There has been so much going on around here that I can't even think of where to begin ... but Babies have been popping up all over and not just critter ones either... we have added a new baby to our family! He is our first grandchild , a sweet lil angel and perfect in every way !

 Making this world a better place for future generations seems more urgent than ever as I hold this tiny innocent life in my arms, and I wonder what this world will be like when he grows up. I will share my love of our earth and all of it's wonderous forms of living beings with him , and try to teach him how to care for and protect it. ()  ...  But if we want to leave any kind of earth (worth living on) for our grandchildren or thier children, then more humans will have to change the way we are treating our earth.

 The recent hurricane Dolly that just hit our area is a fresh reminder of how the earth is fighting back. I know hurricanes aren't new but scientists say that their patterns of frequentness and severity are increasing due to the effects of global warming that we humans have been inflicting on our planet.

 Hurricane Dolly left alot of damage when it made landfall on South Padre Island. Our home is located about 40 miles from there and even though it had began to weaken as it passed over it still seemed to shake the whole town with it's strong winds as it rumbled through. Giant raindrops were being slung in every dirrection. I watched the rain hurl around in circles like twisters all around a car that was parked in the driveway, and up and down the road. The winds and rains blew like that off and on for two days. The Bush administration declared 15 Texan counties as disaster areas, ours being included. And the state health department is warning people of stinging fire ants, snakes, and tarantulas in the flood waters.  Here is a news story on Hurricane Polly. 

 below are some photos I shot:

 Just before the Hurricane...

Geese in wind

car in the rain

flooded field

flooded street at one end of our block

flooded street at other end of our block

 And I have noticed alot of displaced insects and reptiles, (frogs, snakes, lizzards, spiders, ants, and bees), around here too but so far I am lucky to say that there are no major damages around the habitat, and I ventured a couple of blocks over to the wild Parakeets' nest ( of 100+) , and they seemed to be ok... well,  aside from maybe being a little shook up and disgruntled , and hey , I would be too if I had just been through a storm like that blowing around in 50 mph winds while hanging 30 feet up in the air, with only mere twigs to rely on for protection !

 Seems they really have built the "Ultimate Birds Nest". They build and add on to this nest daily, re-desighning it constantly. Here is a pile of bird-nesting materials they have discarded along their way.

Peeking out at me from one of the nests' entrances...

I will try to get some new videos posted soon. I have uploaded this one below of new flycatcher babies that have been hanging out in the foilage over the habitat, if you would like to check it out . 

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 The wild berry vine has draped itself over some young poplar trees next to the huischi and created a little wooded hide-away under the shade of the blueberry canopy, and some parent birds, (Flycatchers, Mockingbirds, Orioles, and Great Kissgades) have been leading their youngins to this spot and dropping them off, leaving them alone to explore the vegetations in saftey.

 The babies listen for mom to arrive with berries or insects ... and then they greet her with open beaks. The parents make repeated trips to and fro checking on their safty through out the day. And when evening comes mom leads them back home to roost for the night. It's sort of like a "mini-daycare center" for the birds! ( ) ...    see photos below:

Mom feeding baby flycatchers

Great kissgade

 Baby Orioles hanging in the Huischi tree

Happy and Safe Nature Journies to you all !

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I learned how poisonous the puss caterpiller can be last year when I had a painful encounter with one and I vowed never to come in contact with one of them guys again, But unfortunately a couple weeks agoI accidentily ran across one and I got stung ... again!.

 It was just after dark and I was walking along a trail on the side of the house and I don't recall doing it , but I must have brushed up against the Mullberry tree and somehow transfered the Caterpiller to my arm. It felt like I had scraped the skin open on a sharp twig and It kinda stung so I rubbed across it with my hand to make sure a piece of bark or leaf wasn't still there and that's when I realized I had just brushed a puss caterpiller across my arm. I didn't see it because it was too dark , but I felt the furry-ness of it and I knew I had just spread his hollow spines (filled with toxins), across my arm.

