CMO's 20th year

Hardly seems possible that I've kept it going that long. Sure hope it's at its half-life and I can keep it going another 20. I'll be 96 then. Yikes!

My little cholla patch is about 4 feet tall and blooming. Maybe soon female Lucifers will notice it and nest in it.

I was driving from the house to the oasis, looking at a bird, and too late saw this snake in the road. I slammed on the brakes but found the snake had been hit. Dang! I feel bad about it.

I don't know what species it is, but I'm sure it's harmless. 

Barry Zimmer and Brian Gibbons led a Victor Emanuel Nature Tour at CMO this morning and one of them found a Western Narrow-mouthed Toad. I would have loved to see and photograph it, having never seen one. 

I couldn't resist a picture of Barry in his Batman shirt. 

I think I know why I have so many Lucifer Hummingbirds this spring. The adjacent Big Bend NP hasn't had rain and, I'm told, nothing is blooming there, so the Lucifers have headed to CMO. Usually, it's the other way around. The park gets rain and in May CMO gets really hot, so the Lucifers go up into the cooler Chisos Mountains, almost disappearing from the feeders. Interesting!