Alpine vs CMO

I posted earlier today about my morning in Alpine. When I got to the oasis midday the first thing I noticed was the sound of air coming out of a tire. And on a day when no birders were here to help! I changed the tire myself in a record two hours. LOL

I didn't have anyone to hold the lug wrench in place while I put all my effort and weight into the "cheater bar," so with each lug nut I had to find something the right height to prop up the wrench.

Finally, hot, tired, and hungry, I was in the home stretch, putting the lug nuts back on. Decided to photograph the moment with a time lapse shot, but hit a wrong button on the camera and it came out black and white. Not worth trying to figure out how to fix it. One thing at a time. Later, I did fix it. As soon as color photography was invented, I quit liking black and white.

When I called my husband and told him about the flat, he said this is no country for old women. He's always trying to get me to give up on the oasis. I don't see that ever happening. At least it'll take more than his negativity to stop me. I feel great! I changed the tire all by myself!

Last Alpine morning for a week

I'm excited to be heading for the oasis this afternoon. Meanwhile, I birded our yard. Here are a few pictures, then I'm out of here.

Tomatoes

Rose bush

Mulberries

The backbone of the oasis

My late husband and I built three rock dams at the oasis. The first two divert water into below-ground-level tanks. The third one (I call the lower dam) is the biggest. It just holds water in the arroyo for a few weeks to give everything a good soaking, rather than it running away and leaving everything dry in a couple of days. Through the years, silt has built up behind the dam and a nice habitat is growing there. Here's a recent photo I took of part of the new habitat the dam created.

April 2019

August 2017

The first dam (upper dam) is the one that fills my big in-ground tank, pictured here.

Monsoon of September 2018

And the second (middle dam) gets water behind it after the big tank is full and water is then able to run over the first dam. The middle dam diverts into the stucco tank. Often there's not enough runoff to get that far, but I usually get plenty of water in my two dirt tanks (in a different arroyo) that I can pump the stucco tank full anyway. Here's the middle dam. Even if water doesn't make it to the stucco tank, it still backs up enough to give my lovely soapberry patch a good soaking.

Middle dam July 2005

The oasis totally depends on the harvesting of rainwater. And because I have the new above ground tank, I'm no longer stressed about water leaking and evaporating in the stucco tank. Normally, I'm really stressed around May when all my water is just about gone, trying to make it until the summer monsoons (Jul-Sep). Not this year. I'm good. And so grateful to all the wonderful donations that made it happen. If the dams are the backbone, then the water is the life-blood.

Good migration day

Ah, those difficult teenage years! This juvenile Black-throated Sparrow follows its mother (?) onto the feeder, then while waiting for food delivery it pecks up a morsel. But not fast enough to swallow it before mom's food arrives. The tidbit gets dropped as the fledgling opens wide for the incoming food.

Junior wants to feed himself but has to figure out how to overcome his "open wide" programming.

Next is a great photo of the action by Michael Gray.

More lovely birders today. Lots of migrants that I wouldn't have seen without all the eyes searching, including a White-eyed Vireo. It's a new oasis species.

Several from one group walked up the arroyo and discovered it there, singing. Made me feel good that I had done some pruning in the arroyo a week ago. I wasn't that enthusiastic doing it, thinking most all birders sit at the viewing area and watch the feeders, and hardly ever go up the arroyo. Many are exhausted from doing the Colima "death march" the day before.* But just in case....   

I'll be much more eager to prune the arroyo before migration next year. This photo is by Bonnie de Grood, I think. Both Bonnie and Joan Purcell generously shared their photos with me, so a heartfelt thanks to both. Birders are the best! 

That Osprey that arrived yesterday sat on this pole from 8:00 PM last night until around 10:00 AM this morning. He should be well rested to continue his journey.

And the Lucifers still aren't back yet. Even the Ocotillo at the oasis is still in bloom.

I got to Alpine this afternoon to discover the hummingbird nest only has one egg remaining in it. 

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* Tour leaders wisely schedule a more sedentary birding day following the quest for the Colima Warbler up in the Chisos Mountains at Boot Springs. From what I've heard all have been successful in getting the Colima, as well as a Slate-throated Redstart in the same general area.

BIG SIT 2019

Started at 6:00 AM.

When activity got at its best I climbed onto the viewing roof with a scope to see if it would help spot distant species, but it wasn't helpful. We ended the day with 50 species, which is the same as last year.

