Maya

 Maya is one of our canine Tai Chi buddies. She is quite calm and very friendly.

Maya is 15 years old.

Amelia

 Amelia is 8 years old. Isn't she lovely?

Gummy

 Gummy was adopted from the City of Fredericksburg Animal Shelter.

 He is 5 years old. Gummy is the most happy, friendly, and sociable dog.

 Kudos for Ms. Lilia for the content of this post.

Goodbye and Hello

This family member expired at the end of this year.

 Gonzo arrived few days ago.

Another Cat

Found quite a hiding place. 

Lovely Sheepies

Country Doggies

Those friendly dogs always come to meet us when we walk in their area.

Little Donkey

Just a little donkey.

The Bat Tunnel & State Park

Not far from Fredericksburg, in the Texas Hill Country (off the old San Antonio Road) there is an old tunnel. It used to be part of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Co. (1913 to 1941). These days it is famous for about three million Mexican free-tailed bats and three thousand myotis bats, which live there and which emerge from the tunnel every evening.

When you come to the place, the first thing which you can see there is the view of the picturesque and beautiful landscape. If you arrive early in the morning or are simply lucky enough, and there are not too many people, you can also enjoy the quietness of the spot and the beautiful voices of the birds as well.

Tourists sitting on those benches can watch the bat emergence.

During a tour, you can also see (from a distance of course) the tunnel where the bats live.

The tunnel - where the bats sleep

I was amazed at the beauty and peacefulness of the Old Tunnel State Park. I loved its wilderness, the trees and other plants, simply nature.

If you are curious enough, you can find out more about the place and the bats - just stop and read...

Being city persons, we very much appreciated the prettiness and the calmness of the place.

Bearberry is very rare in Poland that is why..

... some plants were quite exotic to me.....

We enjoyed the visit to the park a lot!

There are also a few spots where you can sit and enjoy the view. We brought the binoculars with us, to be able to see what the human eye cannot spot, and fully admire the landscape and its elements.

 

The place is also a small bird sanctuary. We could see quite a lot of them there, especially around the feeder area. There were my favorite Cardinals and some other kinds of birds as well. Watching them was so pleasant!

Male Cardinals and their red suits are so lovely!

Although we did not see the bats (it was too early - they emerge in the evening), we loved our visit in the Old Tunnel State Park. When you happen to be in the Hill Country, I strongly recommend visiting the place too.

Learn more about the Old Tunnel State Park here.

New Guests on The Patio

I have heard their loud chirps a few times. Yesterday, I finally managed to see them.  First I, spotted ten or eleven of them fly away, then I noticed a row of black, little figures sitting, almost vertically, on the flat, outside frame of a window. It was quite a peculiar view: they looked like a wall decoration, sitting in exactly the same position, as stuck to the wall, all of them turning their heads on the right. Some were peeping uncertainly in my direction so I was trying to stand still, not to scare the cute guests resting on our patio. I was happy to see a 'new' kind of local birds.

how they were sitting

 Later I checked that the species is called:
  

Chimney Swift 

Although it reminds a swallow, the two species are not closely related. Chimney swift is a great aerialist. Its beak is tiny (about 0.20"/5mm) though its gape (mouth) is much bigger inside - the bird eats insects and little spiders. An interesting fact is that chimney swift is able to focus both eyes at once or one only/independently. The bird winters in South America and comes back to eastern North America in the summer. The species is protected by law in the US, it is also regarded as 'Near Threatened' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 

Chimney swifts are monogamous birds

Chimney swifts are really cute little creatures (size: 4 3/4 - 5", 12-12.5cm) and I am happy they are in our area too. Hopefully they find home in our chimney.


Picture and birds' voice from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ChimneySwift23.jpg
 

Birdwatching in Texas

I used to think birdwatching is boring.  In the city where I lived, most common birds where sparrows, pigeons, seagulls, crows and ravens. They were all mostly black and gray and I found nothing interesting in watching them. Maybe because I so very much got used to them and, in a way, they were simply part of a well known landscape. Or maybe I because I was too busy. Or maybe both.

