POWER OUTAGE

I rushed down to CMO yesterday after helping band hummers in the Davis Mountains and finishing up some things I needed to do in Alpine. Got to CMO minutes before the power went out sometime around 4 PM. I was tired, hungry, couldn't water, couldn't cook, couldn't download pictures, couldn't use the phone, couldn't blog or check email. I tell you I was miserable.

It felt akin to what I imagine a claustrophobic panic attack would feel like. Too hot to sleep good. After 12 hours I beat a hasty retreat to Alpine. I'm not prepared for a life minus technology. Not sure I'd even want a life without technology.

Anyway, my sisters collected, and saved, a scorpion that had her back literally covered with babies, that they thought I might enjoy photographing before releasing. (Those are grains of gravel in the container with her. I didn't want them out of the photo bad enough to reach in and remove them.)

And here's an interesting looking bug I saw.

Two to three weeks ago Kelly got word from an Alaskan bander that there were no more Rufous Hummingbirds left in Alaska. They had all departed south. Now they're showing up here in Texas. We banded numerous ones yesterday, and I saw one guarding a feeder at CMO. I think they're about the toughest hummers in the US. Not only do they make the longest migration, but they defend feeders and won't let other hummers feed from them. But I put out plenty of extra feeders for the other species, not to worry.

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UPDATE: I found that bug near, or on, this milkweed plant, and I'm thinking it's a Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus).