Category: Kathy’s blog
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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…
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Our Native Javelinas
by M. Kathy Raines A javelina is not a pig. It’s not even in the same family. Though the rather pig-like javelina (Pecari tajacu)—a lean, compact native creature with a bristly salt-and-pepper coat—inhabits the same local brushlands as the invasive feral hog, the two certainly differ. And the javelina, mainly a fan of prickly pear…
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The Vital and Prolific Eastern Cottontail
by M. Kathy Raines The big-eyed cottontail, crouching amid a bed of purples, mimicked a garden statue. A four-foot bull snake sprawled nearby, alert to the slightest motion. Neither budged. I watched for twenty minutes, rooting for the rabbit, but never saw how the drama played out. Snakes can be mighty patient. Like other ready-to-eat…
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The Intriguing but Maligned Bronzed Cowbird
by M. Kathy Raines A bronzed cowbird is not a bad bird for depositing her eggs in the nest of an unwitting host, whose own brood often dies. No, the cowbird, like ourselves, does what it does to survive and prosper. An obligate brood parasite—like about 1% of bird species, including some cuckoos—a cowbird never…