On the Road in Texas - Henderson Drive Habitat

Always interesting to see other backyard habitats. This week I am visiting the Henderson Drive Habitat in Frisco, Texas. While small and simple, the Henderson Drive Habitat provides the essentials for the local bird population - food, water, and the beginnings of shelter and nesting spots via newly planted trees and shrubs. The Henderson Drive Habitat can also claim a front door nesting spot.
Daily visitors currently include sparrows and mockingbirds (the state bird of Texas). The observed local bird population includes mourning doves, sparrows, grackles, and killdeer.
In case you did not recognize it, this is the very common (across nearly all of North America) house sparrow.

On the Road in Texas: Black Vultures Eating

Some photos of black vultures doing what they do best - cleaning up road kill.
I took these photos the last time I was in Texas - heading into the Hill Country out of San Antonio. These black vultures, about 20 feet off of a two-lane road with a 55 MPH speed limit, were enjoying a deer that had been recently hit.
They allowed me to approach to about 30 feet then flew into the trees.
As I approached the trees, they took off - most likely to return to the deer as soon as I drove off.

On the Road in Texas: Yellow-crowned Night-Herons

I am on the road in Texas and thought that I would use this opportunity show some photos from a previous Texas visit.
These are Yellow-crowned Night-Herons that I stumbled across in San Antonio last spring.
While I am used to seeing heron fishing in ponds, streams, and even the Colvin Run Habitat, coming across them nesting in trees was a treat.
And whereyou find the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons nesting you will, most likely, find them nesting in a small colony. So imagine walking along. looking up, and finding two dozen of these herons working in pairs to prepare nests. I did not see any of them sitting on the nests, so I believe that no eggs had been laid.
The photos were taken in the late evening and I was surprised at how active they still were.
Although the tree tops provided very little gaps to see the sky, I managed to get this one photo of one of these magnificent birds in flight.
Remember to click on any photo to get an enlarged view.

Pearl Crescent Butterfly

These are photos of a pearl crescent butterfly that recently visited the Colvin Run Habitat.
This butterfly is about 1 1/2 inches from wingtip to wingtip and moves as soon as you approach to take the photo.
Thank goodness for the NWF site because I do not have a clue about butterfly identification.

Crazy Squirrel Poses

With visits from the foxes becoming less and less frequent, there is an ever increasing squirrel population in the Habitat.
If there is any benefit to the large number of squirrels perhaps it is that at least once a day one of the squirrels poses for pictures or puts on a show.
So here are today's poses and show.
These days, with the squirrels typically gathering in groups of eight or more under the bird feeder, they spend more time fighting then eating.

Young Cardinal Observed

With the great abundance of cardinals in the Habitat, you would think that there would be a similar abundance of juveniles this time of year. As posted earlier, the immature or first-year cardinals have neither their father's bright red coloring nor their mother's bright red-orange beak. Rather the young cardinals are dull colored - gray or dark olive-brown - with a dark beak.
These two photos show the second young cardinal photographed in the Habitat. The first appeared 169 blog posts ago.

Leopard Slug on the Move

Slugs are observed in the Colvin Run Habitat about once a month - usually in dark, cool spots - but it is not too uncommon to find them traveling across the slate walkways or even the mid-day mulch (provided its in the shade).
Slugs are mollusks (think of them as snails without shells). The two slugs pictured here are leopard slugs, named because of their coloring.
Click on the photos to see an enlarged view. Slugs produce two types of mucus to help in movement. In the first photo, you'll notice the thin, watery mucus produced underneath them to assist in general movement. In the third photo, you see a thicker, fiber mucus coming for the rear of the slug.