What kind of hawk visits me often?

This hawk (acually a pair of them) visits weekly:

He's there on the top of the swing. I have to take the pic from inside so I can't get a better shot.

The pair come in and scope the yard looking for insects and worms. My best guess is that they are Coopers Hawks. These are shots of Coopers that I snatched from the web:

The other possibility is Red Shouldered Hawk:

I think I have to go with Coopers.

Bird rescue update II

We arrived right when the center opened - bird did well on the trip - and there was a lady waiting with a dove who had been hit by a car. She went on and on about how great Kathy and the rehab center were. She brings birds in all the time (made me wonder if she was the one casing all the injuries) and gushed about the wonders they do. There were birds all over the place - ducks, geese, egrets, about 10 peacocks walking around the parking lot. When the workers showed up about 5 minutes later, we went into the office. I had noticed a sign on the door that said..."Caution - STRONG bird smells inside office area"....I think what they meant to say was the office smelled like bird crap. How anyone could stay in that space for more than 5 minutes is beyond me. Then again, you probably get used to it. Birds were walking around everywhere - doing their business everywhere. We had to sign in, give a description of what we thought the problem/injury was and leave our name and phone #, for updates on the rehab of the bird we brought in. They thought mine had either flown into something during the storm and addled himself or, because they said he looked skinny, had eaten something that might have been poisoned (like a bug that had been sprayed). He didn't have any obvious wing damage, so they didn't think that was the problem. Prognosis was very good and they expected to be able to release him back to the wild fairly soon.

So, my good deed for the week is done....

Bird rescue Update

Checked on him early this morning and he made it. Didn't want to open the box too far, because we did that last evening and he was able to briefly escape. In about an hour, I'm off to transport him to the rescue center. We'll see what they have to say about his condition and prognosis. I'll continue to update....

Bird rescue

I woke up this morning to a very violent summer storm (later heard we had winds up to 80 mph in the DFW area) and when the sun finally came up, I noticed a bird laying in our backyard near the bushes against our back fence. It was an adult grackle. At first, I thought it had sustained head and back injuries, because you could see skin. But it was just very, very wet and when it dried out, I couldn't see any noticeable injuries. It spent the entire day either in the bushes or just in the grass, never venturing very far. My next thought was broken wing(s). But as I found out later, it was able to somewhat get off the ground. It is obviously injured - I just don't know how.

I called a bird rescue center in the DFW area and they said to bring it in. By the time I called them, it was too late to make it out there, so I'll have to go tomorrow morning. So I had to try to capture it to keep it safe during the night. I followed the instructions of the rescue center (a box with a towel in the bottom, a dish of water, a dish of cat food, holes for air) and attempted (with limited help from C) to throw a towel over it and get it in the box. After numerous failed attempts - fluttering away, C running away when it moved because "it's gonna peck me" getting in the bushes, etc - I finally wore it down and got it in the box.

It's on the back porch, where it will not be as hot as the garage and where I think it will be safe from any neighborhood cats or nocturnal critters. I hope my efforts will not have been in vain. I'll update tomorrow....

Feral Hogs Beware!

Gov. Palin would be proud.

Per the Houston Chronicle:


AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House on Thursday tentatively approved a bill encouraging hunters to take on wild pigs from the air.

Ditto the Austin Zoo

From the Austin Zoo website:

The mission of Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary is to assist animals in need through rescue, rehabilitation and education. We currently have over 300 animals from over 100 different species at the Zoo. Last year, over 200,000 people visited Austin Zoo. Over 45,000 were students and teachers visiting on field trips. Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary is a pleasant Hill Country zoo where the people of Austin can come to learn about the animals close-up, spend some time outdoors getting exercise, and have fun. It's a place where we Austinites can truly make the most of our time together.

Austin Zoo is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit organization, and we rely on private donations, gate admissions, grants and sponsorships to continue to care for the animals we have, and to be able to take in new animals that need a safe home.

Austin Zoo started out as a goat ranch. In 1990, it became the Good Day Ranch, which catered to animals in need. At that time, the animals consisted mostly of goats, pigs, fallow deer, donkeys and ponies... with just a few exotics. Today, the ranch is home to many more exotic animals, as well as domestic animals, that were either rescued from, or unwanted by, their owners.

The problem of unwanted or rescued animals is large. Austin Zoo is forced to turn down an average of 200 requests a month to care for additional animals, "from goats to elephants." Due to the growth of "roadside zoos" and private ownership of exotic animals, along with the release of older animals from big city zoos to smaller facilities, the number of animals in need of a safe and healthy home has multiplied at a rapid rate.

Black Market Deer—I had no idea

The Texas Deer Mafia? From the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department last December:

AUSTIN, Texas — Game wardens in the Special Operations Unit of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Law Enforcement Division have arrested six men and executed two search warrants as part of Operation Texas Shuffle, a year-long investigation into the black market deer trade in Texas.

"Our focus here is stopping two main areas of criminal activity: deer being brought illegally across state lines, and wild deer being illegally laundered into deer breeding facilities," said Col. Pete Flores, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement director.

… [The names of the bad guys are listed here which is how I learned about the issue. One of the bad guys is in a feud over an easement with an adjoining landowner—a client of mine.]

Deer breeding is a legal and growing business in Texas, estimated by one breeder organization to be worth about $650 million per year for the state economy. It is illegal to capture or obtain wild deer and place them into breeding facilities. Breeders must obtain captive, pen-raised deer from other permitted breeders. There are currently 1,099 permitted deer breeders in Texas, holding 86,989 deer in 1,161 facilities. The vast majority of these are whitetail deer, and the rest are mule deer, the two native species in Texas.

"Money is driving the illegal trade in wild native deer," said Capt. Greg Williford with TPWD Law Enforcement Division’s Special Operations Unit. "A captive-raised breeder buck can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. So, catching deer in the wild seems a lot less expensive, until you get caught."

Update: I can't believe I misspelled "deer".

It's not Eagle Cam...it's not the owl...

It's Scooter's Buzzard Cam! Yech.

From my driveway today:

Special thanks to my neighbor for leaving all the c--p in the driveway.

Eagle Cam

I can't stop watching this. Nest is on a lake in Oklahoma.

Mountain Lion in the Hill Country?

I'll believe it when I see it.

From the Statesman:

WILLIAMSON COUNTY

Mountain lion in subdivision?

The Williamson County sheriff's office said Sunday that it received a report of a large cat, "possibly a mountain lion," in southern Williamson County. Detective John Foster said in a statement that the animal was spotted in the area of Great Oaks Drive and Racine Trail in the Brushy Creek subdivision at about 11 a.m.

Foster said the sheriff's office reported the sighting to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Residents are encouraged to call 911 if they encounter such an animal, rather than approaching it.

"Patrol units are in the area, and will continue throughout the night," Foster said. "Due to the animal being in a populated area, the sheriff's office urges that citizens use extreme caution when using the hike-and-bike trails in the area (until) the animal is either located or naturally removes itself from the area."

Foster said a resident took a photograph of the animal. The photo shows what appears to be a long tail barely visible through some brush; the body is concealed by a tree.