Nutria Pups and Ducks at Sunset Bay

We caught this meeting of nutria pups and ducks on the east shore of White Rock Lake the other day. The nutria pups were very playful and a bit pushy - not sure the ducks knew what to think of them. :-)

Music Credits
"Scheming Weasel (faster version)"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

White Rock Lake Eagle Family April 23, 2024

Recently, we have been checking in a few times a week on the bald eagle family that's taken up residence near White Rock Lake. The adults, Nick and Nora, showed up a few years ago and have had a few attempts at nesting but based on what we've heard each nest ended up either blown down by a storm or was in an area with too much foot traffic. This year though, they took over what we understand was the nest of a red tailed hawk. The hawk's loss is the eagle's gain as they have two chicks in the nest. From talking with people who live nearby and have been monitoring the nest daily, it looks like the chicks should fledge in about 5-6 weeks. You can see movement in the next in this clip with one of the chicks stretching their wings. 

This week instead of just taking binoculars with us, I took my Nikon D750 camera and captured this video. It's not great as the longest lens I have is 200mm and even with a 2X teleconverter and using the cropped (DX) mode while shooting, it's nowhere near the resolution and sharpness of images being shared online but some of the folks who shoot the eagles regularly. Having a 1000mm lens (even a 500mm lens with the 2X TC) sound tempting but that would be a big investment and I don't often shoot subjects that would benefit from that long of a lens. 

Instead, we'll continue following the other folks who post such amazing photos of this bald eagle family. 

Lakewood Advocate: Bald Eagle Article

Owl Tell You a Story...

Years ago I bought an owl house and mounted it about 15' up one of the 45' cedar elms in our front yard. Unfortunately, the only occupants it ever had were squirrels, which I spent untold hours chasing out of it. Finally, I figured our yard just wasn't attractive to owls so earlier this year I donated the owl house (and the never-occupied bat house I'd mounted on the chimney) to the White Rock Conservancy. Hopefully, the Conservancy was able to install both houses in locations where they are now being used.

But we do have owls in Hillridge!

Tonight, I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing a barred owl in one of the other trees in our front yard. The owl house we had was built for screech owls so it wouldn't have been big enough for a barred owl. But perhaps this one has a nest close enough that he or she will visit us again from time to time.

Click on the image to see enlarged.

Besides the photo, I took video. It's too dark to see anything but the audio is great. Listen closely and you'll hear another owl elsewhere in the neighborhood responding to this one. 

Update: Corrected to reflect what I saw/heard is a barred owl rather than a barn owl.

White Rock Lake Pump Station Bobcat

For the third time this month, we spotted a bobcat on the southwest end of White Rock Lake. 

The first time, we were sitting at the south end of the sidewalk along the pump station and saw one just stroll across from down by the building over into the woods across from us. I tried to catch it on camera but it was gone by the time I got my phone out. 

The second time, we were walking a little north of that spot just beyond the filter building and saw one cross the street over into the woods across from us. See my last post for video of that encounter. 

Yesterday, I was walking our Weim, Luna, on the north side of the pump station building and she spotted a bobcat walking into the shrubs along the edge of the building. In this video, I caught it walking out of the shrubs and down the sidewalk along the pump station building. It looked like it started to cross over about halfway down but changed its mind and trotted on down to the end of the sidewalk and down the steps.

By the time Luna and I got around to the south in the building where Linda was sitting, the bobcat had crossed beyond her into the woods. Linda said it's strolled across just as casually as the first one we saw. It's amazing to me how unafraid this bobcat is.

I had always heard stories about how furtive they are and how hard it is to spot them. This one sure is bold. Or perhaps there are more than one of them, in which case they are all bold!

Bobcat at White Rock Lake

Recently as we took a break while out for a walk at the lake, a bobcat walked across from down by the pump station building over into the woods. He must have been only about 20 feet away. He wasn't in any hurry but It happened so fast, by the time I pulled out my phone he was gone.

A few days later, we were walking the same route but had gone further north past the filter building, almost to the parking lot near the boat house, when we spotted another bobcat, this one coming out of the bushes alongside the trail. He trotted across the road and I caught this clip just as he was disappearing into the brush.

The first bobcat seemed larger than this one so it's exciting to think that there is a family, perhaps a community of them living in the woods around the lake.

It seems like I have always seen bobcats described as very furtive, rarely seen, so I feel pretty lucky to have seen two "in the wild".

Oyster Shell Thief!

Over the years, we have brought home oyster shells from various trips and have them scattered about in the beds around the house. Recently, a few of them have ended up down in the yard next to a tree. Curious what was going on, I placed a camera in the front bed and returned the shells to the bed. It turns out the "thief" was one of the many squirrels who live in the large trees in our yard. I'm not sure what the attraction is, whether they just want to play with them or perhaps chew on them for the calcium. 

