Baymule’s Farm

[baymule]

@Carol Dee she is a very pretty girl, but I sure understand the headache she causes! My trio of little monsters are outside for the morning. I’ll feed them after I finish my coffee. I make them stay outside until just before they die of heat exhaustion. I let them back inside, they are grateful to be back in the AC, go to their crates and pass out. BWAHAHAHA!

 

[baymule]

Monday my DD and family came in around 8 PM. I was worried all day about my baby birds. I was afraid they would leave the nest and fall to the ground, making new toys for the dogs. So every time they went outside, so did I.

Monday afternoon I was out there with the dogs, when one of them flew away! No fluttering, no nose diving to the ground, but really flew! It flew to the top of the chicken coop. The parent birds were flying all around their baby, encouraging it. It then flew to the property line fence, then to the brush beyond.

One by one, they all flew away. I sure enjoyed watching them hatch, open wide their mouths for the insects their parents brought and ultimately fly away. Hope the parent birds come back next year!

 

[baymule]

My DD and family came in Monday night and left Tuesday morning, taking their dogs with them. I sure was glad to see the dogs go home! Carson hid behind my recliner for another day, then finally decided the coast was clear, the invaders were finally gone.

General consensus on BYH is that the baby birds are Eastern Phoebe’s.

Tuesday I went to a Texas Parks and Wildlife presentation at the Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/list/?id=10

It is 11,000 acres dedicated to wildlife and the environment. It has a lot of unique areas like the bogs, where there are pitcher plants, a carnivorous plant that attracts insects, then traps them inside and digests them. Some of the insects actually flew away when we cut open the plants!

We wandered on a sandy hill, a brittle environment with little nutrients in the soil. The oak trees looked small to me, but were estimated to be 100-150 years old. Grasses were Little Bluestem, a clumping grass and various others. We drove on roads, stopping to look at the micro environments. It was truly a look back in time before bahia and bermuda grasses took over east Texas.

They are restoring turkeys, both Rio Grande and Eastern wild turkeys. They are also restoring the wild Bob White quail. Bob White calls are but a memory of my childhood, when they were everywhere. Bahia and Bermuda grasses both form a tight sod, Bob White quail need clumping grasses with the bare spots in between, runways for them. The babies are the size of a quarter with tiny toothpick legs, there is no way they can struggle in the tight sod of introduced grasses. Then add in fire ants, quail are ground nesting birds. They get attacked by fire ants. Toss in hundreds if not thousands of feral hogs and you have the perfect storm of disaster for quail. Over 700 hogs have been trapped in this wildlife area so far this year.

I saw a nest of red ants and pointed them out to the biologist. I told him and the other attendees that I felt like celebrating that nest of native red ants because they weren't FIRE ANTS.

It was HOT. Texas, scorching, unforgiving HOT. I was dripping sweat, soaked in sweat and not even a breeze was stirring. We all brought our lunches and after lunch, there was a slide presentation and more information about the management area. It is named after a biologist that was murdered by poachers in 1950. Land was bought in parcels as it came up for sale. It is fenced in barbed wire, which doesn't keep out the hogs.

It was an interesting day, I was glad that I went.

This morning I’m picking up my son at the Tyler airport. 2 hours away. Much better than fighting the insanity at the Houston airport or Dallas/Fort Worth! He moved his camper to New Mexico yesterday, about an hour east of Albuquerque. He has to be back for work July 9, and will fly back July 8. He is working on a crew putting up wind turbines.

 

[Carol Dee]

My DD and family came in Monday night and left Tuesday morning, taking their dogs with them. I sure was glad to see the dogs go home! Carson hid behind my recliner for another day, then finally decided the coast was clear, the invaders were finally gone.

General consensus on BYH is that the baby birds are Eastern Phoebe’s.

Tuesday I went to a Texas Parks and Wildlife presentation at the Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/list/?id=10

It is 11,000 acres dedicated to wildlife and the environment. It has a lot of unique areas like the bogs, where there are pitcher plants, a carnivorous plant that attracts insects, then traps them inside and digests them. Some of the insects actually flew away when we cut open the plants!

View attachment 75844

View attachment 75845

View attachment 75846

We wandered on a sandy hill, a brittle environment with little nutrients in the soil. The oak trees looked small to me, but were estimated to be 100-150 years old. Grasses were Little Bluestem, a clumping grass and various others. We drove on roads, stopping to look at the micro environments. It was truly a look back in time before bahia and bermuda grasses took over east Texas.

They are restoring turkeys, both Rio Grande and Eastern wild turkeys. They are also restoring the wild Bob White quail. Bob White calls are but a memory of my childhood, when they were everywhere. Bahia and Bermuda grasses both form a tight sod, Bob White quail need clumping grasses with the bare spots in between, runways for them. The babies are the size of a quarter with tiny toothpick legs, there is no way they can struggle in the tight sod of introduced grasses. Then add in fire ants, quail are ground nesting birds. They get attacked by fire ants. Toss in hundreds if not thousands of feral hogs and you have the perfect storm of disaster for quail. Over 700 hogs have been trapped in this wildlife area so far this year.

I saw a nest of red ants and pointed them out to the biologist. I told him and the other attendees that I felt like celebrating that nest of native red ants because they weren't FIRE ANTS.

It was HOT. Texas, scorching, unforgiving HOT. I was dripping sweat, soaked in sweat and not even a breeze was stirring. We all brought our lunches and after lunch, there was a slide presentation and more information about the management area. It is named after a biologist that was murdered by poachers in 1950. Land was bought in parcels as it came up for sale. It is fenced in barbed wire, which doesn't keep out the hogs.

It was an interesting day, I was glad that I went.

This morning I’m picking up my son at the Tyler airport. 2 hours away. Much better than fighting the insanity at the Houston airport or Dallas/Fort Worth! He moved his camper to New Mexico yesterday, about an hour east of Albuquerque. He has to be back for work July 9, and will fly back July 8. He is working on a crew putting up wind turbines.

That sounds like a very interesting day. But way to hot! Enjoy the week with your son.

 

[digitS']

The only phoebe that I knew that I was looking at was ..

. a girlfriend of my brother's . She was the only person with that name that I have ever known. Birds — my Roger Tory Peterson guide says that some species may be found in southern Oregon and south but, otherwise, they are only east of the Rockies.

Bobwhite quail. Despite the names being common, I have yet to meet a person whose parents had the poor judgment to name their kid Robert White. Birds — they are not native here either. The California quail fills the nitche. I did arrive at my distant garden one morning to find a "covey" of bobwhite on the neighbors' lawn. They didn't spook when I parked, altho I was not more than 20 feet away. No flight when I climbed out and headed off to the garden.

They migrated past the pickup while I was out there and were doing some calling through the morning. By lunchtime, they were gone and never seen again. Obviously, someone had purchased them from a hatchery and they escaped or were turned loose. Probably, the same neighbor a short distance away who had domestic rabbits in the yard and a flock of pigeons for awhile.

Texas always seemed a little wild to me. I hope room can be retained/regained for the natives.

Steve