Hawk Chicks

Emilie and Eddie sitting in a tree . . . Ok, we don’t know their gender but we named the chicks Emilie and Eddie. Yesterday we spotted them, two red-shouldered hawk juveniles sitting in the nest tree. They look beyond “chick” stage as one was sitting on a limb outside the nest and they both have the rusty bands of feathers across their chest like an adult. They looked ready to contemplate learning the fly. Mom and dad were nowhere sight and we didn’t hear them calling so the chicks are old enough to stay in the nest alone. We had not been out to Dogwood Ranch for a month, since the “rat incident” of which I will spare this blog the details. Because we were gone so long, we missed the downy “chick” stage. The biggest surprise was not how much the chicks had grown, but that for the first time since we’ve been watching the hawks starting in 2003 the mating pair produced two offspring that survived to this stage. In the past we only have seen or heard one offspring per year. We take this change as sign that the mating pair are healthy and that Dogwood Ranch is primo red-shouldered hawk real estate for raising a family. I just wish the adults would eat more rodents!

Lone Duck

Lone Duck arrived at Dogwood’s pond sometime in December along with fellow wood ducks (Aix sponsa). The wood ducks use Dogwood’s pond as a weigh point along their migration path and usually only stay 4 to 6 weeks. Early this year, when his buddies flew off to continue their migration, Lone Duck stayed behind on Dogwood Pond. He was the lone duck on the pond, gently swimming to and fro keeping at least ¾ of the pond between him and us. I guess he decided hanging out at Dogwood was the good life, so he decided to stay as while. He seems to like swimming close to the bubbles from the diffuser in the pond, maybe the bubbles tickle his tail feathers.

Lone Duck is a male. He sports crested head of iridescent green and purple with a white stripe from the eye to the end of the crest. The bill is brightly patterned black, white and red. Since female wood ducks have a gray-brown head and neck with a brownish, green, glossed crest we are confident Lone Duck is a male.

First notice of the wood ducks’ arrival at Dogwood occurs pretty much the same way each year. We pull up to the gate at Dogwood, rattle the chain lock and we are startled by a whoosh! The whoosh is the 10-20 wood ducks suddenly flying from the water up to the tree branches of the nearby woods.

After his buddies left this year, at first we thought that Lone Duck might be sick or unable to fly so he stayed behind. We expected to see him wither away left all on his own. Fortunately, he seemed to be healthy and was maybe just a loner. According to Wood Duck Society, some wood ducks don’t migrate with the rest, are loners and very picky about choosing a mate, as they should be.

Yesterday, Lone Duck was gone. Hopefully, he found a girlfriend who shook her tail at him enough that she lured him north. There are no ducks on the pond now.

The Big Three Dangers – Imported Red Fire Ants, Africanized Honey Bees and Poison Ivy – Part 4

Poison Ivy eradication – We asked the Washington County Agricultural Extension Agent how to eradicate poison ivy from the property. His recommendation is to cut a foot out of the vine. On small vines, we use a machete. On the thick vines that are several inches in diameter, we use the chainsaw. Remove the foot-long piece and dispose of it. Then spray or paint the fresh cut, both ends, on the vine with either Roundup or Remedy. The plant will soon die, even the massive root system underground. Dead vine will hold on to the tree trunk it was growing on for several months and it is still poisonous as are the leaves. Eventually pieces of the vine will fall out of the tree. Be very aware of this “fallout” which we treat as if it were nuclear waste. We use long fireplace tongs to grab the fallout and carry it over to the creek or the deep hole the creek carved out, “the Hole”, and toss the toxic material away. Although still poisonous, down in the bottom of the Hole it is not likely to contact humans. For a couple of big poison ivy clean-up projects, we donned the consumer equivalent of HASMAT (hazardous materials) suits to do the work. One website I saw years ago explained that a serious poison ivy rash is the only true dermatological emergency.

