American Bittern This glimpse is all you might see of the American Bittern emerging from undercover. This solitary member of the heron family winters along the Texas Gulf Coast. This photo was taken just before Valentine's Day 2015 on the San Bernard River in Brazoria County Texas. The San Bernard is one of the few rivers in Texas that empties directly into the Gulf of Mexico. You'll find Bitterns November to March or April on the lower Texas Coast. They start to move north in March or April depending on the prevailing winds and weather. American Bittern "hunkered down" Seeing... Continue reading

Garden of Maria Landis changes dramatically with the season. Whatever the season, you can always count on vivid color, texture, and attention to detail. This garden is known for always looking great! You'll gain many ideas of ways to enhance the enjoyment of your garden. Tour is April 25, 2015, 10am-4pm, 77459 zip code Map to Gardens Buy Tickets Continue reading

Garden of Tanya & Eddie Chovanetz, Jr. is a gardener's garden. Always lush, with beautiful layering, this corner lot is beautiful front and back. Come be enchanted by the Chovanetz's love of their garden! Tour is April 25, 2015, 10am-4pm, 77459 zip code Map to Gardens Buy Tickets Continue reading

Come see the surprises Mia and Chris Crochet have in store for you! Their garden is a cornucopia of ideas on how to make the most of your garden space. Come be amazed at all the nooks you have for entertaining and didn't imagine! Tour is April 25, 2015, 10am-4pm, 77459 zip code Map to Gardens Buy Tickets Continue reading

A shady lake view surrounded by Sago Palms, ferns and many varieties of shade plants and what's that? The garden of Cathy & Sebastian Andreu has tranquility that comes from the beauty of nature. You'll be able to glimpse a golf game or see numerous water birds while you enjoy the garden. Tour is April 25, 2015, 10am-4pm, 77459 zip code Map to Gardens Buy Tickets Continue reading

Taking advantage of the sun and view, Randal Bell and David Burnett's garden is a place to party and relax. The garden is made for the sun with succulents, sedums and other low water plants. A red Kangaroo's Paw with other complementary plants, keeps maintenance simple and is consistent with low water use. Use of vivid colors throughout along with many tips and ideas for a great party. You may also enjoy eagles flying overhead along with the other water fowl. Tour is April 25, 2015, 10am-4pm, 77459 zip code Map to Gardens Buy Tickets Purchase tickets at any tour... Continue reading

Our 2015 Gardens provide a variety of alternatives how different families create magic in their gardens and enhance their home's comfort and value. Tour is Saturday, April 25, 2015, rain or shine from 10-4. The gardens were selected for variety including location and type of lot, price range, garden variety and/or maintenance ease. The common theme is making the most of your space. All gardens have challenges and twists and turns weather gives us. Whether it's a boring or unusual layout, drainage, putting your personal stamp on the garden, creating comfort and intimacy, transitioning from or to a sun or... Continue reading

Male Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker The Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker is a woodpecker that winters in the southeastern US, Mexico and Central America. While mature woodpeckers have a red cap, the male also has a red throat. All mature Yellow-Bellieds have a yellow wash on the breast. When will my field glasses allow me to see through a tree? I've had the distinct drumming from a neighbor's locked garden, but can't see the Yellow Bellied on the other side of the tree! Good view of the distinctive horizontal drill holes. Their drumming is distinct and sounds like Morse Code. They also will drum on... Continue reading

Immature Cooper's Hawk I knew from the Blue Jay's early warning system something was happening in the front garden. There were about 6 or 8 of them in the tree top of the Live Oak screaming "thief, thief, thief!" On a lower tree limb perched an immature Cooper's Hawk like the one on the left. He or she was about 16 inches long so it could have been a young male or female. Yes, this is a Bird of Prey specialized for flying at high rates of speed in trees and thickets. The Cooper's favorite meal are smaller birds; hence,... Continue reading

Eastern Phoebe 01-21-2015 UPDATE: A Magic Moment in my Garden . . . One of the delights of winter in my Quail Valley enclosed garden is the intermingling of Winter and Nesting birds . . . especially the smaller birds. Carolina Wren males, which are a nesting bird here, show off their "Real Estate" to a female who select him as a partner if she likes what she sees. She then selects the nesting site and the work begins. On my fence this morning a male was strutting his stuff to potential suitor . . . and she like what... Continue reading

Some beautiful Holiday Lights and Spirit are on display. Add the Quail Valley Proud December 19 sleigh ride for kids with the Mom's Club of Quail Valley . . . Drive the entire street of Robinson Road! We encourage you... Continue reading

How are birds depicted on holiday cards? It often depends where you live (Northern or Southern Hemisphere) and your religious or ethic background. The cards you may choose may reveal your preferences for more traditional or secular cards as well. One size doesn't seem to fit all. North America . . . Male North American Cardinals are often found in card shops and on the Internet. The red color is associated with both Christmas & "Seasons Greetings" cards. However, non-red birds such as Carolina Chickadees are often seen all "puffed up" on holiday cards in stores. Carolina Chickadees and Northern... Continue reading

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher with insect Give thanks for the friends you’ll be seeing this Thanksgiving! Smaller migratory birds take opportunities of obliging winds and this past week two dependable November friends returned as well as a year round returned to our garden (likely for a warmer clime). The Blue Gray Gnatcatcher (above) looks like a small mockingbird of gray and charcoal with a long tail that shows up at Suet Feeders as well as in foliage and Oak, Maple and Ash trees. They love insects and with warmer weather this week will likely be seen gleaning foliage . . .... Continue reading

