Got birds?

Tue, May 13 2008

— Galen Scott
gscott@weatherforddemocrat.com
If you’re looking for plants and you decide to visit the Weatherford Gardens nursery on Fort Worth Highway, you might run into Sonny Hines. If you run into Hines, you might end up leaving with more than plants.
Hines, 42, is like an informal encyclopedia full of observational knowledge about birds and their relationships to various examples of native Texas vegetation. He knows which plants will attract a particular bird species.
After years of trial-and-error experimentation, Hines has unlocked the secret links between common Texas vegetation and the state’s cannon of birds, bees and butterflies.
“If you build it, they will come,” he said. “I have been surprisingly successful.”
For a man of Hines’ inclination, Parker County represents a fascinating environment. Cross-timbers vegetation mixes with limestone bluffs and xeric plants more commonly associated with the Edwards Plateau. He points to the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge near Azle as one example.
Apparently, Hines witnessed the prothonotary warbler, common to swampland in the Southeastern United States, hanging around the nature center.
“I can’t think of any place where you can find prothonotary warbler with cactus 100 feet away,” Hines said. “It’s a really unique environment here.”
While carrying on conversation Wednesday, Hines was also listening to a line of trees behind the nursery. In the span of a few seconds, he picked out the shrill call of the red-bellied woodpecker and other birds.
Hines is happy with the relaxed atmosphere at Weatherford Gardens where he started working just two months ago.
For the last eight years, Hines co-owned the Wild Bird Center of Fort Worth with his wife, Gretchen. The niche retail chain of stores caters to wild bird enthusiasts, and anyone interested in a healthy backyard habitat.
“It’s a little slower pace here than it was over on Hulen Street,” he said, with a relieved smile.
Hines helps inform curious customers while keeping the inventory straight and making sure everything has enough water, including “Agent Orange,” a tabby cat that showed up at the nursery about three weeks ago.
“He’s the only toxic thing in the place,” Hines joked.
At Weatherford Gardens, Sonny Hines puts affinity for all things backyard to good use. His talent will surely prove valuable to the growing number of modern nursery customers who, in addition to the flora, would also like a fauna-friendly backyard.