Hawk-eyed Naturalist

      On June 5th, 2023 me and my girlfriend were finally able to go on a walk after not having the chance to in a while. We decided to visit Friedrich Wilderness Park to see the beautiful wildflower meadows and the butterflies that feed in the meadow. This was our second visit and we were excited to return since on our first visit we visited too late in the day to see the butterflies. This time we arrived early, just before noon. As soon as we arrived we headed to the wildflower meadows. A Common Spotted Whiptail scurries away at our arrival (1). The meadow was full of delightful encounters with adored species and even new ones! We saw many Queen butterflies, a new species for us (2). They are such big beautiful butterflies related to Monarchs. We snapped many photos of them (3). However, I was too distracted by them to take a picture of a Northern Cardinal on the ground. Luckily, my girlfriend got one for me (4).  (1) Common Spotted Whiptail (2) Queen (3) Queen (4)...

     The morning of June 3rd, 2023 was dedicated to a walk around the ranch. As I walked out the front door, I was immediately greeted by a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher perched on the yard's fence (1).  This morning I decided to take the back gate and explore the backside of the property. Just behind the yard was a Bordered Patch perched upon the growing grass (2). As I walked further out into the field, I came across another Scissor-tailed Flycatcher perched on a dead branch. Walking further led me to the pond, where a Red-eared slider peeked (4).  (1) Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (2) Bordered Patch (3) Red-eared Slider     Past the pond, within a patch of honey mesquite trees where a flock of four Bewick's Wrens hopping from branch to branch (4) (5). This patch also housed some insects, two Common Whitetails (6) and a Checkered Skipper (7). Within the branches I heard a Northern Cardinal sing.  (4) Bewick's Wren (5) Bewick's Wren (6) Common ...

     As I headed inside after a long day of work, I noticed a bird in the large mesquite tree by my yard. It was different than any other bird I had seen yet. It was quite a bit larger than your average songbird and had this striking contrast between its lights undersides and a dark head and back. I ran to get my camera, when I returned another one had showed up! Now there was two for me to capture in photo. The two birds were Eastern Kingbirds ( Tyrannus tyrannus ), a large flycatcher.  Eastern Kingbird ( Tyrannus tyrannus )      Eastern Kingbird ( Tyrannus tyrannus )     I am very familiar with other species of flycatchers, especially the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher but also the Eastern Phoebe, Western Kingbird, Eastern Wood-pewee and Ash-throated Flycatcher. This new species adds to the diversity of flycatchers present on the ranch. Its coloration is most similar to the Eastern Wood-pewee ( Contopus sordidulus ) but regardless are ...

     The sighting of a new species on the ranch is always an exciting occurrence. The new species was Swainson's Hawk ( Buteo swainsoni ), not only is this the first time I've seen this species on the ranch but the first time I've ever seen this species ever. I plan to make a post detailing all the Accipitrids  sighted on the ranch eventually but I'll go into a bit of detail about the ecology of  Buteo swainsoni in this post. But before that I'll give a short account of the sighting.      I had just finished my morning walk and it was time for me to eat breakfast. Since I was done with my morning observations I had left my camera inside while I went outside to grab myself a microwave breakfast sandwich. Before I could look inside the fridge a large figure soared past my peripheral. I turned to face it, a large dark-brown bird with wide wings. My first thought was that it was a Turkey Vulture ( Cathartes aura ) but it was just far enough for me to ...