Winter Birds Have Finally Returned

For the last couple of months my backyard has been virtually absent of birds. Other than a flock of House Sparrows and Crows that roam the neighborhood as well as a few Chickadees, Titmice and a pair of Inca Doves that have been coming to the feeders every day or so, it's been awfully quiet. Even the Northern Cardinals, which I usually have in large numbers year round, haven't been around.

That all changed yesterday morning with temperatures in the high 20's. This last cold front has finally brought my winter migrants to the backyard feeders. In all, I had eight varieties of migrant birds in the backyard yesterday morning that I haven't seen since the early Spring including several Chipping Sparrows & Dark Eyed Juncos, an American Goldfinch, two Orange-crowned Warblers, a White-crowned Sparrow, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. I also had several other non migrant varieties that have been largely absent since early September including Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, a pair of Mockingbirds, a Carolina Wren, an Eastern Phoebe, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds, and a Blue Jay. And this morning, I had an American Robin at the bird bath. All in all, quite a change from the last two and half months. Hopefully, some of the other migrants that usually frequent my feeders during the winter months (House Finches, Pine Siskins, Harris Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, etc.) will start showing up in the next week or so. Guess I'll have a bigger bird food bill for the next four months, but don't mind at all.

Honoring our Veterans on This Day

Today we honor our veterans who have preserved and protected our country for most of our nation's history. Though I was of age during the mid to late 1960's when the Vietnam War was being waged, I never served in any branch of the Armed Forces during that time unless you want to count the one semester I spent in college Air Force ROTC back in 1966. I did, however, have many friends and classmates from high school and college that did serve with at least three making the ultimate sacrifice during that conflict. As a result, I have always had the utmost respect for those who have served our country.

In my own family, my dad, Garlin Scroggins,


and two of his brothers, Fermin and Oliver Scroggins, served in the Army in Europe during WW II with Oliver giving his life for his country at the age of 19 in February of 1945, and dad's youngest brother, Don, served in the early 1960's during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and later told me about sitting on a troop ship in Savannah harbor along with several thousand other soldiers for three days awaiting orders to invade Cuba if Russian ships carrying nuclear missile parts tried to run the U.S. naval blockade around that island nation. Fortunately for him and all the rest of us, the Russian's backed down and turned their ships around and dismantled the missile bases they had been constructing only 50 or so miles from our shores rather than go to war with the U.S. Everyone today should say thanks to those they know that have served and say a prayer for those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Where Have the Birds Gone

As most of my friends know, over the past few years, I have become somewhat of an avid bird watcher and particularly look forward to the return of the winter migrants that come to my backyard feeders such as Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, Juncos, etc., but so far, none of them have shown up this Fall. I guess it could be because the weather hasn't cooled off enough this Fall to encourage them to start their southern migration, so I still expect to start seeing some of them here by the end of the month.

It may be somewhat early for the migrants, but what has me completely befuddled is the disappearance of the backyard birds that reside here year round. I have always had fairly large numbers of Northern Cardinals, Chickadees, Titmice, woodpeckers and doves of various kinds coming to the backyard feeders regardless of the time of year, but since I returned from a month-long trip out to New Mexico the middle of September, they have become almost non-existent around here other than a large flock of House Sparrows which I could do without and a pair of Inca Doves. Had my bird feeders been empty while I was gone, I might think they simply moved on to someone elses backyard feeders, but a family member put out bird food and suet on a regular basis during that time, so I don't have a clue what is keeping them away. Just wondering if any other backyard birder is experiencing the same situation.

The Rifters Coming to Nocona Nights on Saturday

For the past 16 years, I have been a fan of so called Texas music which encompasses a great variety of styles and genres with the recurring theme being that the music is performed by the the same people who wrote it and who, for the most part, have Texas roots. That's why I follow folks like Larry Joe Taylor, Tommy Alverson, Max Stalling and Roger Creager, just to name a few. I also include in the group those performers that live outside of Texas, but grew up here such as Michael Hearne and those who came to Texas from somewhere else and have made Texas their home such as Jerry Jeff Walker and the band, Reckless Kelly.

