Cabin fever building up

Kids made it safely back to Austin. Still no electricity for my granddaughter in Yukon, OK. In a few hours they'll be starting day 3.

My last Lucifer Hummingbird at CMO was on Nov. 16. At a site three miles south of me the last one was Nov. 24. At a site about 5 miles further south of there a Lucifer is still there today. We'll see how long it stays but so far it's the second from the latest record. (We had one in Terlingua/Study Butte in Dec a few years ago.) Here is the one from today. Photo courtesy Bonnie Wunderlich.

At first I thought it was "old man Lucifer" making his way south, but Kelly disabused me of that notion by reminding me that old man has a slightly deformed bill. (See post of Nov 16.)

Otherwise things are slow and boring. Doesn't take long for me to get cabin fever.

Annual family time

We were never all together at once until they were heading back to Austin today and we got together at Magoo's Restaurant in Alpine. So I got a customer to take a family photo.

Clockwise, left to right: Myla, Leonardo (son), Eric (son), Annie (Eric's wife) John, Jr, me, Isabel (daughter) John (Isabel's husband), Kaliya, and Erynya. The 3 girls are Leonardo's (he's divorced), and John Jr is Isabel's son. She has a daughter that lives in Oklahoma that can't be here. Wish she could. They're out of electricity today, as are 92,000 other people there, due to a huge ice storm. She sent me this photo of a limb on their roof. May be without for 2 more days.

Here in Alpine it's not so bad. Our biggest pecan tree is hurting. Already loaded with pecans before it got burdened with ice, but it's melting now.

This selasphorus hummingbird (Allen's or Rufous) is sure tough. Ice doesn't seem to faze it.

Photo taken through double-pane window from a nice warm room

Fun Lajitas afternoon

This morning I inventoried odes and butterflies at CMO. I've posted lots of photos of Great Spreadwings but I thought this one was really nice. 

The only butterflies I saw at CMO this AM were a Common Mestra, Sleepy Orange, Fatal Metalmark, and Checkered Skipper. Pretty boring.

In the afternoon I went to Lajitas to visit my daughter and her husband who are staying there for a few days in their motorhome.

I made sure to get there early so I had time to play while I was waiting for them to get there from Austin. (White pickup is mine.) And even though I didn't allow enough prime afternoon time, I still had fun. Flushed an American Bittern, the first I've seen in Lajitas.

And finally the male Anna's Hummingbirds are beginning to arrive. I was starting to wonder if they would. I expect within a month they'll be swarming like bees at the feeders. I didn't get any good photos of a gorgeous male, just a documentary silhouette, unfortunately.

And not very good one of this juvenile male either.

I guess this is a flock of Coots foraging on the golf greens. I don't remember seeing that before.

No way was I going to be able to get to CMO before dark. (Chisos Mountains in below photo.)

By the time I got back it was dark and Common Poorwills were warming themselves in the road. I tried hard to get a decent photo of one. With my Lumix this was the best I could do.

So I tried with my Canon and this was the best I could do with it. Night shots are really challenging for me.

I took a bunch of ode pics today but don't know what they are and too tired to sort them out. Maybe tomorrow.

Time to winterize

For nearly two weeks we've been promised a freeze but it hasn't happened yet. I'm sure it'll be tonight or tomorrow night though, so I went and did what winterizing needed to be done at CMO. Nothing going on there and until the tanks fill up, maybe not before next summer, I'm on strict water rationing.

The biggest madrone tree has the most berries on that it's ever had. Can't see them much on this photo, but they're there. Birds are noticing.

And the most amazing thing! When I went up to winterize my sister's guesthouse her Indian Paintbrush patch was blooming like crazy. Never saw anything like it.

Black Gap trip postponed

We had to choose between Black Gap or getting a year's supply of hog meat and we chose the latter. The plan is to go to Black Gap this weekend.

Meanwhile, "old man" Lucifer Hummingbird is still at CMO. I was concerned that he may not be up to migrating this year. It seems too much a coincidence that the oldest one is the only one that stayed into November. It's supposed to be a really cold winter this year, although we haven't had our first freeze yet. But Kelly said "old man" is molting, which makes him more prone to stick around a little longer. I learn something everyday (mostly thanks to Kelly). His wing does look a little ragged to me.

The look of fall today.

Velvet Ash tree (Fraxinus Velutina)

Chinese Pistachio (pistacia chinensis)

Hog processing time (not for the squeamish)

The bounty continues. A local rancher trapped a bunch of feral hogs and I can't stand waste so my husband salvaged about five of the 13 or so. Son helped. It's great healthy meat.

First freeze imminent

I took a couple other photos yesterday that I didn't get posted. One is of this Cardinal at CMO.  There's been a pair of them hanging around. I'm thinking they may try nesting there again next spring. They tried in 2011 but didn't fledge anything that I know about. That was a horrible year. Maybe next year will be better.

There are tons of yellow flowers blooming. I recognize these as Desert Marigold. I think the others might be broomweed but I didn't get photos.

Had to pick the tomatoes because it's sure to freeze tonight. Kept in a cold dark place we should have tomatoes to enjoy for at least another month, maybe longer. Here is preparation to doing the dastardly deed. The only thing I hate worse than picking them is losing them to frost.

Above is afterward. Notice that huge bell pepper. It's the biggest I've ever seen.