 I knew I needed to get those spines out as soon as possible, not only to stop their toxins but to keep from spreading them to other parts of my body. And I knew from my past experience that the best way to do that was with tape, so I removed as many as I could and this wooly booger did pack a punch and it lasted for a whole week just like the last time, but I think since I got them out so soon this time the effects weren't as severe as the last time .

the picture below shows the bite after two days.

a picture of the caterpillar below

And my previous post on this is below:

Puss Caterpiller stings worse than a bee - June 16th, 2007.

 I was doing some summer pruning yesterday and managed to step on a puss caterpiller,(Flannel Moth Larvae). At first it was like a real bad bee sting, and the initial sting seemed to fade soon so I kept on trimming vines and tree branches back... but soon I began to feel a burning sensation running up my leg, the same side that the foot had gotton stung on, and by the time I could gather up the cut branches, the burning sensation had turned into PAIN - paralizing pain all the way up into my stomache.

I took 2 benadryl (allergy relief pills) and pulled out the tiny poisonous spines that were left embedded in my toe ,with a piece of clear tape. Then I put a small amount of moistened tobaco on the toe and left it there to draw out the poison. The pain finally let up about 4 hours later, but still is not completely gone. I heard that the pain can last up to 6 days but I am hoping that won't be the case for me.

If you run across one of these wooly things please be sure not to touch it, although they look cute and furry, their bite really packs a punch! The Puss Caterpiller is one of more than 50 types of caterpillars found in the U. S. that are capable of stinging. Of these, the puss caterpillar is considered to be near the top of the list in terms of the severity of its sting. The larval stage of this insect is a small, wooly, pussycat-appearing caterpillar covered with rows of long spines that look like fine, soft, cuddly hairs. Because they appear to be small, innocuous pieces of fluff, children and adults alike are led to pick them up and play with them, usually with immediate, extremely painful results.

The spines, hidden among the hairs, are hollow, and release a toxin of unknown chemical composition that produces a skin lesion. The lesion usually begins as a halo of reddened skin surrounding the sting site. This is soon followed by the appearance of a number of small cysts that gradually develop into a matrix of blood-filled lesions where the mass of spines punctured the skin. This clinical presentation is characteristic enough, generally, to permit physicians to make a diagnosis of the cause even in the absence of the caterpillar.

 See source and more pictures here .   or paste the following link into your browser:

http://www.bugsinthenews.com/puss_caterpillar_092602.htm

And while you all are out in the great outdoors this summer, be sure to keep a look out for these dangerous guys because I want you all to have safe and happy nature journeys!

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 This is usually the busiest season of the year for me , the gardens awakening with new beginings always fills me with new ideas, and new birds and other critters start popping in too. It's always my most exciting time of year in the habitat, and there is definately alot going on already this year .

 The redwinged blackbirds have offically invaded the habitat now. The males started streaming in a couple weeks ago and the females are starting  to join the males now. I call them an invasion because when they first arrive there are so many that they take over every feeder and water and  their shrill , high-pitched, songs are almost deafening with so many sounding at once it is sort of like a hard rock concert with 5 or 6 hundred singers together. But things will begin to calm down as soon as they start stakeing out thier territories and begin to scatter out more.

 Many other birds have joined into the concert too. The woodpeckers, greenjay,mockingbirds, orioles, painted buntings, cardinals, great kisgadees, doves, titmice,wrens, and warblers     have been popping in and out, and even though they may not sing near as loud or robust as the redwinged blackbirds, to me they are the sweetest melodies in the gardens.

 We have  had a few first time visitors too ! Last week I saw a pair of summer tanagers  bathing in the sprinkler. The female bathed under the sprinkler in the leaves of an oleander plant. And the male bathed a few feet away at the "glass bowl" water. (which is a punch bowl that I turned into a bird water years ago).

 Another new visitor was the dickcissell! I had only seen them in books or pictures and was under the impression they were a fairly large bird so I was very surprised at how small this little guy was. He's a tiny little bird that is very quick and hard to keep up with.

