This is certainly our first love, as the extensive list shows, and one of the factors in our move to Texas. It took five years to compile a yard list of 76 birds in New Jersey, but less than four months in Texas (and only eight months to break 100). There are just more birds to see...and now, more time to see them!

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Hundreds of American Goldfinches and a few Pine siskins coming to our feeders as soon as we set them up in January.
• Eastern Bluebirds investigating our nestboxes as soon as we set them up, and ultimately raising two families in one.
• Eastern Phoebes building a mud and grass nest adorned with lichens under the eve of our front porch.
• Purple Martins investigating and settling into our Martin House as soon as we put it up.
• A pair of Wood Ducks cruising up and down our creek.
• Small flocks of Cedar Waxwings...Mary's favorite bird!
• Chimney Swifts "chittering" overhead...Erik's favorite bird!
• "Tons" of Black-chinned Hummingbirds in the Spring and Summer! (And think of how little one Hummingbird weighs!)
• Many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds stopping off on their way south in late Summer and early Fall.
• 250+ Sandhill Cranes "bugling" overhead in mid-March, looking like geese as they flew in a lazy "vee" formation high above us.
• 300+ American White Pelicans in early April, wheeling on a late afternoon thermal to gain altitude, and then slowly drifting north as the sun set.
• A "mini-fallout" on a late April afternoon which produced Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Grosbeak, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Orchard Oriole in the trees along our creek.
• Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and Loggerhead Shrike on our pasture fence wires...all at the same time!
• A Green Kingfisher "zooming" up the creek, just inches above the water.
• A pair of Zone-tailed Hawks soaring and lazily chasing each other over the pasture one day.
• An American Kestrel and a Loggerhead Shrike alternately chasing each other across the pasture!
• Five days of cold rain (a rare thing anywhere in Texas!) in early October which produced a major "fallout" throughout much of Texas. Our yard highlights included 14! Indigo Buntings at our feeder, dozens! of Clay-colored Sparrows, several White-crowned Sparrows, a few Vesper Sparrows, and 10 Meadowlark sp. in the pasture.
• Best Feeder Bird: Greater Roadrunner!

TECHNICAL NOTES:

• Nine species of LBBs (Little Brown Birds - i.e., Sparrows), including:
  • Many Leucophrys (Black-lored) and a few Gambel's (White-lored) forms of the White Crowned Sparrow.
  • Many Slate-colored and one Pink-sided forms of the Dark-eyed Junco.

Mammals are definitely few and far between, unless you like to hunt exotics, for which the "Hill Country" is famous. It is not uncommon to drive down the road and see Black Buck Antelope, Axis Deer, Fallow Deer, Red Deer, Sika Deer, Elk, Bison, or even a Common Eland, Greater Kudu, Gemsbock Oryx, Scimitar-horned Oryx, Wildebeest, or Zebra on the many fenced game farms which cater to trophy hunters.

Most of these are associated with our creek, and have been seen or heard while sitting on the back porch. However, every Spring young Texas Blind Snakes have been found wandering around inside the house (cute little guys though...about four inches long and completely harmless). The fact that Blind Snakes feed almost exclusively on the larva of ants and termites worried us a bit (consider the "predator to prey" ratio that a flourishing family snakes, producing young each Spring, might imply), and ultimately led us to call in an exterminator as a preventive measure.

This is a new field for both of us (no pun intended), and we have gotten a lot of help identifying the beautiful and abundant wildflowers (and other plants) growing in our yard and pasture. We will slowly come up to speed here. One major advantage is that they don't fly or run away. Another is that any time of day is good for studying them!

This section will include all those "critters" known as "Invertebrates" (i.e., things without a backbone - but excluding corporate managers and lawyers). This group has the biggest potential for a species list (it has already exceeded our bird list), but is also one of the most difficult to identify properly.

The list below is organized into the following scientific Classes (in order of "interest", not strict scientific/phylogenetic order). Descriptive phrases for unidentified species are noted by enclosing them in square braces (e.g., [Yellow-striped] Paper Wasp) as a placeholder for possible later identification of Genus or Species. Multiple species within a particular type (usually a Family) are noted by pluralizing the common name (e.g., Dragonflies, Jumping Spiders, etc.) and enclosing them in parentheses. These will be split when/if they can be identified by Genus or Species:

• Hexapoda (Insecta) - True Insects (i.e., "six-legged critters")
• Arachnida - Spiders, Scorpions, etc.
• Crustacea - Crayfish ("Crawdads"), Sowbugs/Pillbugs (bet you didn't know they were Crustaceans!), etc.
• Chilopoda - Centipedes
• Diplopoda - Millipedes
• Oligochaeta - Earthworms
• Turbellaria - Non-parasitic Flatworms

