You Can Take The Hound Out Of The Hunt, But ...

Baby Mockingbirds 

The Northern Mockingbird is the state bird of Texas.  I took this picture of two fledgling mockingbirds as they were getting old enough to hop from the nest.

When they first started leaving the nest and ended up on the ground, I kept picking them up and returning them to safety after my dogs found one and almost caused an untimely end.  Just goes to show, you can take the hound out of the hunt but you can't take the hunt out of the hound.

Eventually  I realized I couldn't keep them safe in the nest because they were trying to learn to fly and couldn't accomplish that feat unless they had a running start out in the open, which is a very dangerous place to be when one is a baby bird.  I've noticed it takes the fledglings several days out of the nest to learn to fly up to the taller boughs of nearby trees, all the while they make a little bird call for their parents because they are still too young to capture food for themselves.  The parents continue bringing them food as well as keeping an eye on them in case predators or danger is in the area.

I heard an adult mockingbird make the most precious, calming sound to one of her babies the other day while I was nearby - it was kind of a trill of notes unlike any other sound I've heard a mockingbird make before and I knew the parent was trying to make sure the baby stayed quiet.

Right this very moment I have two sets of adult mockingbirds trying to raise more babies in my backyard.  One set is in my old man's beard vine and another in my sapling live oak tree.

Mockingbirds mimic 50 other bird's songs. They have also been known to imitate other sounds they hear such as rusty hinges, whistling, cackling hens, and dogs barking so expertly that even an electronic analysis could not tell the difference between the mockingbird and the original. Scientists have found that female mockingbirds are attracted to males that can make the most different sounds.

Updo :: Troll Doll Hair-bun

The other day I was working in the garden and it was HOT so I put my hair up in a bun with two pencils, one of which has an old Troll Doll Pencil Topper I found at Goodwill. 

He's so cute!  Now, that's a high-fashion updo ~

Hummingbird Live Cam :: Nestling hatched on Mother's Day!

This is Phoebe, a non-migratory Channel Islands Allen's Hummingbird living in Southern California where she is raising two newly hatched baby hummingbirds named Hope and Hoku.  I love hummingbirds!

I'm a blog follower of TexasEagle Talks and today I ran across her post about this Live Hummingbird Nest Cam.  Visit the Phoebe Allens Web Cam to see Phoebe and her two nestlings!

As soon as I laid eyes on them I instantly fell in love with Phoebe and her two new hatchlings.  She's built her nest in a rose bush.  The nest is made out of feathers, spiderwebs, plant fibers and lichen.  When she laid her eggs the owner the of webcam, Joe, said they were about the size of a tic tac mint!  His website, phoebeallens.com, has the live streaming webcam as well as facts, a chat room, and other information about how it all began when a little hummingbird kept coming back each Spring to their rosebush to make a nest.

Hope hatched on Mother's Day and Hoku just a day later.  To tell the babes apart, Hope has a blue tint to her body and is a little bigger than Hoku, who is brown in color.  

In addition to the Live Hummingbird Cam, I love to look in on the Sydney, BC Eagle Cam which has a nest with one baby eagle named Solo being reared by his parents.

Live Wildlife Web Cameras including channels dedicated to falcons, loons, eagles, robins and a house wren can also be found at WildEarth.TV.

Do you have any favorite live wildlife cams?  If so, leave a comment and please share them with me.

The Big Tree :: Ever Wonder What A 1000+ Year Old Tree Looks Like?

photo: Big'un © Biologie.

"The Big Tree" at Goose Island State Park in Texas is said to be the oldest living coastal live oak tree in the Nation. To give you an idea of it's "gorgeous oakiness of grandeur" (as I like to call it), you may use my family and other visitors on the far side of the tree as a size reference in the above photo! Wow!

The tree is a hop, skip and a jump from the coast of Aransas Bay and "he" is part of a family called Coastal Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana). These trees don't have the typical large, lobed oak leaves of the big oaks found further North. Rather, the leaves are small and ovoid.

In addition to allowing visitors to gaze happily at the wonderful mighty oak, Goose Island State Park also offers camping, birding, and fishing. You can sign up to borrow fishing gear through their "Loan A Tackle Program" if you forget your own equipment.

It's also a nice park for picnicking, nature study, wildlife observation, and photography. If you are a boater you'll be happy to note that the park even allows boats with motors! Also, there are guided nature hikes year round and guided birding tours are held from January through April. Unfortunately our visit was too short to take full advantage of all the activities offered, but we did enjoy the drive to see the handsome oak with it's gnarly branches and wonderful shade!

The Big Tree's girth is around 35 feet and it's branches make up a 90 foot canopy! Even though it's surrounded by a protective fence, you can check out the behemoth of a tree from all angles by following a circular paved pathway all the way around. When you walk up to the tree along the path you will pass it's offspring in the grove.

While my family was in Rockport for vacation my niece, Ahlyssa, picked up a list of "51 Things To Do" while we were there and that big ole beautiful tree was on the list, I'm so happy to have seen it and what a great time we all had that afternoon!

We visited The Big Tree in early April and found it surrounded by pretty Texas wildflowers of Orange Globe Mallow and Pointed Phlox. This photo (below) reflects my mood today, bright and shiny!

photo: © Biologie-me. FLICKR