Togo Goes Birdwatching

Birds are interesting creatures. They can be beautiful, rancorous, graceful, pesky, productive, destructive, menacing, messy, and friendly. And that’s just one bird on any given day.

Thus, “interesting” is the most positive way I can describe them.

When I was younger, I was mainly interested in chasing them. I can honestly say that I had no plan in mind for what should happen in the event I caught one.

I’m a strong advocate of catch-and-release. Sadly, the few times I’ve actually caught a bird, they were a little the worse for wear by the time we reached the release segment of the program.

So, on moral grounds, I only chase birds now. And, in recent years, I only watch them.

We have a lot of different kinds in my yard and it’s quite a show.

Most of them are White-Winged doves. One or two have become really friendly during my feeding time. You might remember some of my stories about Doug, the Dove. The two that hang around now don’t have names. Mainly because we can’t tell them apart. And Daddy gets annoyed by them because he’s in charge of sweeping up all of the feathers they leave behind. So we hired this guy to scare them off.

But, for some reason, he hasn’t been very effective. I hated to say anything, but I don’t think he’s taken very good care of himself through the years.

The doves share my food and water. I think they are trying to impress their friends. A whole dove gallery sits in a tree in the yard behind us, looks over the fence, and cheers their fellow doves on.

We’ve also spotted what we believe to be a Eurasian Collared Dove. It’s a lighter-colored dove with a black collar around the back of its neck. Not being as bold as the White-Winged Doves, these beautiful birds fly away quickly when Daddy tries to take their picture.

In the spring, we have a lot of Robins everywhere in our neighborhood. By mid-summer, there are only a few. Did you know that they are really tough guys? They are pretty adept at running at other birds and scaring them off. And Robins have really good ears. They can hear worms and other bugs digging in the dirt.

Occasionally, we have a few Grackles. They are very noisy. I feel sorry for them a little. No one seems to like them because they are so obnoxious. Fortunately, the native habitat of the Grackle is apparently the parking lot at the mall. That’s clear across town, so we seldom have too many in our neighborhood.

Some evenings when Daddy and I are sitting outside, we look up and see some big birds flying. The largest of them is the Turkey Vulture. Daddy says he didn’t know that was their name for the longest time. West Texas people just called them Buzzards. The cool thing about Turkey Vultures is that they are soaring birds. They can find air thermals (a column of heated air that rises) and can use that to get lift and to get way up in the air. And, they don’t even have to flap their wings much to get there. Daddy says that they’re looking for dead animals while they’re up there. It’s kind of gross, but that’s what they eat. Actually, that’s a very helpful thing since dead animals everywhere would be a real downer — and a health hazard. So, go Buzzards!

The smaller soaring bird we see is the Mississippi Kite. We have one that lives just a couple of trees over from us. They don’t eat dead stuff. Instead they eat rodents and sometimes baby birds that aren’t Mississippi Kites.

Of course, this wouldn’t be Texas without mockingbirds. They are feisty little buggers. I don’t mind that as much as their singing. Don’t get me wrong. Their singing is really pretty. But not at 2 a.m. — and for no apparent reason.

Hummingbirds and cardinals are occasional visitors to our yard. And there’s a pair of Blue Jays who make a daily appearance — usually playing tag with the squirrels, Sammy and Company. We count mosquitoes as birds — at least when they’re this big.

We also have a pair of Ladder-back Wood Peckers. Last year, they ate a lot of bugs from the trees in our front yard while Daddy watched from his study.

I was so excited when I saw them back in our yard a couple of weeks ago. And, guess what?! They are pecking out a new home in the trunk of a vitex. Daddy tried to get a picture of them at work. But they were very skittish and flew off whenever he got too close. But we have a picture of their new home.

As you can see, we have a lot of avian activity around here. But the most exciting sighting was just a few weeks ago. I was hanging out with Daddy on the back porch swing when I saw something out of place over in the flower bed.

“Don’t look now,” I began, “but I think that there is something or someone watching us from behind that bush.”

Of course, the first thing Daddy did was look, which startled the intruder. But Daddy was able to snap this picture.

A few minutes later, Daddy saw the stranger sitting on the fence talking to one of our Blue Jays. Daddy moved in for a closer look. If it wasn’t for his lack of nimbleness and stealth, Daddy is almost cat-like. But to everyone’s surprise, he was able to get another picture.

Daddy sent the pictures to our long-time friend and bird expert, Ms. Carisse. Within the hour, Ms. Carisse was providing intel. “It’s a juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron,” she said. Probably from a nest in a big tree nearby she told us and it will probably stay in the area to fish at the little lakes close to us.

I told Daddy that we should get camping equipment and become professional birdwatchers. He frowned and explained that we would be better off keeping our amateur status and staying close to home. “Too many tax forms to fill out,” he confided.

No problem. We already have a bevy of birds. Plus the monarch butterflies and squirrels and fox next door. If you don’t like camping, come by and sit in the swing with us. Just be sure and wear your old pants. Sometimes my feet are a little muddy and the swing might be a little dusty.