Music

Squirrel Commotion by Podington Bear 

http://www.podingtonbear.com/

Bees and Sage

With the weather starting to cool down below the century mark and cloudy skies, I spent time capturing the beauty of our sage that just flowered and of the bees enjoying it. 

Music

Flutterbee by Podington Bear 

http://www.podingtonbear.com/

One Bold Egret

Out for a walk yesterday along the northwest side of White Rock Lake, Luna and I came upon a Great Egret, easily identified by its yellowish beak and black legs. I figured as soon as Luna pulled on the lead, leaning in its direction to get a better look, it would fly off but instead it flew up to the railing and just sat there checking things out. Finally, Luna wrapped her lead around my legs trying to get a better view of the Egret and it took off. That was a pretty amazing close encounter!

Dinner and Potty Time

Ok, folks... for those of you who get squeamish, this might be a video to pass up on. For those of you who love SCIENCE and NATURE, check it out!

Did you watch the last video with the anole prowling around the wren nest? Well, this time one of the parents showed up with a lizard as dinner for one of the lucky chicks. I am not sure whether it is an anole or a gecko but it's not the anole from the other video... looking back at timestamps, this video was actually from earlier in the evening than the anole's visit.

I know that wren's are one of the birds that change their eating habits when feeding young, switching from seeds and such to live food, but I had no idea that would include something as large as a lizard!

As for the other bit that might make some folks squeamish, yes, after each meal the parents take away a fecal sack from one of the chicks, disposing of it somewhere well away from the nest. Baby bird diapers!

As gross as this may seem, it actually makes sense compared the alternative, a very messy nest. According to this article by the Audubon Society, the practice is not well-understood by avian scientists.  

A Visitor at the Wren Nest

Recently, shortly after one of the parents fed their chicks, the wren nest had a brief visitation from an anole (what we used to mistakenly call chameleons since they often change color to match the background). If there had still been eggs in the nest instead of hatchlings, he might have had a meal. Though as you'll see in the next video, it may be a good thing he didn't come around while the wren parents were at the nest...

A Busy Day at the Wren Nest

Our first real glimpse of activity around the nest these two Carolina Wren's built in the yucca in our backyard (other than Momma Wren sitting on the nest). 

Music 

Spring Morning 

by Maarten Schellekens 

Commercial Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Momma Wren

Our Weimaraner, Luna, kept wandering around the yucca in the corner of our backyard. On closer inspection, what she was interested in was a bird nest with 5 eggs in it. I put up some fencing material that would keep Luna out but not interfere with the parents coming and going from the nest, then set up my camera a bit away from the nest with a telephoto lens and shot video for about an hour. 

After bringing the camera in and inspecting the video, I found a section where the mother had come back to the nest and was sitting on the eggs. This is a clip from that video. We aren't sure how long the eggs have been there but wren eggs take 12-16 weeks to incubate and it hasn't been that long since our last freeze so our best guess is that we'll see hatchlings in late April or early May. 

Stay tuned! 

Music by Podington Bear

"Wren"

Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC) 

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ 

Chad Crouch

Nature's Nightlights

Drop by St Francis Park any evening this time of year and you're likely to have quite a show. It is amazing the number of fireflies in the park during summertime. 

One evening last week, I set up my camera along the edge of the woods at back of the park and let it run for about a half-hour, snapping a shot every 10 seconds. When I merged all the images, this was the result. As each shot was about 4 seconds long, many of the fireflies I captured appear as a streak. Others that show up as a dot had either just lit up, were sitting still or were moving towards the camera. 

What is incredible to me is how high they fly. Click on the image to see full screen and check out the yellow spots way up in the trees!

Of course, you don't have to go to the park to see fireflies... we saw a few flying over a neighbor's yard while out walking tonight. But if you want a real show, to see an incredible number of them, head over to the park. Just stick to the edge of the areas where you see them, try not to disturb them. 

For more information on fireflies, check out firefly.org. 

May Was a Rough Month for Bird's at Our House

Remnants of finch nest

I had planned to post some good news this weekend about the latest Finch brood on our front porch. I discovered that instead of just two eggs, Momma Finch had laid three more and by this past Monday all had hatched. This was one busy, noisy nest!

Unfortunately, it must have been just a bit too noisy, attracting some unwanted attention. Yesterday, we discovered parts of a dead chick on the porch. One glance at the nest and I had a pretty good idea there was more to it than just one chick. What a mess! A quick check inside confirmed that all the chicks were gone.

