Some days you just got to hide from the rain.

Evidence that animals aren't dumb. The rabbit hides from the rain. She thought about going in the gazebo, but that's too enclosed for her, so this is the best she could find while eating lunch.

Live Green Expo

(This post is local in nature, but I encourage you who do not live in our area to look for similar events in your own home towns.)

With a crack the whip, the Big B lets us know it’s time to go on a fact finding mission. Yes, tomorrow we step beyond our own backyard for a day and venture out to learn more about sustainability and green living.

Saturday, April 16, the City of Plano’s Sustainability & Environmental Services Dept. will be putting on the Live Green in Plano expo. This will be their 5th year bringing a new perspective to North Texans on going green. And Since the B is huge fan of being green, we’d better come back with some valuable info.

There’s going to be some great events and activities relating to urban gardening, renewable energy, crafting swap meets, and composting workshops. Seminars will give us 10 tips to attract birds into our yards and living with urban wildlife. And that’s just to name a few!

Top the entire thing off with some sampling of local cuisine prepared with local foods by the Collin College Culinary Arts Institute. Find out more at livegreenexpo.net.

This should be fun!

Walking on Sunshine

This morning Amy and I were striding down a paved walking trail when suddenly I realized I was walking alone. I turned quickly to see if Amy had fallen into a mysterious hole, but instead found her staring intently at a small lump of mud on the sidewalk. “That’s what I thought,” she exclaimed. “That’s a turtle!” I craned my neck to get a better view. Sure enough, what I thought was a dirt-clod was actually a living thing.

From Mr. Turtle’s perspective, he’s just basking in the middle of the sidewalk, minding its own business when he’s unceremoniously scooped up and gawked at by two enormous creatures that don’t have the decency to let others alone.

The ‘lil guy (or gal; to be honest I don't know the gender) is a river cooter of some variety. Maybe a Texas river cooter (Pseudemys texana) or an eastern river cooter (Pseudemys concinna). Either that or it’s one of the many varieties of slider that someone “set free”. Being that he’s so puny, I’m going to assume that he didn’t find his way here from little Johnny’s aquarium. What an interesting thing have happen!

Now, I admit, normally I’d just admire the wildlife from a distance, but “Turtleboy” here was in a high traffic zone and heading for some smooshing, so we moved him closer to the pond. He hesitated just a moment, then plunged into the cool, not-so-clear water and was gone. Hmph, not even a “thanks.”

There you have it people. Be vigilant and remember to look down once in a while. You might be walking on somebody else’s sunshine!

Dallas Blooms!

Spring is in the air and cities around the United States often celebrate with some sort of flower festival. Here in Dallas, the Arboretum puts on what has come to be called “Dallas Blooms”, which basically kicks off the season, and indeed the rest of the year.

Botanic gardens and arboretums are wonderful destinations to shake those winter blah’s, offering everything from seasonal outdoor festivals and art shows to concerts, dining and more. And the wonderful thing is, every time you come back, there is something else to see! Bring your cameras and binoculars, or just come and enjoy the spectacle.

This year (as with most) I helped the Dallas Bonsai Society put on their Spring Show, so I was there for the opening weekend of “Blooms”. The flowers on the grounds are bursting with color. Our trees looked in good form this year. Next door the Daffodil Society displayed their beautiful flowers. It was a great weekend. I can't wait to get back and spend more time checking out all the new things the arboretum has to offer!

Great Backyard Bird Count - Part Deux

Ok folks. Two days left on the Great Backyard Bird Count. Time to kick it into high gear. Most of the country (according to the plot map on the GBBC site) looks a nice pretty red; that is, lots of submissions. GOOD JOB!

I walked outside this morning and the day is overcast. For me, that means it may be a bit “squinty” out there until the clouds clear out. I snapped the fine picture above of a mourning dove just before its mate showed up and they started preening. Sadly, the follow-up photos were rather blah because the sky is completely blown out right now.

Mourning doves are a pretty common site around most parts, and easily spotted. They have a light brown to buff-colored overall appearance with black spots on their wings, a dusty blue eye ring surrounding a jet black eyeball, pink feet and dark beak. They do a lot of ground feeding, especially around my place, because my bird feeders aren’t large enough to support them.

Check out some more neat facts on these and other birds at the All About Birds website.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

A dear friend of mine (whom I’ve been known to call Mom from time to time) recently gave me the latest issue of Birds & Blooms. This reminded me that a yearly event I like to participate in is almost upon us. The Great Backyard Bird Count is just two weeks away! What is the GBBC you ask? Well, it’s a joint project between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Audubon Society and Bird Studies Canada to create a “map” of bird migration patterns and population sizes, and helps answer questions like how the climate influences migration and how disease and the changing landscape affect populations. You can count birds for as little as 5 minutes or all day long. You submit your counts online, and don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own window unless you’re the adventuresome type.

Counting is fun, easy and is something you can do with your kids! Amy and I have participated a number of times now and look forward to it every year.

To find out more, please visit The Great Backyard Bird Count website.

An Uneasy Truce

Now here is a picture you don’t see every day. I caught this red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) perching on top of a swing set at our neighborhood playground. Not that seeing this raptor is uncommon, but seeing it sitting so close to birds that it normally doesn’t get along with is unusual. The weather was blustery and cold, and obviously the hawk didn’t feel much like hunting. Strangely, the crows didn’t seem to want to move him along either. Normally, crows will harass a bird-of-prey to drive it away from the area. I guess everyone was concentrating more on staying warm.

Red-tailed hawks are one of the most common raptors you’ll see in Texas. Their range extends to almost all parts of North America, and they inhabit nearly all types of habitats, including deserts, grasslands, mixed forests/fields and even urban areas. Somewhere along the line they inherited the nickname of “chicken-hawk,” though they don’t actually attack chickens that often. Females are also usually a bit bigger than the males, a condition called sexual dimorphism.

Learn more about this fascinating bird at Wikipedia, and at DesertUSA.com.