Dan Symonds found a Carolina Chickadee excavating a hole in a snag out at the Abilene State Park this past Sunday, February 3, 2008. Nest building in February? I knew our resident birds got started early, but geez, it’s barely February. And while photographing the excavation, a little red bird flew into the tree top […]

During the Robert Lee CBC conducted by the Midland Naturalists on Saturday, December 15, an adult Golden-crowned Sparrow was located in a small flock of White-crowned Sparrows not far from the town (see below). This news spread like wildfire in the birding community and soon I was plotting a rarity chase. Commitments were first met, […]

Eastern Bluebirds are loved for their brilliant plumage, their tameness, and their preference for nesting boxes. Many people view bluebirds as a symbol of representing all that is good in the world. I think I’ll have to agree. Bluebirds make me happy and I wanted to share some happiness with you today.

Some one once asked me if we saw other wildlife (other than birds) when on field trips. Yes we do! Many of our members were in the field in November and some of you sent in photos of your encounters such as this beautiful doe seen in Callahan County by Jay Capra. During the field […]

Saturday, December 22, 2007, Heidi Trudell and Cole Wild found this Pectoral Sandpiper at Wastewater Treatment Plant. This is a very very late date for a Pectoral; and if you’re interested in what else they saw this cold and windy day, take a look at their Sightings! Also, Mark Cranford from Midland reported a small […]

I want to share some photos others sent in. These photos and sightings have added another level of understanding about the birds and wildlife in the Big Country. Diane Longenecker, Bird Supervisor from the Abilene Zoo, sent me two photos of an injured dark raptor, the face of which you see here. The photo gallery […]

The last time I reported on bobcats at Dyess AFB was over a year ago. Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to witness the personal grooming habits of a bobcat hidden in dense riparian habitat. With snow still covering most of the area at Dyess, the ground was well saturated as I walked into a […]

This is a Black Phoebe! New member Dan found this bird at Willhair Park this past Saturday and posted to the web his findings. In fact, he found two Black Phoebes at the park! I followed up on his sighting, refound one bird, and managed a couple of diagnostic photos. (Sliding down a twenty-foot embankment […]

With the past excitement of the jaeger flying around at Kirby, we’ve been doing a little more birding at the lake and have found a few interesting birds we’d like to share with you. With November’s warmer weather the egrets are hanging around in pretty good numbers, some gulls are showing off, and a few […]

For those of you who are following the discussions on Texbirds on the Kirby Lake Jaeger, Martin Reid posted his views regarding its identity. Below are his comments along with the photos submitted to highlight his conclusions. The full-sized photos can be found at Flickr. Lorie Black’s photo (above) is also used to highlight some […]