 We have had a few new beginings in the habitat as well! We have oppossums a Jill (female opossum) and three of her little Joeys (baby opossums) living in a wallowed out hole in the corner of the fence. In that corner there is a big old cactus growing that hangs down and covers her little hide-away. The mom usually only comes out at night, but her lil' Joeys don't seem to know that they are nocturnal critters yet. They are at an adventurous stage and every now and then I see one scurry out through the cactus and take a little tour around to investigate all the new wonders to be found there. If they start to journey too far away, mom will summons them back with short chattered grumps.

 We also have caterpillars soon to be butterflies, tadpoles soon too be frogs, dragonfly larvae soon to be dragonflies, and a new juvinile garter snake! It looks just like the adult one that started visiting the pond a year ago so I am thinking maybe the young one's an off-spring.

 The habitat is definately bustling with wildlife and nature activity right now and I guess that's why this is one of my favorite seasons of the year! I hope you are lucky enough to get out in your neck of the woods and experience some of the wonders of nature that are going on all around us now!!!

 Here are a few pictures of some familar sights around here now.

Red-winged Blackbird (male) 

Red-winged Blackbird (females)

Summer Tananger (male) 

Summer Tananger (female)

Dickcissel

Painted Bunting

oppossum

dragonfly larvae

Tadpoles

Caterpiller

Garter Snake

frog eggs

Happy nature journies to you all !!!

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 The habitat has been full of adventure lately, keeping me very busy, but my latest experience  lead me through such a wonderful journey that I wanted to  share it with you alll. One of the wild green Monk parakeets mysteriously appeared at one of the bird feeders a short while back. Unfortunately it was wounded and unable to fly . It  looked like he had a wounded wing, but upon closer examination, I  saw that his wing feathers had been sheared off  and the actual wing was injured as well , so the poor thing wasn't free to fly. I figure it was the result of some humans attempt at taming the wild bird.
 
 Since there is a flock of at least 100( that I have posted about previously), living in the communal nest of a palm tree near here,  I assumed this is where he came from.The good news was that the vet assured me that the wounded guy, (which I nic-named "Mr.P"), would mend, grow his feathers back , and hopefully be able to return to back out into the wild. And  Mr.P  did just that, but it took time and I was very worried for him, knowing that he would be defensless against any predators that he may encounter. A couple of my neighbors who were worried for his saftey also helped keep an eye out for stray cats or dogs in the area. But Mr. P actually got around fairly well and by using his strong hooked bill and claws he could scramble pretty quickly through the branches . When danger came (like the hawk), he hid so well it was as if he just melted into the leaves.

 There was an occasional argument between Mr.P and the critters that tried to pass through there, but wounded or not, he could pretty much hold his own. Like when the squirel got to close and Mr.P gave out a real loud hissing  sound (the oddest noise I ever heard comming from a bird), the squirel got the message and detoured his route to another branch from then on.

 There was a particular area of the tree where  Mr.P hung out and he sat there quietly munching leaves from the branches and discarding left-over twigs down to the ground. Every morning he would climb up to the clearing  and wait for his buddies to drop by.There were three other green monk parakeets just like him that would come to hang out and chat with him . Sometimes it seemed like they were coaxing him to try to fly and go with them by gently nudging him off of his branch, but he would just drop down to a lower branch, unable to take wind with his sore wing yet, and they would eventualy fly on to make thier daily journies around the community, leaving him behind. Some evenings they would stop back by to check in on him before heading off towards the dirrection of their nest a few blocks away.

 Although he was very leery of humans , he wasn't shy around any of the birds in the habitat, and when Mr.P made his way down to the feeders the other birds stayed out of his way, probably because he was the biggest and loudest bird in the habitat at that time, but I would rather think that perhaps the other birds just knew that he was wounded and were being nice to him ... (smile).