A question frequently asked is: Why don’t you just burn the fallout poison ivy after its dead as you do with the other brush burn on Dogwood Ranch? The reason is that the stuff is so nasty that when the urushiol oil from the plant burns, little droplets of urushiol go up into the smoke. If the smoke blows on to you, so does the poison. It gets on your skin and permeates your clothes and gets in your eyes and hair. Breathing urushiol tainted-smoke takes that toxic poison into your mouth, throat and lungs and can serious respiratory problems. Please, never burn poison ivy.

When we first acquired Dogwood, there was lots of poison ivy growing in the fences and up the beautiful oak trees in the civilized area. We spent about two years cleaning that up so we now have more or less a poison ivy free zone. We are vigilant and quickly destroy any sneaky vine trying to get a foothold in this area. Except for the problems it causes humans, poison ivy an amazing plant; it is perhaps the ultimate poisoning machine - all parts of the plant are poisonous, it is difficult to destroy, when burned it is still poisonous, when dead its defense mechanism still works and the oil on clothes and other objects can remain hazardous for years. Remember: “Leaflets three, let it be! Leaflets three, quickly flee.”

The Big Three Dangers – Imported Red Fire Ants, Africanized Honey Bees and Poison Ivy – Part 3

“Leaflets three, let it be! Leaflets three, quickly flee.” This children’s rhyme reminds us that poison ivy and poison oak have three leaves per leaf stalk. This does not mean all poisonous plants only have three leaves per leaf stalk; poison sumac, also found in Texas, has 7 to 10 leaves. But, beware of the leaflets three!

I discovered the hard way that am very allergic to poison ivy. To my knowledge, I was not exposed to it prior to Dogwood Ranch. For me, it is toxic stuff to be treated as if it were nuclear waste.

The type of plant at the ranch is climbing vine poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). The poison is, Urushiol (pronounced oo-roo-shee-ohl), an oil contained in all parts of the plant - leaves, stems, flowers and roots.

Here are some interesting facts about urushiol oil circulated by the State of Texas to its employees:

• Only 1 nanogram (billionth of a gram) is needed to cause a rash.

• The average person is exposed to 100 nanograms per exposure.

• 1/4 ounce of urushiol is all that is needed to cause a rash in every person on earth.

• 500 people could itch from the amount covering the head of a pin.

• Specimens of urushiol several centuries old have been found to cause dermatitis in sensitive people.

• 1 to 5 years is normal for urushiol oil to stay active on any surface including dead plants.

• The name urushiol derived from urushi, Japanese name for lacquer.

Vines trail along the ground and then climb any object in their path. At Dogwood Ranch, it is usually a tree in the vine’s path. The ivy can climb fifty to seventy-five feet up a tree trunk. Kinky, brown rootlets cover the vines, attach themselves to crevices or small openings in the tree trunk, and climb. At Dogwood Ranch, we call these rootlets “hair” and know not to touch any hairy rope looking vine.

We maintain a high alert level (orange) for poison ivy. Although urushiol can sometimes wash off with regular soap and water (or rubbing alcohol) within 10 minutes of contact, if not, it is likely to cause a reaction within 8 to 48 hours. On me, it takes about 48 hours for a little straight line of tiny bumps to appear and the itch to start. As soon as we realize we may have touched poison ivy, we use rubbing alcohol to clean the infected area. Poison ivy contact is considered an urgent situation (not quite an emergency) where all else stops until the exposed area is cleaned. There are also specialized soaps we keep on hand to clean away the oil if used in time. A prophylactic lotion that claims to block the oil from contacting the skin can be used prior to exposure. If we know we will be working in a high-risk poison ivy area, we apply this product to exposed skin, and especially the face. I don’t know for sure that it works, but even if it helps a little, that’s good enough for me.

It is very difficult to describe the intense itching caused by poison ivy. Nothing else itches so constantly and so intensely to me. When I had bad rash on my leg, I would wake up in the middle of the night scratching the area madly. Such scratching can cause infections and slows the healing process-but I could not help doing it. When I suspected a poison ivy outbreak on my face, I immediately went to the doctor. He gave me a cortisone injection in my hip and some prescription anti-itch cream. The cortisone kept the rash small and it went away in a few days rather than the usual weeks of oozing sores and tortuous itching.

