E.M. "Bosie" Boswell

Get your goose as it flies across Texas
In Texas, that river could be the Red, which is crossed every year by millions of geese. Or it could be the Neuces in South Texas, were the high-flying drumsticks land to spend the winter and shake the little hummingbirds off their wings.
November 19, 2009

Stranger in the nest
Papa must have counted the eggs 50 times and finally came to the conclusion they must have miscounted, although he did give mama vireo a few questioning looks.
November 12, 2009

Friend had different name for everything
As some of you might recall, one of my best friends and birding partner was Bill Gentry. Bill was not your average birder. Actually, he was probably one of the worst birders I ever met.
November 05, 2009

First runner-up becomes Thanksgiving dinner
He was so close. Just a little luck and he would go down in history as one of the most beloved birds of all time.
October 29, 2009

Silly bird phrases should be plucked
Over the years, a number of expressions have become a part of our vocabulary that make very littte sense to me.
October 22, 2009

Migrating birds keep humming way south
Normally by October, I am done writing about hummingbirds until next spring, but this fall has been different. The number of e-mail messages about my column has doubled (I got two this month) and most of them have been about hummers.
October 15, 2009

Spot colors on blackbirds
Say “blackbird” and many people automatically will think of the grackles that fill our telephone lines, poop on our cars and in general make a nuisance of themselves. Actually, there are three species of grackles in North America.
October 08, 2009

Missing limbs could mean death for birds
I saw it the minute I walked out the back door. A small hawk was sitting on the rim of a trash can in our backyard. I stopped and then began to move one careful step at a time, giving the bird time to settle before I took a second step. It did not flush. I was 12 feet from it when my dog, Shadow, came out and barked at it.
October 01, 2009

Warblers in the air
With the coming of fall, the airways carry across Texas an assortment of wood warblers.
September 24, 2009

Plenty to squawk about
I remember the old cartoon movie “Dumbo” about the elephant that could fly with his ears flapping. My favorite characters in the movie were the crows that sat on the high line and made fun of the elephant that wanted to fly.They were making fools of themselves, but in real life, crows might be one of the most intelligient of the bird world.
September 17, 2009

Hummers ready to migrate south
Several people have asked me in the past week about when they can take down their hummingbird feeders. If you are in northeast Texas, the birds already have gone south or they are packing their bags now.
September 10, 2009

Little things come in small packages
It has been a rough couple of weeks at our house. Jackie has been in the hospital twice but is home now and doing very well. During her illness, I really discovered how much time and effort women waste.
September 03, 2009

Take scenic loop at Fort Davis for a spin
Fort Davis State Park is 4 miles north of town on Highway 118. It has 2,700 acres of scenic beauty and the elevation changes by 1,000 feet within the park.
August 27, 2009

A great birding spot for fall migration
The fall migration in Texas is not as spectacular as in spring, but there are a lot of birds to see if you know where to go.
August 20, 2009

‘Big Bend’ birder gets going
Normally I don’t pick up hitchhikers, but the guy standing in the swirl of dust beside the highway had a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck and a spotting scope leaned up against his cardboard suitcase.
August 13, 2009

Take me out to the old bird game
There is a connection between birding and baseball that has been with me most of my life. I was born just south of St. Louis and became a big fan of the Cardinals. Joe Kerlagon and I used to hitchhike to St. Louis to see the Cardinals play during the summer when we were teenagers.
August 06, 2009

Phone towers mean death for millions of birds
I don’t know much about twittering, but I have a lot of friends who are tweeters. The birds are an essential part of our lives and the health of our planet, and since the advent of the cell phone, neither is doing very well.
July 30, 2009

Angleton couple sees kites in yard
I got e-mail this week from Joe and Ruby Ward in Angleton about a couple of Mississippi kites that are nesting near their home. For those of you who don’t know what a kite is, it’s like a small hawk, unless you want to get technical and start quoting Latin names.
July 23, 2009

Beauty queens of shallow waters
Jackie and I were at our daughter’s home in Forney last week. They either have a big pond or a small lake in back of their new home, so I sat on the patio, ate one of Jim’s hamburgers and watched the birds.
July 16, 2009

Kingbirds of Texas can look very similar
Last week I mentioned the thick-billed kingbird Jackie and I saw at the rest stop in Arizona.
July 09, 2009