9 BANDED ARMADILLO (Dasypus novemcinctus)

Well I don't have all of the pictures I'd like to post, but I couldn't wait any longer to share these video clips with you. The Army Corp of Engineers has cleared a new hiking trail through the woods by my house and of course I couldn't wait to check it out. More pictures from that to follow, but for now, here are 2 videos I just had to post because - Armadillos are just SO CUTE! This one ventured close to me on the trail and as I stood very, very still I was able to get some shots. Armadillos can't see very well, but they can hear a little better and once he sensed my presence, he took off running through the woods!

While I had him in my sights, this guy exhibited typical Armadillo behavior, rooting around in the soil and under logs searching for a meal. Yes, they do dig around with their noses and look for grubs, worms, and other insects to eat. And yes, they do leave fairly large holes in the soil, which a lot of people with formal gardens seem to despise. I don't understand this adversity toward Armadillos at all. They are most excellent soil aerators, and they control the soil dwelling insects that destroy plants at the same time. From my observations, they do not uproot established plants, instead, they move the soil all around the root balls and provide a 'tilling' function that is better than any plow I have ever seen. All that is needed after an Armadillo comes through is a soaking from a water hose to flatten the mounds back down and the garden looks as good as new, but much healthier! Unfortunately, the way most people experience an Armadillo (besides seeing holes in their gardens and yards) is by passing them by in cars, lying 'legs up' alongside the highway. The poor little guys, like so many other animals, do not have a chance when it comes to vehicles and they experience a huge amount of highway mortality.

One very interesting fact about Armadillos is that each female bears 4 offspring at a time which are exact clones of each other. Apparently they are the only mammals which do this consistently and that makes them extremely unique! If you have some time and you want to read more about Armadillos, here is a link:

http://www.flex.net/~lonestar/armadillo.htm

WHOOPING CRANES IN TEXAS!

WHOOPING CRANE (Grus americana)

(Photo credit Luther Goldman/US Fish and Wildlife Service)

Well, actually they haven't quite started their annual migration yet, but a prior comment on this blog prompted me to post about Whooping Cranes. They are an example of one species of beautiful migratory birds that us northerners and southerners 'share' during the year. Mid-October through March is prime Whooping Crane season in Texas - which should give me ample time to plan and execute a trip to see them first hand (stay posted!) I thought it would be a good idea to post some 'whooper' information in case any of you happen to be in the western or eastern flyways. That way you can be on the lookout for these magnificent creatures as they take to the skies! Fall migration has started and here in Texas we are noticing our skies dotted with more and more varieties of avian flocks as they head toward winter destinations. If you look up and see some very large cranes with all white bodies and black wing tips you just might be viewing some endangered Whooping Cranes.

Down here in Texas we have an extensive Whooping Crane project aimed at helping this most unique species survive and thrive. Whoopers stay north in the hot summer months and then migrate down south when those cold northern winds start to blow. The population counts reported over the last several years seem to indicate an increase in individuals so hopefully all of the effort is making a difference.

Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) are the rarest of all crane species and only found in North America. Our western inhabitants spend the winter months in Texas and summer months in Canada. The primary wintering grounds for the western 'Whooper' population are the coastal areas of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge located a little bit north of Corpus Christi near Rockport. Here is an informative link which also has an audio of the bird calls:

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/REFUGES/texas/aransas/whoopingcranes.html

Although Whooping Cranes can be found slightly north of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge or even slightly inland on private lands, the winter range for this population of birds typically only covers about 35 miles of this unique and pristine coastal habitat in Texas!

Whooping cranes are listed as a USFWS Endangered Species. In 1979 there were only 56 known birds in a wild flock that wintered in Texas and nested in Canada. In Dec of 2007 the count was up to 257 birds wintering along the Texas coastline. The 2007-2008 count was 266! So they do appear to be making a come back - slowly but surely. Whoopers are now federally protected from hunters however, their main threat continues to be the loss of coastal wetland habitat.

There is also lots of hard work underway to re-establish an eastern population of birds which will winter along the Florida coastline and spend the summers somewhere near Wisconsin. So far the Texas/Canada population has been the most successful as far as numbers.

SO - if you come to Texas - especially during the fall through early spring - don't forget to plan a trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge for some most excellent biding adventures! And keep your eyes peeled - you just might see some rare and endangered Whooping Cranes!

These video clips were taken by BILL BEASLEY / TAILFEATHER PRODUCTIONS and reproduced with permission – Thank You, Bill for sharing your clips of these beautiful and rare birds in the wild!!!