The Big Three Dangers – Imported Red Fire Ants, Africanized Honey Bees and Poison Ivy – Part 2

“Killer bees” or Africanized honey bees (“AHB”) (Apis mellifera scutellata) are not just in the minds of Hollywood horror film directors. They are real and they are in Texas but let’s clear up a misconception about AHB - Africanized honey bees do not fly out in massive swarms randomly hunting down and attacking victims while stinging and killing everything in their path.

AHB look just like English honey bees (“EHB”) (Apis m. mellifera). Their venom is no stronger than that of an EHB. The difference is that AHB are more aggressive and swarm more frequently then EHB; thus AHB come in contact with people more often than do EHB. AHB also differ from EHB in that they respond more quickly to threats and more bees sting, they can sense a threat from people or animals 50 feet or more from their nest, sense vibrations from power equipment 100 feet or more from their nest, may pursue a victim 1/4 to 1/2 mile, remain agitated for an hour or more after an attack, swarm frequently to establish new nests, nest in smaller cavities and sheltered areas, and move their entire colony readily if food is scarce. It is true that people can, and have, died from AHB attacks. The USDA suggests allowing at least 100 feet, or the width of a four-lane highway, between you and an AHB bee hive. USDA advises immediately moving away from any kind of beehive.

The common denominator of the two AHB attacks on Dogwood Ranch was the mower. Soon after acquisition of the first parcel of land, we bought a John Deer riding mower to keep approximately three acres of the civilized area mowed. We refer to the John Deer as the “tractor” but it is really the biggest riding-mower you could buy at the time without going up to the true tractor category. Both AHB attacks occurred when the mower passed close to a tree in which the bees had set-up housekeeping. The first attack in 2003 was next to a mulberry tree growing along the creek. The second attack occurred under a dogwood tree but the bees were probably in a large oak tree nearby. We never located the hive. We have since located a hive in an oak tree on a neighbor’s property and got their permission to kill the hive, which we did. Unfortunately, a new hive has now moved in so we are extra cautious in that area and do not mow the grass nearby.

After the first attack, which resulted in six or seven stings causing my spouses arm to swelled-up and look like Popeye’s arms after eating a can of spinach, we had the hive eradicated. This was a job we did not tackle ourselves because of the danger and because the chemicals needed for the job are only available to those with a chemical license. We call the Terminex office in Bryan College Station to come out the poison the hive. We have since filled the cavity in the tree.

A good description of what do if attacked by AHB is included on the Oklahoma State University. Because it truly reduce the number of stings and perhaps save a life (and we wish we had known this when the two AHB attacks occurred on Dogwood Ranch), I copy the advice here verbatim:

“• RUN away as fast as possible! Do not try to retrieve your belongings and do not try to stand still in an attempt to fool the bees. The more you flail your arms, the madder they will get. Get indoors or in a car as fast as possible. If you can't get indoors, keep running. A bee can obtain speeds of from 12 to 15 miles per hour, but most healthy humans can outrun them. They will usually follow you for several hundred feet but Africanized honey bees have been known to follow people for more than a quarter mile.

• Almost all cases of Africanized honey bee attacks can be traced back to some provocation, such as some noise or vibration, i.e. a lawn mower, weed eater, or tractor.

• Any covering for your body, and especially for your head and face will help you escape. People who have been attacked say the worst part is having the bees sting your face and eyes. Any impairment of your vision will also make it more difficult to escape. If you do not happen to have a net with you, grab a blanket, a coat, a towel, anything that will give you momentary relief while you look for an avenue of escape. The covering device is not going to protect you for long. The idea is to use it to help you get away. If you have nothing else, pull your shirt up over your face. The stings you may get on your chest and abdomen are far less serious than those to the facial area” http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ahb/

If you are stung, remove stingers as quickly as possible. After the bee stings, it dies but it leaves its stinger in the victim. The venom sac still has its nerves and muscles attached and will continue to pump venom into the victim for a minute, maybe more. Removing the victim’s outer layer of clothes may help because stingers stuck through the fabric should come off with the clothes.

