A Couple of Wrens

Rock Wrens are year round residents here in the Texas Panhandle and in the spring their songs echo in the canyons around Lake Meredith. They are pretty quiet this time of year though and so are harder to find. I was lucky enough to run across this one as I was walking one cold morning…

A Few December Photographs

I’ve been kind of lazy about posting the last few weeks, so now I’m trying to catch up. Here’s some photos from December. Rock Wren Greater Roadrunner Ladder-backed Woodpecker Red-tailed Hawk (a dark morph juvenile) American Tree Sparrow American Coot Pied-billed Grebe

Rock Wren

I saw this Rock Wren a few weeks ago while I was hiking down a trail at the south end of Lake Meredith. Wrens, especially Rock Wrens, are among my favorite birds. they are so small and yet they have huge voices. This guy was bobbing up and down on a boulder a few feet…

Photos from Early May

Here’s a few photographs from earlier in May that I haven’t gotten around to posting. May has been an interesting month with lots of rain and much cooler than normal temps.The lake is rising (up to 46.77 today from 26.5 36 months ago) and the countryside is greener than I’ve seen in quite a while.…

Rock Wrens

Wrens are among my favorite birds. They are quite small-the two most common species in this area, Rock Wrens and Bewick’s Wrens are both less than six inches long, but they sing like they are ten feet tall.  I’ve been blessed with a Bewick’s serenade for the last couple of days. He’s found a suitable…

Rock Wren on Red Rocks

Rock Wrens are one of my favorite birds.  They are bold, loud, and quick, and they bob up and down as they sing.  I watched this guy hunting bugs on a red sandstone (or clay maybe, the particles were pretty fine) cliff out at Lake Meredith’s Harbor Bay.  I actually took about 20 photos but it…

More Spring Birds

Black-necked Stilt Spotted Sandpiper Northern Cardinal from the Missouri trip Blue Jay, also taken in Missouri Great Blue Heron in Missouri.  All three of these birds are common in the Texas Panhandle.  The color green is not. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher after a bath Yellow-headed Blackbird in a mesquite bush. Red-winged Blackbird on last year’s cattails Western…

Spring in Hutchinson County

It’s been incredibly dry and windy here this year.  We’re already several inches behind the norm and we only get an average of 20 inches a year, though it’s been a while since we hit that mark.  The wind is rarely less than 20 mph and there have been hundreds (or so it seems) of…