2018 in review

January went as most Januarys go for me. Cabin fever big time. I entertained myself as best I could. Worked crosswords and did some little projects like replacing the refrigerator in the guesthouse. The PBS segment on CMO aired that was taken last August when things were at their lushest, so that was a welcome distraction.

February seemed much closer to spring and I got obsessed with creating a little verbena patch. That helped with the cabin fever. Kept hoping a Lucifer would arrive early, but none did.

By March it was spring for real, but the crazy weather was so windy and one day hot, the next cold, over and over the same pattern that about all I could accomplish was to hang onto my hat.

In April I started getting inundated with visitors, partly because of the PBS program. And got a new oasis species in April.... Cassin's Finch. With no rain since last year, everything was so dry that birds didn't have much selection as to where to go. Got two female Cassin's Finches, then a week later, another female.

CMO Cassin's Finch by Mac Womack 

Also in April I learned that my last year's Mexican Amberwing submissions got accepted. That was fun. And more fun still was the 2018 BIG SIT which netted us 51 species, several more than we got last year.

May started out even busier, bustling with birds and birders. Got the first oasis male Cassin's Finch, besides a new oasis species, Palm Warbler.

Photo by T. Jay Adams

May was extremely hot and dry, which brought lots of migrants in until the middle of the month, when the numbers of visiting birds, and birders, dwindled.

June seemed like record heat for sure. But at least we got a couple of decent rains so water wasn't an issue. However, my pump stopped working properly, forcing me to put my little slow pump into the tank and drag hoses around with hardly any pressure. Watering took twice as long. In the triple-digit heat it was very hard on me. But better than no water. In desperation I even hired an electrician. Cost nearly $2000 besides all new pump, control box, pressure switch, etc., and still the pump never worked right.

The June rain brought a couple of new oasis dragonflies, which thrilled me.

Five-striped Leaftail

Gray Sanddragon

July felt like it was the hottest July on record here. And the only other July that I got less rainfall was in 2011 during that horrible drought. One nice butterfly showed up very briefly. Not a lifer, but a new oasis species.

Zebra Heliconian

Also had a female Mexican Amberwing show up briefly in mid-July. (I got just a poor photo, but good enough for it to be accepted by the experts.) And the first oasis Eastern Ringtail (Mexican form).

August was still hot and dry. I worried I might not get a monsoon this year. Quite stressful when around me places were getting inundated, but always missing the oasis. Thanks to the June rain I had enough water, but just not enough to make it through until next year's rainy season.

The hummingbird festival was the biggest, best ever. I had to stay at the oasis to help with the tours there, but had invited festival participants to check out our habitat in town (Johnson Ponds). Many did, and photographed hummingbirds in the process. After the last oasis tour left, I headed to Alpine to discover a Costa's Hummingbird at the feeders there. I announced it as quickly as possible, hoping some festival goers were still hanging around the area. A few were, and got to see the bird. And some who had visited earlier in festival week went through their photos and found they had photographed the Costa's not knowing what it was. And at least one person got home, then turned around and came back to see it.

Finally, a week into September, the oasis got a good monsoonal rain. But the stucco tank started leaking badly, so I pumped it out, patched it, and refilled it. Feeling desperate for a solution to evaporation and leakage, I started a gofundme campaign to get an above ground covered tank. That was scary and way beyond my comfort level, but I knew it had to happen. Failure wasn't an option. Scary mostly because of the logistics of getting the money, the pad done to specifications, and the  vegetation that would have to be destroyed. Getting anything done so far from civilization is always a nightmare, but the only way to ensure the oasis could continue on for us all to enjoy.

To my amazement, I did raise the money, with the help of many friends.  All through October I persevered, making progress slowly. Also in October another good rain filled a dirt tank. Again, I pumped all night to fill the worn out stucco tank. Again, it leaked real bad. So I spent another night pumping it out again, then patching and refilling it.  Even more pressure to get the new tank installed quickly, but all the October rains caused the installation company to get farther behind schedule. A very stressful time for me. I heard somewhere that October was our wettest October on record. Also in October I had a few Mexican Amberwings. One was accepted by the vetters. The others are still pending. Normally, a lovely wet October would have been a joy to me, but I wasn't able to enjoy it this year.

By November stress and frustration were a way of life. But everything was blooming and butterflies were everywhere. Got the first oasis Dorantes Longtail, shown here savoring American Threefold (Trixis californica).

Finally, mid-month, the tank installation happened. It was the coldest day we'd had so far and the pad was dusted with snow as I waited for the crew to arrive.

By the time they left in the afternoon, the tank was installed and I was pumping water into it.

That process took over twelve hours. The new 65,000 gallon tank held most of the five feet of water that was remaining in the stucco tank. 

I still couldn't relax and enjoy my new water wealth though, because it was imperative to channel rain water away from the tank, put the requisite gravel around the tank, and install a barrier between the tank and parking area.  Got that accomplished Thanksgiving when my sons came to help. Really felt awesome to have that project finally under control. In a month (Oct 24 to Nov 23) the new parking area went from a wet muddy mid-project mess...

Looking east

...to a spacious finished parking area. (The new tank had appropriated the old parking area.) And the vegetation went from lush green to post-frost drab.

Looking east

But how bad and long could the upcoming winter be when I was still enjoying Lucifer Hummingbirds after Thanksgiving Day? 

Since I had money left from the gofundme, I contacted a concrete company to see if they would come out and assess the road so I can have a better idea of what can be done and what can't. And I intend to get done what can be. But the only company that was even willing to come out kept postponing. They're so busy with big contracts. I do believe they'll come eventually.

Still a lot of other projects need doing. Like still have to put gravel on the new parking area. Waiting for my husband's loader to get repaired to do that, which won't happen soon either. Only person in Alpine that can repair it is also overloaded with work. I have some plumbing repairs to do and various little projects but I feel I'm making progress. Winter will give me a chance to get caught up.

In mid-November the long anticipated encyclopedic tome on Trans-Pecos wild flowers was published so my sister and I were finally able to begin work on organizing and identifying our thousands of CMO (and her adjoining property) flower photos. I figured that would help a lot with cabin fever when December cold fronts arrived, but December stayed nice. Still, more fun to do than crossword puzzles when nothing interesting is blooming or flying.

What with verbena coming up all over the oasis and hopefully Tree Tobacco around the perimeter of the new tank, spring should be awesome! And with so much other stuff to occupy me, it should be here before I know it.