To remove the stingers, gently scrape them away with a fingernail. If you don’t have a good fingernail, use a credit card, a stiff piece of paper or other similar device. Do not pinch the area, tweeze or attempt to pull out stingers, as this will cause what venom is left in the sacs to push into the victim.

We fully understand the importance of honey bees not just for the production of honey, but to food production and the agricultural business in general. It certainly is not our intent to scour the woods of the entire ranch the kill every hive we find. We have more information today then we did in 2003 to help reduce our chances of aggrevating these bees. However, if their hive is in a location where humans work and play at Dogwood Ranch, we cannot take the chance of another attack and someone being seriously injured.

Map of AHB spread into the Texas
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=11059&page=6

The Wild & Dangerous Side

Danger lurks despite the paradise-like setting of Dogwood Ranch. The “Big Three Dangers” wild and dangerous forces on Dogwood Ranch are: 1) Africanized honey bees; 2) fire ants; and, 3) poison ivy. If you have encountered any one of the Big Three, you know that prevention truly is the best medicine!

In addition to the Big Three Dangers, Dogwood Ranch hosts other dangerous or annoying plants and critters such as copperhead snakes, scorpions, biting flies, thistle and chiggers. On occasion during warm weather, we will find a copperhead (Agkistrodon spp) in a woodpile or hiding curled-up under a board or log. Just this month, I (carelessly and knowing better) stooped down and with my bare hand and picked up a board used as a ramp for the truck to drive over. Lying underneath was a foot-long copperhead snake. I flicked over the rest of the boards with my foot or used another board to upturn them to see what was underneath before stooping down to pick it up. The poisonous snake has bitten no one at Dogwood Ranch. We used to kill the copperheads but now just use a shovel and toss them out of the way. For more information about copperheads, photos, their habitat and harm their bites can cause see http://www.copperhead-snake.com/.   The photo I’ve used here is from this site.

Cooperhead Snake

The same is true with the tiny scorpions; no one at the ranch has suffered a sting. These black striped scorpions (Centruroides vittatus) are between an inch and two inches long from head to tip of the tail. We see them in the barn and find them under logs, boards and around the fire ring. For more information about the Texas black striped scorpion, visit the Texas Agricultural Extension Service at Texas A&M University http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/l-1678.html  and AgriLife Extension at http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg364.html. 

Black Striped Scorpion

Due to the presence of these poisonous critters, we keep a first aid kit handy and have the telephone number to the Trinity Hospital in Brenham nearby.

Biting flies made a first obnoxious appearance this spring. We believe they were some breed of deer fly. They buzzed around our face, bit our foreheads and ears which would then itch for days. Although they only swarmed for about two weeks, they were annoying enough to even drive us away from Dogwood Ranch a while.

Chiggers, not dangerous to my knowledge, are an extremely annoying pest. Chiggers (Trombicula (Eutrombicula) alfreddugesi (Oudemans) and T. splendens Ewing) are microscopic mites that hangout on the tips of tall grass and in brush and trees. When you pass by, they jump on to hitch a ride, while biting you to feed on your blood. Unfortunately, you will not know that you’ve gotten chiggers until a day or two later when the itchy red bumps pop-up. By then, there is not much you can do other than tolerate the itch. Chiggers’ preferred feeding ground on humans are places where clothes fit tightly around the waistline, elastic legs and waists of undergarments and under socks, or where the flesh is thin, tender or wrinkled like around the ankles, armpits, back of the knees, in front of the elbow and groin area.

After we acquired Dogwood, it was several weeks before we were able to get a mower and cut down the tall grass in the “civilized” area of the property. Many itchy chigger infestations later, we gave Dogwood a nickname – Chiggerville! Even now, 7 years later, we refer to areas of the property with tall grass and weeds in summer as Chiggerville. To avoid chiggers, we found these methods work best: 1) bug spray with DEET; 2) wear loose fitting clothes with long sleeves and pants if you must go into Chiggerville; and, the best advice, 3) don’t go into Chiggerville from spring to fall. For more official information about chiggers and how to avoid them to the Texas AgriLife Extension site run by Texas A&M http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/chiggers.html.

