When I posted the March Challenge for Charity contest, I thought I knew all of the answers to my own questions. As it turns out, all three participants got the same two questions right, while each offered a different answer for the remaining question. None of their answers were what I was expecting…so it is hard for me to say for sure who is right or wrong. Solution? All three win! I’ve totally blown my budget, but it’s all for good, right?

Our winners are

• Patricia Huss, winning a $10 donation to Friends of Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
• Larry Jordan, winning a $10 donation for Shasta Wildlife Rescue
• Zeb Acuff, who is the first winner to also get the Bonus question! Zeb has won $15 for Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research

Fine charities all!

And now for the answers… Read the rest of this entry »

After waiting all winter for the reptiles and amphibians to come out once again, the time is finally here! This picture was taken on March 15, after several nights of hearing frogs calling. I finally spotted this frog (probably a Leopard frog), hiding out under my bronze baby hippo (her name is Ruby). Aaa-HA! This is the smaller of my two ponds – not that you can get a good look from this picture. I am going to share a series of herp-proving photos that span from this day, past March 21 when we had a surprise snow, and up through this past weekend. The herps are stirring! Read the rest of this entry »

Grackles don’t get enough respect. Sure, they are loud and boisterous. They hang out at dumpsters. They mass in large numbers and lack a sweet song. While all of this is true, they exhibit fantastic behavioral displays and are quite striking with their glossy, bluish-black  iridescence (males). I spent a day watching Great-tailed Grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) put on show after show. The above animation is a sequence of photos showing two males amongst tall grasses at the edge of a lake (White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX). I don’t speak “grackle,” but I’m pretty sure I get the gist of the situation! Read the rest of this entry »

Bird migration was the theme of my last post, hosting IATB #121. I just learned about the annual World Migratory Bird Day:

World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) was initiated in 2006 and is a annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. On the second weekend each May, people around the world take action and organise public events such as bird festivals, education programmes and birdwatching excursions to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day.

Each year features a theme, and the theme for 2010, designed to tie-in with this Year of Biodiversity , is “Save migratory birds in crisis – every species counts!.“  This annual event asks nothing more than for people all around the world to learn, to care, and to show it. This sort of event seems to be aimed at letting our world’s policymakers know what “the people” think. I’m for that! (one of my favorite expressions)

On this, we can be clear. In the United States, we have enacted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Since it’s passing in 1918, enforcing the the Act has been a challenge all to itself. Even today, there are citizens who believe they must take legal action against our own governing bodies, to force them to adhere to the protections of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.¹ Perhaps the simple – and probably fun -  act of showing up at a World Migratory Bird Day event in your area will remind your government that their responsibility is to uphold the laws. You have a chance to make it clear what “the people” care about.

I’ll close by saying that I’m the kind of person who would normally try to organize just sort of an event, but lately I’m having to admit when my “plate” is full. So instead of doing what my nature prompts me to do, I will be looking for an event in my area to simply attend.

It is with great pleasure that I present this 121st edition of I and the Bird! Spring is here for many of us, and just around the corner for those living farther north. No matter where you live, one thing is for sure – spring migration is happening now!

I love a good laugh, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to showcase this particularly relevant snippet from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. How many of you are looking up the weight of a swallow and the number of wingbeats per second?

Over in California, Larry had an amazing day in a bird blind at Delevan and Sacramento National Wildlife Refuges. Larry snapped a ton of pictures, and listed even more species he saw that day. Of all the great birds that Larry shares at The Birder’s Report, I have to say that none quite steal my heart like the precious pair of grounds squirrels.  Go see!

You’ve probably never seen Purple Martins the way Jason of xenogere has captured them. I didn’t know any bird could positively glow, and now I’m suffering from cute overload – take a look at Jason’s post, A sign of warmer times. Read the rest of this entry »

I have the distinct honor of hosting this second edition of An Inordinate Fondness, the blog carnival devoted to beetles. Everyone from scientists and academics, to budding naturalists and bloggers has something to say about beetles. To many people around the world, the word, “beetle,” conjures up images of the music band, “The Beatles.” The Beatles chose their name as a tribute to Buddy Holly and his band, “The Crickets.” The band members went through several iterations before settling on The Beatles, very much liking the musical tie-in achieved by simply changing one “e” to an “a.”

As I see it, AIF could easily adapt the term for  the band’s well-known fan hysteria, “Beatlemania,” to its own purpose. What better way to describe our admiration for this often beautiful, always fascinating Order of insects? Did you catch that? I said Order! An entire Order in our taxonomic classification system, as in Order THEN Family THEN Genus THEN Species. That’s a lot of beetles! And a lot of beetlemaniacs (I mean that in the dearest of ways, and count myself among them).

In my enthusiasm to support Ted and his new beetle carnival, I inadvertently volunteered to host both AIF and IATB on the same day. Oops. I called in reinforcements to help out with this musical-themed AIF from my partner in crime, AJ. You will notice a distinct difference in style with marked irreverence – enjoy if you dare! I might add that I do not know anyone who loves music as much as AJ, so you are in for a double-treat!

Now it is time for the real stars of the show to take the stage! AJ, take it away… Read the rest of this entry »

I have to admit that I’ve struggled with myself over whether or not to write about this series of photos. This look at the crumpled remains of a frog is kind of gross…but so very fascinating! Whatever animal had this toad for dinner left behind the skin, part of the spinal column, and other tissue that I cannot name. As for the toad ID…well, we all love a good mystery!

So, here we go…

Read the rest of this entry »

I cannot think of a more glorious way to herald the coming of Spring, than the vision of a male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa). All of the splendor of life is represented in the array of colors and patterns worn so splendidly by this primarily North American treasure.

I could not have been more surprised Read the rest of this entry »

To Grace -  I will allow myself to think of you today, and walk in the sun, and watch the lively little birds.