Joann Merritt's Essays

Stay Alert! You Can Observe A Lot By Watching
September, 1998

Yogi Berra was exhorting his New York Yankees when he yelled these words, but this Yogi-ism applies to naturalists as well as baseball players.

This summer I alertly observed that a Painted Bunting’s entire head is not blue. There is a continuous red strip from the base of his lower bill to his red breast. This can easily be seen while the bird is drinking but finding a Painted Bunting drinking is not so easily done.

Barn Swallow nestlings have a ridiculous thatch of gray fuzzy down on top of their heads. Shortly after they fledged, the protective parents not so politely escorted a Kestrel away from the nest area, pursuing it until they were all out of sight.

It made me cringe when I observed a female Cardinal feeding a young Brown-headed Cowbird and I also cringed when I saw both of our nesting oriole species feeding Bronzed and Brown-headed Cowbird fledglings. When the Bell’s Vireos were nesting here, many times the parasitic cowbirds deposited their eggs in the tiny Vireo’s nest. This may be nature’s way but it is a way that I abhor.

The Indians could have fashioned a dance using the Bronzed Cowbirds display movements - although I doubt the Indians could have hovered in the air.

A male Lesser Goldfinch watched closely as a House Finch drank syrup from the hummingbird feeder, then he flew to the feeder and proceeded to also drink the syrup.

For many days a female Bobwhite would walk around the pond but never drink. Her golden throat and head stripes, brown patterned back and pointed breast feathers were spectacular in the evening sunshine. One day after she ate a fallen plum she drank by dipping her bill into the water then just slightly raising her head to swallow. The plums from our tree are very sour which explains why she drank for long time.

Painted Buntings, Orioles and Cardinals get sopping wet when bathing and look very bedraggled. The Long-billed Thrasher prefers sprinkles of water on the wet grass. She crouched, ran a foot or so, shook her feathers vigorously, ran a foot or so, etc. She tried to perch in the plants around Jesse’s Pond to preen but the plants wouldn’t support her weight. I assume the bird was a female because she was here for several weeks and never sang.

The following are two observations by our son who lives west of Midland. While on an evening walk through Mission Durado John saw and heard “Little Bobby” playing in the street. The tiny Bobwhite was still just a soft fuzz ball and was anxiously cheeping because it couldn’t get over the curb to return to the field. When John reached down to help the chick a male Bobwhite few up just a few feet in front of him, furiously flapping its wings. John nearly got a flogging. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

While John was driving to work one morning he noticed a hawk flying low near the airport. As it flew over Highway 80 it was directly in front of the pickup enabling him to see the reason for the hawk’s low altitude - it was carrying a very large snake in its talons.

Jesse’s Pond furnished water that was deep enough for the Yellow-billed Cuckoo’s bathing purposes. As the cuckoo hopped back and forth across the pond he would quickly dip into the water. After his feathers were wet he perched on a rock to preen. He cocked and fanned his tail feathers showing 3 big white spots bordered by black feathers on each side of his tail. He drooped and spread his wings exposing the beautiful rufous colored feathers. His underparts looked like white velvet while his upperparts shone a sleek soft brown. He drank by dipping his bill in the water then stretching his neck and head upward very similar to a Bittern’s pose. He would hold that position for several minutes each time he took a drink. Would that he had drank first, then bathed! I’m beginning to understand Yogi’s statement. I observed a lot by watching this bird.