Although some of these critters are poisonous and a bite or sting can have serious health consequences to a human if prompt and proper medical care is not sought, we must remember that Dogwood Ranch is, partially anyway, a Texas native wild environment. These creatures are part of Dogwood Ranch as much as the dogwood trees, the barred owls and the red-shouldered hawks. If shown the proper respect by us and our guests we can co-exist with the copperhead, black striped scorpions and biting flies and put up with chiggers.

Conversely, with fire ants, Africanized honeybees and poison ivy, peaceful co-existence gave way to a declaration of all out war. My next few posts will consist of briefings from the trenches about our battles with these wild and dangerous forces.

Birds of a Feather

Kingfishers, pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers and eastern blue birds visit Dogwood Ranch and some of them make the ranch their home, even though they are in the backyard of two sets of birds of prey. Sometimes we hear so many birds chirping it sounds like a bird sanctuary.

Belted Kingfisher

An energetic belted kingfisher entertains us every now and then. It sits on a dead limb hanging high out over the pond. From the limb it flies out over the water in a circle rapidly chattering and presumably catching bugs until it returns to the limb. It does this over and over, sort of like a dog playing fetch.

A great egret also frequents the pond as well as a very shy great blue heron which flies away if it spots the slightest movement from us. When we see the heron we try to turn into statues so as not the scare it, but even a slight move to scratch an itch is detected by the bird and it flies away slowly flapping its great wings.

Great Egret at Dogwood

In the springtime, occasional wood ducks stop at Dogwood Ranch’s pond. A crisp cool morning is one of our favorite times at Dogwood Ranch. As the sun peaks through the trees, shining on the tree trunks on Dogwood, we sip our piping hot morning coffee and watch the ranch wake-up. Before trucks start rambling down the road, mornings are quiet and peaceful. Gradually the morning mist burns away and birds of all kinds start to chirp. Fat Dogwood Ranch squirrels jump around in the treetops before scrambling down to the ground to look for acorns, of which there are millions – thus, the reason for fat squirrels!

We usually sit with our backs to the pond so we can watch the sun gradually light-up the property. One particular March morning was a classic calm Dogwood morning-in-the-making by the campfire when behind us we heard a loud SPLASH! We both nearly fell over in our chairs as we jumped up to look behind us to see what caused the commotion. Two migrating wood ducks caused the splash when they landed in the pond for a little springtime romance. They chased each other in the water and on the bank, with the female shaking her rump in a way that kept the male interested. After awhile, they flew away. Those were the first ducks we saw at Dogwood but we’ve seen wood ducks on the pond the last few springs.

Red-bellied woodpeckers usually start their hammering the trees for bugs after the sun comes up. We have also seen a large pileated woodpecker.

Beautiful eastern blue birds are rare on Dogwood Ranch but we see them on occasion. For years we heard woodcock in the woods but did not see one until last year. It waddled under some brush in a thick brushy area. We have heard, but never seen, bobwhite quail.

A nice complement of common birds including cardinals, yellow-breasted chat, common yellow throat, thrushes, warblers, crows and hummingbirds also add to the color and bird chatter on Dogwood Ranch. We also hear all sorts of birds we do not ever see but hear and have not identified. When all of these varieties of birds show-off their vocal cords on a nice sunny morning, it can get rather loud but it is a peaceful happy noise. The brids sound like they are so happy to see another day begin that they sing about it!

To help us identify bird sounds better, we us a devices called an Identiflyer, which plays, birds sounds and tells you what bird it belongs to. Here’s a link to the site of the inventor of the device. http://www.identiflyer.com/#/home

Birds of Prey-Barred Owls

“Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” This is how birders describe the hoot of the barred owl (Strix varia). It can also be described as hoohooho-ho, hoohooho-hoooooaw, ending on a rolling note. Listen for yourself to the distinctive hoot by clicking http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id and going to the Sound tab. Sometimes the barred owl hoot can be confused for the sound of a barking dog in the distance.

