REMARKS ON THE FIVE SPECIES
OF MOST INTEREST TO RANDY:
My five favorite organisms I identified include the great horned owl, the
cedar waxwing, the fence lizard, the coyote, and the Luna moth.
I’ve discovered several Luna moths by my front porch
light over the years, and their beauty always stuns me. The light green color, long tails,
and large size make them instantly recognizable. I had always thought butterflies were
much more beautiful than “dull” moths, but the Luna moth changed that belief.
Coyotes appeared on our property only a few years ago. At
first they were only heard at night, their haunting howl scary at first, but quickly
becoming soothing and anxiously anticipated. Unfortunately, since we live in the middle of
a cattle ranch, the coyotes pose a threat to the newborn calves and pet dogs and cats on
the property. The coyotes are mostly nocturnal, but we have seen them a few times crossing
the fields during the early morning hours, once even stalking baby calves.
While we have lots of fence lizards, I still get a kick
out of seeing them scurry across the porch or driveway. They can make much more noise than
their size suggests when they get into dry leaves, and they often startle me when I least
expect them. A few years ago while my children, Greta and Read, were younger, we caught
one fence lizard and kept it in a terrarium for a couple months so we could observe it
more closely. My children and I would go out in the field and catch crickets and
grasshoppers to feed the fence lizard. Watching them gulp down the crickets taught us
lessons about the natural food chain. We decided to release out “pet” lizard
after a few months because we decided he would be happier back in the “wild.”
The cedar waxwing is a beautiful bird. I look forward to
seeing them return to our house every year. We have a bunch of leatherleaf bushes around
our house, and they produce huge numbers of berries every spring. For at least the past 10
years, when the berries reach their peak, the cedar waxwings appear. It is our harbinger
of spring. The waxwings arrive every year within a two-week period, always between May 3
and May 15. The waxwings arrive and strip the bushes of their berries in about a
week’s time. Once the berries are gone, so are the waxwings.
My favorite organism on my list is the great horned owl.
We don’t see them very often, but we hear them frequently. To get a glimpse of a
great horned owl, we have to go out at night with a strong flashlight and catch them in
the trees around our house. I’ve been surprised by the fact that they will sit in the
tall pines right next to our house, and in fact we have caught them sitting in the trees
with our flashlight beam from the windows of our bedroom. I don’t like to bother them
at night while they are hunting, but I love to listen to them hoot. I often lie awake at
night listening to one calling, “who-who-whowhowho-whoo-whoo,” and a second
great horned owl responding with the same call from some distance away.
RANDY'S ESSAY:
I share the property with one other house and family, about 50 cattle, pet
dogs and cats, and an unknown number of other living organisms. I set out to identify as
many of those other organisms as I could. I know I’ve hardly scratched the surface
with the attached list, but I’m going to keep it going. For more than 20 years, since
my children were born, I have kept a nature journal. I’ve mostly noted birds and
mammals we have observed around the house and on our travels. For this list, I’ve
limited my selections to those organisms observed on our property.
Most of the organisms on my list live on our property throughout the year.
Obviously, many of the birds come and go as the seasons change, but many are here
year-round. Some organisms listed have just been visitors to our home, such as the Bald
Eagle and Osprey. We have a large pond on our property, and Lake Lanier, one of the
largest lakes in the South, also adjoins our land. We have seen Bald Eagles in the pines
next to our house a number of times, but they don’t stay around. The Osprey actually
lived and fished at our pond for several weeks a few years ago. It was a treat to watch.
I think I have identified most of the mammals on our property, but I could
be surprised as I was by the least weasel my dogs treed one day. Our ranch is mostly open
pastureland, but we do have quite a few trees right around our house. I know there are
some trees I still have to identify. Most of the fish in the pond are listed, but I know
there are more I can add. There are many birds listed, but there are clearly many more
here that I haven’t identified. I probably haven’t even touched the other
categories. I know the property is home to insects probably to numerous for me to count
and identify.
When I decided to take the Backyard Naturalist challenge, I also
challenged my daughter, Greta, to make her own list. She is a student at the University of
Georgia, but was living in an apartment at the time. She was having difficulty finding
time to work on her list, and living in an apartment made it more challenging to observe
nature. Greta has since moved to a cabin in the country and has started, in earnest, her
Backyard NaturaList. Look for her submission before the end of the summer. By the way, she
works for the U.S. Forest Service and specializes in earthworms, so I expect her list to
be quite different from mine.
I’ve enjoyed the challenge and look forward to sending my 200-count list to you in
the future. Thanks! |
