Green Anole – Wrong Color

 Green Anole, Reptiles  No Responses »
May 122012
 
Share

Green Anoles are charming and intelligent lizards. You can see their minds at work when you look them in the eye. You can see them sizing you up whenever you happen to catch their attention. This individual was observed in the McCommas Bluff area of the Great Trinity Forest in Dallas, Texas.

These lizards also have the ability to change color on demand. They can change between a rich emerald green and a light dusty brown, like in the photographs below. Green Anoles usually determine their coloration based on what makes sense in the particular environment they are in at the time. With that in mind, this female should have been bright green when I discovered her on this bushy plant. Maybe she just hadn’t gotten around to making the change just yet.

 
County - Dallas
City - Dallas
Date - May 6, 2012
Time of Day - Noon
Temperature - Warm (70-89°F/21-32°C)
Weather - Cloudy
Habitat - Recreation-Park
Type of Behavior - Surveying
Gender - Female
Maturity - Adult
Observer - Chris Jackson
Main Article - Green Anole Observation Location

Red-tailed Hawk – After the Storm

 Birds, Red-tailed Hawk  No Responses »
Apr 112012
 
Share

This darkly colored juvenile Red-tailed Hawk can be reliably observed on this tree almost every evening between 6:00 pm and sunset. I stopped by at dusk the day after rain had passed through the area. The lingering clouds combined with the sunset to create some dramatic backdrops.

While I was photographing, the hawk flew from one tree to another and then back again.

 
County - Denton
City - Carrollton
Date - Apr 4, 2012
Time of Day - Dusk
Temperature - Warm (70-89°F/21-32°C)
Weather - Partly Cloudy
Habitat - Recreation-Park
Type of Behavior - Surveying
Gender - Uncertain
Maturity - Juvenile
Observer - Chris Jackson
Main Article - Red-tailed Hawk Observation Location

Red-tailed Hawk – Richardson Red-tail

 Birds, Red-tailed Hawk  No Responses »
Mar 192012
 
Share

I observed this pair of Red-tailed Hawks at the busy intersection of Jupiter Road and Arapaho Road in Richardson, Texas. This is a very busy intersection with a lot of automobile traffic.

Hawks seem to be attracted to these intersections by the reliable congregations of Rock Doves and other birds such as Great-tailed Grackles and Eurasian Collared-doves.

This appears to be a male and a female. The male is perched at the top of the pole. The larger female is on the crossbar.

 
County - Dallas
City - Richardson
Date - Nov 4, 2011
Time of Day - Morning
Temperature - Cool (50-69°F/10-21°C)
Weather - Clear
Habitat - Thoroughfare-Primary Road
Type of Behavior - Surveying
Gender - Mixed
Maturity - Adult
Observer - Chris Jackson
Main Article - Red-tailed Hawk Observation Location

Loggerhead Shrike – The Impaler

 Loggerhead Shrike  1 Response »
Mar 092012
 
Share

Observed in McInnish Park, Carrollton, Texas.

Loggerhead Shrikes are also know as Butcher Birds, and for good reason. These birds have the curious habit of impaling their prey (which is usually an insect or small vertebrate such as a frog, a lizard, or a snake) on thorns and other similar objects (such as barbs on barbed wire fences). They will return to these food caches to feed at their leisure. This aspect of their behavior may explain the reason this individual was found on a thorn-laden tree.

These dainty birds, at first glance have a superficial resemblance to the Northern Mockingbird, in both coloration and in size. But, on closer inspection, they can be seen to resemble a song bird trying to turn into raptor. Just look at the hooked beak for an easy example. They haven’t yet developed the vicious talons of a full fledged raptor yet, and that is one possible explanation for their inclination to impale. Their undersized feet may make it more practical to secure their prey on a thorn while feeding rather than try to grasp it.

 
County - Dallas
City - Carrollton
Date - Mar 5, 2012
Time of Day - Morning
Temperature - Warm (70-89°F/21-32°C)
Weather - Clear
Habitat - Water-Bog/Marsh/Swamp
Type of Behavior - Surveying
Gender - Uncertain
Maturity - Adult
Observer - Chris Jackson
Main Article - Loggerhead Shrike Observation Location

News – Snowy Owl in Downtown Dallas, and Maybe Fort Worth

 Birds, Snowy Owl  1 Response »
Feb 282012
 
Share

Account of a a Snowy Owl sighting in downtown Dallas, Texas and a possible sighting in Fort Worth.

 Snowy Owl in Downtown Dallas, and Maybe FortWorth

Red-tailed Hawk – Red Light

 Birds, Red-tailed Hawk  No Responses »
Feb 022012
 
Share

Fall is a great time to observe Red-tailed Hawks. On this night, I noticed at least six hawks on various telephone phones and streetlights along the George H.W. Bush tollway. I spotted this one at the first traffic light I encountered after exiting the tollway. The red light gave me the time I needed to retrieve my camera.

 
County - Denton
City - Dallas
Date - Oct 23, 2008
Time of Day - Dusk
Temperature - Warm (70-89°F/21-32°C)
Weather - Clear
Habitat - Thoroughfare-Primary Road
Type of Behavior - Surveying
Gender - Uncertain
Maturity - Adult
Observer - Chris Jackson
Main Article - Red-tailed Hawk Hawk Observation Location

American Kestrel – Stay Puft

 American Kestrel, Birds  No Responses »
Jan 222012
 
Share

We observed this male American Kestrel perched on a bare branch of a small tree near our neighborhood greenbelt. The tree overlooks a creek that runs adjacent to a residential subdivision.

The weather was brisk this morning, and the kestrel was puffed up against the cold.

We began photographing the bird as discreetly as possible. Kestrels are very skittish, and they are apt to fly away at the slightest hint that they have caught your attention.

Sure enough, the kestrel soon leapt off the branch as if he were ready to bolt. But, instead of flying away from us, the bird took the unexpected action of turning toward us and then zooming into the subdivision. There, the kestrel dived headlong into the landscaping beneath a window of the house directly across the street.

On the ground, the kestrel hopped a couple of hops before taking to the air again. He then zoomed by our location, over the creek and across busy Hebron Drive, before finally landing on a power line far in the distance.

 
County - Denton
City - Carrollton
Date - Dec 11, 2011
Time of Day - Morning
Temperature - Cold (less than 50°F/10°C)
Weather - Clear
Habitat - Residential-Single Family
Type of Behavior - Surveying
Gender - Male
Maturity - Adult
Observer - Chris Jackson
Main Article - American Kestrel Observation Location
 Older Entries