At the start of the year, we were apprehensive about the rain we were (not) getting. Lake Bridlewood had gone dry, and the cattle had to be watered from wells and the wildlife were looking for any water they could find, including our two birdbaths. The birdbaths had to be refilled daily because the deer and the night marauders were all sipping from it during the rainless months.
Then we started to get some rain, not a lot, but enough to get the grass and the wildflowers up and running. Now we are in the period of having the grass and the wildflowers go to seed so we can enjoy them next year. Note that the Antelope Horn Milkweed is plentiful this year on the roadside because you did not mow it down last year and it had the chance to reseed.
We saw the first snake of the season, but that seemed late, so we know that they are out and about, so watch out for the nasty ones. I am hesitant to kill any snake as they do their share of keeping the mouse population down to reasonable levels. We had a small rattlesnake on the porch the other day and so I shooed it off to the backyard. A friend asked why I didn't kill it and I told them it was too small to eat. Actually, letting it live just makes it easier for me to remember to be more careful when I poke around in the garden and pull weeds.
These damp nights have brought out the Poor Will. In the northern climes, the bird song is "whip poor will", but here, our variety is against corporal punishment so it sings "poor will".
The Painted Buntings and Wrens (Bewick's and House) arrived right on time, but unfortunately, the barn swallows attempted a nest but had some kind of disaster and so abandoned the nest. For some reason, we have not seen even one Mockingbird since the big freeze of two years ago. We can hear evidence of Yellow Cheeked Warbler but have not seen one yet this year.
By the way, if you would like a copy of the bird songs of Hill Country Birds, it should be on the internet and free to download. Let us know if you are unable to find it.
The drought of the last few years has had an effect on the deer population. We should be seeing some new fawns, but none seen by us yet this year.
Another by the way. Wiley enters daily rainfall amounts in the system we access on the website so if you are curious about the rainfall amounts and dates, check it out on the website under helpful links on the right side of the homepage.
Email us if you have any interesting nature sightings to report.
