McClintock Birding Page

YARD LIST (since September 1995)

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck*

Canada Goose

Snow Goose

American Wigeon

Hooded Merganser

Osprey

Mississippi Kite

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk

Swainson's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Crested Caracara

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Wild Turkey

Northern Bobwhite*

Sandhill Crane

Whooping Crane

Killdeer

American Woodcock

Franklin's Gull

Rock Pigeon

White-winged Dove*

Mourning Dove

Inca Dove

Common Ground-dove

Yellow-billed Cuckoo*

Greater Roadrunner*

Eastern Screech-Owl*

Great Horned Owl

Barred Owl

Common Nighthawk

Chuck-will's-widow

Whip-poor-will

Chimney Swift*

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird*

Anna's Hummingbird

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Golden-fronted Woodpecker*

Northern Flicker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Least Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher

Ash-throated Flycatcher*

Western Kingbird

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

White-eyed Vireo*

Bell's Vireo

Black-capped Vireo*

Blue-headed Vireo

Hutton's Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

Western Scrub-Jay*

Common Raven

American Crow

Purple Martin

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Cave Swallow

Barn Swallow*

Carolina Chickadee*

Black-crested Titmouse*

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Rock Wren

Canyon Wren*

Carolina Wren*

Bewick's Wren*

House Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Eastern Bluebird

Swainson's Thrush

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Northern Mockingbird*

Sage Thrasher

Brown Thrasher

Long-billed Thrasher

Curve-billed Thrasher

Cedar Waxwing

Tennessee Warbler

Northern Parula

Orange-crowned Warbler*

Nashville Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Golden-cheeked Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Pine Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

American Redstart

Ovenbird

MacGillivray's Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson's Warbler

Rufous-capped Warbler

Yellow-breasted Chat

Summer Tanager

Olive Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

Canyon Towhee

Rufous-crowned Sparrow*

American Tree Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Clay-colored Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal*

Pyrrhuloxia

Black-headed Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Lazuli Bunting

Indigo Bunting

Painting Bunting*

Varied Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Common Grackle

Great-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird*

Bronzed Cowbird

Orchard Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

Scott's Oriole*

Audubon's Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

House Finch*

Pine Siskin

Lesser Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

*indicates species that we know have bred here

BIRD PHOTOS

Painted Bunting (left)
Passerina ciris

and Lazuli Bunting (right)
Passerina amoena

Three Buntings: Indigo, Painted (2) and Lazuli

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 177K)

Northern Bobwhite
Colinus virginianus
quail covey, January 2006

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 136K)

Common Ground-Doves
Columbina passerina

Spotted Towhee
Pipilo maculatus

Spotted Towhee

Long-billed Thrasher
Toxostoma longirostre

Thanks to MMS for the correction!

Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatus
Juvenile bird haunting the feeder area (with its right leg drawn up)

Nyger seed feeder sock with American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, and Lesser Goldfinch, January 4, 2006.

Another photo (January 14)

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
and
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)

Our resident Scrub-Jays keep a close eye on their 'cousin' during its visits.

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 148K)

Sage Thrasher
Oreoscoptes montanus

This is the very eastern edge of their range. This one over-wintered here, 2006.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
Taken through a dirty window...

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) above, and
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
visit the bird pond during a dry spell.

Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
male and female

Orange-crowned Warbler
Vermivora celata

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 168K)

Our "Yard Turkey"

Bewick's Wrens
Thryomanes bewickii
feeding their brood on our front porch

Audubon's Oriole
Icterus graduacauda

(Click on the picture to watch a QuickTime movie; 2.2MB)

(Larger and closer view: 5.1MB)

Golden-cheeked Warbler
Dendroica chrysoparia

(Click on the picture to watch a QuickTime movie; 548KB)

Northern Mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos
State bird of Texas (and others) making a typical grand entrance

Summer Tanager
Piranga rubra

Front view and back view

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 308K)

Cooper's Hawk
Accipiter cooperii
taking a quick dip in the bird bath (the black tube is not a snake)

Looking down on the parent Bewick's Wrens as they begin to build in the nestbox, Spring 2008. Results: six fledglings.
I was able to film the entire cycle and will eventually offer a link here to the video.