 As time went by Mr.Ps' feathers grew out and his wing began to function better. He would make short fluttered hops to nearby branches trying out  out his wing capabilities but not really ever maling it  very far. And I was begining to  get just a little concerned about him  ... until one morning , exactly 33 days after his arrival ,   he finally did take flight !

 When his buddies came that morning they were alot noisier than usual because about 15 to 20 more of the parakeet flock were in my nieghbors tree at the back of the habitat. I could sense that something was going on just by Mr.P's restlessness. He perched up on the open branch and fluttered his wings in every possible direction before shaking them all back into place again, and he did this over and over for several minutes. Then he used his beak to preen and smooth, (what seemed like), each individual feather on his whole body before he made a grand departure with his 3 companions loudly cheering him on and following right behind him.

 Now I don't mean he just flew off, he actually only flew a short distance, but he did fly out of the habitat and into a nieghbors tree where the other parakeets were all hanging out there in the back trees together. Normally  when there's so many together they  just fly right on over the habitat in search of  more prefered food sources. But for some reason, they decided to change thier usual routine that day . It was as if  they had all just stopped by there to lend a little encouraging  support to their buddy, because they stayed there with him, all bouncing noisily, in and out of the tree branches  like a swarm of bees in slow motion , and Mr.P blended right into the swarm of flutters. 

 They danced through the branches  chattering noisily amoungst each other like that for almost two hours . And then all at once they flew off together, all of them, including Mr. P. But I heard one that was steadily squawking as they left and I am almost sure it was Mr.P  saying thank you ... Yep , I am a little bird crazy but I did get to know Mr.P pretty well, and when ya hear the same bird every morning and evening, for over a month... you recognise that sound. And even though there are many parakeets just like him, they each have their own unique vocal sounds, just like us humans do.

 Now when the parakeets fly over in the mornings and evenings I sometimes hear that familar squawk ... yep , I am sure it is Mr. P. and I am just thankful that things turned out alright for the little guy and he is back where he belongs, with his family and friends, free to fly in the wild as he should be.

 And I just hope that people, like the person responsible for Mr. Ps' injuries, realise how unfair and devestating it can be for wild birds or any kind of wild critter to to be taken out of the wild and out of the safety of their natural environment like that.

Here are two videos that I made durring Mr. Ps' visit ...

drinking at one of the waters

Preaning just before his departure

And here are a few pictures I was able to catch of Mr. P ...

 The damaged wing  when he first arrived (below)

unwounded side (below)

healing slowly  (below)

 blending in to the Huisache tree (below)

blending in to the Poplar tree (below)

dangeling in the tree top (below)

sitting in the clearing of the tree preening himself thoroughly (below)

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It happens alot around the Corpus Christi area and although they are usually minor explosions it is very scary just the same. Oddly enough I heard about the chemical plant explosion in west Texas yesterday from my sister who lives in Nebraska. We have family living in Big Springs but fortunately they are alright and there were no human fatalities in the explosion, but the black poisonous smoke still drifts through the air.

I remember passing by the smelly plant on our way into the town of Big Springs from my little home town of Colorado City that is located just 28 miles away often when I was younger. The huge tanks of rusted metals stood tall on both sides of the interstate with black clouds of smoke out of its stacks.Whenever we passed my sisters and I always held our noses and made silly remarks about the fumes being strong enough to make your eyes water.

Back in those days, before they started setting much more stricter and healthier safety laws, it was true the toxic fumes that poured through that plant were very strong and hazzardous, but it was before we knew just how toxic those fumes really were. Strange how these smelly little plants have been putting up such big stinks all around the globe.

I don't know if they will try to rebuild another one there in Big Springs but if they do it will have to be built by the newer and stricter standards which will make it a safer and healthier one, and although it sounds extreme... maybe the destruction of the refinery will be what it takes to make that happen.