I think part of the reason we didn't do better is this spring has been an exceptional one for flowers and vegetation, so everywhere is an oasis. The most surprising species we got was an Osprey, and the most surprising species we missed was Red-tailed Hawk. I see them every day, yet none showed today.

Big Sitters: L-R: Bill Sain, Michael Gray, Cecelia Riley, me, DD Curie & Dell Little

That adorable baby Black-throated Sparrow now follows its parent up onto the feeder, but still doesn't feed itself.

The Elf Owl is finally carrying food to the female incubating in the nest. It may have been doing it sooner and I just didn't see it. A couple of ace birders spotted the scorpion being carried, and helped me get this photo. 

Several days ago a birder took photos of a Cactus Wren stuffing nesting material into a man-made nesting box. I didn't think Cactus Wrens nest in boxes, but maybe.....

Photo courtesy Anita Meagher

Visitors from far and near

A couple of the birders here today that I met for the first time were from Alpine. I didn't even know there were hardly any birders in Alpine (other than Bill Sain and Stephen Falick). Good to know. Other birders today were from Canada.

Then there were birders here from Washington State. Incredibly they ran into some birders here from the Netherlands that they'd met somewhere else birding in the country. The birders from the Netherlands had a very muddy car.

Seems they decided to go from Marathon to Terlingua Ranch Lodge, where they're staying, by way of the county road the cuts across just inside the park. When I got my little dab of rain a couple of days ago, that road apparently got a deluge. It's about 20 miles of dirt road. So they got stuck and had to get themselves out. It's that, or walk out. No cell service, and no traffic at all. Good thing they had their strong son with them to help push.

I hardly ever see Canyon Towhees even though they're a common bird here.

Tree Tobacco doing good so far. Hard to believe I had to use tweezers to pot the tiny sprouts last winter.

Tomorrow is BIG SIT day. Hope birding is better than it was today.

Slow migration

So far migrants have just trickled in. All my nesting species are here except for Blue Grosbeaks. I'm sure they'll be here any day. Also hoping Yellow-breasted Chats will nest here this year. Some years they don't.

Here's a Western Kingbird that's been around lately.

The poor film crew is sitting here with cameras ready daily, all day, and the Lucifers just aren't back yet, and the owls aren't incubating yet. So frustrating! And if that's not bad enough, the camera they are using is available this week only. Not counting the lens, the camera alone costs $250,000. It's a special camera and does awesome things.

Just after sunset

Weather not cooperative

The weather this morning was just rainy enough to make filming and photography not good, but not rainy enough to bring any significant moisture to the oasis. And rainy enough to make the big hill slick. One party of birders wisely walked in. Others arrived before the rain started, so we're coping.

Above: I tried to draw an arrow where the Lucifer that's being filmed is perched. Skip did get a couple of display shots today, but none he's satisfied with. It's going to be a challenge, but at least one female is coming to the feeders. Any day now the gang should be back.

Was surprised to have a fledged Black-throated Sparrow this early in the year. It was rather comical to watch the adult hop onto the feeder, grab a seed or two and hop down to stuff it into the fledgling's beak. Over and over. But I'm sure the young one will soon figure out how to feed itself.

Varied Buntings are back and enjoying the feeder.

This afternoon we got another shower, and again no appreciable amount, but made birding miserable for awhile. The filmmakers had to get off the scaffold and protect their cameras again, too.

When the sun was out for awhile this afternoon I looked for butterflies. Found a nice Sheep Skipper down by the lower dam.

My day today

I finished up my chores in town and arrived at the oasis around noon. Those frustrating Lucifers! The film crew is chomping at the bit to photograph the courtship display, and the Lucifers still haven't returned to the feeders. That can only mean that there are still plenty of flowers in the wild to keep them happy. Which is good for the birds, of course, but frustrating for us, since I'd really love to share the display with the world, and now's the chance. One male is still hanging around guarding the homefront. Today he did a display and there was not one other hummingbird around to display to. Maybe that means it's getting time for the others to return.

I wore myself out getting the feeder pole to suit me. While it's not perfect, I can live with it. Not going to work on it anymore.

Right now it's raised out of a bear's reach, but in the morning I'll lower it so the three groups of birders due to arrive will get better looks at the birds. Just hope I remember to raise it again at night.

Saw my first Chinati Checkerspot for this year.

I still had a list of things I needed to do today, but will do them tomorrow when I'm fresh, if things aren't too hectic here.

