Bird's the word

Lately I have been feeling...tense. Alot of it has to do with Taylor's departure and trying to re-accustom myself to life minus his calming presence. I also realized that the lack of naturalness (think I just made up a word) in Lubbock is contributing to my chronic anxiety. This irritating state of mind first materialized when I moved back to Chicago post-Utah. Once I experienced a taste of the wild places that still exist in this patchwork country of ours, I couldn't bring myself to live in a place where development is lord and master. So, how do I assimilate a sense of nature into this chain-store ridden, three-lane street paving, conformist urban wonderland? Well, it just so happens Texas is an ideal place for spotting migrating birds in fall and winter. And Lubbock just so happens to contain a variety of man-made ponds and even a few natural wetlands from which these birds can be spotted. So, with binoculars and bird book in tow, I made my way to one of these aforementioned ponds. In two days time I have identified more species of water birds than I've ever encountered, even while working in wetlands in Lockport for two years. Most are species I've seen before but there were a few that were brand new to me. Either way I was thrilled to sit back and observe such a diverse group of birds coexisting in the same scrap of water. To give you an idea of the variety, here's a list of what I saw:

American coot

double-crested cormorant

great blue heron

green heron

black-crowned night heron (adults and juveniles)

great egret

pied-billed grebe

hooded merganser

mallard

green-winged teal

gadwall*

Northern shoveler*

American widgeon

redhead

wood duck*

canada goose

common snipe

greater yellowlegs*

killdeer

*= first time I've seen in wild

combined for a total of 19 species! I'm going to check out another place this weekend. I'm hoping to add common goldeneye, northern pintail, ring-necked duck, lesser scaup, bufflehead, eared grebe, and snow goose to the list by the end of the year. I hesitate to admit getting caught up in birding, but what's a reptile lover to do in winter?