Greetings All:
Thanks in part to the unusually mild winter (which has me getting on top of
the yard in March instead of in April) and my competition with Rich, I have
spent a bit of time in my Lubbock yard this week.
Highlights include: 2 Pine Siskins at a thistle feeder on the 10th, 1
Hermit Thrush in my backyard branch/wildlflower tangle on the 11th, 1
Merlin (which led me to vacate the yard for a half hour while it dismantled
a White-winged Dove it had just picked off a utility line), and a flock of
130 or so Common Grackles flying over in the late afternoon.
While Common Grackles are permanent residents in riparian woodlands
throughout the year in our region, urban Lubbock is only blessed with
overflights of Common Grackles twice during the year - spring and fall -
and this is relatively early for spring movement to/through the region.
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson