Slim pickin's these days

Not much of interest flying around. Had to lower my standards a bit. Here's some kind of lacewing, I imagine. It was so delicate and beautiful in person, like a miniature white, sheer fan. This photo doesn't do it justice.

Update: ID'd as the moth  Palpita quadristigmalis

Kelly and I photographed this dragonfly that he thinks is a female Black Setwing.

Tomorrow is Lajitas day for us. Hope we find something exciting there. While he was banding at CMO today I went off to get some errands done. I missed two good birds which we would have liked photos of. Such is life. Can't lay my camera down a minute. We saw one hummingbird here, but it was probably already banded and shunned the trap. Kelly was excited, though, to band a juvenile Lucifer Hummingbird at a site 3 miles from CMO. So the day was salvaged somewhat. This is the first year we've gotten Lucifers in November. Must be the abundant late monsoons gave them a chance to nest for the second or third time this year. Some of them seem newly fledged and some seem to have been fledged earlier this year, maybe in May.

Hurricane Vance at large

It seems that everything these days is super-sized and at-large. There are even positions at-large and members at-large. In regards to the latter, according to eHow, "Unlike the board president, treasurer and secretary, a member at large most often does not have specific, assigned duties. Instead, the needs of the organization determine common duties and job assignments."

And hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counterclockwise; the Southern Hemisphere, clockwise. So much to learn, and so few years to do it.

All the way from Alpine this morning I fretted that I wouldn't make it up my big hill. Watching the rain and water on the highway wasn't encouraging in that respect, although I always love to get all the rain I can.

Elephant Mountain

Nine Point Mesa

Seeing a tractor trailer stuck along Terlingua Ranch road was even more unsettling. Figured I'd end up walking from the bottom of my big hill, but not without giving it my best effort to ascend with my pickup first. 

Then when I came to a river of water rushing across the road, I wasn't sure I'd even make it to my big hill. If that water had been any deeper I surely wouldn't have.

After slowly, ever so slowly, making my way through that (I dared not stop in the middle to take a picture of how high the water was on my pickup), I started stopping to put rocks into the bed of my pickup. I would need the weight to have hope of making it up the mountain. Using my newly discovered low gear, I barely made it up. I believe if the hill had been even one foot longer or steeper, I wouldn't have. It was touch and go there for a while. The rocks won't go to waste. I have them piled up by my madrone project for use on it....one of these days. The rocks in the center of the photo are the base of the retainer wall I'm making to shade and cool the madrone tree from the south side. The rocks in the front are the ballast from my pickup today.

All my rain barrels were full and running over from the slow soaking over 3 inches of rain that Hurricane Vance gifted me with. I wanted to salvage some of the excess in case it rains again tonight or tomorrow, but could only come up with one feasible place to move the water to. That is the 3 thousand gallon tank at the guesthouse that got depleted recently when the toilet malfunctioned....... again.

But to move the water down there I wanted to be absolutely certain it wasn't running some of it into the house well. To be certain meant capping off the well (which hasn't worked for many years). I had tried and failed before, but today I rigged up a "cheater bar" for the big pipe wrench and got it done.

I'm ready for a nap.

Lajitas sort of day

A great half-day at Lajitas today! We got there shortly after daylight, got the banding out of the way (LOL), observed by a fascinated group.....

...then on to the golf course in pursuit of odonates and other interesting stuff.  Was really surprised to see 20+ Gambel's Quail. They were so scattered that the most I could capture on one photo were 6 (actually 5½).

Another most unexpected surprise was a Green Kingfisher, the first I've ever seen at Lajitas. It's in this mesquite tree overlooking a pond. Hard to spot. (Easier if you click on the photo to enlarge.) I got closer, but never could get a clear shot before it flushed.

Got one lifer dragonfly today, thanks to Kelly knowing what it was. I would have totally overlooked it, thinking it was a Flame Skimmer or something. So confusing. But it's a Red Rock Skimmer.

A workless day

It was a perfectly lovely day.....
Butterflies were everywhere......
Work could wait a while longer....
Soon these days will be over.....
Gotta take advantage while I can....

