birds – Page 2 – Nature Along the El Camino Real

An Earth Day Gift for You

April 22, 2025April 22, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

Happy Earth Day!

by Sue Ann Kendall

*First page of the brochure. Download the PDF to see it full size.*

As Master Naturalists, we think every day is Earth Day, but today is the official day to honor and celebrate the planet where we and all the myriad lifeforms we share the planet with live. Please go out and do something to honor Mother Earth. Plant a plant, clean up some debris along a roadside, donate to your favorite environmental charity…something!

For Earth Day, the El Camino Real chapter has a gift for you. It will be helpful for those living in or visiting Milam County and the surrounding area, but works for most of Texas, too. It’s our Common Milam County Birds brochure! It features pictures of 35 of the birds you’re most likely to see in Milam County. We did our best to include photos you can use to identify birds you see, and are grateful to all who share their photos for nonprofit use on iNaturalist, because that’s where we got them. You can download the brochure and print as many copies as you’d like to share with friends, hand out at events, or display in your business.

We will have copies available at the Wild Wings Bird Sanctuary and any outreach events we hold, starting in May when the author gets back to Texas.

Female hummingbird on red yucca at the Hermits’ Rest Ranch in Milam County.

We would appreciate your feedback and ideas for improving the brochure.

By the way, we also have a checklist of all birds seen in Milam County (as identified in eBird and iNaturalist) that you can download and check off the birds you see.

Happy birding in our county!

Lots Going on at Wild Wings Bird Sanctuary

April 13, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Sue Ann Kendall

We took a break from most of the projects at the bird sanctuary, but Gene has replaced the irrigation system, installed our benches, and kept the area mowed. The Reks and Ann Collins have been keeping the feeders loaded, and we’re happy to report hummingbirds are aware of this!

trees — The sanctuary is all green and leafed out now.

Yesterday we held a well-attended Wild Wings committee meeting and divided up projects and tasks among the attendees. We are always looking for more helpers, so feel free to contact Ann if you have ideas!

We now have a mailbox where we will store bird lists, brochures, and a guest book for visitors (which is being made by a bookbinder friend). It will be up soon, so look for it if you come by. We made a schedule for filling the feeders, so that more people will have the opportunity to help with that task, and most important, we tallied the birds we heard and saw at the sanctuary! Look for updated tallies in on our website in the next few days.

Most exciting for our visitors is that we have events scheduled! Here are some highlights:

April 26 join us during the day to participate in the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge event. We can help get you signed up as a participant.
May 17 our experts will provide a hands-on workshop in using Merlin Bird ID. It starts at 10am. Bring your phone!
In the autumn we hope to have a lichen walk, where Master Naturalist experts will share the fascinating variety found here.
Check this blog for more events!

We are also preparing visitor resources. I made one of the bird checklists we are going to have available, an alphabetical list of birds seen in Milam County. Some are common and some are rare. We will link to a PDF of it so you can see what birds you can find. Next will be a list arranged by bird type, which is preferred by experienced birders.

Our team has many talents to bring to Wild Wings!

After that I’ll work on a color brochure of the most common birds seen in Milam County. Wish me luck; I’m not a graphic designer but I’m the designated “computer person.” We selected 23 birds to share and are excited about the project.

Other items in the works are bluebird houses and signage, so our potential visitors can find us! Until then, visit our main website for hours and directions. This is a great time of year to enjoy wildlife in the countryside.

Hummers Have Arrived

April 3, 2025April 2, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

At last, our tiny hummingbird friends have returned from down South ole Mexico way. It is hard to believe these little jewels are real living beings. A miracle for sure.

Tiny, but mighty. The two main species that visit Central Texas are the Black-Chinned and the Ruby-Throated. Both only weigh 0.1 ounce each. There are several other species that can be in our area also, but these are the most prevalent and easy to identify. They can beat their wings approximately 75 times per second! Yes, I said second, not a minute. WOW!!! I can’t move anything that fast.

*Black-chinned Hummingbird. Photo by Mike Kit on Pexels.com*

The males usually arrive first and get ready for the ladies to arrive soon after.

These birds drink nectar and eat insects. The plant they like the most for me is the Coral Honeysuckle. Turk’s Cap is another favorite bush.

*Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Photo by Skyler Ewing on Pexels.com*

Let’s talk about the human feeders we love to put up so we can watch them and assist in times of stressful weather events. There are some rules to follow so the nectar is safe.

Use regular white cane sugar. One part sugar to four parts water. I use our well water because I am in the country. No need for me to boil anything. If you are in the city, you probably should boil it. The feeders are usually red; do not use dye. You can tie a red piece of cloth or ribbon if you need to. Year to year in the same place, the hummers will remember where they are.

Here is the MOST important thing of all. Always change out the sugar water every three or four days in hot weather, or simply every time. The sugar water will ferment, and the bird will become drunk, and many will fly into a window or door and break their neck. Very sad.

If you can place the feeder under some cover to shade it, that helps.

Cats and snakes like to get our friends, so try to keep them where they cannot be reached. Everybody has to eat.

So get your feeders up, clean them with soap and water every few times and watch a little amazing bird show off its flying skills for you.

Remember who you garden for.

Cedar Waxwing Visitors

April 2, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

Recently I had several large flocks of these very sleek looking birds in my oak trees.

These beautiful migratory birds, Cedar Waxwings, like to stay in flocks and will go all the way to Canada during the warmer months.

A sleek crest with a black mask and red wax-looking tips on their secondary wings make these birds easy to identify. The feathers on their chests are short and look slicked down.

They mostly eat fruit, berries, flower petals, some insects, and occasionally sap.

I love the fact that when they are courting male and females will sit side by side and pass flower petals back and forth, share a meal and rub beaks. How romantic! The babies are even fed by both parents.

They will drink from bird baths and sometimes eat raisins from bird feeders. But more often Cedar Waxwings keep to the wild things for food.

If you see some birds with a crest and look like Zorro, then they’re probably Cedar Waxwings.

Remember who you garden for.

So Many Grackles

February 4, 2025February 4, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

By Pamela Neeley

On February 2, 2025, I was working in my studio with the doors open when I heard chattering coming from the sky.

The Common Grackles were flying over.

I witnessed three waves of hundreds of birds soaring overhead from east to west, around 5:30 pm. Some stopped briefly in the treetops, while others kept going.

Each group flew over slightly south of the previous group.