Texas Birding Hotspots Map

I was reading a post on the TEXBIRDS listserv and came across a post by Gary Hodne who put together a series of maps using Google Maps showing birding hotspots in Texas. The maps, in 12 different regions, not only mark the hotspots but also allow you to get directions to them from where ever you are. He will soon be importing all of this data into Google Earth. If you're planning on doing any birding in Texas you need to check out the links below.

eBird Hotspots Upper TX Coast

eBird Hotspots Central TX Coast

eBird Hotspots Rio Grande Valley

eBird Hotspots South Texas

eBird Hotspots East TX / Pineywoods

eBird Hotspots South Central Texas

eBird Hotspots North Central Texas

eBird Hotspots Edwards Plateau

eBird Hotspots Travis Co.

eBird Hotspots Rolling Plains

eBird Hotspots Panhandle / Llano Estacado

eBird Hotspots West TX/ Trans-Pecos

Kopi Luwak Coffee

I thought all of you coffee lovers out there would be interested in this. Have you ever heard of Kopi Luwak coffee? Also known as civet coffee, it happens to be the most expensive coffee in the world selling anywhere from $100 to $600 a pound. The reason it is so expensive is because it lacks the bitterness that most coffees have. But that's not the kicker. On islands near the Philippines there is an animal known as an Asian Palm Civet, known by the locals as "luwaks". One of the things these cat-like animals eat is coffee berries. When the red coffee berries are digested in the animal's gut everything is broken down except the coffee seed or bean that's inside the berry. Also during the digestive process enzymes in the stomach of the civet help breakdown proteins that give coffee its bitter taste. Now here's the good part. When the civet defecates the undigested beans in the animal's scat are then collected by locals, washed and roasted and then ground into coffee. Yep- read it again...that's exactly what I said. Yum.....