They Arrived! En Masse.

       Perplexed by the lack of attendance at my bird feeders, I have looked out the window nervously, waiting for any bird, any single bird, to come in for a chomp. This morning, behold, they arrived en masse. Accompanying a single White-winged Dove sitting gently on top of the feeders, two blue jays, one mockingbird, and ten, yes, ten juncos. Happily I will jot it down on the Project Feeder Watch sheet. 

Fewer Doves

      The Cooper's Hawk that has lived in our trees for the past eight months or so may have decreased the populations of doves at my house. A couple of years ago I began to see rampant numbers of white-winged, Inca, Eurasian collared, and Mourning. This morning I saw three white-winged; yesterday I saw one, and no other. 

       Flying over Lake Wichita in the early morning, I always look down to the water in search for bird life (and scan the skies ahead of me to avoid collisions). The pelicans are there now, and Penny saw semipalmated sandpipers. View her report at her blog. 

Grand Theatre

           Volunteers renovating the The Grand Theatre in Electra will drive through rough weather to work on their tasks. Little by little, they raise the funds to restore some of the theatre. Below I show a few images taken with my iPhone during a visit to the ol' opera/vaudeville/other functions house.

Equidae at a Friend's House

Into a Wheat Field

White eyelashes. 

Hodge would like to jump out of the truck to chase the cattle. 

Flowers along the fence at a wheat field. 

Myrmecologist in Town

          E O Wilson, biologist specializing in the study of ants and Pulitzer prize recipient, gave a lecture at Akins Auditorium. His plea: Let us work together, everyone, scientists and creationists, to save Earth's creatures from pollution, over-harvesting, over-hunting, and over-population. And neglect. 

Take Your Camera Everywhere

Aircraft parked at sunrise.

Early morning flight.

Pilot profile at sunrise.

As the sun rose on our port side, the moon set on our starboard.

Assassin Bug

                   The assassin bug, with its proboscis, will perforate the body of another insect and suck its insides for supper. Ack. 

P-51 of the MONTH

             The Museum of North Texas History hosted a barbecue supper for supporters of the Call Field Museum. David Martin flew aerobatics over the airport, then landed to share with us our meal.

Here I show David Martin and Bill English posing for their fans. 

Wide angle view of the P-51 and the fans walking around it. 

Of Birds and Barking

BirdManBob released a burrowing owl today amid barking prairie dogs.

Prairie dog, new neighbor to the Burrowing Owl.

Robert Lee

      The town of Robert Lee, Texas, named after Robert E. Lee, became known to sport fishermen and hunters for the striped bass fishing and prevalent white tailed deer. As the damned (pardon the pun) Colorado River water levels became lower, fishermen did not frequent Robert Lee as often. I think the hunting and fishing led to the development of a fine runway, but the decline in the numbers of visitors has led to . . .  the neglect of the runway. We landed on a strip needing some attention.

Can you see the grasshopper in the foreground? 

To Fly Before Sunrise

The wind sock at Kickapoo Airport indicates winds from the south at five knots per hour before sunrise.

Feisty Burrowing Owl

       The Burrowing Owl convalescing at Wild Bird Rescue shows signs of improving strength. After the storms pass through the area, BirdManBob will place the owl in the outside aviary so that he can exercise his injured wing. After a week, BirdManBob will release him.

Bats

         A colony of bats cared for and nurtured by Gail, in Lubbock, spent the afternoon at Wild Bird Rescue, resting and preparing for the evening's lecture to the public at Riverbend Nature Center. 

          Occasionally, Wild Bird Rescue receives injured or orphaned bats, so Gayle taught the rehabbers how to care for the bats before transporting them to her sanctuary.

Vulture!

Hoo-HOOO-hoo-hoo!

Great Horned Owl at sunset, Archer County.

Of a Bird, a Cow, Boots, and a Horse Named Bird

            In the category of Cutest Rump of the Year, I present the Scissortail Flycatcher.  They haven't left for Mexico yet, and when they do, I will miss them and will wait for them until their return next spring. 

A Hereford and sunflower plants. 

Bird, Clay's favorite horse, inspects the back of my truck. 

Muddy boots hanging in a barn.

Everything Loves to Eat Wheat

          Wild sunflowers grow along miles of fencing in Wichita and Archer counties. The wheat fields have begun to grow, and with them, the grasshoppers, living in the fences, venture to the tender wheat sprouts for their nutrition. Unfortunately, in such vast numbers, grasshoppers have begun to decimate some of the wheat crops. Below I show healthy rows of wheat before grasshoppers had their supper, leaving only empty rows of soil.

No wonder we have so many grasshoppers.

The army worms have begun to appear, too. 

Wheat farmers must contend with insects all year.

Burrowing Owl

Beautiful face. 

Cross your fingers so that this owl taken to Wild Bird Rescue recovers from head trauma soon.

Airport Hound

At one of the local airports nearby, a dog named Ram Jet lives in a hangar with his owners. 

I hear he's a great aviator.