Moved the tomatoes into a guest room. I keep the door shut and the window covered so they'll be in a cool dark place. Tomorrow I'll dice and freeze the peppers. Too tired to do it today. Beside these tomatoes and peppers we've given truckloads away. Quite a few people have no more room in their freezers for more. It's been a most bountiful year. All that dried fruit too. And pecans are dropping all over the place. We'll have to give a bunch of these tomatoes away because they'll ripen faster than we can eat them.

Here's an interesting pair of mating insects. I've no idea what they are.

UPDATE: Kelly says they're Crane Flies, aka "Daddy-long-legs." Pretty cool. Thanks, Kelly.

The blog must go on

I came to town to find that the AT&T fiber optic cable had been cut and internet is down. Mine is AT&T. My son has Big Bend Telephone, which is the same as I have at CMO. Should've stayed there, but it's going to freeze tomorrow night and I have to pick all the tomatoes before then. So I'm at my son's house on my new laptop. I was determined to blog.

Going down to CMO this morning I could see enticing fog in the Christmas Mountains. It was real foggy there for a short while.

As I watered I watched for "Old Man Lucifer," but only saw two Anna's all day long. Watering was a real pain today. I had purchased a cheap Walmart hose and couldn't endure the constant kinking. So I bought a good quality non-kinking hose with lifetime warranty. Those are like trying to break a wild horse when you first get them.  

It kept getting snagged on every rock. It kept whipping around and spraying me and tripping me every time I tried to move it to a different tree. I got soaked, not to mention it flogged me from time to time. When water pressure goes through those coils, anything can happen. Ironically, it had a flaw in it when I bought it. A bad kink. Not wanting to hassle with taking it back and breaking in another one, I just put vice grips on the kink and left them there to keep it open. Needless to say, I didn't water the full regimen.

The sky was so clear at the oasis today that it looked like Nine Point Mesa was right behind it, whereas actually it's at least 5 miles away.

I saw a yellow butterfly but couldn't get a photo of it. It wouldn't land. Sleepy Oranges are plentiful and this one landed on a matching leaf. Made me realize they probably do that on purpose. Surely, they find mates partly by color so they must realize what color they are.

Finally, just about sundown old man Lucifer came in and tanked up. I had to stay way back or he left. But today is the latest date I've had a Lucifer Hummingbird. We got a male in Study Butte in December one year. I'm beginning to wonder if mine is just too old and tired to migrate. He acts totally normal so he probably will. It was in the 80s today, so no urgency, I guess. I worry about habitat loss in Mexico too. Anyway, here's the best I could get of him today, just to have a record for today.

Headed back to town in time to enjoy awesome sunsets. This first one is Agua Fria Mountain.

This weekend I'm going along with my husband to Black Gap WMA where he fishes. I'm going to photograph odes, butterflies, or anything interesting. Should have lots to blog about.

Heading for town

Felt lucky to get a documentary only shot of "old man" Lucifer Hummingbird before heading to town this morning.

He moves with lightning speed, at least while I'm present. I can tell it's him by his "arthritic" bill. (Maybe a little poetic license here). Not only is he the oldest documented Lucifer, he's the latest November CMO Lucifer record.

Here's a better photo of him showing his "arthritic" bill. This one taken on Oct 30.

Sorting hummers

I haven't finished sorting out Lucifer Hummingbirds yet and now I'm trying to sort out Anna's. Without banding it's pretty impossible. I'm thinking this Pacific front may have brought a new Anna's, or two. Here's why it's so hard to tell.

Here is a photo taken 20 minutes later at a different feeder. No sign of color on top of the head. But is it a different individual or the same one?

You say, "the last one doesn't have as much gorget?" but look again at her on the next photo

My opinion is that it's the same bird. I could be wrong. I usually am. But I just might be seeing a pinkish tone on top of the head. Kelly says these pictures are of a female even though there is some color on top of the head. That's interesting.

In spite of this being November I'm surprised at the fall color since it hasn't gotten even close to freezing. Lows so far in the mid 40s.

Big Tooth Maple

Western  Soapberry

And delighted to see this hairstreak today. On my Butterfly Bush, no less. A double treat!

Faded Juniper Hairstreak

Lajitas AGAIN!

Simply could not resist going to Lajitas after I saw nothing interesting to photograph at CMO.

So, I spent the afternoon in Lajitas. I wanted to explore what wetlands they have there and see what I thought were good possibilities for expanding and improving it. A couple of weeks ago the General Manager of Lajitas took me back to the area but the road was washed out and I really wanted to walk around and think about it. While I was at it I forced myself to photograph odes, birds, and butterflies. With my new camera. You know how I must have hated doing that.

This is the entrance to the area. It's between the river and the golf course. To access it you go to the golf shop where the golf carts are and right before you enter the golf course there is the option to turn here. I would love to see this blank sign say "Lajitas Birding Wetlands" one day soon.

When we were there the other day and couldn't get across that washed out area I couldn't really get a feel for the potential there. I'm happy to report they repaired the road today.

And I see great potential there. They just need to plant lots of cottonwoods and mulberry trees to get things started. The biggest problem is that this area will dry out in drought and everything dies back, so they really need to dig it deeper and circulate river water through it. But that may be a lot of red tape getting permits.

This coming weekend is the annual chili cookoff at Terlingua. The place is already turning into a trailer city. So lucky it's only one week a year.