August nights in the oaks ripped with rasping calls of barn owl fledglings.
Inhabiting six continents, barn owls are among the most cosmopolitan of creatures.
I installed sheet metal flashing on the post supporting the owl box, deterring raccoons and allowing the owls to breed successfully this year.
Black headed grosbeaks, returning from such places as Michoacan and Jalisco, also bred well this season.
Four or five young of the year frequented the feeder trays.
From the garden beds.
Eurasian collared doves were accidentally released in the Bahamas in 1974, and have since conquered most of North America, the most successful avian invasive species since the European starling (1890) and the English sparrow (1850). They first showed up at the ranch three or four years ago.
Tiger swallowtail, unlike the long distance migratory monarch, probably hatched in the willows and cottonwoods along the creek across the road.
