Here’s the prettiest cockatiel in the world!
Category Archives: Birds
I’ve been spotting quite a few birds hanging around the seed I’ve put out.
These are Cedar Waxwings.
I was surprised last Sunday to actually see Red-winged Blackbirds coming close to the house. They’ve been hard for me to photograph in the past.
Must be all that delicious suet that’s tempting them to come so close.
I think this is some kind of sparrow, but I’m not sure… anyone have a clue?
There’s also a woodpecker that’s been coming around, but I haven’t been able to photograph him. Who’d have thought that woodpeckers would move so fast!
Winter Wonderland
Yesterday morning, I awoke to a strange sight in northern Texas - a winter wonderland. Mom came up and got me up extra early so I could see the snow while it was still blue in the low light conditions. Well, we seldom get snow (and certainly never like this!) so I decided to venture forth and snap a few pictures while I had the chance.
Here we have a flock of robins passing overhead.
For some odd reason, we have thousands of robins amassed in huge groups that rival the winter gatherings of blackbirds. I’m not sure why, exactly. Either I’ve never noticed this before, or it’s never happened. I would prefer to think the latter.
My Silver Maple tree is actually silver!
This is my pathetic attempt at a snowman. It fell over.
Abigail trying to build a snow fort. The snow wasn’t deep, which is why the snowballs are so muddy.
We put out seed for the birds, and instantly had flocks of sparrows at our beck and call.
Here is Mr. Cardinal. Notice his chickadee companion to the right.
Mrs. Cardinal.
The mockingbirds weren’t too happy with the constant snow. This one kept ruffling his feathers to rid himself of snowflakes.
So did the sparrows.
It snowed all day and all through the night…
This morning, we had almost a foot of snow. This is Mom’s magnolia tree. Somehow, magnolia and snow just don’t seem to go together well in the same sentence.
It was unbelievable. So much snow. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life before.
Sure we are under threat from Global Warming! I’d like to see those “experts” explain why we are having record low temperatures in Texas this winter.
This is the last family owned farm in Fairview, and it probably won’t stay that way for long. I’m glad I got to see it like this before the developers get ahold of it.
This is the best snow picture I took all day today.
Talk about a winter wonderland! Ever driven through a tunnel of snow?
Looking into what Kathy and I christened “The Hundred Acre Wood” as children 20 years ago.
I was surprised to see water still flowing.
Later on in the morning, we walked over to the golf course to go sledding. Here’s Abigail by the fence.
Emily breaking a path through the snow.
Here’s the golf course! It looks like its been covered with vanilla ice cream.
Abigail is pulling my father’s old sled from when he was a boy. It still works, even though it must be nearly 40 years old.
First on the agenda was to pack down a path for the sled.
Kimmy’s up first!
Whee!
Matthew got impatient waiting for his turn, so he decided to just summersult down to the bottom of the hill.
Probably not the best idea.
We took pity on him and gave him the sled.
He didn’t fare much better.
Abigail in the act of throwing snow at me.
Emily is ready for takeoff!
No, Matthew is not jumping out of the way. He hopped on behind Emily, and then failed to stay on the sled.
Kimmy after a particularly fast go.
Mom and Dad joined the fun briefly before heading into the comfort of the indoors. We younguns lasted a lot longer, of course! 
I wish it would snow more often in Texas.
Winter is the best time for birdwatching. They come in groups to the young pecan trees just outside my bedroom window, where I am usually ready with a camera. It’s difficult to shoot through glass, and most of the time I end up with a blur of feathers as the birds flit about from branch to branch. However, I have managed to snap a couple of decent photos.
This bird is some sort of sparrow.
He looks awfully cuddly all puffed up like that, but I know from watching my birds that this is a behavior commonly seen during cold weather. Poor little guy!
This is what I’ve mainly been after.
Yup, you guessed it.
Chickadees.
Carolina Chickadees.
These birds are tiny, adorable little balls of cheer. I’ve never seen such happy birds in my life!
They’re also very hard to photograph.
They simply never hold still. Rather like some people I know (okay, I plead guilty!).
We have an entire flock of about six of these diminutive birds in our yard at present. And they’re loud. I can pick them out even when I’m indoors (which is a lot these days).
I’m not sure what they were after. I can’t imagine that they could actually crack the pecans they were playing with.
The other bird I’ve been trying to photograph is this red-headed woodpecker that startled me one day. He’s more difficult to catch because he moves even faster than the chickadees!
