Category: Kathy’s blog
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June Bugs, Harbingers of Summer
by M. Kathy Raines June bugs make my heart sing. Sheathed in glossy caramel shells, they zip about within swaths of springtime porch light—with some hapless beetles smashing into bulbs and landing sprawling, legs a-wriggle, onto concrete. To schoolchildren, they are happy harbingers of summer. Groundskeepers and farmers, though, do not share this joy. While…
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Killdeer, Masters of Deception
by M. Kathy Raines A reedy, insistent whine of “Kill-dee!” alerted me to this handsome plover with its roundish head, signature double breast bands and dark, massive eyes ringed with flaming orange. Pacing the shallows of a receding resaca, this plover, a killdeer—so-named for its namesake cry—probed the mud with its pointed beak, then halted,…
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White-tailed Kites
by M. Kathy Raines Thinking they were seagulls, I once paid them little mind. Then a whitish gray “gull”, like a fluttering, suspended marionette, hovered for minutes, legs a-dangle, beating its wings mightily—a remarkable spectacle amidst swirls of pearly clouds. Now I frequently watch these raptors, white-tailed kites, as they perch or hover over fields,…
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The Black Skimmer
by M. Kathy Raines A slowly curving line, like the groove of an ice skate, invisibly traced the nighttime resaca. A glance upwards revealed the artist—a strange night bird, its massive lower beak slicing through surface waters. This handsome, distinguished fellow was a black skimmer, the only skimmer in our hemisphere and one of three…
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The Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, our Beautiful Guest
by M. Kathy Raines The striking bird—its white chest seemingly splattered with crimson paint—hopped about with his female companion in the grass at the South Padre Island Convention Center last April, eating its fill, undaunted by ardent photographers. These rose-breasted grosbeaks, fatigued and famished, stop off here in April and early May to rest and…
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Laguna Fiddler Crabs
Fiddler crabs are small, their carapaces, or shells, rarely over two inches in diameter. Only the male fiddler bears an oversized cheleped, or claw-bearing limb, which it waves to attract mates and defend turf.