West Texas adventure, Part 3

Tuesday morning I couldn’t even find my parents.  I thought they might have found a ride home, or possibly I had killed them with the long hike.  It turns out my parents have learned how to sleep late. Interesting.

Tuesday we took a driving tour of the park, to see the things that are on my must-see list for BBNP: Hot Springs, Boquillas, and Santa Elena Canyon. We also did some lazing around at Rio Grande Village campground, which is one of the best places to look at pretty birds without much effort. Painted buntings and vermilion flycatchers were everywhere.

Mis padres at Santa Elena Canyon.

Roadside cholla.

We took a shortcut up Old Maverick Road from Santa Elena to the main road, for dinner at the Starlight Theater in Terlingua. We had great food and listened to (I think!) Doug Scharnberg play guitar and sing.

The next morning we had to drive back to Austin, but there were a couple of great sightings on the road as we were leaving. In the basin, just before the Lost Mine Trailhead, this guy was ambling along. It might be hard to see because I was a little over-excited and trying to keep people from running into our car at the same time, but in case you can’t tell it is a bear.

And this Texas horned lizard was on the road, I had to shoo him off of it.

And that is the end of Chihuahuan Desert Adventure 2010.

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West Texas adventure, Part 2

On the 17th, we woke up a bit late and dawdled, and since it was getting warmer we decided to stay up at higher elevation and do the Lost Mine Trail. This was a first for me, and something that I probably would have not done except for the recommendations of friends. The trail has an interpretive guide that is based on numbered stops along the trail. We had fun reading them out loud, and it gave us a lot of good resting time. The views along the trail were amazing, I would definitely do it again. There weren’t very many people on the trail, which was nice.

Watch out for mountain lions!

This Mexican jay posed for me.

Claret cup cactus were blooming along the trail.

Also ocotillo.

The view from the top.

Tired but happy at the top.

We rested in the afternoon, then ate at the lodge. The food there has vastly improved, and they even have a salad bar!

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West Texas adventure, Part 1

BT, my parents, and I went on an adventure to West Texas this past week. We spent two nights in Marfa and three nights in Big Bend National Park.

Friday, we drove out I-10 through Fort Stockton and stopped in Marathon to check out the Gage Hotel. There was a big wedding, so we went to the White Buffalo Bar to enjoy drinks on their lovely patio.

Yes, there really is a white buffalo in the bar.

We ate dinner at the Famous Burro, then continued to Marfa, where we were staying in a little vacation house. Saturday we did some strolling and shopping in Marfa, which was very quiet.  We loved browsing at JM Dry Goods.  There are a lot of cool buildings in Marfa.

In the afternoon we drove up to Fort Davis. We spotted a lone pronghorn antelope along the way.

We went to Davis Mountains State Park where my family was kind enough to sit still for hours waiting for a bird that never showed up (darn you, Montezuma quail!). We did get good looks at blue grosbeaks, black-headed grosbeaks, acorn woodpeckers, summer tanagers, and lesser goldfinches. We ate at Murphy’s Pizza, then headed up to the McDonald Observatory for the twilight program and star party. I’m not much for astronomy, but I loved the star party. We were lucky that the clouds cleared, and we got good looks at Saturn with four of its moons, and star clusters M3 (awesome) and M104 (not very memorable). My mom picked up a star map that came in handy at Big Bend, where we could see tons of stars.

Sunday morning, we ate at Austin Street Cafe which is only open on Sundays or by appointment. It was lovely.

We drove down 118 from Alpine to Terlingua, then on into Big Bend National Park. We checked out the Panther Junction visitor center, then drove up to the lodge where we were staying in Building C (great views, electricity is sketchy). We enjoyed dinner at the lodge, which has improved by leaps and bounds in the last decade, and sunset from the Window View Trail.

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I support the Clean Water Restoration Act

Please click here to find out more, and please support this important legislation to protect wetlands.

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At long last

I finally got around to dealing with photos from our amazing trip with BT’s family to New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in December of 2006 , where thousands of snow geese, sandhill cranes, and ducks winter.  It had been on my list of places to go birding for a long time, and it was as awesome as I had heard.  It was nice to be inside during the mid-day heat today, remembering the cool weather– there were tiny bits of snow on the ground when we were there.  Photos are here.

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White squirrel

Here is our resident white fox squirrel, perched on the edge of the compost heap.  I’ve been trying to get a photo of this elusive critter for a while now.  He is always burying pecans in the garden.  There are several white squirrels in Crestview, it’s always fun to spot them.