Yup, easy to talk myself out of the project I had planned for today. For as long as I've lived in this house (since 1979) everything I've planted in this planter has been beaten to death by wind. Yesterday, as I watched the wind beat on my new little Mexican Elder, I resolved to make a windbreak for it. Right away. So as the wind whipped madly, I put up a temporary windbreak, trying to spare the bush. Today my resolve was to remove the temporary, and replace it with sotol. Not hard work. Just work. The reason the wind is so bad in that spot is because it's positioned in front of the only entrance into the courtyard. The entrance becomes a wind tunnel and rages only in that spot.

I managed to put up 3 sotol stalks before it warmed up enough that butterflies were roaming around.

As I mentioned yesterday, my focus today was to photograph the Tailed Orange. Which I did, although I kissed a lot of frogs in the process. Translation: I photographed a lot of orange-ish butterflies.

I actually saw two Tailed Oranges, though these photos may or may not be of the same individual. Either way, mission accomplished.

This is the first time I've seen Fatal Metalmarks mating.

In England they have a black and white striped candy, similar to our peppermint sticks, that they call  "humbugs." Until someone tells me differently, I'm going to call the insect below this Gulf Fritillary a humbug.

peppermint humbug candy

When I saw the Red-naped Sapsuckers working on the locust tree again this year, I covered the trunk, again, but obviously I didn't cover it high enough.

Saw another Mountain-dwelling Short-winged Katydid (Dichopetala oreoeca) like the one I posted September 27th. Pretty cool with their long antennae!

Halloween spirits

 I got an unexpected Halloween tricky-treat.... a lifer Tailed Orange. I was going through some pics I took today and one was of a bunch of Sleepy Oranges that I took just to show Brian how many oranges I had. (I should, since their caterpillars practically denuded my new senna wislizeni bushes.) But as I was looking at the photo, I noticed one of the oranges looked a little different (upper right in the photo). I asked Brian what it was, and he said a "Tailed Orange." Can't believe I photographed a new species for me, and the oasis, without even knowing it. Tomorrow I'll focus on getting a better photo of it.

El Paso by proxy

This morning I had an email from a blog follower in El Paso with photos of a Blue-throated Hummingbird that he wanted ID confirmation on.  I told him it looked like one to me (from his not so great photos), but just to be totally sure, and not knowing if that was a rarity for El Paso, I consulted with Kelly. Seems El Paso didn't have documentation of that species, so Kelly contacted the experts in El Paso, including Barry Zimmer. Zimmer went and photographed it late this afternoon. Good thing that species isn't a lifer for me because I could not justify driving to El Paso to see it. So I enjoyed the sighting vicariously, as well as with Barry's wonderful photos. Here's my favorite.

Photo by Barry Zimmer

A week ago I went to Marathon and took this picture with my cell phone at Gage Gardens and forgot it was on my phone since I hardly every use it. But I had wanted to post it, so better late than never.

Lajitas or bust

Had more energy yesterday, and still more today, so I determined to go check out the odonates at Lajitas. I figure for every ten I see, there are a hundred I don't see, but ten is a ten in my book.

It's the time of year for the annual Chili Cook-off. Most locals pointedly avoid leaving their homes during the cookoff (to be held this weekend west of Terlingua Ghost Town). I went once years ago, and never again. This is the 48th year for it. Already a trailer town is growing. And that doesn't count the tent village.

I had previously been told about Lajitas cutting down a bunch of pine trees that were blocking the "view," so it wasn't a surprise. I was surprised at the bat houses, though. Go figure!

I have told all the management and CEOs that a birding habitat would generate more income than the golf course, by replacing the turf with trees, and no more water usage. I've done all I can do. Lajitas could be a world birding center, but apparently this will happen only in my dreams. 

While servicing my feeders at the oasis before leaving this morning, I noticed the feeder that this Red Admiral was feeding from yesterday was very soured. I'm thinking that's what attracted him to it. This morning he didn't visit any of the feeders, maybe because they were filled with fresh solution. But I can't let them get sour. It attracts nasty black flies and makes them terribly difficult to clean. Probably not good for the hummers either.

I've been trying my best to get diagnostic photos of amberwings, both at the oasis and again at Lajitas. Hopefully, a couple I took there today will be good enough to identify at least one as Mexican Amberwing. I don't think that species has been documented at Lajitas before. Here's one of my better ones.

I need to use fill flash to reveal the shadowed part but I'm technologically challenged on things like external flash, etc. In this case, the color and pattern of the thorax is diagnostic. Too bad it's in shadow on my photos.

I took pics of one at the oasis a couple of days ago that couldn't be confirmed, but I have already documented that species there, you may recall, so no big deal, although it would have been nice.

