PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Daniel Hodges measures thistle seed, which he uses to attract yellow finches to his back yard. PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE From the trees clustered around his deck, Daniel Hodges takes note of each chirp, each tweet, each rustling of the leaves. Painted buntings, cardinals, brown-headed cowbirds — Hodges names some of the many birds he has learned to recognize by sound alone.

Birding is Hodges’ passion and, even after decades of exposure to ornithology, the Lampasan still tries eagerly to learn all he can.

He is a member of the Texas Ornithological Society, the American Birding Association and the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology.

Because his pharmacy education left no time for taking ornithology classes, Hodges has acquired much of his knowledge of birds simply by watching them. At home, when going on outings with birdwatching groups — even when waiting at the airport or sitting in the stands at a baseball game — he observes birds’ behaviors, nesting and feeding habits, and migration patterns.

Purple martin houses at Daniel and Dianna Hodges’ home are among ma ny bird habitats. PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE “Texas is on the migratory path,” Hodges’ wife Dianna said, “so we see a lot of things that flit through and don’t stick around.”

Even if the birds’ stays are only temporary, their arrival times over the years have alerted Hodges to migration patterns.

“It’s really amazing as far as the consistency goes,” Hodges said. “With the exception of one year out of 24 or 25, I can tell you within about four weeks when they will get here,” he said.

Once migratory birds reach Lampasas County — usually in November — Hodges turns his attention to Project FeederWatch, a Cornell University initiative for which he has volunteered for 21 years. From early November to April, Hodges counts the number of each species of bird that comes to the water and feeders at his home. The data, which he provides in two-week segments to the ornithology department of the Ithaca, N.Y. university, helps Cornell researchers track changes in bird populations.

Among other trends, Hodges has noticed increases in whitewing and Eurasian collared doves, decreases in blue jays — which, like many jays and crows, may be more susceptible than other birds to West Nile virus, he said — and a dramatic drop in bobwhite quail populations.

“You just don’t hear it or see it here anymore,” Hodges said of quail, although he noted that he recently saw a bobwhite in Llano County.

Largely because of property development and habitat loss, between 80 and 90 percent of bird species have declined in population during the last few decades, Hodges said. Some species, on the other hand, including red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons, have adapted well to urban areas, where they nest amidst large buildings and feed on pigeons, he said.

Healthy bird habitats, Hodges said, should include running water, scattered seed and feeders positioned about five yards from brush.

In addition to volunteering for Project FeederWatch, for four or five years the pharmacist has submitted monthly reports of significant Lampasas County bird sightings to a Nature Conservancy representative in Fort Hood. Volunteers’ reports assist the representative in efforts to track birds in Lampasas, Coryell and Bell counties.

Birding — which Hodges calls his “psychiatrist couch” — not only allows the hobbyist to relieve stress but also enables him to advance a field of scientific study that intrigues him.

“With the data I collect and share with many organizations,” Hodges said, “I feel like I am contributing and doing something for the birds and other people as well as for myself.”

Birdwatching does, however, allow the Hodgeses to pursue several personal goals, including travel. Aiming to join the Texas Ornithological Society’s Texas Century Club, Hodges is attempting to identify at least 100 species of birds in each of Texas’ 254 counties.

“Only 243 to go,” he said with a smile.

Hodges has recorded seeing more than 200 species in Lampasas County, thanks in large part to the Lower Colorado River Authority reservoir north of Lometa, where he observes myriads of waterfowl.

“This past winter at any one point there may have been 5,000 or 6,000 ducks and coots there at one time, and it’s not that big of a lake,” he said.

Hodges recently joined a Williamson County birding group, has taken brothers and sisters on birdwatching expeditions at Colorado Bend State Park and is approaching his 100th species identified in Llano County. The bald eagles that have appeared in Llano County in the last five to 10 years particularly interest Hodges, as he has enjoyed observing the once-endangered birds’ recovery.

“It’s just been really educational for people to be able to see that,” he

Please see BIRD, page 10 said of the eagles, which nest along Texas Highway 29 about nine miles east of Llano.

The Texas Gulf Coast, where Hodges said birders can spot members of 100 species or more in a day, has become another favorite travel spot for the Lampasas couple. Hodges especially enjoys seeing whooping cranes, which eat blue crabs while resting for the winter at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, and watching the “fallout” of warblers and other birds flying north in the spring. After grueling migratory flights over the Gulf of Mexico, some birds, Hodges said, become so exhausted they literally fall from the sky.

When the fatigued birds rest, birdwatchers have the perfect opportunity to approach them and take photos without scattering them.

“It’s pretty impressive to see 12 or 13 brightly colored species all in a tree and letting you get close,” Hodges said.

He and his wife also have enjoyed a trip to woodpecker nesting grounds in the Cascade Mountain Range in Oregon, are planning an East Coast birding trip, and hope to journey far enough north to see snowy owls, which live in arctic climes.

In venues ranging from pristine parks to deserts, fish hatcheries and garbage dumps, Mrs. Hodges has accompanied her husband to look for birds and — a 100-plus-degreeday in the Salton Sea in Southern California notwithstanding — enjoy time spent together.

“She spots for me, and I I.D.,” Hodges said. “She’s got better eyes than I do.”

Birdwatching trips provided valuable family time when the couple’s two daughters were young.

“Annah’s first word was ‘bird,’” Mrs. Hodges said of the couple’s elder daughter.

Along with strengthening family ties, birdwatching also has given the Hodgeses many chances to make friends with other wildlife aficionados. Whether close to home or out of state, birdwatching groups always welcome fellow birders warmly, Mrs. Hodges said.

“We’ve met a lot of great people through birding,” she said.

The simplicity of birdwatching, and the friendships the Hodgeses have formed through their birding trips, keep beckoning the couple back out into nature.

Regardless of the method used to identify species, birdwatching is an accessible activity for hobbyists from a variety of backgrounds.

“It’s something anybody can do,” Hodges said, “whether you bird by sight or sound.”

Although he developed his interest in birdwatching just from observing birds at his house, Hodges and his wife said the camaraderie of birding groups makes the hobby particularly rewarding.

“There’s always somebody who knows about plants, insects, snakes ...,” Mrs. Hodges said. “They’re just people who care about the natural world.”