FAYETTE POWER PLANT LAKE

Opted to stay closer to home this weekend and still get some kayaking in so I went to Fayette Lake (which lies in Fayette County Texas) to see what I could find. This particular lake was constructed here for a coal-fired power plant that was built to help supply the city of Austin with power. They built the lake for cooling at the power plant. This is supposedly one of the better lakes around central Texas for bass fishing because of the warmer year-round water temperatures. We tossed a few lures and didn't get a bite today although I'm sure it is probably great for fishing at the right time and in the right spots. It's also not bad for hanging around and nature sightseeing, (as long as you don't mind looking at a coal-fired power plant on one side of the lake).

I shouldn't rag on the energy companies, I know. At least they let us come enjoy the lake they built so I guess it's not all bad. I was here on a weekend and the lake was fairly busy with boaters and families swimming and enjoying the water. Even with the fair amount of human activity I managed to slip away along the banks and find some peace and quiet among the reeds.


The herons were out today, wading and sunning. I saw a very large Great Blue Heron as he dodged into the woods along the shoreline narrowly escaping the wrath of my camera. I had better luck with the next bird. A brave little Green Heron stood his ground on a tree limb as I floated past. He kept a close eye on me while defending his territory from that strange looking yellow vessel in the water. He waited patiently as I took my pictures and finally moved on. A Great Egret also allowed me to get in a shot.


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Did I mention how much I love kayaks for nature watching? They are quiet and peaceful and they meld into the environment without causing a ruckus. Not at all like a stinky, smelly motorboat or jet ski, which are really annoying when you think about it, and can be quite a menace to everything on or near the water. (And half the time they don't work right.) It's always amusing to me to see a packed boat ramp, everyone jockeying for position to get that boat in or out, struggling with their trailer gear, hoping those motors start up and run this time - cause you know at least one of these times they are guaranteed not to! And here I come, gently and quietly sliding my kayak out at the nearest bank, loading up just like that - and I'm gone! No fuss, no mess, no yearly license and registration fees to pay, no maintenance to keep her running. Notice my obvious satisfaction as I stand with my kayak loaded and ready to leave and a full boat ramp behind me in the distance. .... It's good to be a kayaker....


They have done a fairly good job of making this a nature-friendly lake. In addition to the water activities, they have a 3 mile bike/hike trail through the woods and along the lake which joins two campground areas. They also have a shorter hike/birding trail that runs about 2 miles in total length, meandering in and around the woods next to the lake which is really quite nice. As it got closer to sundown we hiked into the birding trail to check it out for ourselves. It was mostly crushed gravel and dirt with several exposed tree roots in places. There were interesting bridges to cross and even a staircase to climb leading up to a pond which happened to be dry on this visit. All in all, it made for a nice day trip and conveniently located within 30 minutes or so of home. I'm not complaining............until next time! Happy adventures!

ROSEATE SPOONBILLS - MATAGORDA COUNTY

I was really lucky this week to get some awesome shots of one of our Gulf Coast's prettiest wetland bird species - ROSEATE SPOONBILLS!!!
















South-Central Texas holds some treasures as far as wildlife viewing if you know where to go. There are still some pristine wetland habitats here that haven't been developed for, ugh(!)...humans and their beach condos, but the money keeps pouring in from everywhere and the future remains precarious for these small yet fairly isolated stretches of coastline. The ROSEATE SPOONBILL (Platalea ajaja), I think you'll agree, is a beautiful wetland bird species. I happened across a whole flock of them this week and I was able to get some video clips of a pair who were wading and fishing!

Roseate Spoonbills can be found in the U.S. along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas. They also occur in South America and the Caribbean. We are very lucky to still have them here as they were hunted close to extinction during the 1800's for their beautiful pink feathers. Thankfully the populations have rebounded since then, but of course they now face threats from the continued loss of wetland habitat along the gulf. They require shallow, brackish waters where they use their unusual spoon-shaped bills to sweep back and forth gathering small fish, shrimp, snails, insects, or other crustaceans for food. They are indescribably unique the way they use that big flat beak to sift the water for food! They almost look prehistoric or something! This is the first video clip I've ever gotten of these birds feeding so I was a very happy birder on this day!

The coastal areas of Matagorda County, Texas still provide many opportunities for these big wading birds to breed and nest. Spoonbills can get fairly big at 32 inches with a 50 inch wingspan and they are very dramatically colored with bright pink feathers - you will know it when you spot them!

