Category: Kathy’s blog
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Silver Garden Spider, a Decorative Creature
by M. Kathy Raines Like a bejeweled gymnast, the Silver Garden Spider lay with paired legs forming an upside down “x”, its web hammocked between pads of a prickly pear cactus. Unphased by peering eyes and camera, she awaited a change—a vibration signaling that her silk had entrapped an unwitting butterfly or moth. Like a…
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Red-Winged Blackbirds
by M. Kathy Raines Conk-la-ree! Conk-la-ree! The shrill, liquid burbling of migrating male red-wings—scarlet epaulets aflame—fills the air from mid-March to early May, ushering in the many delights of late springtime in the Rio Grande Valley. “Your backyard is so noisy!” laughed my neighbor. Yes, it was. Wave after successive wave of red-wings not only…
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Yellow-headed Blackbirds Stopping By
by M. Kathy Raines Throngs of noisy, migrating male yellow-headed blackbirds, heads and chests aglow in the setting sun, descended upon limbs and open swaths of lawn to forage for seeds and insects at South Padre Island Convention Center last April. I can hardly wait to see them again. Our wondrous spring fall-out—during which fatigued…
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Long-billed Thrasher, our Woodlands Songster
by M. Kathy Raines Lush, intricate melodies tumbled from a willow tree near the river at Sabal Palm Sanctuary one unusually quiet midday afternoon. But, searching treetops for the presumed songster, the illustrious northern mockingbird, I found none. Then, to my surprise, I realized this sweetness poured from a brownish, orange-eyed bird with a black-streaked…
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The Red-tailed Hawk, a Welcome Winter Visitor
by M. Kathy Raines A vanilla chest rippled with chocolate and an intense glare alerted me to this red-tailed hawk scrutinizing mesquite and yucca-dotted grasslands—and, incidentally, bicyclists and joggers— from a 60-foot pole along Brownsville’s bike trail this November. Now I see it here often, as I did last winter. Could this be the selfsame…
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Be Our Guests, Northern Harriers!
by M. Kathy Raines Suddenly, from a tranquil ocean of grasses and brush, explodes an astonishing athlete—a low-cruising, long-winged harrier that deftly weaves under, over and through foliage, its yellowish-brown hues dazzling in the sunlight. With this element of surprise, no wonder it’s dubbed “the gray ghost.” This engaging winter guest, the northern harrier (Circus…