Fort Bend's largest woodpecker, Pileated Woodpeckers mate for life with the males taking nest-providing very seriously. Males take responsibility for hollowing out nesting cavities in dead trees and particularly tall trees with the female helping finish. Generally making new nests each year, takes 3 to 6 weeks. Classic forward white under-pattern of wings, which they flap like crows with long, deliberate strokes. The two photos above appear to be more about training young, not nest-building, as the trees are live. If you see a Pileated pecking on a tree, the area is likely dead and usually full of their favorite... Continue reading

Writer of this blog, Janice Scanlan, speaks on Hummingbirds at Brightwater Garden Club, Mon. Sept. 22, 7 pm, Brightwater Clubhouse. No charge. Contact Diane Giltner @ 281.499.0695 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, particularly females and immature males have taken an early migration ride on the recent dips south of the jet stream. Breezes more like September have brought hummers to our gardens and feeders early. They look for red and orange, small flutes containing nectar such as the Hamelia Patens commonly called Hummingbird Bush above, that with proper light and drainage adapts to the Texas Gulf Coast and Zone 9 heat and humidity... Continue reading

It’s not a bad hair day . . . it’s a juvenile male Northern Cardinal acquiring his first adult plumage as his beak begins to re-color as well. Many birds molt or replace their plumage in the later part of summer as it is after breeding and before migration, which requires much energy, as does molting. So molting takes place during a "down time" in the bird's life cycle. Even birds as bright as the adult Northern Cardinal, feathers fade and suffer from wear and tear. The bird on the left shows the bright winter plumage replaced after summer. The... Continue reading

Margaret Sloan's garden in Missouri City has really become a bird sanctuary. She has documented with photos more than 150 species visiting her garden. The garden attracts all variety of birds with open space for birds like hawks, eagles and vultures that need open space for flying. Various heights and textures as well as food sources in plantings make the garden attractive for many kinds of birds. We enjoyed watching the Purple Martins come home at 8 pm after doing their job of eating large insects such as wasps, beetles, grasshoppers, dragon and damsel flies to feed their young on... Continue reading

A mature male Downy Woodpecker (left) feeds a young male. Early summer is a great time to see Downy Woodpeckers and their young, as they are year round residents in Fort Bend. Notice how much more distinct the mature male is (crisper red cap as well as black and white patterns) than the young male. Females do not have the red cap. These sparrow-sized woodpeckers (6 to 6.75") are often seen in multi-species flocks particularly with chickadees, titmice and wrens in Fort Bend. Main diet is beneficial to your trees as they clean them of many pest insects and larvae.... Continue reading

The Green Heron is a summer visitor to Fort Bend and lives year round nearer the coast on inland waterways, marshes, ponds and streams. The photo above depicts the beautiful plumage, but you’re more likely to see from a distance a hunkered, stocky bird standing quite still on water’s edge that appears dark brown or gray with slender yellow legs as the picture below shows. Fish are their favorite food, which they stalk then stab with their large bill. A “tool-using” bird, they lure fish by dropping food such as bread crumbs on the water. This bird appears to have... Continue reading

The April 26, 2014, Quail Valley Backyard Tour featured as one of its five diverse gardens the nature garden of Janice and John Scanlan . . . Photographer Margaret Sloan was generous to help with questions from birders, would be birders and those curious about photography. At first the birds were spooked with the public, but quickly began to ignore all the attendees. Besides the usual number of frequent and seasonal visitors to the garden, we had visits from two migrating Warblers . . . a Chestnut-sided Warbler and a Black-Throated Green Warbler . . . who returned 3 times... Continue reading

Every year is different! Lots of blooms despite our changeable weather! We may go from winter to summer in just two weeks . . . Continue reading

Nutmeg Mannikin is one of several exotic bird species establishing breeding colonies along Upper Coastal Texas. This Southeast Asian finch is among other non-native birds including the Egyptian Goose, Orange Bishop, and Monk Parakeet, all seen and photographed in Quail Valley. This sparrow-sized finch prefers grassy, weedy areas near water and comes to seed feeders. In 2013 the Nutmeg Mannikin was recognized by the American Birding Association as an established exotic species in California. This is not a trivial process and requires several years and much documentation and photographs of actual breeding colonies. If you are interested, press here to... Continue reading

Tropical Plant Sale . . . Well known internationally in tropical plant societies, Odean Head and Merrill O'Neal will open their greenhouses as well as provide a display of tropical plants. Merrill O'Neal and Kaffir Lily Odean Head displays one of his mounted bromeliads. Continue reading

Everyone reported a fun, relaxed trip to Buchanan's, Another Place in Time, and Joshua's Native Plants. And they gardened happily ever after.... Continue reading

Our 2014 Gardens provide a variety of alternatives how different families create magic in their gardens and enhance their home's comfort and value. Tour is April 26, 2014, rain or shine from 10-4. For a glimpse of What's Blooming 2014 The gardens were selected for variety including location and type of lot, price range, garden variety and/or maintenance ease. The common theme is making the most of your space. All gardens have challenges and twists and turns weather gives us. Whether it's a boring or unusual layout, drainage, creating comfort and intimacy, or space for various pastimes and family and... Continue reading