Winter Birds & Christmas Is Coming...

There's a light rain falling and the wind is blowing hard outside. Just looked out my front window and observed a lot of activity around my feeders and birdbath. Saw Eastern Phoebe, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Carolina Wren, Carolina Chickadee, Pine Warbler, and a whole flock of Chipping Sparrows.

A few days ago I flushed a Pileated Woodpecker from a tree in my front yard. Moments later it returned to the same tree, swooping low enough over my head that I could hear the sound of its wings.

It's been cold lately. Cold by local standards, anyway. Some of the tropical foliage I planted has turned red or withered. But this is the first wet weather in a while. Raked and burned leaves on Saturday. Now the wind is shaking the leaves from the trees and the yard needs to be raked again! Never ends.

Christmas is right around the corner, and since I work retail, 'tis the season to be busy. Work work work. At least doing these graveyard shifts I don't have to deal with the mob scene that the day crew has to contend with.

Haven't posted much to this blog lately, been kind of busy with work and stuff. More on that 'stuff' later.

Birding At Anahuac N.W.R., Back To Work Tomorrow...

Saturday I drove to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. The guy at the kiosk was a Brit, and he directed me to some patches of willows and salt cedars where there had been some action earlier. Checking it out I found a good assortment of passerines. These included a Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, an Orange-crowned Warbler, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Swamp, Song, White-crowned, and White-throated Sparrows. Along the roads I saw the usual waterfowl and wading birds. A Peregrine Falcon was sitting in a flooded basin near the refuge headquarters, and an Armadillo let me snap off a couple of pictures before it scurried away.

Weather has been really nice lately, cool and crisp with clear skies. Today I raked the front yard and burned the leaves down by the pond. A Great Egret, an Eastern Phoebe, and an Orange-crowned Warbler were the only noteworthy birds seen here today. Tomorrow night it's back to work...