Explosion at Big Springs Alon Refinery has the full story and lots of pictures of the burning plant

There are alot of outdated chemical plants like that that have been running for many years and are in dire need of removal or updating. Infact just last year Corpus Christi hosted (thanks to Citgo) the first criminal trial of a refinery in U.S. history and as a result Citgo is the first refiner to be criminally convicted. Not only were they found guilty of leaking toxic chemicals out into the air by not properly covering their tanks but they falsly reported the levels of the chemicals that were escaping and ... they violated the bird treaty act .

I was outraged about all of this and when I found out that innocent birds were migrating for miles just to end their journey in a pool of oil that was diguised as a refreshing water hole ... well it made me sick to my stomache. Ducks and Pelicans were removed from two large uncovered tanks by the company (Citgo) officials and nothing was done to remedy the situation. I can't understand how any one could knowingly let something like that happen. And all these violations had been going on for years. Of course Citgo made sure they were in complete compliance of every regulation by the time they were actually brought to trial for it.

CITGO owns and operates deep conversion refineries strategically located in Texas, ... some of which are operated by Koch Pipeline Company, which has broken major environmental laws for years in this area. But Corpus Christi is hardly the only place where Koch has been accused of violating environmental standards. In 2000, Koch was fined $35 million -- the largest civil penalty ever imposed on a company under federal environmental law -- for more than 300 oil spills into lakes, streams and waterways from its pipelines and oil facilities in six states. In one case, the Environmental Protection Agency reported, almost 100,000 gallons of oil was spilled in Texas and caused a twelve-mile oil slick on Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay.

This story aired on MTV and Roling Stone magazines' reality show a little over a year ago, in January 2007."The Dark Side of Texas: Pete Maiden Reports on Corpus Christi's Koch Industries "

Here is the press release  Local Connection for Environmental Justice on local issues in Corpus Christi, Texas.  (pdf)

A friend of mine  still living in my little hometown of Colorado City says that the huge old refinery storage tanks that sat up on a hill at the edge of town for as long as I can rememember, have been torn down and they found that the containors had been leaking toxic chemicals into the air as well as absorbing it into the ground, for years. They are finally trying to clean it up but alot of damage has been done. It has compromised the health of the people there and they have the same symptoms as people living here in Corpus Christi and other parts of the world that have been exposed to dangerous chemical spills . Many people have suffered years of health problems from it and the oil companies are trying to dish out big settlements to compensate the people but ... money can't replace the loss of their loved ones or restore their good health nor can it return their better quality of life that was stolen from them.

 And just a couple of months ago I found out my son is living right on the edge of  a landfill disposal site that is leaking poisons into the waterway in Robstown (a small town on the outskirts of Corpus Christi)  which has presented a different kind of problem. My son was unaware of the nearby hazzard when him and his girlfriend  moved in about 4 months ago, but now the city is making plans of how to evacuate the whole community so that the toxic stuff  can be deported out of there. I am very worried for their safety and the safety of my unborn granchild that will be arriving in a few  months.

Texas Environmental profiles   explaines some more about the types of landfill disposals like this one.

You can check out the Pollution in your community, or get a national report on water quality on The Pollution Information site.

And you can find out more on air Pollutions hereNaturual Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Air Pollution  and hereEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)  The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act ,which provides a brief introduction to the 1990 Clean Air Act. The 1990 Clean Air Act is the most recent version of a law first passed in 1970 to clean up air pollution.

In February 2006, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the results of its national-scale assessment of 1999 air toxics emissions. It includes details of their findings on 177 air pollutants (a subset of the air toxics on the Clean Air Act's list of 187 air toxics plus diesel particulate matter), as well as a a national-scale assessment for the year 1996 of 33 air pollutants (a subset of 32 air toxics on the Clean Air Act's list of 188 air toxics plus diesel particulate matter. 

We must keep working on ways to prevent further poisioning of our earth, our people, our nature, and all of our vital natural resources.

