Before the storm hit last night, two young canine siblings were barking at something. Their mom sleeps indoors and only barks when she knows something bad is going on.
I was watching a movie, but walked out in gown and flip flops. I immediately heard loud rattling. Our snake killer, Boscoe, was facing what turned out to be a 3-foot rattlesnake.
I went and told everyone to get up. They also came out wearing flip flops, but Daughter had us all spotlights.
I found my gun but no shells, while my husband and daughter were in a daze. During a great uproar and shouting, we were able to get dogs in house, kill the snake and tend to Boscoe, who had huge fang marks on his nose.
Fang marks are near his eyes. Lower left and higher right, across the black strip.
Boscoe got nervous staying inside and ran off in the storm after I brought a doghouse on the porch. I saw him at 5 am again. The Warrior.
by Donna Lewis (with additional photos by Sue Ann Kendall)
This is Suna’s Phoebe mom, eating sunflower seeds and amaranth, or waiting on a fly.
Anywhere I look I have baby birds right now, which is a wonderful thing for a naturalist. Who could be bored right now with so many little creatures to look at?
On our front porch we have a nest with five tiny Eastern Phoebes. They are fly-catchers and love things with wings.
This morning mama tried to force a giant beetle down her youngest daughter and I thought for awhile I might have to preform the Hine-lick procedure…
Donna’s Phoebe babies taking a nap
Suna has a phoebe nest atop an old swallow nest.
Then in my Blue-bird houses I have five babies in one house and six babies in another. Again, bugs are on the menu. This year the Blue-birds decided to run off the Purple Martins so they could use their perch to look for predators near their houses.
Over in our barn I have a nest of baby Carolina Wrens in a bucket that was hanging on the wall. If you have never seen a wren baby you would not believe how tiny they are. They are the cutest little things ever. There are only three babies.
Up in the oak trees about 18 feet high we have some Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Now talk about a tiny house. You can barely see it. It is wrapped in moss and is very concealed.
I love this quote.
There are ton’s of Cardinal nests everywhere. They eat bugs and from my feeders. I have them year round. They are regulars here.
Then at last my beautiful Purple Martins, who came very late this year, are starting to lay their eggs finally. That unfortunately will cause the babies to mature during the hottest time of the year.
I have seven nests with eggs and more that have not started yet. I have the fewest Martins than ever at this site. There are many potential reasons for this, and it’s hard to determine for sure.
But the ones I do have sing to me, and it’s all worth the trouble.
Nature is everywhere you are. All you have to do is look.
It is getting hot every day now, so it is important to remember a few tips for our smallest bird friends. They need fresh water just like every living thing.
My hummers like to fly though a small sprinkler that I put out just for them every afternoon around 5:30 pm. I place it under a tree for shade and a sense of security. They cool down and get a bath at the same time. It’s fun to see them play.
Hummingbirds enjoy a little shower. Image by @murophoto via Twenty20.
We also need to remember that hot weather will make the sugar water ferment very fast. So, clean and put out new nectar in the feeders at least every 3 to 4 days. Sugar water should be 1 part sugar to 4 parts water.
Hummingbirds like fresh nectar. Image from Creative Commons.
Native plants are actually the best food for them. They also like little bugs for protein. Their favorite plant here at my place is the Coral Honeysuckle I have on a fence. They spend more time drinking from its tubular flowers than drinking from the feeders.
Tubular flowers are the best! Photo by @malisunshine via Twenty20
Its good to place the feeders under some shade if you can. This keeps the sugar water from getting so hot.
Right now the males are doing their courtship dance. A high deep dive in a U shape pattern in front of a potential bride..
This afternoon, Phyllis Shuffield and I donned our masks and went over to where Katherine Budrich, one of the founders of our chapter, lived. Members had long hoped to retrieve some of the things she’d been storing for us, so we were very grateful to have been offered a chance to see what we wanted.
Beautiful catalpa flowers.
Neither Phyllis nor I had gone ANYWHERE since the shelter in place orders, so we both enjoyed the drive through the countryside outside of Cameron, just to get to see different scenery. Wearing masks in the heat is a pain, but worth it to get out and go somewhere. And the Budrich home is in a lovely part of Milam County.
All sorts of native trees are scattered around the property. There are lots of soapberry.
You will all be happy to learn that we got some supplies that will be useful for us in the future. There were a lot of beautiful nature posters, some of our Texas Master Naturalist signs, and a wooden sign that says El Camino Real Chapter. I hope we can use those at meetings!
Sorry the sign’s upside down. But that’s a LOT of nice posters we can use, behind there.
We also found a bunch of wonderful plant presses, the good kind, which will be great for future projects. There were also some amazing notebooks full of information and some books we will be able to share. And of course, Phyllis was thrilled to find a large labeled collection of native mussels, which were Katherine’s specialty.
Hiqh-quality plant presses for saving specimens.
I’m really glad that we were able to get these materials, which are a lovely way to remember Katherine and her contributions to our chapter. We have stored them temporarily in the Hermit Haus building, and I hope to find a permanent place to keep them and other chapter materials once our offices move across the street.
It was also nice to see the sweet memorial garden that’s behind the house in Katherine’s honor. It was a privilege to get to visit and see her plants, too. It feels like I sort of know her!
This is apparently a green rose. It’s interesting! And it’s not in iNaturalist.
The Master Naturalist community is really special. It’s touching how we care for each other, and how our contributions can last long after our lives. It was an honor to have my first trip anywhere other than my house and office since March be to help obtain these materials for us.
Since I can’t get my hair cut, this is the new normal…
Anyway, the little cottontail in the picture below got separated from his mom. He was on my front porch for about three hours.
Now, our first impulse is to pick the baby up and try to give it food and water.
That is wrong of course. I checked and she/ he was not injured, so it did not need intervention.
I herded him out towards the pasture where he probably had a worried Mom waiting for him somewhere. The rehab group All Things Wild calls it kidnapping when humans try to rescue an animal that is not hurt or starving. Most will be reunited with their mothers. We need to give them that chance to return to the wild.
Baby bunny
Now, if they are injured, we need to get them to the rehabbers. But Mother Nature will normally do what is needed. It was so cute, and I did want to hold it…
My Purple Martins
This is my Purple Martin Gourd rack. I normally would have about 20 to 24 adults in the house by now, laying eggs. I just welcomed a new pair on Earth Day ( that was neat) and now have only eight martins in this house.
The gourd rack
This is very late and very few. There are potentially several theories for this, but only time will tell me what has caused this to happen.
I watch my martins all day long every day, so lots of field observations are made. The one thing I know is that I am so happy to have any martins to brighten up the day with their beautiful song. Thank you Mother Nature for this gift.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 