbler perched on a branch outside our picture window a week ago, begging to be observed. These warblers actually are rare: they are listed as an endangered species. They only nest in the oak-juniper woodlands of Central Texas, and boy, do we have lots of home sites for them! We have continued to see him occasionally, and this morning we saw two––maybe a pair nesting nearby? This is the ultimate for an amateur naturalist––providing habitat for an endangered species!

Although this is a terrible picture, perhaps it's the perfect picture of a rare, shy endangered bird. Can you find him?

A Nashville warbler has been hanging around for several weeks, enjoying the birdbath. On Sunday, a summer tanager spent the day with us. We heard his call and knew he was not one of our regular visitors.  He finally landed on our picnic table so we could identify him.

Pine siskin (left) and Carolina chickadee
enjoy the seeds.

Another harbinger of spring (not at all rare) has arrived: chuck-will’s-widows. We’ve been hearing their night calls for several weeks.

A cottontail has been hopping around the yard. When we first moved in, many cottontails lived here. But we brought two cats and a dog with us, and the rabbits moved out.  We’re down to one rickety cat now, and this dog isn’t interested in chasing them.  I guess the rabbits (or at least this one) decided it was safe to return.

Our resident checkered garter snake finally woke up from his winter nap. My daughter and I startled him this weekend as he swam with the goldfish. He leaped out of the pond, and then slithered away slowly, and if to say, “Yeah, I’m back. It’s no big deal.” 

That same afternoon, I walked out into a field to inspect the first prickly pear bloom and heard a rustling to my left. I looked over to see a rather large snake crawling up a cedar tree.  I came back with binoculars and my budding herpetologist, and we spied him lounging on a branch about 40 feet high. We think he was a coach whip.

The fire ants are busy making trails across the driveway.

Of course, the whitetail deer are ever present. A pair skittered away as I went to my car one day last week. We don’t usually see them near the house, thanks to the presence of our dog, Iris.

Bees!

Other recent sightings include a leopard frog squatting on the edge of the minnow pond. He appears to be dozing, but I’m sure if something edible came within reach he would leap into action. Lots of squirrels have been raiding our black oil sunflower feeders. My husband has harvested a few of them for our table. Free range, hormone-free, and . . . free! And before you ask, they taste like chicken––little bitty chickens.

Night before last, a coyote chorus serenaded us. We were sleeping with the windows open, on a quiet spring night. We awoke to the sounds of yipping and howling from the next-door neighbor’s property. I lay there smiling, because their song was so clear and distinct and perfect for the night. They sang for only a few moments, and then slipped away to their next engagement.

Oh, how I love living in the country!

2013 Great Backyard Bird Count results

Several weeks ago we participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count for the second time (see Counting birds for fun for last year's report). As I wrote last year, I am not much of a bird watcher, but the tallying and submitting appeals to my accountant’s soul.

Look - there's some birds!

It is fun to see what’s out there, but it can also be frustrating. I ventured away from the house at one point, to see what was in the woods. I could hear a bird, but could never find it with my binoculars. I’m sure a real birder would have been able to track down her quarry.

Also, someone scheduled this event on a weekend when I had another activity on the agenda. They should have checked with me first, darn it. As a result, I only counted for two of the four days. So if you’re reading, GBBC, please be sure to check with me before you set the date for next year’s count. Thank you.

We had three watchers this year, as my dad was visiting. Here’s how it works:  You count birds for at least 15 minutes at a time, marking down the most birds of a species that you see at one time. So the numbers below are the most we saw at a time during the two days of sporadic counting.

We saw 14 species of birds. Here are our results:

 

I don't think these photographers use a
point and shoot! Photo by Jennifer Taggart, 
from the GBBC website.

Turkey Vulture (5)

Red-shouldered hawk (1)

White-winged dove (5)

Mourning dove (1)

Greater roadrunner (2)

Carolina chickadee (2)

Black-crested titmouse (3)

American robin (3)

Cedar waxwing (6)

Chipping sparrow (2)

Northern cardinal (8)

House finch (2)

Pine siskin (12)

Lesser Goldfinch (2)

Last year we had oodles of lesser and American goldfinches, and a few pine siskins. This year, we saw only one pair of lessers, but oodles of pine siskins. I really liked these pine siskins at first, until I realized they were sitting on the bird feeder and throwing seeds out like a toddler throws cheerios. I don’t know what they are looking for, but there are only black oil sunflowers in that feeder and no prize at the bottom.

The cedar waxwings heard through the grapevine about the count and very kindly dropped by so that we could admire and add them to our list. We had not seen them before the count weekend, nor have we seen them since.