Having traveled to music festivals in Red River and Taos, NM on numerous occasions since 2003, I have also developed an appreciation of the music coming out of Northern New Mexico and Colorado from performers such as Jimmy Stadler, Two Dollar Horse, Chuck Pyle and The Rifters ,who this Saturday night, will be performing their Southwestern Americana style of music for a sold-out crowd at Daddy Sam's in Nocona. The group, comprised of Don Richmond, Rod Taylor and Jim Bradley, have, over the years, developed a large dedicated following in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. Their trip to Nocona this week is one of only a few dates they will play outside of NM and CO, but was put in doubt a month ago when Jim Bradley fell 2 1/2 stories off a roof he was working on and airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque with three fractured vertebrae and four broken ribs. Fortunately, he has recovered enough from his injuries that he is able to make the trip and perform. It should be a great night of food and music for those fortunate to be there and maybe they'll do some after-show picking out at the Veranda Inn like they did back in February with Joe Pat Hennen and Marvin Wilson when they played at Joe Pat's Winter Campfire which was also held in Nocona.

Celebrating Dad's 87th Birthday this Week

Twenty-One members of the Scroggins family got together at my house yesterday to celebrate dad's 87th birthday. We had planned to have most of the activities on our backyard patio, but mother nature chose not to accomodate us and it rained for most of the day, so we spent the afternoon and evening in the house. A little crowded, but we still had a good time visiting with one another.

Upcoming 2010-2011 Nocona Nights Dinner/Music Series

On October 16th The Nocona Nights Dinner/Music Series will begin it's ninth year of production with musical entertainment provided by the iconic Texas singer/songwriter, Ray Wylie Hubbard.

This year's Nocona Nights music series will host seven shows and will also include performances by The Rifters, a great Southwestern Americana trio from Northern New Mexico;


the Western swing music of the Quebe Sisters;


the Texas Honkeytonk music of Deryl Dodd;


Gary P. Nunn, one of the original members of the Lost Gonzo Band who wrote, "London Homesick Blues";

another great Western Swing band, Hot Club of Cowtown with Elana James;


and the always high energy Two Tons of Steel out of San Antonio.

All shows will be held at Daddy Sam's Saloon in downtown Nocona with the exception of the October show featuring Ray Wylie Hubbard. Due to a scheduling conflict at Daddy Sam's, the October show is being held at the Carpenter's Shop(the Nocona Senior Citizens Center). One benefit of holding the show there, however, is that we can seat about twice as many people as we have season ticket holders, so anyone who would like to attend that show should be able to purchase a ticket by calling the Nocona Chamber of Commerce at (940)825-3526. The cost is $30 and includes a meal before the show. Due to the limited seating in Daddy Sam's, the other shows are all unofficially sold out since we have as many season ticket holders as we do seats, however, since we almost always have some season ticket holders that are not able to attend every show, we are usually able to accomodate a handful of people each show if they call the Chamber office in advance and get on a waiting list. Hope to see some of you at this year's shows.

Our trip to Red River and Taos

For the past few years now, we have been leaving the heat of North Texas in mid-August and pulling our 5th wheel trailer out to Red River and then to Taos New Mexico to spend about a month in the much cooler air and to attend a couple of music festivals that are held there in August and September.

This year was no exception. We left Decatur around 8 AM on August 16th after enduring sixteen straight days of 100+ temps, arriving at Roadrunner RV Resort in Red River late that afternoon to rain and 55 degree weather where we had reserved a campsite next to the Red River.

We spent the first couple of days acclimating to the altitude and riding up some of the mountain trails around Red River with our friends from Corpus, Doug and Debbie in their Jeep.

We even made it to the top of Greenie Peak from which one can look down and see Eagles Nest, the Red River Ski area as well as Pikes Peak which is over 150 miles to the north. It's an outstanding view.