Varied Bunting
Passerina versicolor
Spending the summer of 2009 with us, somewhat East of it's normal range

Top of page

CRITTERS

White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
One of the does that visits us for a drink

White-tailed Deer
One of the twin fawns from 2004

Doe and fawn

(Click the picture to see a larger version; 252 K)

Fawn of 2006

(Click the picture to see a larger version; 276 K)

Texas (or Desert) Tortoise
Gopherus berlandieri

Common Gray Fox
Urocyon cinereoargenteus
stops by to eat bird seed.

(Click the picture to see a QuickTime movie, 1.2 MB)

Did you know there are at least 32 species of bats in Texas?

This is probably an Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis Rafinesqu)

Yes, it's finally come to this. Even we must now suffer the bane of bird feeders everywhere. Oh, woe is us... Bring back the years gone by when the bitter tide of squirreldom was not cast upon us... <sniff, sniff>

(Just kidding. They're only occasional visitors.)

Eastern Fox Squirrel
Sciurus niger

Eastern Cottontail
Sylvilagus floridanus
Our most prolific female bunny vacuums up plenty of bird seed and needs an occasional drink.

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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS

Fence Lizard

(Click the picture for a larger photo; 112K)

"Ahh, nothin' like a nice snooze, stretched out on a warm stone!"

(Click the picture for a larger photo; 128K)

Great Plains Rat Snake
Elaphe guttata emoryi
Rick is safely moving this one from the bird pond to another location.

(Click the picture for a close-up; 155K)

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus atrox
Notice that Rick isn't holding this one in his hands...

(Click the picture for a larger photo; 103K)

Young Rattlesnake
Very young Western Diamondback with a single button. These babies are quite venomous and difficult to see, and unable to make noise yet to warn you of their presence.

(Click the picture for a larger photo; 86K)

Eastern Blackneck Garter Snake Thamnophis cyrtopsis ocellatus
A handsome Hill Country variety

(Click on the picture to see the entire photo, 60K)

Texas Alligator Lizard
Gambelia liocephalus infermalis
We were (gently) measuring it at about 12.5 inches.

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 72K)

Plains Leopard Frog
Rana blairi
This one lives in our front garden and soaks in the small, concrete bird bath. You can see it in its 'native' habitat here.

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 84K)

Caption: "How humiliating!"

"Gator"
The man-eating spiny lizard somewhere in the genus Sceloporus; it was enormous.

(Click the picture for a larger view; 59K. Another ominous pose, 52K, cue the shark music from Jaws)

Probably some variety of
Gray Treefrog

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 36K)

Green Anole
Anolis carolinensis

Green Treefrog
Hyla cinerea

Another Texas Alligator Lizard doing some hunting

(Click on the picture for a larger photo; 147K)

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BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS & ODONATA

Queen
Danaus gilippus
Southwestern female on (what else!) a milkweed, Asclepias -- commonly called "butterfly weed"

White-striped Longtail
Chioides catillus
A skipper that is pretty common to South-central Texas. We're on the northern edge of their range.

(Click on the picture for a larger version; 160K)

Gulf Fritillary
Agraulis vanillae
One of the many beautiful butterflies and moths that pass through our yard

Two-tailed Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio multicaudata
A huge, beautiful butterfly with one short and one long tail on each side.

(Click the picture for a larger photo, 90K)

Julia Heliconian
Dryas julia
A tropical longwing, this is a female sipping on confetti lantana

Julia Heliconian
Dryas julia
Fall female, quite worn

American Lady
Vanessa virginiensis
Very worn fall individual.

Eastern Tailed-blue (I think)
Everes comyntas
I didn't know enough at the time to get a photo of the underside to help ID it! There was no tail, but it could be missing in a worn individual. Otherwise, might be a Reakirt's Blue?

Common Sootywing?
Pholisora catullus

Skipper
A Western Hesperia, probably either a Green or Pahaska Skipper

[Thanks, D Harper, for the help!]

Damselfly

(I don't know odonata...yet)

Damselfly

(Click on the picture for a larger version; 85K)

California Sister
Adelpha bredowii
A gorgeous western Admiral that loves oak trees (although it's perched on a Mtn. Laurel here)

Pipevine Swallowtail
Battus philenor

Black Witch Moth
Ascalapha odorata
The largest moth north of Mexico. This one is a male with a wingspan of about 6.25 inches. It was photographed in 2007 against our light gray porch wall.

(Click on the picture for a larger version; 60K)

Black Witch Moth
Ascalapha odorata
This is a female (notice the white-ish line) and this photo from 2008 shows more detail of the gorgeous coloring.

(Click on the picture for a larger version; 401K)