It sure is hard to stay focused on the birds of the Big Country when such a celebrity is in town. We knew you’d like more pictures of this flycatcher so we’ve put up a few more. Under each picture is information about this bird, its ecology, where it “normally” lives, and a theory as […]

At last! Pictures! Four of us waited patiently this morning for the kiskadee. After about 2 hours of no luck the brains of the group (Matt White) stated the kiskadee would probably answer a tape if anyone had its call. The Most Knowledgeable Individual Around (inside joke) ran back home, got her iPod, played the […]

If you’ve been following the Sightings section, you know we’ve been seeing and hearing a very rare bird for this area. It is the Great Kiskadee. A bird of the Valley, you know the Valley in far South Texas where Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen, and other Valley cities are. Whenever we get a photograph of this […]

Pick a rainy, drizzly day to go birding and you will be rewarded! This shorebird called a Sanderling was found last week at Lake Fort Phantom grounded by the rain. You remember, our Labor Day that was rained out? Although found worldwide, Sanderlings are very rare inland. They breed in the high arctic tundra and […]

A little rain and a shift in the wind direction signaled the start of a journey for billions of birds (entire species) to start swarming over the globe.

Three little bobcat kittens were discovered in a tree next to the Dyess AFB Hospital in mid-August (one of them is pictured above). This story has its beginnings in the spring of 2005 when a bobcat who apparently had no natural fear of humans gave birth to two kittens in the hospital’s courtyard, out in […]

Gone is the predawn chorus. No longer do birds defend territories by singing. Most of the neotropical breeders have moved south and migration has started. There’s a quiet stillness in the air. So what’s there to find when birding these days? Plenty! John and I bring you pictures of mid August birding, completed before the […]

It’s been hot, folks. Duh! But the juvenile Swainson’s at Dyess are learning their lessons well. After all, it’s a matter of life or death. The adults initiate hunting lessons by calling to the young. Once the parents are satisfied the young will follow, they both rise into the air to soar overhead and look […]

At the beginning of 2006 when we started this web site I thought I would have to scramble to find something to post on a weekly basis. I’ve been holding some stories back for a “rainy” day. Hmmm…that rainy day is nowhere on the horizon. So here’s an article created in April about how one […]

…all over the place? They are known as snout butterflies (photo: Bruce Marlin) because they have a prominent elongated mouthpart (labial palpi) which give the appearance of the petiole (stem) of a dead leaf. Wings are patterned on black-brown with white and orange markings. The fore wings have a distinctive squared off, hook-like (falcate) tip. […]