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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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Another gray day at the start, but the wind shifts to the west, and the temperature only rises to the freezing point in late afternoon. No one sings this icy morning, although it's certainly the time for dawn chorusing. I'd be glad to hear any prelude. As the afternoon melting begins, blue jays warn about an owl in a cedar tree, and a gray screech owl flies out as I approach. Perhaps it's one that's been in the two nest boxes at my house, because no one's home in either box. Why would it give up the enclosed protection against weather and pesky jays on a freezing dawn? Does the owl predict a warm-up? Wild creatures seem to know about weather changes before technology does. |
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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