For 2013, counters have submitted 134,935 checklists, identified 3,610 species and counted 34,512,432 birds. Click here to learn more about the GBBC.

And in looking up this information, I see that they have already set next year’s date, Feb. 14-17, 2014, without consulting me.  Well, at least I have a year’s notice.

New neighbors

Our north-facing picture window sometimes seems like a big screen TV tuned to a nature show. Mostly the action is slow and peaceful, but sometimes it gets racy.

My daughter took this picture of our roadrunner
carrying twigs for the nest.

Last week my husband called my daughter and me to the “screen.” “I’ve never seen that,” he said. About 20 feet away, two roadrunners were mating. It was not a speedy process.  We stood and stared, and then I retrieved the binoculars to get a closer look at the bug dangling from the male’s beak: a centipede, writhing madly, and not distracting him a bit from the task at hand.

A few days later, my daughter and I sat on the steps looking north. (She decided we were not bird watching, as that is something oldsters engage in. Instead, we were nature watching. Ah, the right words are so important.)

We noticed a roadrunner making his way across the yard/field carrying a large twig. Very cautiously (it knew we were watching), it made its way over to and up on our picnic table, then flew into a cedar tree.

The light came on. This had happened a few days before while I was nearby watering. Coincidence? I think not.

We crept toward the patio and peered up into the tree with binoculars. Yes! She was building a nest over our patio!

The nest is in the upper right area of the photo.

It was time to learn about roadrunners, or “chaparrals” as my dad and a neighbor call them. Roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus) are cuckoos. Bird books held a dearth of information, but the Internet provided a few sources – some with conflicting information. Hmm.

The gist is that roadrunners may pair for life (they live 7 to 8 years) and are territorial.  They lay one or perhaps two clutches of three to six eggs each year. If food is scarce, the weaker nestlings become food (CANNIBALS IN MY YARD!). They live in the desert southwest and are common throughout most of Texas. (Information from Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Passport to Texas.)

My sources say both male and female take turns sitting. Eggs hatch
in 18 to 20 days. We have seen those babies before – they are UGLY.

One site (Desert U.S.A.) says that the male uses a bug to entice the female to mate, rewarding her after the deed. That would not be my response to a centipede.

Roadrunners eat primarily animals and bugs – including rattlesnakes, mice and small birds. We have seen them with snakes and lizards hanging from their mouths as they dart about the yard. Their speed – around 15 mph – is invaluable for catching their prey. They fly when startled, but only for short distances.

Rattlesnakes? Yikes! I like these roadrunner neighbors!

Favorite spot in the garden:

I planted these lovelies earlier this year, and they have just taken off. Gomphrena globosa  ‘Fireworks’ are my most prolific bloomer right now. They seem to be dropping lots of seed without needing a ton of water – the perfect plant for my garden!

Counting birds for fun

Greater Roadrunner. We see these daily on the hill, pretty much year-round.

We participated in the Big Backyard Bird Count this past weekend, for the first time. As I’ve stated before, I’m not the birder here on the hill; my husband is. But I got us into this adventure, and he jumped right in with me (thanks, honey!).

I had so much fun counting birds. It appealed to three parts of my basic character:  The Accountant, The Competitor and The Nature Girl.

In the bird count, the observer tallies the most birds of a species that she sees at one time. The Accountant really likes tallying things. She is ever motivated to see more things to tally. At the end of the observation period (at least 15 minutes), The Accountant got to enter her tallies into a database. Then she could look at the tallies of all observers in her zip code, state and nation. Fun times!

The Competitor liked finding more and more species to add to the tally list. On Monday (the count ran from Friday through Monday) when the weather was lovely, she spent a lot of time outdoors gardening and watching – for more bird species to report. One other birdwatcher was submitting reports for this zip, so the race was on to find a species that the other counter had not seen.

The Competitor's and Accountant's activities dovetail nicely.

No telephoto lens here, but I made an attempt to show
some of what we saw. In the back, peeking around
the feeder:  house finch. The black and yellow fellow
is a lesser goldfinch. The photo is of unsufficient quality
to identify the bottom bird, but look, you can see
birds flying (bottom and top right).

The Nature Girl loved having an excuse to stare out the window or around the yard or up in the sky for a good cause. I mean, really, who wouldn’t love sitting in a big recliner, cup of coffee nearby, binoculars and bird book in lap, IN PAJAMAS.

She also enjoyed learning new nature stuff. 

Now, I shall reunite those three parts for the rest of the post.