Spring migration will end soon, but the birds were still moving through this afternoon.  Today at the springs I saw a yellow warbler, black-throated green warblers, ovenbird, Nashville warbler, Tennessee warbler, blue-headed vireo, red-eyed vireo, Swainson’s thrush, and eastern wood-pewee.  I tried walking on the greenbelt for a ways, but it seems like all of the birds were hanging out in the pecan trees next to the parking lot.  There is also a pair of breeding-plumage spotted sandpipers that are hanging out just upstream of the pool.  They have been there for a while, and I love watching them bob the way they do.  This weekend we had a common yellowthroat visit us in the backyard for a bit, which was neat.  It made me wish for a pond, I know he would have enjoyed our yard more if he had a little water.

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Ovenbird

It was nice to be in Houston over the weekend.  I found this little guy wandering around in a neighbor’s bushes.  It’s an ovenbird, who was caught in the front passing through Texas.  I took him to a safe, cat-free area to regain his strength and hopefully move on.  We did some birding on Sunday in Russ Pitman Park in Bellaire, and got to see some of my favorite warblers: black and white, Blackburnian, and chestnut-sided.  It was nice to be with friends and family.

Sweet April passed away last night.  It’s going to be hard to get used to not having her here, she’s been a part of my life for so long.  She was a very special dog.  I’m planning a spot in the garden for her, so she can stay with us and have a nice spot in the sunshine.

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Nashville warblers everywhere!

We had quite a storm last night! Loads of thunder and lightning and a half-inch of rain.  This morning there are Nashville warblers singing in the trees all around.  I am heading to Houston in a little while, and I hope to squeeze some birding in.  I love spring migration!  I did see a pair of indigo buntings yesterday at Barton Creek just above the pool.  But I’m hoping for a real live fallout in Houston.  There’s nothing cheerier than trees full of warblers and vireos and orioles.

The tomatoes and peppers are growing like crazy, I’ll take a picture when I get back.  Happy weekend!

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One-day vacation

My mom and I went to San Antonio for my cousin’s 3-hour course on educational games and methods for young kids. We took advantage of the opportunity to spend a day in SA. The first night, we tried to go to El Mirador, but it was closed. We headed for the River Walk, prepared to pay a lot of money for mediocre tourist food. Instead, we enjoyed a pretty darned good salmon dish at the Zuni Grill, along with cactus pear margarita and pecan creme brulee. What a relief! We toured the Missions in southern SA, which were gorgeous. BT and I had previously visited Concepcion, which has gorgeous well-preserved frescoes with intricate geometric patterns. Mom and I checked out Mission Espada, Mission San Juan, and the aqueduct. We enjoyed seeing some good birds, including Nashville warblers and molting yellow-rumped warblers, egrets and herons on the river, and newly arrived scissortailed flycatchers. At Mission San Jose I picked up an interesting souvenir:

She was wandering around near the visitor center and …I couldn’t resist. In my typical bird-brained way, I neglected to think out how I was going to care for a stray puppy while staying in a hotel that doesn’t take dogs. I ended up buying her a crate and she slept in the car. Thank goodness the weather wasn’t hot! My mom was a good sport about the whole escapade, luckily. After the dog logistics were settled, we enjoyed lunch at the Menger Hotel next to the Alamo, then headed for our class.

It was a great trip, but way too short! There was so much more I wanted to do!

My beautiful Mommy and the Mission Espada:

P.S. Anybody want a puppy?

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Kitty is 11!

I can’t believe it, Kitty turned 11 yesterday. She is a little gray around the muzzle but no less impish. Well, maybe a bit. She was really bad when she was a puppy. I didn’t buy her any gifts, but BT did find her favorite ball which had been lost since the move. She was very pleased.

I have a lot of work to do this week and I can’t say I’m excited about it. It’s particularly difficult to be locked inside when spring is happening outside. I’d rather be birding. On the coast. Which reminds me, I came home from the grocery store the other day, and in my front yard a Cooper’s hawk was standing over a still-breathing white-winged dove. I was hoping I would get to see it eat its dinner when the neighbor’s cat came prowling over, ready to pounce on the little hawk. I don’t know how he managed to pick up that heavy dove, but the hawk carried it to a tree and by the time I came back out with binoculars he was gone. Damn cat.

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