Christmas lights

Male Anna's Hummingbirds can sure look like Christmas lights when the sun hits their heads just right. Here's one perched looking normal, then it turns its head back, then forth, looking like flashing lights.

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Not much activity at the oasis but I didn't spend much time there. On my way to the oasis I stopped in at the Double Diamond and saw a couple of Williamson's Sapsuckers. Always a treat! Didn't get a decent shot at the handsomest one, but this one was pretty cooperative. Photos were taken at a distance, so not as sharp as I would have liked.

CMO feeder update

 Here is the seed feeder before Lee put the new base on it.

And here it is with the new base. Clouds look good too. Means there's a little moisture in the air.

I'm in Alpine and not there but he says birds aren't going to it. Maybe they need to see a few seeds outside the ports. We may have to put small patches of floor beneath the ports. Will see.

Uniqueness

Where in the whole world has there ever been a photo of a Hog-nosed Skunk with a Least Grebe in the same shot? Just shows how unique the oasis is. 

Here's a photo of how the seed feeder looks today. Lee fabricated a new base for it that he's going to install this weekend. I'm excited about it. Gonna be good! And the Ringtail won't be able to damage it. Should be maintenance free from now on.

Not summer

 It's said there are two seasons here, summer and not summer. Today was a lovely day so I don't really care which season it is. Seems autumn-like though with the leaves turning and falling. Here are the soapberry trees above the upper dam. They're doing good, probably because the soil is deeper there than it is above the middle dam.

 

The soapberries there are struggling. Their leaves died quite some time ago.

This next photo is the oasis path to the back water feature. I did a little watering today but didn't get much done. 

Throughout the years of the oasis's existence the non-native fruit trees I planted have all died, which is fine. I didn't expect them to live longer than they did. But it's really good that the native species have thrived because of my watering, and the dams, and provided berries for the birds this year. You recall the bumper crop of persimmons above the middle dam a month or so ago, for example. And now I see this large bush, Warnock's Snakewood (Condalia Warnockii) has lots of berries on it.

These are hard times. Hard to not let it get to me. Age-related health issues on top of the pandemic, drought, and all the normal family problems people have. Just because I don't blog all about the family's problems doesn't mean it doesn't weigh heavily on me. My bed time, I can tell....

Computer day

 I spent the whole day organizing photos on my computer. It's an endless task. I have two backup thumb drives so when I get one organized there's another to do. But I didn't even get one half done. I just make improvements in the right direction. I probably should do one, then delete the other two, and copy the new one onto them. But I've had some bad experiences doing that. Like once I accidentally deleted the revised one and had to start all over. And sometimes, since there are like 30,000 photos, they don't all transfer, and I don't know which did and which didn't. So I play it safe. There's a reason I have two backups. LOL

I wasn't planning to blog today, since today was so nondescript, but then I got a funny photo from my artsy son. Thought you might get a kick out of it too.

I assure you, if there were two of me, they wouldn't both be doing the same thing in the same place. Lee also took a cool photo of a Belted Kingfisher with a big fish. These are from when we went to Balmorhea a couple of days ago.

Another Balmorhea fun day!

Is it wrong to "desire too much of a good thing?"* The weather is lovely and I've been wanting my son to experience Balmorhea Lake, so we did it today. He, of course, is the better photographer. For the time being, I'm the better birder, so it works out good.

White Pelicans by Lee

 My favorite photo by me today is this one of an American Pipit perched on a pile of fresh cow dung. 

Double-crested Cormorant

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* Quoting Shakespeare in "As You Like It."

Feeder vandal identified

 I guess I had the cam too far from the feeder and it didn't get enough light, but was able to identify a Ringtail. Couldn't see how he got onto the feeder. Seemed he leapt onto it from somewhere causing the feeder to spin around. The he hung from the feeder and apparently caused feed to fall to the ground where he then lapped it up.

 I'll experiment  until I figure more out. All I can see on the video clips on the feeder are his eyes. Meanwhile he shredded the pad that was at the base of the feeder so we're going to make a round metal grate instead. I don't mind him eating the seed. It's not a noticeable amount.

Today I saw a Slate-colored Junco at the feeder. That makes the fifth junco subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco I've had there this year. I already posted photos of the other four (Oregon, Gray-headed, Red-backed, and Pink-sided).

What a great fall migration it has been!

Mountain Bluebird

 I often get bluebirds at the oasis but it's been over twenty years since I saw a Mountain Bluebird here. Yesterday my son and his wife celebrated their anniversary by going up the mountain to the summit, something they had never done before. 

While up there he saw this Mountain Bluebird. No tripod and failing camera battery but I'm happy he was able to document it at least.

                                    

I took this photo late this afternoon of the Least Grebe that seems to be wintering at the oasis. I like the way the backlighting reflects in the water.

Lots of deer hanging around the oasis, probably because of the drought.

Fox encounter

 My husband caught a fox in the trap he uses to trap feral cats. We had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to release it without getting bit, but succeeded.

The trap mechanism requires several simultaneous actions at close range to open it but we managed to wedge sticks in two of the places and then push the third thing with a pole. The prisoner bolted to freedom in the blink of an eye. Whew!

(When he catches a raccoon or feral cat or skunk he calls animal control to deal with it.)

Birding four locations

 I started off my day tallying 19 species at our ponds in town. I love this Hermit Thrush shot. I put out the sprinkler hoping to attract birds to it, not even realizing it would also make a nice bird bath. Gonna do it on purpose next time.

Next, Dale and I headed to Marathon. I had low expectations this time of year and all. Our first stop was a small habitat at an RV park in Marathon where we counted 18 species. 

American Robin

Next we went to Post Park where we were pleasantly surprised to see Western Bluebirds, as well as some nice ducks. Tallied 15 species there.

Redhead

Western Grebe

The grebe was a new Brewster County bird for us. On our way to the park we saw a deer hung up on a water tank. It finally freed itself. Some tense moment for us.

At the park we saw this very pregnant looking Javelina. Never a dull moment!

Finally, we made a quick stop at Gage Gardens for 13 species. It was a Sunday and there were a lot of people there with their kids, but that didn't stop it from being loaded with birds.... mostly White-crowned Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers. We did see a female Black-throated Green Warbler,  but I wasn't fast enough to get a good photo of it. 

As I've learned to do, I took a quick documentary shot without really taking the time to focus in case it flew, and it did.