Barred Owl Perched in Juniper Tree

Along with a mating pair of red-shouldered hawks as described in the post dated July 25, 2010; Dogwood Ranch is also home to a mating pair of barred owls. We heard these owls calling across the woods to each other several years before we saw one we could affirmatively identify. As described in the post about the red-shoulder hawk nest, we believe the first time we saw a barred owl on Dogwood Ranch was when a large bird swooped down under the trees at dusk to clutch its prey and fly away.

Those that question whether two different bird of prey species, red-shouldered hawk and barred owl, can share the same territory ask a very good question. Usually, neither species tolerates other birds of prey in their square mile or so territory. An exception is that the red-shouldered hawk and the barred owl which do not consider each other competitors for the same food source because they hunt at different times of day. The hawk hunts during the day and the barred owl at night, so they stay out of each other’s way.

We love the sound of the barred owls’ hoot. For some reason it is very comforting to hear them calling out from the woods in the night. In the fall and winter months, we usually hear them start calling about 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. When we hear one hoot, we stop what we are doing and wait for the other to reply-hoot within a few seconds and sometimes from clear across with woods from the other. They may trade calls for two or three rounds in early evening before twilight. We figure they are just checking in with each other before they set out for the night’s hunt. These calls tend to stop in the spring once the owls have a nest with eggs so that they do not give away the sight of the nest to other predators. Sometimes late at night or in the early morning hours before sunrise, we hear the owls call to each other again, perhaps checking-in when they return from the night’s hunt.

The barred owl is a medium-sized gray-brown owl with white horizontal barring on the chest and vertical barring on the belly. They are round-headed with a whitish/brown facial disk with dark brown trim. They have brown eyes and a yellow beak that is nearly covered by feathers. The plumage of males and females are the same, although the female is larger than the male. The birds are typically 16-25 inches long with a wingspan of 38 – 50 inches. They weigh between 17.5 and 37 oz. Barred owls live about 10 years in the wild. They prefer deep moist forests, wooded swamps, and woodlands near waterways. The characteristic habitat contains heavy mature woods with nearby open country for foraging. The area should include densely foliated trees for daytime roosts, conifers or deciduous trees with year-round leaves for winter roosts, and the presence of large trees with suitable cavities for nesting. Like for the red-shouldered hawk, Dogwood naturally meets these habitat requirements for the barred owl.

Barred owls typically conceal themselves in the dense leaves in treetops during the day. On Dogwood Ranch, they tend to frequent tall juniper or “Texas cedar” trees with thick evergreen foliage. Although cedar will be the subject of a future post, habitat for the barred owl is one of the few redeeming qualities of the otherwise invasive, water-hog and unwanted “trash” cedar trees in Texas. We also see the barred owls fly from treetop to treetop when we are hiking deep into the wooded areas where they tend to nest.

The literature about barred owls often refers to their aggressive nature towards humans near the owls' nest. We have not experienced any aggressive behavior from these birds. Of course, their nest has usually been back in the woods rather than near our main living, work and recreation area. However, several times just before dusk, one of the owls has made an appearance near our evening sitting area. We have a cedar post in the ground near the barn where we mounted the rain gage that sends an electronic signal to the rain monitor indoors. The gage is a plastic cylinder about 6 inches tall with a four-inch circumference. A mesh cupped shaped screen designed to keep leaves and other material from clogging the rain-measuring device sits inside the gage. When we would arrive at Dogwood Ranch for a weekend, we often noticed the screen lying on the ground next to the cedar post. We were astounded that the wind could blow so hard as to blow the screen out of the gage so often.

