Butterfly and Wildlife Gardening And Photography In Houston Texas
.jpg)
Category Archives: Reptiles Well I saw my first Cottonmouth of the season; a Western Cottonmouth. As luck would have it I was watching my outdoor video cameras and noticed something slinking within the stream. At quick glance, I thought, oh, it’s just one of those broad banded water snakes that are not poisonous. I run inside to grab…  Now they it’s getting warmer and water getting more scarce, my disappearing bird stream is bustling in activity. Many birds are drinking and bathing in the stream, a raccoon comes out at night to drink, I’ve seen a few mice drop by, and the other day, a Western Cottonmouth snake. Normally I don’t like to…  It was a busy weekend, at least on Saturday. I’m doing a complete redesign of one section of the backyard. My goal for this area is that it will be much more bird friendly. I’ve already planted an Eastern Red Cedar and moved the Yaupon Holly to that area as well. My “plan” is to…  I did take my trip to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Specifically I went to the Skillern Tract part of the refuge. I can’t recommend this part of the wildlife refuge highly enough. It is awesome! From what I read, it’s still relatively unknown among birders, but that probably won’t last for long. I actually went… Okay, I’ve done it. I’ve cataloged most all my books. I still have some computer books at work I need to catalog, but for this blog I think I’m complete. I’ve organized the books into sections and I’ll also make the list available for download should you choose to keep it as a reference for…  While I was feeding the Koi and watering the Maple tree, I noticed this small little snake slithering towards the pond. It’s a Broad Banded Water Snake, and one of the youngest I’ve ever seen before. At first I picked up the Snake with my Snake tongs, but since I was feeling a little courageous,…  First we had the pictures of the Green Anoles mating, and now we have a massive fight between two of the males. They were literally fighting for over 2 hours. I don’t know if they fight until the death, but these two were definitely at war. One of the Anoles was a bit smaller, but…  Leecy spotted these two going at it in the garden. The female doesn’t look all that thrilled, but what do I know. Here’s a video.  I have some pictures of Eastern Black Swallowtails that I wanted to share. Before I get to that, I wanted to share some information and see if others might have noticed the same thing. We’ve had quite a few eggs and Caterpillars from the Eastern Black Swallowtail, but just as the Caterpillars get to be…  Before I start getting the emails, no animals (or reptiles) were harmed during this photo shoot (the Snake was released into the woods after I took a few pictures). Leecy was helping me in the garden this morning and saw a small Garter Snake, at the same time I was hunting a Broad Banded Water…  Oh boy, what a day. Two big snakes in one day is a little much for me. I started off by looking in the Bamboo for any new bird nests (the Cardinals built a few nests in there last year). Suddenly right in front of my face is a funny looking branch, which I could…  I was out watering the plants early this morning and it turns out, not only were the plants enjoying the water. At first I didn’t even see this Lizard, but then I saw the scurrying up the branch and there it was. It didn’t even mind getting a little wet in the process.  Had a great day today visiting Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge with Leecy. We saw lots of birds, but getting great pictures of them is another story. We started off at dawn, and there was this Heron silhouetted against the water. I love taking (or trying to take) pictures of raptors, like Hawks and Harriers. What…  I was taking out the trash this evening and right out in the middle of the driveway was a Broad Banded Water Snake. What this snake was doing in the middle of the driveway, I have no idea. At first I thought it was dead, because it wasn’t really moving. Even when I first grabbed…  I was watering the garden once I got home, and who should appear but another Copperhead Snake. I really love the beauty of these snakes. To encourage Leecy to do something constructive with the Snake, I encouraged her to make a brief video on how to identify these types of snakes for those that may… |
|