Week 14
Good rains, about 2 inches.
Must be a fawn is in the brush just in the front yard. Doe keeps hanging around the area in the evening, a sure sign that her fawn is close by. This has been our experience, that does tend to place their fawns near people as they must think that that would be a more safe place. If this is the case here, it will be the third time we have experienced this.
Hen turkey makes a daily round of the south side, in the short, new grass looking for food. Must have a nest of turkeys close by.
We have not seen evidence of the feral hog lately.
Treated 22 mounds of fire ants. They really sprout up after a rain, must be to get the eggs out of the water..
Still no sign of either the painted buntings, or the quail.
Have not heard coyotes for two months.
Week 15
Replace two bluebird houses. No sign of bluebirds however.
Wren houses are popular, wren in one, and the other is occupied by a tufted titmouse.
Deer are scarce this spring. Have seen no fawns yet.
Week 17
The hen turkey does not feed in the back yard anymore that we can see, so she must have reared her chicks and moved on. Nevertheless, we should see her escorting the brood around the area soon.
Deer again scarce. When we do see them, there are no more than three in the group.
We spotted one painted bunting, one day, but not subsequent days.
Hauled three buckets of brush to the main brushpile.
Treated 19 fire ant mounds.
Invited the TPWD person to make a site visit. We have a lot of questions listed for his advice.
Monday, April 11, 2016
March 2016 Activity
Week 9
New experience today. For the last several years we have heard a dove like sound, always descending in tone, about 4 calls in series. Well, today the sound was coming from the top of a tree nearby, so we moved into the area and with the binoculars, searched for the source of the sound. Hah, it was a roadrunner, sitting high in the tree perched along the length of the branch and making this sound. Turning to the birdbook, this is now confirmed as the roadrunners mating call---very unlike his vibrating like call one normally hears.
Week 10
Replaced the cattle trough under the front window with the plank leading into it. Although this is "outside" the wildlife area, it nonetheless is a very important wildlife feature as it has a guaranteed water source in the even we are away---plus the birds really like the wooden "beach" for accessing the water. The leopard frogs have not made their appearance lately.
Regarding the species we list in our wildlife plan, its easy to focus on deer because they are big, they are visible and they are always in the news. But, deer have an amazing ability to take care of themselves and adapt to surroundings. We are more concerned with habitat for all the species, including the lowly mouse.
On the subject of mice, they are nowhere to be found this spring so far. Not a good sign
Week 11
The hen turkey does not reappear lately, hopefully the brood is hatched and we will see the small birds soon.
Hearing coyotes on one occasion lately, but coyote evidence is way down this year compared to last year. Don't know if there are trappers in the area, but there could be as there are large ranches nearby.
Cardinals are reappearing.
Have not seen bluebird one yet this year. Evidence of bluebirds keeps dropping year after year.
Week 12
The purple martin house has been up for almost two months and no sign of purple martins, even those that just cruise through the area. The barn swallows showed up briefly to check out their nest of previous years, but found mother Phoebe sitting on eggs in the nest. Like good birds, they left and did not bother the nesting Phoebe.
Strange, no deer observed this week.
Week 13
Estimate of annual cash costs for wildlife:
Black oil sunflower seed .......$40.00
Diesel Fuel ............................$54.00
Feed corn................................$18.00
Wood for bird nestboxes........$52.00
Fireant killer...........................$26.00
Estimate of annual labor hours for wildlife:
Average of 6 hours per week x 48 weeks...288 hours.
Variety of birds seems low this spring.
Observed regularly:
New experience today. For the last several years we have heard a dove like sound, always descending in tone, about 4 calls in series. Well, today the sound was coming from the top of a tree nearby, so we moved into the area and with the binoculars, searched for the source of the sound. Hah, it was a roadrunner, sitting high in the tree perched along the length of the branch and making this sound. Turning to the birdbook, this is now confirmed as the roadrunners mating call---very unlike his vibrating like call one normally hears.
Week 10
Replaced the cattle trough under the front window with the plank leading into it. Although this is "outside" the wildlife area, it nonetheless is a very important wildlife feature as it has a guaranteed water source in the even we are away---plus the birds really like the wooden "beach" for accessing the water. The leopard frogs have not made their appearance lately.
Regarding the species we list in our wildlife plan, its easy to focus on deer because they are big, they are visible and they are always in the news. But, deer have an amazing ability to take care of themselves and adapt to surroundings. We are more concerned with habitat for all the species, including the lowly mouse.
On the subject of mice, they are nowhere to be found this spring so far. Not a good sign
Week 11
The hen turkey does not reappear lately, hopefully the brood is hatched and we will see the small birds soon.
Hearing coyotes on one occasion lately, but coyote evidence is way down this year compared to last year. Don't know if there are trappers in the area, but there could be as there are large ranches nearby.
Cardinals are reappearing.
Have not seen bluebird one yet this year. Evidence of bluebirds keeps dropping year after year.
Week 12
The purple martin house has been up for almost two months and no sign of purple martins, even those that just cruise through the area. The barn swallows showed up briefly to check out their nest of previous years, but found mother Phoebe sitting on eggs in the nest. Like good birds, they left and did not bother the nesting Phoebe.
Strange, no deer observed this week.
Week 13
Estimate of annual cash costs for wildlife:
Black oil sunflower seed .......$40.00
Diesel Fuel ............................$54.00
Feed corn................................$18.00
Wood for bird nestboxes........$52.00
Fireant killer...........................$26.00
Estimate of annual labor hours for wildlife:
Average of 6 hours per week x 48 weeks...288 hours.
Variety of birds seems low this spring.
Observed regularly:
- Cardinals
- Titmouse
- Carolina wren
- Mockingbird
- Vulture
- Phoebe
- Lesser goldfinch
Observed on occasion:
- Raven
- Red Tailed Hawk
- Roadrunner
- Turkey
- Cara Cara
- Chicadee
- Barn Swallow
Not observed so far this year (but have in the past):
- Parouque
- House finch
- Painted bunting (late?)
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