One evening about dusk, while sitting outside enjoying a cocktail, in the dim light we saw a large dark bird land right on top of the rain gage. It was one of the barred owls. It looked around unperturbed by our presence. We even managed to get the camera out of the car and snap a few shots (with a flash!) while it sat calmly posing for the camera. After it flew away into the trees, sure enough, the mesh screen was on ground next to the cedar post! The culprit dislodging the screen was not the wind but the owl, which apparently frequented this perch and pulled the screen out with its talons. The Critter Cam (subject of a later post) has also shot photos of Junior (a juvenile red-shouldered hawk) perching on the rain gage during the day.

Barred Owl Perched on Rain Gage

The barred owl's diet is similar to the red-shouldered hawk. The owls are semi-nocturnal to nocturnal hunters and prefer to eat small mammals, especially rodents. That's good for mice control in our main living, working and recretation space. This owl is also an opportunistic hunter who will take whatever is available, including small birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians or insects. They often sit on a perch, like a rain gage on a cedar post, and wait to hear or see prey, then they swoop down from above to grab its dinner.

In the cooler months, after dark we like to sit out by the tank (cow pond) in the warm glow of a campfire contained in a metal fire ring. On a moonless night the edge of the woods is pitch black. On occasion, we will hear a horrible screeching cry from the woods that will go on for 30 seconds or so and we know a barred owl has just caught itself a nice big dinner of squirrel, opossum or rabbit. Although it is just part of nature and the normal food chain in the woods, it is a little un-nerving to hear the prey’s last screeches of life rolling out of the pitch black woods.

Barred Owl Chicks

In 2007, we discovered the owls’ nest. Barred owls build their nests in dead deciduous tree cavities or trunks. We discovered such a tree trunk cavity back in the woods in the area from where we often hear owls hoot during non-nesting season and where we see them fly from treetop to treetop when we are on the trail back in the woods. Looking across the creek bed to a cavity in the top of a broken-off tree trunk, we noticed several pairs of big eyes looking back at us. The eyes belonged to two barred owl chicks. We returned the next week with proper camera equipment and shot some nice photos of the chicks, which look a bit like little old men!

For more information about barred owls or other birds, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds website is an excellent authoritative resource which includes photos, video and sounds clips of birds. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1189

Birds of Prey-Red Shouldered Hawks

Red-Shouldered Hawk Adult

Birds of prey are as much a part of Dogwood Ranch as the dogwood trees. Soon after purchasing the first 10 areas of Dogwood Ranch, we often heard loud birdcalls that we certainly don’t hear in the big city of Houston. One evening the following spring, just before dusk with a just a minutes of twilight remaining, I saw a large flying bird swop down under the trees in the deep shadows, grab something off the ground and fly away. The next morning, we looked up into the tops of the tall oak trees close to where the bird swopped down. About 60 feet up, we spotted a huge bowl of sticks, dried leaves and Spanish moss in the main crotch of the tree between the trunk and a large limb. It was the nest of a large bird. Over the next few weeks, we watched the nest, using telephoto camera lenses and a telescope. The nest was the nursery of a nesting pair of red shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus). Today we believe the large bird we saw swoop down at dusk was an owl and it is just happen stance that it did so under the tree the hawks nested in. I will provide more on the owls in a later post.

The red-shouldered hawk is a large, broad-winged hawk. Females, weighing about one and half pounds, tend to be larger than the males. Adult wingspan is between 3 to 3.5 feet. Distinguishing characteristics include reddish shoulders, a rust-colored breast with white and dark streaks, long, narrow and blackish-brown wings with black and white stripes on the undersides, long tails with narrow black and white bands and white tips, and a translucent "window" patch on each wing at the base of their primary feathers. See the Texas Parks & Wildlife link for more information about the red-shouldered hawk. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/redshoulderedhawk/

The chicks are born blind and helpless but are able to leave the nest within 45 days after hatching. One banned bird lived for 20 years. Their diet consists of rabbits, rodents, and other small mammals, as well as small birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, fish, insects, and crayfish. According the TPWD, the red-shouldered hawk is an effective hunter, helping to maintain a balance of predators and prey in woodland and grassland areas. We certainly are grateful for its love of small rodents, specifically mice, to help with rodent control in our temporary living quarters at Dogwood Ranch.