What did I learn? I identified a new bird at our feeder:  a pine siskin. We’ve not seen one before. Pine siskins like to hang out with goldfinches, of which we have had a surfeit this year.

I also learned how to tell the difference between a turkey vulture and a black vulture (the black has white wingtips; turkey has white wingtips and lower fringe of wings). I also heard a black vulture bark. Who knew? Well, birders knew, obviously.

Here is my checklist from Monday:

            Black Vulture - 9

            Red-shouldered Hawk - 2

            White-winged Dove - 8

            Mourning Dove - 1

            Greater Roadrunner - 2

            American Crow - 1

            Carolina Chickadee - 1

            Tufted/Black-crested Titmouse - 3

            Chipping Sparrow - 2

            Dark-eyed Junco - 5

            Northern Cardinal - 2

            House Finch - 2

            Pine Siskin - 2

            Lesser Goldfinch - 3

            American Goldfinch - 3

The only visitors not seen were the robins (we’ve seen lots this year), and the scrub jay (which turned up today, of course).

If you are interested in learning more about this fun nature activity, visit Big Backyard Bird Count. To see what species were seen in what numbers where, follow the link to "explore the results."

Early birds seeking worms

We have been inundated with American robins this winter.  They are not unknown visitors to our property. But this year, we've seen scads of them.

Frequently in the last few weeks, we have looked out the window to see a crowd of them getting a drink at a birdbath or busily searching the ground for a delectable dinner morsel (according to Birds of North America, their diet changes by season: primarily soft invertebrates in the spring and summer, primarily berries in the fall and winter). When we walk down to the chicken coop, we often scare up a group that goes winging off through the trees.

"Hey lady, quit taking pictures and fill up this bath, would ya!"

I love their beautiful orange breasts and their gaudy heads, with dark hoods punctuated by white-outlined eyes (nature's eye-liner). I love their social nature. Like many teenagers, they prefer being surrounded by a noisy crowd of friends. They seem to be very wary. I barely tapped the window with my camera lens yesterday and the whole flock fled . . .  and has not returned.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds has a recording of the robin's cheery song and more information.

We had a crew of robins visit years ago; usually we just see an occasional robin. My bird book says their numbers vary from winter to winter. I’m so happy they’ve decided to hang in our 'hood this year!

Let’s talk about brush.

This Northern cardinal is enjoying his vantage point. 

I frequently see birds flying from our bird bath to this pile.

Brush piles provide cover for wild creatures. When we filled out the application for Backyard Habitat designation, brush piles counted in our favor. As our backyard is larger than the average Jane's, much of it crowded with Ashe juniper thickets, brush piles are easy to come by. In fact, much of the property might be considered a standing brush pile.

I was excited to realize that brush piles are beneficial. They aren't unsightly, but serve as homes to birds, snakes, rabbits, mice, etc. This was a tectonic shift for a girl who grew up in towns where brush piles were signs of a lazy homeowner. It’s all in the perspective, isn’t it?

Boy, do we have brush piles. Everywhere. We have burned lots of brush in our seven years on the hill. But frequently the county issues burn bans due to dry conditions, and the brush starts accumulating in . . . well, piles.

Forgive the photo quality; this was taken on my cell phone.

Last year favorable conditions allowed us to tackle the biggest, baddest brush pile ever – 10 feet wide by 30 feet long. Trees surrounded the monster pile, and our water hoses could not reach. It had been lurking there at the front of our property for a good long while, and had dried to a crisp.  First we cut back surrounding trees and piled that brush nearby. We set the thing alight, not knowing how fast it would burn, and hoping an inopportune gust of wind would not strike. Terrifying.

It burned large, but under control (barely). After the main pile burned, we threw on the newly-cut brush. It was an all-day burn extravaganza. I kept expecting fire department trucks to come wheeling in, sirens wailing, either after calls from nervous neighbors or after a panicked call from us.

We resolved NEVER to pile brush like that again. From now on, we would collect brush in small piles and, if needed, drag branches to a central location a little at a time for burning or chipping.

When I go out to clear small areas, I look for a hidden spot, preferably on a drainage of some sort, to pile brush. I address another issue with this strategy – slowing down the flow of run-off in the next flood event (that’s how we roll here – drought followed by flood). These piles can stay.

Recently we have been creating new brush piles. After watching wildfires scorch Texas this year, we decided to push the brush line away from our house (see Snow White and me). We plan to rent a chipper and make mulch. Meanwhile, the piles shelter birds and other critters. All is good in Pickens Land.

