A Shrike's Love Affair With a Live Oak

It starts with one lizard. Then one day you find nothing can stop the urge to impale a second lizard. It escalates to a grasshopper (bigger and fatter than a lizard). Where will this take us?
It is hard to say when a Shrike begins a love affair with a Live Oak. It is however a six foot tree and a Shrike is bound to think the tree is cluttered pretty soon.

(I should mention I spotted a L. Shrike sitting out on our deck railing. Had I not spotted the lizard the other day I would not have brushed up on I.D. skills needed to appreciate the difference between a Shrike and a Mocking Bird).

Plague of Starlings

They came swooping into the yard from the sky and filled the lawn with chatter and noise, squeeking and clicking and eating. Thousands of Starlings had appeared. I hoped they would stay long enough for the camera but the camera was full of pictures. I hoped they would stay and eat all the fire ants (or would the fire ants finish them?). I picked up the baby and said "birds, look, see birds". Just then they all swirled into action and in waves rose up and left our yard as quickly as they came. Many must have been in the side yard and front yard because for a moment as we looked out the back door it was as if we were standing in a cloud of birds and all we saw were Starling bellies. As much as I dislike these birds I was in awe for that moment when the baby and I were 'in' the swarm.

Dead lizard

Well after all my worries about birds disappearing... this impaled little lizard is a sure sign of a Shrike, a Loggerhead Shrike.

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i6220id.html

I happened to be out trying out gardening while carrying Grady in a sling. While I was out front I decided to check up on our Live Oaks. At first I thought this poor little guy was a broken twig. He/she is about 4 inches long, a tiny little lizard I have never seen before.

While I was checking him/her out we were approached by a white and orange kitten, a stray that resembles the one that lived on our porch briefly this last spring. Bluew sat down to invite it closer but it was too shy.

Sunset

Taken without a flash.
Taken with a flash.Overall the weather Saturday was amazing, warm, nice. All day Sunday it was rainy and gross. Probably great for the gardens.
Unfortunately I have not gotten into the gardens much in the last three months. A new baby certainly occupies a lot of time and even when I want to be free, and have a few minutes to myself I tend to spend then"relaxing" in front of the TV.
I don't get out much but I do still take Grady for walks around the yard with the Dogs. I have noticed there are very few birds here and that is a little disturbing. I can contribute much of it to the nearby construction but it is really sad. Every so often we can smell burning plastic and I guess someone nearby is not very environmentally educated. Perhaps our area is a little unwelcomming right now. Since we cut our feild most of the summer the Meadow Larks went away. I wasn't suprised but I am saddened. I'm only one lawn and I think even if I stopped mowing it would not be enough habitat. Same with Eastern Bluebirds. Killdeer still wander around here but I havn't seen Barn Swallows all summer. It is eery.