Below are a couple of pictures I took of the Chemical plant in Corpus Christi Texas (owned by Koch Industries)  on Jan.25,2008 

I caught a shot of this great white Egret when I dropped by the pond in the park yesterday. When ever I see a white Egret it reminds me of one time when my husband and I were heading towards a nearby small town to do some shopping, when just up ahead on the left side of the road, we saw the most awesome sight... the young mesquite trees were dotted with white egrets scattered throughout in a little patch of pasture ... I had been trying to locate a flock of white Egrets that had been passing over the habitat so I was very excited to see them , "oh wow ... look, look, the Egrets!", I squeeked, as I scrambled for my camera.

But as we got a little closer I became very disappointed to find that the beautiful clusters of what I thought to be white feathers blowing in the winds turned out to be unsightly white plastic. It had been snagged in the wind by the thorns of the mesquites. I could hardly believe my eyes ... a whole field of trash shredding into the winds. And that's when I decided to start picking up trash when ever I get a chance. That was about 8 years ago and I have been doing it every since.

Every time I am out bird and nature site seeing, my journey will inevidably lead me through plenty of trash, plastic, paper, and lot's of other various kinds of litter. And it seems like I am seeing more and more. Many of my nature photos would not had even of been taken , had I not removed the trash from the area to retain it's natural beauty first. I don't mind picking it up because I know I am doing it for the good of human and animal kind.

The site of it is disgusting, but more than that, litter affects each and every one of us, by poisioning our waterways and other vital resources, as well as causing many more hazzards to humans, wildlife, and every other living thing on our planet. Sometimes the problem seems so overwhelming because there is just so much of it everywhere ya look now days. But If each one of us will pick up a little (and spread the word to others to do so) we will all make a big difference towards creating a much cleaner and safer environment.

Here are a couple related links about our litter problem, I have posted about the first one before...

And this one has some interesting facts too...

First I would like to say Thankyou to each and every one for reading , and for your kind words of support and congradulations on my JOTW award. Ya'll are my inspiration and It's my pleasure to share the nature and wildlife with friends like you all , so I wanted to share some early spring happenings in the nature world around here with ya ...

In some places , like Omaha , Nebraska , where my mom lives it is still wintery weather , with lots of snow and freezing temperatures , but here in south Texas it is just the opposite. We had a couple of light freezes early on but have been having record breaking high temperatures every since. This has caused some confusion with mother nature and the critters . And it's not just around here either... Alot of folks are telling me about thier unusual , Spring-like, happenings even though it is barely February.

It seems as though Spring is springing itself forward. It has been gradually sneaking in on us a little sooner each year, over the past few years. Here is an article about it that I read .And after I read the article I wondered what Spring was like and what time of year it used to come in, like maybe a hundred years ago or so... so I did some research and I found a wonderful story from a woman that greeted the spring here in 1916. Florence Merianne Bailey was an unique writer and a great contribution to wildlife and environmental history from the pioneer days. She dedicated her life to observing and protecting bird life and recording the wonders of the natural world. She became one of the foremost women writers of her era and traveled for 50 years studying birds. I love the way she describes the nature and wildlife in this clipping from one of her many books :

 and the story continues with more beautiful descriptions of the lands and the wildlife, mosly birds that she saw on a 360 mile train journey she made through the southern praries from across Texas in April of 1900. My descriptions can not give justice to the beauty of the nature as Florence Merriann Baileys' writtings do, but I am seeing most all of these same wonderful blooms of color and nature wakenings here now. The only difference is... it is only early February now and spring didnt come until late April here in the 1900's.

And I do know that it is confusing to see blooms like this so early and it is confusing to the wildlife as well. some of the snow geese seemed to know that grasses would be sprouting early and they came early too. Tit mice and starlings came earlier too. The list of early arrivals for birds is as long as the early blooms and insects list. But since it has become the trend over the past few years ... is it really early ? And will the birds know that food sources will be waiting there for them at their migrational destinations? The right timing is essential for their survival, and I have seen huge flocks of geese wandering aimlessly in circles searching from high above their feilds of forage, only to find no grasses to be sprouted yet.

