Category: Big Country Blog

  • Walnut Creek Ranch Field Trip, May 19, 2007

    What a fantastic field trip we had to Walnut Creek Ranch! I don’t know where to begin the accolades so here goes: The view was breathtaking: …the accommodations wonderful: …the bird banding brilliantly fascinating: …the birding exciting: …the colorful caterpillars captivating: …and the company, a riot! The pictures are now up at the Walnut Creek […]

  • Memorial Weekend Birding

    Memorial Weekend found me quail counting at Dyess AFB. How does one count quail? Easy. Stand in one place, listen to calling quail, and count how many you hear. Move to the second place and count again and so on. Some wise guy (above) had to walk out of cover and wave at me. The […]

  • Chihuahuan Ravens Nesting on Dyess AFB

    While out at Dyess birding in a Mesquite scrub area at the end of March, a Chihuahuan Raven shot out of a tree and soared above me cawing loudly. I watched it circle around me (of course I was capturing this behavior digitally, see above) and wondered why it was so agitated. When I heard […]

  • Moms Working Hard

    This past Sunday, May 13, was Mother’s Day. Since this site is all about birds and nature, I thought you might like to see what the mother birds were doing last week. I accidentally stumbled upon several species of birds tending to nests at Dyess AFB. I spotted this mother cardinal bringing food to her […]

  • Well, Owl Be Surprised!

    This evening a friend called and invited me to bird. Said she’d heard of a hawk’s nest out on utility poles south of Lake Fort Phantom and wanted to go take a look. Yawn, every year some Red-taileds nest there. I was tired; really didn’t want to go see another Red-tailed; but made the effort […]

  • So Many Birds; So Little Time to Blog

    One faithful reader commented the other day, “I check your website everyday, but I’m not finding anything recent.” Ouch; I’m guilty as charged. But those close to me know I haven’t been slouching off. Quite the contrary. I’ve been birding almost non-stop since mid-April. Birding in and around Abilene, birding on the upper Texas coast, […]

  • Boom-Stomp; Strut-Rustle

    Prairie Chickens and Wild Turkeys began their displays the middle of April; and several Audubon members were privileged to see the Attwater’s Prairie Chickens at the Abilene Zoo (above). Attwater’s are endangered because they are loosing their habitat. Read more about the Abilene Attwater’s Prairie Chicken Reintroduction Program at the Zoo’s website and for a […]

  • Another Lake Kirby Adventure

    The phone rang late Friday evening; my friend Lorie was looking at Tree Swallows (above) out at Lake Kirby. Friday’s cold front had stalled the migrating swallows and several hundred were flying around barely inches from the water’s surface. Needing my birder’s fix for the day, I grabbed the camera and ran (OK, drove) out […]

  • Heron Rookery Revisited

    John and I revisited the Heron rookery in San Angelo to observe these majestic birds at their rookery. I learned herons have a certain protocol when pair bonding, wooing mates, and gathering nesting material. I also learned where herons nest around Lake Fort Phantom if they don’t have trees to use as nest sites. Talk […]

  • Spring Awakens

    In case you hadn’t noticed, spring is here! Birds that are normally shy and quiet are suddenly noisy and visible as they sit high on their perches singing to announce their territory. This Cactus Wren hopped directly above me and promptly let loose with his famous rattle. As you can see, he inflates his throat […]