Beep Beep

The very colorful and fleet-footed Texas Greater Roadrunner.  These birds are also known regionally as Paisano and Chaparral Cock and they are a member of the Cuckoo family.  Famous as a snake killer, the bird’s quick agility allows it to capture even highly venomous snakes.  90% of its diet consistes of spiders, insects, scorpions lizards and rodents.  The remainder of the diet consists of fruits of various types.  Also became a very famous cartoon character, who was always trying to outwit old Wile E. Coyote.  Beep Beep!

Cooper’s Hawk

It was a rainy, foggy, cold afternoon when I spotted this raptor perched high in an old tree.  He was surveying the open field below for his next meal.  Unfortunately for bird lover’s, one of the mainstays of this guy’s diet is smaller birds.  We have seen him dive bomb our back yard trying to catch sparrows in his long, sharp talons.  As far as we know, he has not been very successful using these tactics.  He is a beautiful bird, and we must remember the first law of Nature…survival of the fittest.

Spotted Towhee

This beauty is also a winter visitor to Texas.  It is common to the West and Northwest US in the winter months.  It mainly forages on the ground and I had a real hard time trying to capture an image as it was very energetic, hopping from bush to bush and log to log.  It finally stood still for a second or two to allow me to get this shot.  This is my first sighting of a Towhee in central Texas.

Female Cardinal

I found an old dead oak tree on the Shield Ranch last weekend that was teeming with wildlife.  I was able to get images of 6 different species of birds in a span of about 30 minutes. I simply stood real still and they carried on as if I wasn’t there.  It was really cool. This female Cardinal was a real camera hog and posed for me every time she landed.

White-crowned Sparrow

The white-crown is very common in the Northwest mountainous areas in the summer months, and winters in the southern US and Mexico. This is my first sighting of this striking little bird in central Texas.

Western Scrub Jay

This Western Scrub Jay is a newcomer for me.  I have not seen this variety of Jay in central Texas.  It is considered a non-crested Jay, unlike the Blue Jay that is very common here.  The Scrub  hangs out in the western US, mainly California, and the inland variety is not as vibrantly colored as its western counterpart.

Hill Country Buck

A real beauty.  This guy is mature with a solid 8 point rack.  The deer population has bebounded nicely since the extreme dry conditions seem to be over for now.

Texas Whitetail Buck

This is a very young buck with very impressive antlers for his age (11-pt.).  He will be a true trophy buck in a few years if we continue to get the moisture we need from Mother Nature.

Tom in a Tree

This guy decided to get off the wet, fog-saturated ground and move to higher ground.  He had a ringside seat watching his fellow turkeys spar over the corn from the feeder.

White-Tail Buck

Deer hunting season opened this weekend in Texas.  This white-tail buck made an appearance Saturday morning near my blind.  A group of us have 1000 acres leased on the Shield Ranch in central Texas.  The deer populations on the ranch have been in decline the past several years, but they seem to be making a strong comeback, thanks to our good management practices and perhaps because of my new “shoot and release” philosophy.

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