Michael Hearne and the Rifters Close Out Nocona Nights Tenth Anniversary Season

This year, the Nocona Nights Dinner/Music series celebrated our 10th Anniversary. Beginning with an acoustic show by Brian Burns back in 2003, the series has evolved into one of the best music listening events in the North Texas area and has hosted a variety of Texas based musical acts including Gary P. Nunn, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Michael Hearne, Shake Russell, Max Stalling, the Quebe Sisters, Tommy Alverson, The Derailers, The Tejas Brothers, Larry Joe Taylor and a plethora of others. Interest in our series has become so great that, for the past three years, we have sold out all of our available seating (126 seats) to season ticket holders and had a waiting list of over 60 people this past season. This year, we put on seven regular season shows plus we sponsored a free street show during the recent Cruising Nocona Weekend with Josh Weathers performing. We ended our 10th year last Saturday with a performance by Michael Hearne & SXSW and a great Northern NM/S Colo band, The Rifters, performing. We had our usual full house and even found space for a couple of extra people. Between the great meal of brisket, pork ribs, potato salad, slaw and beans and two great Southwestern Americana bands performing, a good time was had by all and was a great way to end our season. Plans for our 11th season are already underway and we already have secured next year's musical lineup with The Trisha's, Charla Corn, and 1100 Springs coming for the first time and Deryl Dodd, Paula Nelson, Gary P. Nunn, Max Stalling and Blacktop Gypsy returning after having been here before. Gary P. Nunn's show will be our annual Cowboy Christmas Ball in December, and will be held at the Veranda Inn which has a much larger venue than our normal venue, Daddy Sam's Saloon allowing us to have a dance and also be able to sell additional tickets to people who are not season ticket holders. Looking forward to our 11th season which begins in October.

Bad Kharma

I used to watch the tv show, Earl, which was all about good and bad Kharma. Recently I seem to have come down with a case of the latter. Four weeks ago, I was having a great time at my lake cabin sitting in the shade at the water's edge when my daughter asked if I could come out in the water and help her with the jet ski. Jumped up and waded out to where she was and suddenly realized my HTC Evo Smart Phone was still in my pocket. As you might imagine, scratch one $200 phone. Then, two weeks ago, I received an e-mail from the 12th Man Fondation letting me know I didn't have enough priority points (guess I hadn't donated enough money over the past 15 years) to keep my space in the RV lot that is closest to Kyle field, even though I have paid to camp there for the past 15 years regardless of what the Aggies record was or which conference they were affiliated with. Then, when I tried to log on to get a space in one of the more remote lots that aren't controlled by the 12th Man I failed in my attempt to get one online , though my daughter, who logged on at the same time as me, was able to get one. I licked my wounds and took solace in the fact that I would still be able to camp and tailgate with her family, which we had already been doing in my old space. Then this week I had planned to head out to Ruidoso on Friday, pulling my 5th Wheel, to camp out with other family members for a week, and made arrangements for my son to come over to water the yard and Becky's plants and feed the cats till we got home. That plan fell through when my water well suddenly decided to stop pumping water Thursday morning. Not knowing how soon I could get someone to come check it out or make a repair, I had to call and cancel my reservation. Things seemed to look up, though, when I was able to get Ace water well company to come late that afternoon to look at well and determine my pump had gone out and assured me they would be able to come late the next day and install a new pump and get my water running again. Now I'm thinking, hey, I can go ahead and leave, albeit a day later than planned, and still spend a week in the cool mountain air, so I called and made a new reservation, and Becky an I spent much of yesterday evening loading the 5th Wheel and getting ready to head out early this morning. Got up a little before 5 AM this morning and did some last minute watering and finally headed out at 6:15 thinking we would be at RV park in the mountain pines by 2 this afternoon. Things seemed to finally be going right as we headed west on ole US 380. Hit the big hill at Wizard Wells west of Bridgeport and zoomed right up it. Ahh!!, I'm thinking, "can't wait to hit that cool mountain air" ""!!! That is, until about three more miles down the road when I started feeling a vibration that shouldn't have been there. First thought was, "Do I have a tire problem?". That didn't seem likely since tires on trailer were all new as were the tires on my truck. Drove another mile and vibration got worse and I then I noticed I was also losing power, and when I looked out right side rear view mirrow, I could see lots of gray smoke coming out from under truck. At that point, I knew we probably weren't going to make it to Jacksboro, much less Ruidoso, so found a wide enough spot to turn around and headed back to Decatur, engine vibrating and tailpipe belching smoke all the way. Though I had my doubts, we did make it back to the house around 7:30. Called RV park and cancelled again, then called James Wood Motors, whose service department doesn't work on Saturdays, but does have a service rep available to help those picking up or dropping off a vehicle for repair. After I described my problem, he thought it was most likely fuel injector failure, but said they couldn't work on it until Monday. Assuming that is the problem, and they have it fixed by the end of the day, I guess I could take another shot at heading west and come home a couple of days later than plannned, but I'm not sure I want to even try. Have already called the RV park twice to make a reservation and then twice to cancel. Probably getting tired of hearing my voice. Bad Kharma, ya think!!!!!!

