I thought Dad Swainson’s had a cushy job: sitting around and watching the missus incubate the eggs, bringing her some food from time to time, preening, and basically being the king of his territory. Boy was that a misconception! John and I watched a Northern Mockingbird thrash the Swainson’s at Dyess with lightening speed; dive-bombing […]

There are other critters that “nest” this time of year. Because we’re Audubon we like to look at birds but John has captured some other critters in the nesting season. A few coyote pups were seen outside their den perhaps waiting for mom and dad to return with food. If you’ll click here, you’ll see […]

Wildflowers are blooming. Have you noticed? Masses of golden Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) were nestled in a low spot out on the golf course at Dyess. Then I spotted this Golden-fronted Woodpecker with a deformed or broken bill. You hardly ever notice nature’s imperfection because nature is not very kind to the weak, the deformed, […]

One day last week I documented these Bewick’s Wren eggs in a nestbox at Dyess. I noticed one egg appeared slightly bigger. Was this an illusion or was it actually bigger? After perusing the internet for pictures of cowbird eggs, I came to the conclusion that this egg was a Brown-headed Cowbird’s egg. As everyone […]

Ever seen just hatched baby birds? When I was out at Dyess monitoring on Thursday, I photographed these baby birds in one of the nestboxes. I find it easier to check on the contents of the nests by using a small digital camera, switching to “macro,” positioning it above the nest, and then taking the […]

Today when checking on nestboxes at Dyess I spotted this juvenile Eastern Bluebird hanging around the nestbox where it had hatched about four weeks ago. Because this birder was out enjoying migration the bluebird photos hadn’t been updated. So here’s the update:  Five eggs were laid; four chicks hatched.  Three chicks either fledged early or […]

As promised, here’s the latest update on the Swainson’s Hawks at Dyess AFB. After watching the hawks build onto the previous year’s nest site in March, they apparently abandoned that site and chose another in April. The new site is far from remote; it’s right on the golf course where all golfers walk right underneath […]