CRYSTAL BEACH AND HIGH ISLAND

Had time for some birding between High Island and Crystal Beach this past Friday afternoon before meeting up with friends. High Island is about an hour northeast of Houston and an hour southwest of Beaumont along the Texas Gulf Coast. The Pelicans on this particular day were in rare form and groups of 30 or so of them were flying down the coastline, drafting in each others wake, moving along in wave-like fashion. They were really cool to watch! This went on for quite awhile so I decided to hang out and enjoy the show!



The waves were up at the beach and it was fairly windy. The water on this northern Texas coastline is much browner than the water farther south due to the influence of the Mississippi River which drains into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans. The flow of sediments from the midwest and all points south mixes into the gulf water near the mouth of the Miss. and flows to the Texas/LA side causing muddy waters. The muddy water is nutrient-laden which in general provides good food sources for fish and other aquatic creatures, but a big problem that we have in this part of the country is the DEAD ZONE. This is a large area of water in the gulf which becomes devoid of oxygen and causes massive fish kills and other marine life die-offs. When the dead zone starts to expand everything in the water has to either leave in a hurry or succumb to suffocation. The cause is now known to be too much nitrogen and phosphorus in the river waters deposited way upstream. These rivers (such as the mighty Miss.) travel hundreds of miles through the U.S., collecting runoff from farms, towns, commercial areas, before spilling their contents into the Gulf of Mexico. Excessive nutrients are added to the rivers and these deposits have a direct influence on our waters along the Gulf of Mexico, especially from the mouth of the Mississippi westward to the south of Houston. As you travel farther south in Texas, the water becomes clearer ever so slightly until you reach South Padre Island where the waters are blue!

SO....if you live 'up there' please remember us 'down here' and try to limit the use and over-use of chemicals and fertilizers on the land because they end up in the rivers and eventually in our beach water too!!!

DOWNY WOODPECKER VISITS

Thursday I came home and found a DOWNY WOODPECKER entertaining himself on one of our pine trees. My husband has seen many of them in the woods in Northeast Texas where he was born and raised but I had never seen one down here. This is a first for me! Cute little bird, isn't it?

BIRDS, REPTILES, AND AMPHIBIANS

Tell you what, I can hardly get out of my yard without something new popping up in the way of wildlife or outdoor amusement. This afternoon I had 2 different snake species, a frog, and a bird feeding chicks all within 30 minutes of each other! Of course, I had to grab the camera and get some pic's for the blog! First of all these sweet, little, insect-killing Carolina Wrens have been raising their second batch of young this year in my hanging gourd. She (and he) seem to be taking pretty good care of their brood and putting a dent in the insect population for us at the same time. It seems like they bring back a new morsel every 20 minutes or so, pretty much round the clock. You can hear the parent birds chattering nearby and then they sneak up to the gourd as fast as they can, deposit their catch, take a look around in there to be sure everything looks OK, and then off they go again!


After wren watching for awhile I lowered my attention back down into the garden to finish my chores and turned to come face to face with a cute little Leopard Frog staring at me from beside the patio. Yes, we have a few frogs and toads in this yard.............but I'm thinking we should actually have a few more.......

Because we all know what frogs and toads attract......





SNAKES!!!






Actually, a Texas Rat Snake showed up first. He must have been offended by my garden watering and he crawled up onto the front porch. Well, we can't have that so we caught him with our snake tongs (modified from garbage pick-up tongs), and put him in the snake transporter (garbage can w/lid) to relocate him a bit farther from the house. We had no sooner started walking toward the truck when we saw a large Yellow Bellied Racer head across the walkway. Now I am thinking, "What is this, snake day or something????!!!" Anyway, YB Racer's are really beautiful snakes and non-poisonous. And they don't call them a 'Racer' for nothing! They can really scoot and they are very hard to catch and even harder to videotape! Tx Rat Snakes are also non poisonous, but they are kind of ugly (to me), usually get really BIG, and they are also very common here - so common that we get tired of seeing them. Neither snake is venomous. I have read that a rat snake can bite pretty good, but a YBR doesn't have the teeth to do much harm to a human (at least I'm hoping not).

Well, we couldn't catch them both as I only had one snake transporter and it was in use at the time. So.....I grabbed the camera again instead and got a video of him! Hopefully this guy will take off now that he's been spotted near the house (but I doubt it). I don't want to have to change my blog sight to 'Adventures in Snake Bites' if you know what I mean! :) Until next time, I'll keep those tongs handy......