End of point counts: a commemorative set of haikus

I'll preface this by saying I recently submitted a challenge to my parents to immortalize their adventures and observations as haikus, starting with their going to home games of the Marauder's baseball team in Florida. Receiving their excellent and elegantly phrased poems and having come to the end of my field season bird point counts, I thought I would attempt a reply, albeit one with awful writing and a Monty Python reference. For those with brave hearts and terrible poetic taste, read on!

 

Two walk a long time

Listen for the birds singing

But where are the birds?

 

Breeding season gone

Birds a-flocking, taking flight

Ten minute silence
 

Bored out of our skulls

Think of something, just anything,

Bring the coconuts!

The long walk between point counts...

South Texas birding highlights

The problem with on-the-job birding is that you see a lot of cool birds (and also a ton of mockingbirds) but never have a chance to actually get pictures of them. Anyway, because I happen to like pictures, here are some of my favorites and new additions to my birding life list, all of which I saw in the wee hours of mornings May through July here in south Texas.

 

For those playing at home the birds in reading order are: Audubon's oriole, Bullock's oriole, groove-billed ani, greater roadrunner, painted bunting, orchard oriole,  blue grosbeak, pyrrhuloxia, dickcissel, hooded oriole, green jay, northern beardless-tyrannulet, varied bunting, yellow-billed cuckoo, and long-billed thrasher. (Photo credits in photos or from wikipedia.org)

Heading into thick catclaw scrub ...