I suspect that global warming is a major contributor to the seasonal confusion and that mother nature is definately showing us some of the consequinces that come from the destruction of the earths natural resources that it depends on to keep it's delicate eco balance and heal itself. There are many articles on this The EPA Climate Change site provides comprehensive information on the issue of climate change and global warming in a way that is accessible and meaningful. And the NRDC's global warming site provides information on the causes and effects of global climate change, and offers solutions to the problem. There are many ways people are striving to undo and repair the damages. The Stop Global Warming website has alot of facts on global warming and the Climate Change phenomenons, with 50 ways to stop global warming as well.

Here are a few pictures of early signs of spring around here now

Honey bees are buzzin' around the pond and the Huische blooms.

When I catch the sweet scents of this Huische tree  I know spring is in the air!

 This yellow aloe vera bloom usually means that the blue throated humming birds are not far behind, but it is still a little early for the migrating hummingbirds to start arriving.

 The blue phlox is blooming early and if you look closely you can spot a crab spider dancing on top of one of the petals..

The trumpet vine , another favorite of the hummingbirds is begining to sprout fresh new starts ...

 With the sweet perfumy scents of the Huische blooms breezing all through my house and the chipper sounds of birds bathing and singing right outside my window, I am finding it hard to be still long. It is 99 degrees here now, so I am off to do some more "early spring " explorations around the habitat. I hope you are all enjoying this season in what ever shape or form it is presenting itself to you because sometimes nature can be full of wonderful surprizes!

Every week Bravenet picks two journals to be listed as Journals of the Week based on good use of design and/or content and this week I am very honored and happy to recieve this Journal of the Week Award  and  would like to also congradulate

 Connie's Web Journal ~my interests and activities from Wisconsin ~

 for recieving this weeks Award also.  Connie has always been very helpful. When I first started my journal and was having trouble getting my photos to display, she was right there to help me out and I don't think I would have ever figured out some of this stuff if not for her. I visit her site often because I know I will always find something going on there, lot's of interesting information and lot's of happy friends and  readers.

I would like to thank everyone for reading and for caring about  wildlife and I will  keep the stories and photos comming!In the mean time, here are a couple of  videos of those loud but beautiful Monk Parakeets that I wrote about in my last post I hope you enjoy...

Wild Monk Parakeets Of Orange Grove, Texas

 Listen to their loud, raucaus, calls and watch these wild green beauties! -->

 Building the Ultimate Birds Nest 

 Monk Parakeets building the huge community nest -->

Ultimate Birds Nest 

 Monk Parakeets  have built this wonderful nest in a date palm tree.

This is a short close-up  with  No sound -->

You can see more of my wildlife and nature videos on my YouTube Video Channel

Happy wing flaps to you all~

I will never forget the first time the wild monk parakeets introduced themselves to me back in August of 2006 . That morning I had been working out in my gardens and had gone inside for a short break when I heard some loud, raucous, bird squawks comming from outside. I went to the back of my house and stood on the porch looking up into the trees, following the sounds of the high pitched chatters to the top branches of a mullberry tree. And there I was captivated by one of the most eye and ear- catching beauties I have ever seen or heard.

 What I saw was four wild monk parakeets dangling from a tree branch .Their feathers were a shimmering lime green with pale grey on the neck and forehead. And their vibrating, vocal, tones echoed melodious, music throughout the whole neighborhood. The regular song birds and other critters of the habitat even stopped what they were doing to observe the new visitors . The parakeets put on an acrobatic show for us which included one of them hanging upside down by one claw to pluck a berry and then climbing back up to the top side of the branch to feed it to its companian. But unfornunately they only stayed for a few minutes before moving on, echoing throughout the habitat as they left.

Since I moved to this area of south Texas I have seen alot of birds and wildlife species that I hadn't even known existed , but I had never seen a wild parakeet. I actually thought at first that they were parrots because of the way they used their claws to grasp things and to eat with. And I thought that they may have been someones escaped pets because I had never heard of any reports of parots or parakeets in this territory. I did some research and found out as much as I could about them , and I was hoping that I would be lucky enough to see them again, and maybe even catch a photo of them.

