Looks like spring, acts like spring

I finally got the feeder close enough to the cam that it captured the Lucifer's scarce visits. In the last three days he made a total of three visits. He's still the only hummer around.

The courtyard is extremely fragrant with Mountain Laurel...

...and indoors is well-scented with orange blossoms. Sure wish I could post aromas.

Looking closer at the ocotillo blooms, I don't think they're fully mature yet, so I doubt the hummers are getting anything from them. I like that they're blooming early this year. That way they'll be done blooming by the time all the birders descend on the oasis in late April and early May, causing the hummers to be more dependent on feeders, which helps birders get better looks and photos.

Finally got a photo of the duskywings I've been seeing around the place lately. It is a Funereal Duskywing, as I suspected. Pictured here on Mountain Laurel blooms.

I also saw a gorgeous fresh Black Swallowtail and Two-tailed Swallowtail, but they didn't land so no photos. Seeing them this early in the year makes me hopeful that it'll be a good year for butterflies. Maybe I'll get Ornythion Swallowtails again this year.

Back in Alpine, the old Mexican train track near our house is busy hauling pipeline to the Trans-Pecos Pipeline project. Nothing's gonna stop those trains, day after day, as far as the eye can see.

It's a mystery to me how a private enterprise can claim eminent domain on so many rancher's property when there's no benefit to anyone in the Big Bend to the pipeline. No jobs, tax revenue, or oil from it. People here are fighting it, but it's a losing battle.