Also at Lajitas I saw hundreds of checkerspots that I thought were Chinatis until I checked my book. They're Theona Checkerspots. Here's one on its host plant cenizo, which is abundant around Lajitas.

The oasis-at-large

The phrase "community-at-large" drives me crazy. I can't really find a good definition of it. If it means community in general, why don't they just say that? The general community, or something. So I got to thinking, what if I said "the oasis at large?" (hyphenated or not, is also unclear) What would I mean by that? The oasis in general?

I'd rather move on to my Cyna story. Cyna Blue is a tiny Mexican species that wanders north into this area. I found them last year and this year in Alpine, even posted evidence that they breed in Alpine (post of Oct 24), but until today, try as I might, I couldn't find one at the oasis. So, after carrying my camera around while watering trees, and seeing nothing of interest, I put the camera down.... somewhere in the oasis-at-large. AND my sister,* who I frequently stop by and visit on my way to or from the oasis, seldom ventures up the bad road to my place unless I need her to check on something when I'm gone, or whatever.

Today, she came up for something while I was here, which was a treat for me. We love to walk around and discuss the wildflowers. She knows them better than I do. No sooner had she arrived (I had turned off the faucet anticipating a fun visit) than I spied a little butterfly that could be a potential Cyna. I asked her to keep her eye on it while I ran for my camera. Then I spent the rest of her visit totally focused on the butterfly. Gotta do what I gotta do. Good thing we're understanding sisters.

I never did get a good photo of it, but good enough that Brian could confirm it was a Cyna. I have plenty of good Cyna shots, just none from the oasis before today.

Neither of us could remember the name of the common flower it was feeding on.

Most of the ripe acorns are gone from the trees. The Western Scrub-Jay is still feasting on them. I was happy to notice that one small Live Oak tree still has a lot of green acorns on it, so I can look forward to the jay's continued presence. Maybe if you click on this photo you can locate a bunch of the green acorns.

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* Andrea Ohl, a year younger than I, is an archaeologist for the Center for Big Bend Studies in Alpine. We were raised like twins. For the past 20 years, in her free time, she has been building her awesome unique home one mile north of the oasis. Like me, her body won't let her do all that she wants to do anymore, but her house is nearly completed. She hopes to focus on landscaping with wildflowers after that. On November 7th she'll be giving a presentation on stone tools at the annual CBBS conference.

Waiting for energy to return

Coming south from Alpine this morning the highway was littered with bicyclists and their accompanying vehicle entourages. It was like an obstacle course. All I could think of was if they used all that energy working on my road what a lovely road it would be. Oh, well. Maybe November will be warm and lovely making winter not so long. And hopefully my health won't fall apart anytime soon. I've just dragged around lately with no energy. Hope that ends soon.

I stopped to hang my newly repainted sign coming onto my property.

Then coming within sight of the oasis, I was pleased to see how green and lush it still is in late October.

I don't often see butterflies nectaring at the hummingbird feeders, but maybe this Red Admiral managed to get his head inside the port and reach the sugar water.

This Empress Leilia wasn't as successful. The type feeders I use (Dr JBs) have internal baffles to prevent bees from reaching the solution, which probably hinders most butterflies too.

Nothing sweet on my camera lens either. I hope.

Empress Leilia


The red lantana I planted this summer sure looks happy.

I planted a third Woolly Butterfly bush today. The first two didn't make it. I'm determined to keep the new one from freezing this winter. That species grows wild down by my sister's place. I don't see why I 'm having such a hard time with it. Sorry, forgot to take a photo.

Trying to make every minute count

I feel the weight of impending winter. The next four months are the months I dislike  hate the most.

Season for butterflies and odes seems to be winding down although I see lots of them mating. Guess they have a plan to make it through the winter. Or their progeny. Here are a pair of Cyna Blues, although I already assumed they were breeding in Alpine. Haven't had them at CMO yet. They were so intent on their activity that when I got up close to remove the pesky grass shadowing this photo, they didn't flush. So I got a much more satisfactory shot of the...  inaction.

Cloudless Sulphur female

Here are a couple of skippers. They never cease to confuse me and I always have to ask Brian what they are.

Fiery Skipper

Sachem Skipper

Orange Skipperling

Going to go to CMO tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll get some work done, and take some fun pictures while there.