Mountain City Montage
by PAULINE TOM
First, a correction: Midland marks the new spot on the map for Rick and Nancy Waddell. Their daughter, Lindsey, goes to school in San Angelo. Oops.
If you know Nancy, you know she has quite the colorful personality. Well, she and Rick killed quite the colorful snake recently. Red and yellow and black. The coral snake was “HUGE.”
The FDA extended the expiration date on coral snake antivemon Lot 4030026 marked October 31, 2008 to October 31, 2011. “There is no alternative product licensed in the U.S. for coral snake envenomations.”
Nancy says, “Be careful.”
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Black-chinned Hummingbirds returned to Mountain City week before last. RonTom described a hummer just outside his office window saying “completely black head.” It looks completely black; but, the gorget is a gorgeous purple - with the sun shining just right.
Moving a shallow, short concrete bird bath to our back deck, just out from where I sit at the computer, brought bathful quantities of Cedar Waxwings close in where I could see the beautiful yellow bar across their tails. Lots of other birds visited right away, too.
The birdy bird bath sits right next a birdless angels-kissing bird bath fountain. A good birdbath has lots of rough surface (for instance, rough concrete) and very little depth. An inch or two, gradually sloping to the center, works well.
Frequent trips to the nestbox with small insects gave word that the Black-crested Titmouse babies on my back deck have hatched. Later, the insects will be larger.
196. 197. 198. How in the world does the titmouse sitting out my window on my coyote carcass stuff so many strands of coyote hair in her mouth? If I could follow her when she goes over our rooftop, I’d find another titmouse nest.
Usually an Eastern Bluebird nest is composed of grasses. Gorgeous blue eggs in a nestbox with a 1 1/2-inch hole give confirmation of the species (although bluebird eggs can be solid white).
Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “NestWatch.org” suggests looking in a “birdhouse” about twice a week to enjoy what you see, check on the nesting, and obtain nesting data that scientists will use.
NestWatch issued a press release that explains, “Whether in a shrub, a tree, or a nest box, bird nests are all around us. Each spring and summer, volunteers across the country visit nests and report their findings to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch project at www.nestwatch.org. NestWatchers keep track of how many eggs are laid and how many hatch. As the young birds grow, participants collect valuable data on the nesting success and survival of birds.
“NestWatch helps people of all ages and backgrounds connect with nature,” says project leader Jason Martin. “The information that our dedicated citizen scientists collect allows us to assess the impact of threats to birds, including environmental change and habitat destruction, and to better understand complex nesting behaviors.”
I often explain, “Montage needs tidbits.” 512.212.1314 or [email protected]