I'm not sure who the culprit was. It would be a tight squeeze for an owl and I suspect the nest would have been even more torn up. Maybe a cat? A rat? We will probably never know. Perhaps if I'd had the video camera set up for this nest, I'd have proof but I am actually glad I didn't have it up this time. 

A nest was on top of post in slot between beams

Meanwhile, at the back of the house, there was apparently another issue with a bird's nest. 

A few weeks ago, I hung up a fly trap - one of the sticky kind - on the side of a post on our patio. Today, we found it covered in bird feathers. We also realized that tucked in between two beams at the top of the post was what was either the beginning of (or what was left of) a bird nest.  

I am not sure exactly which bird built the nest and which one got stuck to the fly trap. Given how close they were, I imagine it was the same bird. Our best guess is that it was a Carolina Wren as we have seen a pair hanging out under the eves of the patio roof off and on over the past year. 

Hopefully, these are the last of our "bird disasters" for a while...

They're Back!!

Well, no video (at least not for now) but this past weekend I realized a Finch family was nesting on our porch. 

I had been expecting Mama Finch to use one of the other posts as that is where she nested last year but this time she's on the post closest to the front door. 

A small brood this time, just two eggs so far. It is possible she wasn't done yet though so I'll check again this weekend. 

Stay tuned!

 Meanwhile, in other news, no luck so far in having an owl family move in. The owl house I mounted on one of our Cedar Elm's last year is now home to a squirrel family. 

I had been shooing Mama Squirrel out of the owl house every few days in the first few months of this year and she seemed to have finally gotten the message. However, we were gone for a week and came home to find things sticking out of the entrance to the owl house and when I checked it turned out to be half full of sticks, grass, etc. More to the point, it was full of squirrel. 

I tried as I had in the past to shoo her out but this time not only would she not leave, she was very vocal. Given her change in behavior, I have to assume she already has a litter. 

Now, we wait. In about 10-12 weeks, her pups should be moved out at which time I'll clean out the owl house and close it up for a while. Maybe the next time I open it, an owl will get to it first. 

The Birds Redux

After North Texas was locked in one of the worst winter storms in a century, with several inches of snow on the ground and temperatures in single digits..... 

Robin Red Breasts that normally feed on worms and insects gathered in large flocks, descending on any tree with berries just to have something to eat until the snow cleared. 

Although the Robins made it through the week, flocks of Cedar Wax Wings will arrive in early spring to feed on these berries but will find barren trees.

Nature is an incredibly complex system so it is hard to say whether the food that carried Robins through the storm will really be missed by the Wax Wings or if they'll turn to other food sources and do just fine.  If not, perhaps some of the storm damage will have been indirect. 

Best viewed full-screen. 

Music

Hitchcock Etudes by Nicole Lizée / Bozzini Quartet is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.  

a dog, a coyote and a tennis ball

On the morning of December 7th, 2020, I took our Weimaraner Luna for some exercise playing fetch on the tennis courts at a neighborhood park before starting my work day. After a while, I noticed we had company. I've seen coyotes alongside the road in deep East Texas before so it didn't take long to realize what it was. I pulled out my phone to photograph the coyote and then realized it was sticking around so I switched to video. I was intrigued by how interested it seemed to be in Luna. And she was also interested in it. At least for a while... 

St Francis Park is in a wildlife corridor running along Ash Creek as it winds through East Dallas. I routinely see neighbors report sightings of a variety of creatures in the neighborhood on the NextDoor app, animals that likely make their home along this creek. This coyote looked healthy, well-fed, so it seems life in the corridor is pretty good. An entirely different world, tucked right in between broad tracks of residential homes like ours.

Best viewed full-screen. 

Music

Angela Climbs a Boulder at Horn Creek, the Sun Sets, the Bat Flies By by Aaron Ximm 

What's In Your Lawn?

Birds aren't the only thing flying around our house. It just took getting down at ground level to appreciate all the other flying activity.

Think these are pests? Think again! Although many wasps including North Texas natives like paper wasps, red wasps, cicada killers can sting, that's usually just when you bother them. So don't! They are hunters who are generally beneficial to your garden. And your yard.

For more information, check out this article.

Video best viewed full-screen.

Music

Perfectly Mowed Lawn by VYVCH is licensed under CC Attribution License

first attempt to fly - a video by jack

The June clutch of finch chicks have fledged but here is a look back at the day or so before they flew off.

This video was created with the help of my grandson Jackson. As all our families are sheltering in place, he and I spend time each week together online, working on various projects. This week I was showing him how I create videos for the Our Wildlife channel and blog, letting him play around with DaVinci Resolve.

Enjoy!

Watching the Nest

With the latest clutch of chicks large enough to sit up in the nest, it was fun to pull up the live stream for grandkids Harper and Jack to watch on the TV.