NOTES:

• The swarm of Honey Bees which moved into our Owl nest box was determined to be Africanized Honey Bees (i.e., the dreaded KILLER BEES!) by a local beekeeper, named Kevin, who came to collect them one evening. Hives have to be collected and moved at night to be sure that all the workers are moved with the hive. When Kevin climbed up the ladder and approached the nest box, the bees became very agitated and aggressive (much more so than typical domestic or European Honey Bees, according to Kevin). They are also known to become agitated by loud, repetitive sounds, such as lawnmowers. Apparently, Erik was lucky that they didn't attack him on the several occasions he cut the grass with the riding lawnmower under/near the tree!
  
  Kevin explained to us that Africanized Honey Bees have gotten a "bad rap" because of their aggressive behavior. Since there is really no effective way to stop Africanized Honey Bees from spreading, beekeepers must be extra careful in managing their hives. This includes re-queening with a domestic Honey Bee queen and/or destroying hives that become overly aggressive. Africanized Honey Bees are actually better producers of honey, which is why they were first imported into South America in the 1950's. The only real problem is that for Africanized Honey Bees the beekeeper must wear a protective suit at all times, unlike domestic Honey Bees, which "...could be worked in your underwear if you wanted to...". He said this makes beekeeping unpleasant in the hot Texas summers and most beekeepers don't want to work that hard. In addition, the beekeeper must take extra precautions to avoid accidental contact by the general public with the hives and work areas.
  
  Kevin also explained that domestic Honey Bee populations are seriously declining, not due to "conquering" by Africanized Bees, but due to mite infestation. The Africanized Honey Bees are resistant to the mites because they groom themselves more than their domestic cousins.
  
  

• The Tarantula was HUGE! It was calmly walking across the driveway just before sunset one evening and I almost tripped over it. When it raised its front legs to investigate me, they blocked out part of the sun! Well, not quite...but a Tarantula is a huge spider, easily dwarfing even the largest Wolf Spider. Its outstretched legs were almost as big as my hand, and, if you're not used to seeing them, they will take your breath away. Whew! Glad it was outside and not walking across the living room rug!

  
  

• Another (breath-taking) highlight was the Striped Centruroides (Scorpion) that was following the path blazed by the Blind Snakes (i.e., wandering across the dining room rug!). Shoes (our cat) was intensely investigating something on the rug. We've had a lot of brown Cave Crickets coming indoors recently, and I thought it was just one of them until I got down on my hands and knees to look. I quickly brushed the cat away with the back of my hand and yelled to Mary to grab Ben (our dog).

  Mary said "What is it?", to which I replied "You don't want to know!".

  After the initial adrenalin rush, I got a 16 ounce tumbler from the kitchen cupboard and scooped up the beast, knowing from a similar experience in Italy many years ago (that time the scorpion was in my hotel room!) that scorpions can't climb glass like many insects can.

  We donated the (live) scorpion to our friend Tony over at the Sierra Vista summer camp, where he gives programs to the kids about the fauna of the Hill Country. He will let it go after it has finished "going to school".

  NOTE: After this experience, we researched the occurrence of scorpions, with particular emphasis on poisonous ones. This is what we found:

  • Worldwide there are about 1500 species of scorpions, and only about 25 of these are considered "deadly" poisonous.
  • In the United States there are about 90 species of scorpions, which mainly occur in the south and west. Only 2 (which only occur in Arizona) are considered "deadly" poisonous.
  • There are about 18-20 species of scorpions in Texas, and NONE of these are considered "deadly" poisonous.
  • The species diversity increases as one moves south and west.
  • While some species occur in deciduous and pine forests, most occur in deserts, dry grasslands, or dry mountain regions.

  Most scorpions, like the one we found in our dining room, have a sting that is no worse than a bee or a wasp. The only real dangers are if an allergic reaction occurs or if the sting site/wound becomes infected. But, while scorpions are fairly common, they are rarely seen due to their nocturnal habits. And they look decidedly more "deadly" than a bee or a wasp, so caution is always prudent until one is sure!
  
  

• The presence of ticks was a one-time occurrence. The 2 ticks we found (on Erik) were probably from a trip to the Kerr Wildlife Management Area. Tick research is among the many management activities conducted there. We have not found any others on us or Ben (our dog) since. If there were ticks on the property, then Ben would certainly pick them up.
  
  

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