Land "Lubbers"

  Ten's of thousands these big attractive
grasshoppers are to be found on the back roads of Edwards County.  It is impossible to drive without smashing thousands of them over 10 miles.  Nothing is interested in eating except their comrades.  The dead ones on the road attract the still living on to the killing grounds as well.  Despite the size these are quite soft, don't bite and are not even adults it seems.  Nearly all are of equal size.

Bemused Fox

  Out on the back roads of Edwards Co. , where the traffic is light and the home sites few, I am sure this handsome fellow was a bit astonished to see me walking the roadside out in the middle of nowhere.  Trying to figure my game, he just stood there staring as I got closer and closer.  Eventually he casually finished his crossing and sauntered off into the brush with no alarm.

Weslaco Black-throated Blue, May 1, 2012

 

A Clay-colored Thrush with Cactus Wren genes

  Now this truely my second lifer of the day.  I don't provide nest locations except to say this is in Weslaco, Texas.  A Clay-colored Thrush nesting in a huge cactus.  Smart critter.

First Documented Record of a nesting Archilochus.....

.. hummingbird in Calhoun Co.  I can find no other records of either a Ruby-throat or a Black-chinned as documented breeders in the county ...Calhoun Co. really has no breeding hummers except perhaps Buff-bellied rarely.  Petra Hockey took these photos after Suzanne Eberhard found the nest near her home in Port O'Connor
The ID is still a bit uncertain, but personally I think this female is a Black-chinned.  The primaries do look narrow tho I think this is the result of the angles of the wings as photographed.  In addition POC is a bit closer to Black-chinned range by about 1/4 mile :-)...No male to be seen anywhere nearby....Comments appreciated.  Here are a few photos.

Gulf Coast Marsh Snake in Port O'Connor

 Rarely encountered and declining.  Four cats had this cool animal cornered below the Hockey's house this evening, too afraid to move closer within 24 inches of it.  It was a about 24-26" long.  I had first thought it was a Crayfish Snake until I checked Tennant....A very good find for me this evening...Here are a few photos in the event I need to be corrected on ID.  The range is restricted to the immediate coast  from about Portland to the Louisiana border (Tennant)....It likes to live in crab burrows, shoreline rubbish etc. etc.  And it has been a very long time since I have encountered one.  And a Crayfish Snake even scarcer....This darker individual had me wondering until I saw the ventral color pattern.

Gmail - hummingbird on nest in POC - brushfreeman@gmail.com

Gmail - hummingbird on nest in POC - brushfreeman@gmail.com