An Irrepressible Bird - the Carolina Wren!

Who IS that loud bird singing even in the early morning before daylight?!? It's the tiny, irrepressible Carolina Wren that we have building a nest in our flower pot! We love these birds. They have a song that is ridiculously loud for such a small bird, and everytime we think we know all of their songs, they come up with another one! I like the "cherry cherry cherry" song , but they have as many as 40 versions, and (if you irritate them) one of the nastiest versions of the "raspberries" you've ever heard!

These birds are about 5-1/2 inches long with a cocked tail and a long, slightly curved bill. They are very inquisitive, checking out every nook and corner for bugs and spiders. The Carolina Wrens mate for life, and stay together throughout the year on permanent territories. Don't bother offering them a birdhouse, however. They'll ignore it for a potted plant or a barbecue grill or (as friends discovered) the back of your camper or car! They build a nest that looks like a little cave out of grasses and grass fibers; the eggs hatch in 2 weeks, and the babies leave the nest in another two weeks. Cheerful little fellows, even in the rain, they bring sunshine to our lives!

The Waxwings have arrived!!

What crashed through our yard today with more commotion and noise than New Orleans' Bourbon street after the Super Bowl? Was louder? possibly more drunk? left a bigger mess? and was decorated with Mardi Gras mask and colors?!? It was the handsome and very social Cedar Waxwing! Within half-an-hour, they stripped our berry-laden yaupon (leaving quite a mess of dark splats all over the biketrail!) with much chatter and congeniality, even happily sharing with the (equally messy) robins that appeared with them. It's a great sign of springtime soon to come!!

When it rains, it pours .... Yellow-crowned Night Herons!!

Ah, sweet rain. Rain that pours water in ditches that suddenly erupt with the bleets of a million tiny frogs ...... and the strikingly handsome Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Yesterday (while other hikers passed by without a notice) I watched a family of three of these gorgeous birds in the nearby ditch, undoubtedly fishing for crayfish, minnows, perhaps a grasshopper or frog in the now-still waters. This may be called a "night" heron, but he forages for food both day and night. Even so, the bird's slow movement and shyness make it a difficult bird to spot.

This group of three (two mature birds and an immature in the middle) was undoubtedly a family unit (mom, pop and kiddo). Both the male and female build the nest, incubate the eggs, and care for and feed the chicks.

You can recognize the Yellow-crowned Night Heron by its very striking appearance. It's a stocky wadding bird, about 24 inches in length. It has a slate-gray body, a black head with a white streak on the side of the face, and a yellowish-white crown. In breeding season, you will see a yellow plume of feathers on its head. It has large red eyes, a black bill, yellow-to-orange legs. Males and females look alike. The immature bird is a mottled gray-brown.

Alas, it's sound is a loud harsh squawk. Like people, some birds are better off not saying a word!

The Summer Tanager summers in The Woodlands!!

What IS that bird in your backyard?? (It's 6.7" long, smaller than an American Robin, but look at that huge beak!) Well, by golly, might be a Summer Tanager. Take a close look .... If it's a bright red bird with NO other colors, it's the striking male Summer Tanager. If it's a dull yellow bird, with some olive green wash on the sides, and grayish-brown wings, it is (alas) the female. The immature bird looks like the adult female, but (as you can see in our third photo), the young male can have a pretty splotched appearance with oranges and reds. He can be very colorful!!

The Summer Tanager is a bee and wasp specialist. It catches the bee in flight and kills it by beating it against a branch. Before it eats the bee, however, the tanager removes the stinger by rubbing it on a branch. The tanager eats bee and wasp larvae as well. Bee keepers hate them, but they can sure keep our wasp population down!

These birds have a pretty whistle with short pauses. Usually one set has something that sounds like "peanut-butter." And their call is a clicking "pit-i-tuck." Personally, it's a lot easier to identify these birds by their appearance on a birdbath than by listening for "peanut-butter" in the treetops, but often that's the only way you would know that they're around!

We have these beautiful birds in The Woodlands during the summer.

Enjoy them - enjoy their beauty - enjoy their song!!