Rita's Got Possums, I've Got Raccoons

For the past few weeks, I have been reading about the ongoing saga of my friend, Rita Harmon, who has been dealing with Possums that took up residence under her porch. Eventually, she put out traps to catch them. Not sure how many she's caught at this point, but know it's been a bunch, some of whom she has posted pictures of on Facebook such as above.

I have found myself with a somewhat similar problem with Raccoons. I tend to be a night owl, often times not heading to bed until the wee hours of the morning. A couple of months ago, I started hearing noises coming from the roof of my house late at night sometime after midnight as I sat watching TV and browsing the web. Then, shortly after that, I noticed what appeared to be a bunch of animal droppings along one of the valleys in my roof. Closer examination confirmed that's what it was.

Then one night, shortly after that, I forgot to put the garage door down when we came in for the night. Around 11 PM, I suddenly remembered I hadn't closed it. Since I keep both dog food and bird food in the garage, which the neighborhood cats and at least one skunk have partaken of in the past, when the door was left open, I got up to close it. As I opened the door leading from the house into the garage and started to flip on the light, I heard a rustle and observed the rear end of something sticking out of the dog food bag, but before my eyes could adjust to clearly see what it was, it skampered to the other side of the car and, I thought, out of the front of the garage. I thought it was a cat which I have caught in the dog food on numerous occasions. In any case, I closed the garage door and went back to my comfortable lounger and watched some more TV and played on my laptop. About an hour later, however, I started hearing quite a racket coming from the garage like things were being knocked over. Not sure what I had out there and not wanting to open the door into the house in case it was a skunk, I walked out my back door and around to my pickup which was parked out front, turned on the headlights and hit the garage door opener. As the door began to come up, an adult Coon, which I apparently had trapped inside when I closed the door, scampered out and around the corner of the house. He had scattered things around pretty good including the dog food, and to add insult to injury, had gotten up on my work bench and pooped on it, something I decided he had been doing on my roof for some time.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I discovered he/she wasn't my only visitor. I knew something had been coming in during the night and eating all of the suet in my feeder if I didn't remove it from its cage and bring it in at night. I had been pretty good at doing that, but on occasion I would forget and leave it out. This particular night, I had forgotten to do so, and around 11 PM, thought about it and went out to get it. As I turned on the backyard lights and stepped out the door, I saw two little bodies scamper up the tree where the suet was. One went all the way to the top where I couldn't see him, but the other ran up a limb that didn't extend more than about 12 ft. from the ground. As I walked out and looked up, I found myself staring at a baby Raccoon who was clinging to the branch and, I assume, hoping I didn't see him.



I eventually walked back in the house, but left the lights on and watched to see if he and his sibling would come down. After an hour or so, I walked back out and the one I could see was still clinging to the same branch. I finally turned out the backyard lights and went to bed, so don't know how long they stayed in the tree.

Then last night I forgot and left the garage door open again. Went out to close it around 10:30 and discovered the two youngsters scampering away from the bird food bag and trying to hide among a bunch of stuff I had stacked in a corner. I finally flushed one of them out and saw him run out the door, but wasn't sure about the other, so I left the light on and the garage door open and came back in for a while. Went back out later along with our dog and walked around and decided both were gone and closed the door.

