Red Harvester Ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) clear out the vegetation from circles of about a meter. You can see the circles on googlemaps. Unlike fire ants, this native species is good for the environment, providing food for Texas horned lizards, quail, and other birds. They also loosen and fertilize the soil. Here’s what they look like up close and personal.Knotroot bristlegrass (Setaria geniculata) grows along the wetland area of the prairie. Its glistening plume lights up the winter landscape.The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) and the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) are two of our most common neighbors. It’s fun to see them here enjoying each other’s company.Yellow indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) has long lost its glory, but the seeds still hang on to feed the sparrow and maybe start new plants next year.The Lincoln sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) is a streaky little fellow over his buffy chest and side. Sitting on this colorful woodpile, he looks particularly enchanting.The color of this lone black jack oak (Quercus marilandica Muenchh) leaf drew my attention.These feathers represent the leftovers from somebody’s meal.We probably have a little too much Camphor weed (Heterotheca subaxillaris) in the prairie right now, but the birds and pollinators like it, and it makes these lovely little flowers that show off even in the winter.Aptly named Christmas Cholla (Cylindropuntia leptocaulis) brightens up the hedgerow.Eastern gamma grass (Tripsacum dactyloides), which has a beautiful show of blooms at other times, still looks pretty in the winter.Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) shows off in the winter, turning a rusty red.The evergreen live oak tree (Quercus virginiana), an integral part of the oak savanna, stands out in silhouette in the prairie landscape.The spines on this Texas prickly pear cactus (Opuntia engelmannii) are vibrant.Flatsedge (Cyperus eragrostis) has a pretty seedhead in the winter.Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) has a lovely profile against the winter prairie.Sand lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes) is beautiful and delicate even in the winter.Sandyland Bluebonnets (Lupinus subcarnosus) fill the trails through the prairie. This variety is blue all the way to the top, without the usual white tip. They are actually indicators of disturbed land, but we love them anyway. They show up in January and sometimes in December to remind us that spring is coming.
We had a great time at our Bexar Audubon Society Winter Bird Bioblitz, the second Saturday in January of 2023. Eight participants observed 36 species and probably 1000 birds, between 8 and 10 am. Some of the highlights for me were the Northern Harrier, who has become our regular winter visitor for the past five years; two Red-tailed Hawks, seated in the live oak tree across the field; and two Lesser Goldfinches, male and female, perched on the spent basil plants in our garden, gorging themselves on the seeds. But by far the stars of the show were the hundreds of sparrows filling the prairie grasses. We saw Savannah Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, House Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, LeConte’s Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and Lincoln Sparrows.
Several of the volunteers from the Bexar Audubon Society carried cameras and scopes, and we got to see the sparrows up close and personal.
Here are some photos that were made during the morning.
Sparrows, small and drably colored, are often lumped together as little brown birds (LBBs). However, to more trained and attentive eyes their shape, coloration, markings, sounds, and flight patterns are unique and quite stunning.
We were gifted this 434-page book about sparrows from a birding friend of ours—Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America by Rick Wright. The back of the dustcover notes that “sparrows are as complicated as they are common.” It appears to me that the same thing could be said of us Homo sapiens—as complicated as we are common.
Jesus made a similar observation, viewing us with the same kind of eyes that these experienced Audubon birders viewed the sparrows flitting around in our prairie last weekend, noting the streaks on their heads, the shapes of the feathers on their cheeks, the lengths of their tails, the blushes of color on their chests. In Luke 12: 6-7, Jesus assures us that even the common sparrows garner the attention of the Father, and that, likewise, he counts us worthy of his attention, attending to our complexities, down to the number of hairs on our head.
It seems to me, that kind of attention is something to rest on and to practice.