What's that bird with the SUNGLASSES?!

It’s the Egyptian Goose! (Well... it's not really a goose, but a member of the shelduck family which are classified as being a cross between a goose and a duck.) If you think they have a slightly familiar look, you may have seen them in Egyptian artwork, as they were considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians. (Remember: it's EgyptIAN Goose, but Canada - NOT Canadian - Goose! Why? Beats me!!)

Egyptian Geese are abundant in the Nile Valley and south of the Sahara. They have also been introduced to other areas. Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany have self-sustaining feral populations. They arrived in the United States from Great Britain as exotics, to beautify estates of wealthy landowners. They promptly escaped, and by golly, here they are thriving in The Woodlands, Texas!!

This is a largely land-loving bird, happy to perch in trees or on buildings. It swims well, but when it flies, it looks more like a goose than a duck (hence the name). Egyptian geese typically eat seeds, leaves, grasses, and plant stems.

These handsome large geese have patches of chestnut-colored feathers around each eye, which give them a spectacled appearance. Some of them have gray-brown upper parts; others are red-brown. They have black tails and yellow eyes; their bills, legs and feet are pink. Sexes are alike, but the females are somewhat smaller. Though Egyptian geese are not very vocal, during times of stress or aggressive behavior it's easy to distinguish males and females by their sound. The males have a raspy hiss, while females produce a loud cackling sound. Although very quarrelsome and bad-tempered by nature, they form strong pair bonds and are excellent parents.

The next time you spot these birds near the lake, stop to take a look.
They're not only gorgeous, but they have an ancient and noble history!!

Welcome those Mosquito-loving SWALLOWS!

Not long ago we received this e-mail from Gary Clark* : "I thought you might be interested to know that a large colony of Cliff Swallows is nesting under the Lake Woodlands Drive bridge ... Historically, Barn Swallows have dominated the bridge, but they seem to have been crowded out by Cliff Swallows. I think this represents an interesting eastward expansion of Cliff Swallows, which normally nest a bit farther west around Hempstead, Brenham, and beyond."

Which swallows are which?? Stop to take a look at those tiny birds that swoop over the lake near Woodlands Parkway - these are the Barn Swallows (see little photo on the left). They have a forked tail. Like all swallows, their streamlined body and long pointed wings make them very adapted for swooping and grabbing insects on the wing. And just look at that mouth! Wide enough to catch a bunch of bugs, for sure!!

Now head to the northern end of the lake and look under Lake Woodlands Drive Bridge (from Northshore Park). Those birds have a tail that is NOT forked! Its tip is square across. These are the Cliff Swallows that Gary Clark mentioned. The bridge provides a protective overhang and a nearby mud source. If you look at the photo at the top, each mud nest is made up of about a thousand small, mud pellets. Each mating pair in the colony shapes its home piece by piece into a bottle-necked nest which they then line it with grasses and feathers.

Welcome them all. They're our friends. They eat our mosquitoes!!

* Gary Clark writes the weekly nature column for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express News. Be sure to look for his article every Saturday in those newspapers!!

You've gotta' love those .... SNAKES ?!?

When the summer gets hot, so do the snakes, and you just might come home to find one cooling off in the moist mulch of your garden or on your front doorstep (as we did)!

How could you NOT love this garter snake? What a sweet face! This Western Ribbon Snake (also know as a "garden" or "grass" snake) is very common in our area and often seen around homes. They can be found just about anywhere that they can find a bit of dark, moist soil (your beautiful mulched landscaping, for instance). If you're a gardener, you should encourage these beautiful snakes to stick around, because they love to feed on snails, slugs, insects, and small mice!

How will you recognize the Western Ribbon Snake? It's a very thin snake, although it can be as long as 30 inches. It has a yellow or orange stripe down the center of its back, and two creamy light-yellow stripes on the sides (separated by two wide, black stripes along the back). The head is black with a yellow or orange spot on the top, and it's belly is cream-colored or very pale green. Beautiful!! As with most snakes, this gardener's friend is completely harmless, and will happily slither away!