Red-shouldered hawk calls are often used as the cry of bald eagles in the movies and on television because their calls are more distinctive than the eagle's call. To listen to the call, click here and go to Sound.  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/id  Federal law protects all hawks and other birds of prey, which include eagles, osprey, falcons, owls and vultures. It is illegal to harm or kill them or to own any parts of their bodies, such as talons (claws), feathers or nests. Nonetheless, humans often target hawks as potential predators of chickens and other domestic fowl.

Red-Shouldered Hawk Looking Over Nest

At Dogwood, because the hawks nest so high in the tree and we do not always have the elevation to get above and look into the nest, it can be difficult to monitor the nest and look for chicks. The first year, we spotted a single chick. After that first year, every spring, a pair of red-shouldered hawks nests on the property. We believe it is the same pair but we have no way to confirm this. For several years the nests were in trees that gave us a better view of the nest and better photo opportunities. One year the hawks set-up housekeeping in the same nest as the year before, but they refurbished it the second year.

The early spring mating ritual of the red-shouldered hawks, which mate for life, is a sight to see and hear. It turns out that Dogwood Ranch is the perfect environment for these birds, which explains their return to the property to nest year after year. They nest high in mature deciduous trees, 50 or 60 feet off the ground. They prefer to nest on the forest’s edge, near a water source and near an open field. It is over the open field that the mating dance takes place.

When we hear the hawks calling each other in March or April, we know the dance of spring has is under way. The birds usually start calling in the morning not too long after sun-up. At times they sore out over the open field, circling above the field so high they are just tiny dots and we can barely hear their calls. This behavior goes on for several weeks. Once they quite down, we start looking for the tale tell sign pile of sticks and leaves high in a tree. This year, we heard the usual springtime calling and commotion but we have not found the nest.

We refer to the chick each year’s as “Junior”. So far, this pair of hawks seems to only produce one offspring a year. Watching Junior learn to flying is quite entertaining. The young birds take short erratic flights from tree to tree. Landing seems to be a difficult skill as they usually don’t land on the feet but rather on their belly with the legs and winds wrapped around a limb. One particularly wind day, we watch Junior fling himself from tree to tree. The wind was so strong that for a while he simply hugged a tree limb and called a pitiful cry for several hours. We never spotted the parents. That year, junior hung around the nest and property much longer than Juniors of prior years. We decided he was a mama’s-boy traumatized by that windy flying experience and was afraid to venture too far from the nest. Of course we have no way of knowing why he hung around so long after the parents had parted ways until the next mating season.

These amazing birds are such a sight to see and hear at Dogwood, no matter what we are doing when hear them call, we stop and look up in hopes of seeing them soar past.

Parallel Ranch Universes

Parallel Ranch Universes? Those who follow cutting-edge theories of modern physics (or sci-fi) are familiar with the idea of parallel universes. For real scientific information about the theories of parallel universes or multi-verses, visit Stephen Hawking's site http://www.hawking.org.uk/ or Dr. Michio Kaku's site http://mkaku.org/home/?s=parallel+universes or http://bigthink.com/ideas/20340. The topic is way over my head, but I nonetheless like the loose analogy of parallel universes to describe Dogwood Ranch activities.

Dogwood Ranch consists of two parallel “ranch universes” both operating side-by-side, mostly parallel to each other, but sometimes they overlap or collide. The first universe is the cattle ranch universe, which is just what it sounds like, running cattle on the land for an agricultural purpose. Running parallel with the cattle ranch universe is the land stewardship or conservation ranch universe. In this universe, we concentrate on recreation and restoring much the land back to its natural state. We are trying to improve the wildlife habitats and encourage native grasses. This is a Reborn to the Land activity. (see post dated July 12, 2010). The two ranch universes, or activities, co-exist in space and time, i.e., on the same piece of property in Texas at the same time. Okay, that’s enough of the esoteric physics analogies for now.

Dogwood Ranch has a cattle operation and a wildlife/native grass operation. In some sense, these two parallel activities seem incompatible but so far, both endeavors are working well together