Baltic Sea seagulls

In Texas, due to the climate difference, wildlife - fauna and flora - is obviously not exactly the same as in Poland. It is interesting to see birds, plants and animals new to me. I not only enjoy watching them but also learning something about these unknown (to me) species.

In our neighborhood there was an area with a very old wood, trees and bushes untouched by humans for ages. With a little stream, it was a habitat and home for various kinds of creatures including many birds. Their songs and chirps were heard from early morning till the night. I loved listening to their voices. Especially the cardinal's calls were quite distinguished. Since the wood was not far from our house, I could observe the birds sitting in the trees and flying around our yard.

Here are some of them which I really liked.

1. My favorite one - Northern Cardinal.  They sing so beautifully!

The males, so pretty in red, because of their color were easy to spot among the greenery of the woods. The females are pale grayish brown with some reddish pink bill, not that noticeable at all.

2. Blue Jay - size: 10-11" (25.5/28cm)

They are also great vocalists and wonderful singers. Sometimes they even imitate hawk screams.

3. Northern Mockingbird - size: 9-10" (23-25.5cm)

The mockingbird can not only imitate other birds but also incorporate many various sounds into their repertoire (eg. barking dogs). Both males and females are alike in appearance.

4. House Sparrow - size: 51/2-6" (14/15cm)

Male House Sparrow

My favorite city bird which cousins live in Poland also. The male has a gray crown and gray rump. The female is dingy gray. Size: 51/2-6" (14/15cm).

5. Ruby-throated Hummingbird

These are very difficult to spot as they are so tiny (31/4 - 31/2"/ 8-9cm)! I have seen them twice maybe - thanks to my husband who noticed them and showed them to me.

It was so great having all the beautiful singers around! The area was also full of other musicians - katydids, crickets and similar instrumentalists which played their loud music days and nights.

/

One sad day the wood was cut down and destroyed, and so were the animals' lives. Only a few trees were left. It was so terrible, especially that the little woodland had also been a stop for flocks of migrating birds - since always I guess. When the season came, once we heard lots of birds' cries, we looked out and saw plenty of yellowish birds, sitting on the three trees - the remains of the wild land. Many were flying around as if they had not known where to sit. They looked disoriented and confused. - no high branches to rest, no water to drink (the stream had been covered with concrete), no bugs to eat. It was all so sad! Probably quite a lot of those birds did not survive that migrating season.

Great Crested Flycatcher - size: 8-83/4" (20.5/22cm)

It eats large birds and dwells in treetops. Migrates to Mexico and South America in April.

All in all, with no trees around, most of the birds were gone. So it was nothing to be sorry about leaving the place when our migrating time came.

Some other birds which are quite popular here and do not occur in Poland:

• Mourning Dove - they are quite lovely. A couple of them visits our patio quite often. I like them too! They migrate to South America in September. Size: 10-12" (25.5/30cm)

Mourning Doves are monogamous birds

Interesting though maybe not that cute:

• Common Grackle - size: 10-12" (25.5/30.5 cm)

From Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

• Great-tailed grackle - size: 101/2-181/2" (26.5/47cm)

Quite noisy guys. Usually there are a lot of them around supermarkets, looking for something to eat. "In Mexico, where it is known as the chanate or zanate, there is a legend that it has seven songs. 'In the creation, the Zanate having no voice, stole its seven distinct songs from the wise and knowing sea turtle. You can now hear the Zanate's vocals as the Seven Passions (Love, Hate, Fear, Courage, Joy, Sadness, and Anger) of life.'" (citation from wikipedia)

Credits: pictures of American birds
Northern Cardinal: By Stephen Wolfe from Columbus, OH, USA (Northern Cardinal I  Uploaded by Snowmanradio) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons;
Blue Jay: By Mdf (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons;
Northern Mockingbird: By Captain-tucker (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons;
House Sparrow: By Passer_domesticus_on_rose.jpg: PewuCom derivative work: Totodu74 (Passer_domesticus_on_rose.jpg) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons;
Ruby-throated hummingbird: public domain, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Great crested flycatcher:By DickDaniels (http://carolinabirds.org/) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons;
Great-tailed grackle: (Photograph taken by Patrick Coin) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons.