This mated pair of American Snout Butterflies were observed in The Colony, Texas.
| County | - | Denton | |
| City | - | The Colony | |
| Date | - | November 7, 2009 | |
| Time of Day | - | Afternoon | |
| Temperature | - | Cool (50-69°F/10-21°C) | |
| Weather | - | Cloudy | |
| Habitat | - | Agricultural-Pasture | |
| Type of Behavior | - | Mating | |
| Gender | - | Mixed | |
| Maturity | - | Adult | |
| Observer | - | Chris Jackson | |
| Main Article | - | American Snout Butterfly | Observation Location |
This was an odd observation that took me a little while to figure out. Here’s how it went: I noticed a turtle shell bobbing up and dow periodically by the edge of our neighborhood creek. The bobbing was sometimes gentle and sometimes violent.
It was a strange sight. My first thought was that it was a deceased turtle, bloated and floating. I figured that there must be something underneath of it feeding on the carcass.
I moved closer for a better look, and that is when two turtle heads emerged from the water. Ah, the explanation! Turtles in love!
The pair submerged and continued their activities for a few more minutes. My last sight of the turtles was as the couple swam away together in to the deeper and darker water in the middle of the creek.
| County | - | Denton | |
| City | - | Carrollton | |
| Date | - | Mar 15, 2012 | |
| Time of Day | - | Morning | |
| Temperature | - | Warm (70-89°F/21-32°C) | |
| Weather | - | Overcast | |
| Habitat | - | Water-Creek | |
| Type of Behavior | - | Mating | |
| Gender | - | Mixed | |
| Maturity | - | Adult | |
| Observer | - | Chris Jackson | |
| Main Article | - | Common Snapping Turtle | Observation Location |
These Canada Geese were observed as they engaged in a number of interesting courtship rituals. There were several paired geese at this location, and each couple seemed generally confined to a particular section of the pond.
There was a lot of honk-a-lonking as males and females followed each other around their portion of the small lake. From time to time the individual twosomes could be seen engaging in the Canada Goose’s peculiar courtship dance. Necks were stretched high in the air. Honking ensued. At other times the geese would extend their necks out low and flattened their bodies against the surface of the water, swimming together all the while.
When not actively engaged in courting, the pairs of geese diligently patrolled their territory on the water, gently encouraging adjacent geese to respect the invisible boundaries.
Typically, these encounters were low key, but at one point another group of geese flew in from the north and rudely landed right in the middle of a courting pair. What a ruckus resulted! The intruding geese were encouraged to leave, and the defending geese were challenged mightily. In the end, the uninvited guests were successfully chased away.
| County | - | Dallas | |
| City | - | Carrollton | |
| Date | - | Feb 25, 2012 | |
| Time of Day | - | Morning | |
| Temperature | - | Cool (50-69°F/10-21°C) | |
| Weather | - | Clear | |
| Habitat | - | Water-Pond | |
| Type of Behavior | - | Mating | |
| Gender | - | Mixed | |
| Maturity | - | Adult | |
| Observer | - | Chris Jackson | |
| Main Article | - | Canada Goose | Observation Location |
This unusual behavior was observed at McInnish Park in Carrollton, Texas. These are European Starlings. My assumption is that there are three males and one female. The observation began when I noticed one of the birds hanging upside down under a parking lot light.
Mating activity indicated that the hanging bird was a female. At least one of the males on top of the lamp moved in to mate with the female while she was in the inverted position.
