With its sky-blue bill and facial skin reminiscent of candy corn, I instantly recognize this handsome, flat-heated, black-capped fellow—even as I zip down Highway 281
Tag: Creatures Among Us
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/19.-Gray-hawk-vocalizing-2-2-436x640-1.jpg)
The elegant raptor, its chest adorned in alternating white and cloud-gray scallops, sat on a bare willow branch along the boardwalk one December afternoon at
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/20.-Osprey-at-Convention-Center-I-640x480-1.jpg)
Its upper bill a massive catclaw, its gaze penetrating, the perching osprey swiveled as it scoured the Laguna Madre for ripples and the glint of
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Grackle-Photo-by-Kathy-Raines.jpg)
Grackles—people either love them, or they decidedly do not. From first glimpse of a sleek, iridescent, purplish-hued great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus), I have been smitten.