Last week, Montage focused on nature’s pollinators. This week, RonTom and I have taken a close look at two of nature’s avian exterminators.
Our OwlShack (www.owlshack.com) sits about ten feet over our driveway, on a tree trunk, straight in front of our front door. So, we see the box from our office and the kitchen window. The screech owl resident hops up to the ledge off and on throughout the day each day. The small birds at our birdbaths and feeders carry on with their normal daylight activities, apparently knowing full well that this screech owl feeds at dusk and at night.
Occasionally, small songbirds will mob the OwlShack. In “Birds of Texas”, Dr. Keith Arnold says this often occurs when the smaller birds lost a family member during the night. The screech owl “… takes small mammals, earthworms, fish, birds, and insects, including moths, in flight.” Without realization, we placed the OwlShack less than 10 yards from our yard light, which attracts moths most nights.
In summer, we see Mexican free-tailed bats swooping to eat the yard light’s moths. The Congress Avenue Bridge bats eat five to ten tons of insects each night. It’s about time for the return of “our” Central Texas bats, after their winter in Mexico. They’re here from mid-March through September.
Frio Cave near Concan, a maternity cave for 10 to 15 million Mexican Free-tailed bats (compared to 1.5 million in the spectacular Congress Avenue Bridge emergence), is our favorite spot to watch bats. About 2.5 hours from here, it’s a nice side-trip when camping at Garner State Park. In fact, we find it well worth the trip from Mountain City.
TIP: Phone ahead to determine the quantity of exiting bats during recent nights. Late August 2013, we experienced a light night.
At Frio Cave, red-shouldered hawks and other raptors often swoop into the thick bands of flying bats to grab dinner.
On Sunday afternoon, lounging in after springing forward, we watched a red-shouldered hawk dining in the three backyards we see from our bedroom. Mostly, he watched the ground from low-hanging limbs and nestboxes. Sometimes, he stayed on the ground for several minutes.
According to “Birds of Texas,” a red-shouldered hawk “… eats various animal prey, ranging from insects to snakes, frogs, small mammals, and occasionally birds”.
The birds in our backyard were out in full force on Sunday afternoon, not at all threatened by the red-shouldered hawk. It would be a different story had it been a Cooper’s hawk.
We need to fill our thistle feeders in order to enjoy the American goldfinch before they migrate. Laura Craig uses “Wagner’s Nyjer Seed (little black seeds in yellow resealable bag) from Home Depot”, saying, “my finches won’t eat anything else.”
It was a different story when Laura purchased another brand of thistle seed from a nearby large hardware store. She returned the untouched “black gold” seed for a refund and went back for Wagner’s at Home Depot.
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My story, and I’m sticking to it, is this: Tidbits needed for Montage. [email protected] (subject: TIDBIT) or 512-268-5678.Thanks! Love, Pauline