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UPDATE: To my surprise we got some rain this evening around 8 PM and thereafter. Maybe a couple of tenths of an inch but it's all good and will settle the parking area better. So I can postpone watering tomorrow. That'll help. Got to see water run off the new tank for the first time (I think). It's run off before, but I wasn't here to see it.

The owl didn't show itself, but the Tree Tobacco should be happy!

Alpine hummingbird nest concern

So far all seems to be going well with the nest but with Hugh cutting two branches that protected the nest from the afternoon sun, and maybe the eyes of predators, I worry for when the weather will get blazing hot next month.

View looking east

Looking west

Looking east (Photo taken from 13th St.)

I'm also worried that while I'm away from CMO the bear will return and pull down a bunch of hummingbird feeders. Alas, I've spread myself too thin!

Tomatoes are doing good.

And my diet is OK. But of course a diet has to be a permanent change in order to keep the weight off. If I lose another 6 lbs and keep it off, I'll be satisfied.

Couldn't be more exhausted

Last night a bear pulled down a hummingbird feeder and bent the seed feeder pole. I worked for hours on the pole trying to drive a sleeve over the bent pipe to straighten it. I lacked a couple of feet of getting it where it needed to be. Just couldn't swing the sledge hammer one more time. I managed to get the pole hoisted into place temporarily, but it needs to be 2' lower. I'll work on it some more when I get back down there. When I get the pole lower I can raise the bucket closer to the top of the pole. The bucket is where it needs to be but there's no need for the pole to be so tall. The bucket can still be at this same height if the pole is 2' shorter. It wasn't out of bear's reach before, but it is now. Hadn't had bear trouble this time of year before, but some neighbors had a recent visit, so I'm not surprised.

Before and After

When I got to town I had to wait on an extremely long train going through Alpine. It was all loaded with army vehicles. Never saw that before.

Hugh had called me and told me he found a hummingbird nest while pruning. For years I've begged him to let me do all the pruning. He doesn't do it right, and I have to redo it anyway. But I was at CMO and he decided to prune an Arizona Cypress tree. He lopped a bunch of small branches off a limb, exposing the nest. So I'm worried about the nest now. I'm not going to fix the mess he made until fledging or failure. It won't do any good to say anything to Hugh. He does what he wants to. I saw the hummer on the nest awhile ago, so maybe it'll be OK. Our only Alpine nesting species is Black-chinned. 

Busy time of year

Driving down from Alpine early this morning it occurred to me that I don't think I've ever photographed Kokernot Mesa. It's about halfway on my trip, and I'm usually zooming through the flats by the time I get to that area. But today I stopped for a photo.

Right after going through our gate I saw a car parked by my sister's driveway. They were afraid to take their low clearance car any farther, so the birder of the two, not to be cheated of his oasis visit, walked in while his companion waited in the car. He made a quick visit to the oasis and was already back at the car before I arrived.

The last week of April and first week of May are the busiest weeks of the year. It's started already. Crazy! Had a carload of tourists show up. Once every couple of years that happens. They slip through my lackadaisical screening process. I nicely told them it was for birders only and they left after a little while. I just can't be open to tourism. It's sort of sad.

Then I had the opposite type here... a world travelled birder from England, Keith Betton, who had a life list of 8360! He ranks 33rd in the world subsequent to his visit to the oasis. Very impressive! He added 3 new species (Lucifer, Pyrrhuloxia, and Elf Owl) at the oasis. Now he's at 8363. it. http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/surfbirds/display.cgi?list=list1&lowVal=0&highVal=49 We were all disappointed the owl didn't cooperate good enough for him to get a good photo, but I guess that's how it goes.

Keith at new high of #8363

Blue-winged Teal (male)

Soon the new tank will be hidden in vegetation. Especially when the Tree Tobacco gets big. This is looking south.

Talk about a mouthful! This Ash-throated Flycatcher is nest-building in one of the agave stalks.

This will illustrate to you why I scrambled so to get sturdy poles at the edge of the parking area. This car put it to the test. I don't think the barrier budged. Had the pole not been there the car would likely have dropped down a foot over the edge and hung up there until we towed it out. And it might have messed up the front end, too. And this is basically only the beginning of busy season.

It's rather hard to tell from photos, but imagine that top pole gone. The car would have nothing to stop it from going over the bottom pole since gravel is filled in to the top of the bottom poles. The parking area still slopes, but not as bad as it did without me leveling it somewhat with fill. When it slopes too much there's the danger of a car rolling and causing damage. People see a bird and get excited and don't always put the car in park. I constantly have to be thinking of safety to people and vehicles. Comes with the territory.