Shortly after that I started hearing and seeing them hanging out in the trees at the edge of the cotton field across from my house. They would be in a small flock of up to six. Then before long the flock had grown into about a dozen and since they have just kept gradually increasing in numbers. My most recent count as of January 5, 2008 is up to 46 now. That is how many I have caught on tape at one time but there is actually a few more than that.

I have used great caution while observing or filming them and always follow the the birding code of ethnics. The last thing I would want to do is disturb these birds or make them feel threatened in any way. I have visited one of thier nest sites a couple of times and was able to catch some short video footage, mostly from inside my car since the tree that this nest sits in is located right at the corner of a residental property with two main roads running right beside it. This makes it easy to observe them without disturbing them.

There has been reports of several parakeet nests in palm trees around town, but the one that I have visited is a huge community nest that is in a date palm tree about 4 blocks from my house. The nest sits a little over half way up to the top of the tree and is one of the most magnificant constructions of nature I have ever seen. They are still building on it but we estimate it to be about 15 feet wide and 3 to 4 feet deep. It's unique because most parot type species dont live in nests made from twigs. In fact, monks are the only ones that do. Other parots and parakeets are cavity dwellers, living inside holes.

There is a utility line than runs right by the tree that the parakeets are nested in and I have seen them perched up on it with long twigs hanging down from thier beaks or claws , pausing there long enough to view the perfect spot to place their contribution to the community project, then dissapearing down into the inner makings to deliver it. Starting nearest to the bark and working thier way to the outside of the tree they have woven small branches and twigs together in between the fronds of the palms. And they seem to be real experts at this.

The first time I saw the thier nest they didn't even seem to be aware of my presense because they were preoccupied with a battle that they were insuing with a small flock of Eurasion collared doves that were trying to hang out in the tree . The parakeets seemed intent on not sharing their territory and about 20 or more of them started streaming out of two lower exits of the nest making a bee line right towards the doves . Loud angry sqwalks of the parakeets filled the air , followed by grumpy coos of the doves, as the parakeets surrounded the doves and then started making quick darting dashes all around them, some even darting right into them. I am pretty sure the doves could tell they weren't welcome there and it didn't take for them long to take flight and move on with the parakeets following right on thier tails until the doves reached a nearby poplar tree.The Parakeets then returned back to their nest.

 I have seen them sipping the morning dew from leaves and from the crannys in between shingles of rooftops. During the day they spread out into small groups and dangle through the tree tops, eatting the lichens and other goodies. If they are not chattering , (which they do almost constantly), they can become almost invisable in the green foilage because they blend in so well, but I can usually tell where they are by the sounds of the discarded twigs and seed shells hitting the ground beneath them. In the winter months when the trees aren't bearing fruit , they find other food resources from some of the different types of bird feeders that are hung through out our little town. These birds are being concidered a nuicance in some places around the world, (see a  lengthy artical on these birds from the Institute for Biological invasions). But so far I haven't heard any complaints from any one here. On the contrary everyone I have spoken to about them are pretty excited to be able to have these unique visitors in our town.

We swap stories of the humerous antics of these birds. Like one pair that was spotted hiding under the football feild bleachers. They had snuck way up high and were hiding in a corner , smooching away. As if they were couple of love struck teen agers necking in the bleachers. ( how romantic)  Often times the Parakeets are the main topic of folks conversations around this small town of barely over 2,000 people. We are a bird friendly town that welcomes all of our feathered friends !

Couple caught smooching

 36 parakeets  hanging out on the line

Thier masterpiece !

One of the many entrance holes to their home 

Unique angle while preening shows the blue wingtips

holding a twig, looking for a good spot to put it

Getting a morning drink from the rooftop

 hanging in the treetops

Happy birding adventures to you all !

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