We came to Red River, not only for the cool air, but also to attend the Larry Joe Taylor Hot Chili Days and Cool Mountain Night's Music Festival and Chili Cookoff which is sponsored by the Red River Chamber of Commerce. It's four great days of music with performances at the Motherlode Saloon, the Tip restaurant at the top of the ski lift, the river stage and culminating in the city park on Saturday with a chili and BBQ cookoff along with music on the big stage. In addition to Larry Joe's own band,

this year's lineup included Keith Sykes who wrote the Buffett hit, "Volcano",


Richard Leigh who has many top 10 country hits including nine #1's such as "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue",


Susan Gibson who wrote "Wide Open Spaces" which was the Dixie Chicks first big hit,

Bob Livingston, who was an original member of the Lost Gonzo Band that backed Jerry Jeff Walker and was actually the first to sing "Redneck Mother" at a show,


Michael Hearne and his band South by Southwest who play great Southwestern Americana music,


and for the younger crowd, there was the Josh Abbott Band, the Tejas Brothers,











Jason Boland and the Stragglers, and Roger Creager













plus several local bands from Red River and Taos area including Two Dollar Horse and the Damn Band.








Of course one of the other reasons it is fun to come out to Red River is to get to visit with old friends who we have met over the years as followers of music.

















After the festival, we remained in Red River for an additonal two days and then moved over to Taos where we are presently located. Have made a few day trips to take the High Road To Taos and over to Ojo Caliente, Los Alamos and Bandelier National Monument













plus going to listen to music at some of the venues here in Taos. Saw Jim Lauderdale on Thursday at KTAO Solar Center and Josh Grider, Drew Kennedy and Max Gomez at the Old Blinking Light on Saturday.







Going out to see Michael Hearne at the OBL tonight, then we're leaving the trailer here and making a quick trip back to Texas on Wednesday to check on my dad who's having back surgery today, water our yard if there's one left, drive down to attend the first A&M football game, then drive back to Taos on Monday to get ready for Michael Hearne's annual Big Barn Dance Weekend. About 1700 miles in five days. Guess Becky and I are gluttons for punishment, but at least we're having a good time.

Butterflies Are Free

After I retired five years ago, I found myself with lots of free time that I was not used to having during my working years. In trying to find something to do to fill in the dead time, I found myself, among other things, watching the birds that came into our backyard and eventually became interested in bird watching and photographing them. However, after four years, unless I am traveling to other parts of the country or state, I seldom see a bird at my feeders that I haven't already observed or photographed at some point. That seems to be particularly true during the summer months, so lately, as a result, I've turned to butterfly watching which I have found to be just about as interesting, and, at this time of year, easy to do with the many varieties that have been coming to the flowers in our backyard and garden each Summer. I have found that some are difficult to photograph due to their propensity to seldom land on anything for more that a few seconds, if at all. Also making it more interesting is that outside of the Monarchs

and most of the Swallowtails that I can ID easily including the:
Giant Swallowtail,the largest of the Swallowtails,

and female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail which is often black rather than yellow like the male at the top of the blog,

I don't know the names of most of the varieties I see for the first time, so I find myself spending time on the internet where there are a plethora of sites with photos of butterflies that allow me to ID them, and learn something about their life cycles and range. Hopefully, this will keep me busy until Fall migration of the birds when I have a better chance of seeing a new bird or two on their way south to warmer climes. Here are some of the ones I have seen in the past year and was able to photgraph:

Wood Nymph (Cercyonis pagala), a very common butterfly seen throughout the summer months.

Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly (Chlosyne nycteis)

Questionmark Butterfly (Polygonias interrogationis)

White Peacock Butterfly (Anartia jatrophae) which I photographed on Grand Cayman Island this January, but also found in southern parts of Texas

Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) not particularly common to this part of state

Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus), which is one of four butterflies, including Monarchs that lay their eggs on milkweed

and Gulf Fritillary butterfly (Agraulis vanillae)which I spotted for the first time today and get part of its name from being commonly seen over Gulf of Mexico during migration.

With a month long trip planned for Northern New Mexico coming up next month, I'm hoping I'll find a few new ones to add along with some birds that frequent the mountains and high desert that I have yet to see or photograph.