She then moved to the top of the light post where there were a few more exchanges before all four birds flew away simultaneously.
| County | - | Dallas | |
| City | - | Carrollton | |
| Date | - | Feb 27, 2012 | |
| Time of Day | - | Morning | |
| Temperature | - | Cool (50-69°F/10-21°C) | |
| Weather | - | Overcast | |
| Habitat | - | Water-Pond | |
| Type of Behavior | - | Mating | |
| Gender | - | Mixed | |
| Maturity | - | Adult | |
| Observer | - | Chris Jackson | |
| Main Article | - | European Starling | Observation Location |
A newly mated pair of Canada Geese protecting their nesting site. These birds were observed at McInnish Park in Carrollton, Texas.
| County | - | Dallas | |
| City | - | Carrollton | |
| Date | - | Feb 27, 2012 | |
| Time of Day | - | Morning | |
| Temperature | - | Cool (50-69°F/10-21°C) | |
| Weather | - | Overcast | |
| Habitat | - | Water-Pond | |
| Type of Behavior | - | Mating | |
| Gender | - | Mixed | |
| Maturity | - | Adult | |
| Observer | - | Chris Jackson | |
| Main Article | - | Canada Goose | Observation Location |
We were at a local park this weekend, when we heard a Red-tailed Hawk call high above us. Looking up we spotted three Red-tailed Hawks circling several hundred feet above us.
As we watched, the hawks interacted with each other by flying closer together, and then separating rapidly. During this time, several more calls were heard, and the hawks continued generally circling together.
After a short while, the hawk’s flight carried them further to the north, and we lost sight of them.
Several more minutes passed, and we heard another loud Red-tailed Hawk call. Looking around, we spotted a hawk diving out of the sky from several hundred feet up. The dive was nearly vertical, and he was calling all of the way down. He disappeared behind a group of trees approximately 150 yards/meters to the east.
After only 3 or 4 minutes, we again heard a Red-tailed Hawk call, and this time a large hawk emerged from behind the trees to the east. The hawk flew out from behind the trees, less than 25 yards/meters up in the air, and then circled over our position.
As this bird circled above us, rising on a thermal, a second Red-tailed Hawk emerged from behind the same set of trees following the first, and flying over our heads.
Finally, just a few moments later, a third Red-tailed Hawk emerged from behind the trees and also flew over our position, following the first two hawks into the air.
As we watched, the three hawks continued to fly together until they had moved far enough to the north for us to lose sight of them.
| County | - | Denton | |
| City | - | Carrollton | |
| Date | - | March 11, 2007 | |
| Time of Day | - | Noon | |
| Temperature | - | Warm (70-89°F/21-32°C) | |
| Weather | - | Clear | |
| Habitat | - | Recreation-Park | |
| Type of Behavior | - | Mating | |
| Gender | - | Mixed | |
| Maturity | - | Adult | |
| Observer | - | Chris Jackson | |
| Main Article | - | Red-tailed Hawk | Observation Location |
This observation began with a ruckus several houses down the street from my own. The commotion that was so loud that I could easily hear it inside my house.
Within just a few minutes, the melee had moved to my front yard. I stepped outside to investigate and was greeted by three Fox Squirrels chasing each other across my front porch. It appeared that what we had here was two male Fox Squirrels and one female squirrel engaged in some late December mating behavior.
I watched as they pursued each other through the bushes and trees in my yard and then into my neighbor’s yard. At that point, I decided to go back inside to retrieve a camera. When I returned I found that the squirrels had moved to the area between our two houses. From there they headed toward my backyard, so I cut through the house to meet them there.
Once in the backyard, I was able to take several minutes of video of this wild behavior. The squirrels were very agitated and were completely preoccupied by their activities. They paid me very little mind as they went about their pursuits. On at least one occasion I was afraid that they were going to climb up my leg as they chased each other around the yard.
The frantic activity wound down after about 15 minutes, as the squirrels went their separate ways. Afterwards, a lone Fox Squirrel climbed to the top of my fence and began calling to the others, possibly in hope of re-engaging them.
| County | - | Denton | |
| City | - | Carrollton | |
| Date | - | Dec 20, 2011 | |
| Time of Day | - | Noon | |
| Temperature | - | Cold (less than 50°F/10°C) | |
| Weather | - | Partly Cloudy | |
| Habitat | - | Residential – Single Family | |
| Type of Behavior | - | Mating | |
| Gender | - | Mixed | |
| Maturity | - | Adult | |
| Observer | - | Chris Jackson | |
| Main Article | - | Fox Squirrel | Observation Location |