This morning, a little after 6 AM, my wife woke me up and said there must still be a Coon in the garage, because the dog was at the door going into the garage and acting excited. He and I went out and I rummaged around pulling boxes and other stuff out to where we could see behind them and finally worked our way into the far corner where my golf bag was leaning up againt the wall. As I started to move it, a little masked face popped up and took off between my legs and out the door. I followed him around the corner and saw him scurry up a Photenia bush onto my roof. He ran and tried to hide under a cornice of an eave.


When he realized I was right below him, he took off again and ran up to the top of the roof next to the chimney and hunkered down there.



I left him alone thinking he would surely move from there and go someplace cooler if he didn't see me, but, when I went out about almost two hours later, he was still there and appeared to be panting pretty hard from the heat. I then decided to get the ladder out and go up and see if I could get him to run to one of the many photenias that are around my house and scamper down it to the ground. Instead, he ran to the other side of house and hid under another cornice of the eave above my front porch. I thought I'd try one more strategy to get him off roof, so I grabbed a large fish net with a handle and positioned the ladder where I could crawl up and try to get him to run into the net. Instead, he avoided the net and jumped from the edge of the roof to the concrete porch about eight ft. below. He hit pretty hard, but bounced up and took off around south end of house and ran back into the garage again into the same corner I had found him to begin with. That's been about two hours ago and last time I looked, he's still hunkered down out there. Guess he's just scared and doesn't know where to go in the daylight. Felt sorry for him and put out some water just in case he would like a drink. Hoping he will decide to leave when it gets dark. I've got friends who would solve the problem with their 22 rifle, but guess I just don't have a killer instinct anymore. My dad gave me a 22 rifle for Christmas when I was 14. Was on the creek at our farm one day about a month later and spotted a Coon walking down the creek. I shot him, but didn't kill him on first shot. I still remember him looking at me with a sad look that said, "Why did you do that?" Finally shot him again to finish him off, but felt awful guilty, and haven't killed another animal in last 50 years and probably not gonna start now.

Fall Migration of Birds Has Begun

It's kind of hard to believe, considering how hot it has been in our part of the country, that many birds have begun their annual Fall migration south, both those that spend their Summers here and those that spend their Summers north of us, but I have noticed several changes here in past couple of weeks that seem to verify they're on the move. During the Summer months, we keep out hummingbird feeders and typically have three or four that come to our back porch feeders on a daily basis to feed.


In the past week, however, that number has grown as they start coming through headed to the Rio Grande Valley and points South where they winter. Not uncommon to see a dozen to two dozen or more at a time at our feeders between Labor Day and late September, with the ones you see one day moving on South and another group coming in to take their place the next day.

Also have noticed that in the past week that I have not seen a single Mississipi Kite flying overhead or perched in the trees.



This Summer, we have had a colony of about two dozen of them nesting in the trees of our neighborhood and soaring overhead during the day catching insects mid-air that comprise most of their diet. Their Winter range is down in South America, and it appears they have begun their long journey that way.


Also had a new bird in my backyard a few days ago that I had never seen except in my bird guide, an Olive-sided Flycatcher.



During the Summer, these birds live in the Western and Northwestern Mountain states and Canada, and they winter in Central America. The Guadalupe Mountains of the Trans-Pecos region of Texas are as close as they get during the Summer. However, when the time comes to migrate South, they do come across this part of the county on their way to Mexico and points South, and I was informed by another, more experienced birder in Missouri, that they are on the move South, and he had one come through his location last week.

For at least the next couple of months, birders in North Texas are likely to see several species at backyard feeders that they don't see at any other time of the year outside of early Spring, when northern migration takes place. So, if you're a birder and want to see some birds that you won't see during the Summer or Winter, now is a good time to start watching your feeders. The Olive-sided Flycatcher is the latest one I've seen, but during Spring migration, I have had both a Rose-breasted Grosbeak



and a Black-headed Grosbeak



stop by on their way to the Northern part of the Country and Canada, and we should start seeing the return of our Winter birds in about two months or so. Always enjoy the return of Goldfinches,



Pine Siskins,



Juncos



and several varieties of Sparrows including the White-crowned Sparrow,




White-Thoated Sparrow,




Lincoln's Sparrow,



Fox Sparrow,



and Harris Sparrow, just to name a few.

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.