Today’s Pictures
It was a lovely day today. Crystal clear blue skies and soft, cotton clouds wafting on a warm, wet southern breeze.
All I had to do was close my eyes, smell the rich, grassy scents on the breeze and imagine that spring was just around the corner. Hard to believe that Christmas is just barely two days away.
Of course, I know it won’t stay that way. We’re due for a nasty cold front in the next day. But for now, I’m enjoying this warm reprieve from the cold.
Every last, cloudy bit of it.
I caught this jet racing through the clouds and was astounded to find that my camera can zoom close enough that I can read the letters on the tail.
This was also taken on zoom. Doves are very fearful birds and hard to photograph at close range (unlike mockingbirds, which are fearless).
Even with me standing 30 feet away, this one decided to take off.
As I wandered around the property, I was startled to find this gall hanging down from one of our red oaks.
It’s huge. I’ve never seen one this big, much less at this time of year.
Despite the bleakness of the season, I was able to find many interesting subjects for pictures. Really, the merits of one season or another depends on the mindset of the person involved. If you go through life determined to find beauty, you’ll most likely find it. If you go through the winters bemoaning the loss of the spring, winter will seem just that much bleaker. I was amazed at how interesting the leaves were once I got down close to them.
Even the tiniest of dried grasses became beautiful once I began looking for beauty in them.
All I need to do to satisfy my craving for green is bury my face in a bush of cedar twigs. Mmmmm! Cedars smell like green.
One flower that blooms year round in Texas is the dandelion. These seemingly insignificant flowers are the most tenacious of all. We’ve had weeks this month below freezing, and I found dozens of these little beauties poking their golden heads above the tree litter.
Dandelions are an important source of nectar for bees during the winter. On warm days, it’s not uncommon to find a few honey bees buzzing happily around a cluster of these.
After the dandelions are pollinated, they close while the seeds mature…
And then open into a ball of fluff.
The feathery ends of the seeds are quite interesting - almost like little flowers themselves and so soft and silky!
The seeds are anchored into the base of the flower, loosely of course because the wind is needed to pick them up and carry them away.
They are commonplace, but dandelions have a unique beauty.
Ordinary things can really be beautiful.
The birds were gorging themselves on whatever they could find. They’ll barely feed during the cold snap. Here is Mrs. Cardinal in our cedar elm.
And a little sparrow in Bonnee’s tree.
I spotted this little butterfly on a dandelion.
This is with the zoom on my camera…
…and this is on the super macro setting.
This little butterfly was unafraid to have my camera lens poised only a few centimeters from his probing antenna. I was really surprised.
He even allowed me to pick him up on my fingertip.
Can you spot the mockingbird in this photo?
Here he is!
He seemed a bit affronted by my close proximity. I don’t think he liked the camera.
For all that, he’s awfully cute!
Blue Jays
For some weird reason, they remind me of my cockatiel.
Over the past month, I have observed a new resident in our area: a magnificent red-tailed hawk. I’ve seen him resting on power lines and trees, and flying overhead searching for prey.
The red-tailed hawk is one of the most common birds of prey in all North America, being only absent in the remote Arctic. In its genus, it is the largest member and displays sexual dimorphism, the females being 25% heavier than males. This is a legally protected species, but because they are common and easily trained, this is the bird of choice for the ancient sport of falconry. Only fully fledged hawks under a year old are allowed to be taken so the breeding population won’t be affected (red-tailed hawks are monogamous for life) and because young birds haven’t developed adult behaviors. Native Americans considered the feathers of this bird to be sacred.
The cry of a red-tailed hawk is a hoarse, rasping scream using the syllables kree-eee-ar. Beginning at a high pitch and slurring downward, this cry is a cliche cinematic sound effect, most often featured in adventure movies to lend a sense of wildness to certain scenes. It is the bird call most commonly attributed to Bald Eagles on the Silver Screen; this is because the Bald Eagle’s vocalizations aren’t nearly so impressive. I didn’t know this until I heard a red-tailed hawk scream the first time. Startled, I looked around for the Bald Eagle, only to catch sight of a tawny bird alighting on a nearby telephone pole. He screamed again, and then I started chuckling. I can attest to the difference in vocalizations between the two birds, because a few months after the run in with the hawk, I saw my first wild Bald Eagle on a weekend vacation in Beaver’s Bend. The sound is not half so crisp and robust in a Bald Eagle.