At least that’s what I thought until yesterday, when I read in the newspaper that Travis County officials are formulating new fire control plans, one of which is to minimize brush piles. Wait – brush piles are good, right?  Well, in the case of a wildfire, brush piles are bad. I imagine a burning brush pile would deliver fire up into the canopy very efficiently indeed. Bad.

In the interests of protecting our house, I have exchanged one danger for another. Oh brush, I’m so confused! What should I do?

Everything in moderation, as they say. Brush piles are good, when small and not located close to your house (in retrospect, this seems rather obvious).  As I look out the window at trees gesticulating wildly in the gusty north wind, I’m thinking I should rent that chipper pretty soon.

Sorry little critters. You’ll need to move along to smaller digs before too long.

Favorite spot in the garden:

Black dalea (Dalea frutescens) is native to Texas, Okahoma, New Mexico and northern Mexico, and likes to live on limestone hills. I've not found it in the wild on my property, but it seems to like my flowerbed alright.  This small shrub (mine is about a foot tall) has fern-like foliage and lovely blooms (July to October). I pick this lovely lady for today's favorite!

For the birds

Through the window - Northern cardinals, 

lesser goldfinch and house finch.

I spent a very entertaining 15 minutes outside yesterday. As I returned from walking, I heard a rustling noise. Rain? Of course, that would be exciting – but no drops dotted the rock sidewalk. I stepped out from under a tree to see if I felt drops . . .

. . . and realized that birds were making the rustling sounds.

I paused about 10 feet from a bird feeder, arms akimbo, and just listened. The birds were everywhere, wings flapping as they flew from tree to tree, chirping, singing, pecking at branches. So cool!

After a few minutes, a few birds bravely ventured onto the feeder, followed by some of their more timid brethren. I watched as goldfinches, cardinals, chickadees, tufted titmouse and a house finch picked up some breakfast sunflower seeds.

When I slowly crossed my arms, they abandoned the feeder, but continued flying about the yard, along with white-winged doves and wrens.

My in-laws have a friend who is a nut for birds. He told them they were “birdwatchers” and not “birders;” a birder is someone who travels specifically to see a bird. Last year they traveled to New England and saw puffins; they informed him they were indeed “birders.”

Carolina chickadee.

We, on the other hand, are birdwatchers.  My husband has actually studied our bird book and knows quite a lot; my interest is more – observational, I guess. They are a beautiful addition to my yard. I like to watch them, but I don’t spend a lot of time learning about them.

Earlier this year, marauding house sparrows were gorging themselves on the mixed birdseed we put in our three feeders. They emptied those feeders in a matter of hours. These sparrows are not lovely. Like Wal-mart shoppers on Black Friday, they are rowdy, greedy and pushy.

One day it dawned on me that serious birders (like my in-laws) use specific kinds of seeds to attract more desirable birds. I did some online research, and then went shopping for black oil sunflower seeds and thistle.

To my amazement, it worked! The sparrows skedaddled. Even better, the bird population on the hill has diversified. We have seen a few new species, perhaps also due to drought conditions. Because of this, my interest in them is keener.

Carolina wren.

Here’s our bird list:

Regular visitors (to our property):  Northern cardinal, white-winged and mourning doves, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, lesser goldfinch, house finch, Bewick’s and Carolina wrens, black-chinned hummingbird, greater roadrunner, scrub jay, black and turkey vultures, red-shouldered hawk, Eastern screech owl, chuck-will’s-widow, painted bunting,

Occasional visitors: golden-fronted and ladder-backed woodpeckers, oriole, summer tanager, mockingbird, golden-cheeked warbler, yellow-billed cuckoo, American crow, common ground-dove, blue-gray gnatcatcher, American goldflinch, cedar waxwing, Nashville warbler, dark-eyed junko, tree sparrow, great-tailed grackle, brown-headed cowbird, Eastern starling, Eastern phoebe.

Flyovers:  snow geese, sandhill cranes, Mississippi kites, white pelicans, crested caracara.

Now if I could just find my binoculars, I could go see if something new has stopped by.

Favorite spot in the garden:

When we moved to this place, I transplanted very few things, as I knew it would be awhile before I could plant. This shrub, however, made the cut. I think this is a shrubby blue sage (Salvia ballotiflora), native to my part of the state. 

At our old place it was out by the fence line. Its bloom is so very discreet, you must be standing right beside it to enjoy its loveliness. Here, I planted it at the edge of the porch, so I can enjoy its quiet beauty.

It stressed this summer, but with the recent ½” rain and resultant roof run-off, it has begun blooming. Love it!