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Come back to this page each day to read another entry from Frederick R. Gehlbach's almanac of suburban natural and unnatural history, "Messages from the Wild," which chronicles the world of a forested ravine in central Texas.
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Snow falls intermittently all day, and ground-feeding finches come and go from the millet I've thrown out in experimental patches. White-throated sparrows and dark-eyed juncos are research subjects that I'm trapping, measuring, banding, and releasing. There are single eastern and spotted towhees and American goldfinches with pine siskins and purple finches beside the resident northern cardinals and house finches. The screech owl in nest box two looks out his open window at 5:00 p.m., faces a snowy north wind, and retreats. As the snow stops, he reappears and watches for twenty minutes before departing. Does he assess the availability of avian food or the possibility of danger on this night bright with reflective snow? |
Frederick R. Gehlbach is Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at Baylor University. His ecological studies have taken him from New Zealand to Slovakia and, in the Americas, from Alaska and Newfoundland to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. His research interests include the life-history strategies of small owls, small burrowing snakes and urban wildlife ecology.
From MESSAGES FROM THE WILD: AN ALMANAC OF SUBURBAN NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY by Frederick R. Gehlbach, Copyright © 2002. Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.
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