Still at breakneck speed

Birders started arriving early and the electrician arrived at 9 AM, so it was a bit chaotic. The electrical problem involved the viewing area, but I made the electrician walk all the way around through the parking area so as not to disturb birding. Didn't get the problem fixed though. He thinks it's in the pump, so I brought the pump to town, hoping to get it fixed.

I need to be at the oasis every day these days. Not only to keep the feeders serviced, but otherwise I can't have the drip going,* or keep the big lubber grasshoppers from gobbling up my Tree Tobacco. But I had commitments in town, unfortunately.

Photo on Tree Tobacco by Sid Ehlert

An interesting bird was photographed at the oasis on August 26th by Deborah Whiting. We couldn't ID it, so I sent it to Kelly Bryan, the expert who co-wrote a paper on hybrid Colima/Virginia Warblers. He believes Deborah's photos are of just such a hybrid.

https://avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2018/10/07/newly-discovered-hybrid-zone-between-colima-and-virginias-warbler-in-texas/

I'm not qualified to say, but I will say I saw a for sure Virginia's at the oasis these past few days and it wasn't this bird, although they may have been traveling together.

Deborah also photographed a Lucifer band. I asked Kelly to check his banding records to see if he could determine which bird this is. He reported back that it had to be one of two males. One would be over 9 years old, and the other over 10 years old. That's pretty exciting. (Note: This bird is growing a new tail, probably molting.)

Thank you, Deborah, for your excellent documentation on both birds. And thank you, Kelly, for researching your banding records to estimate this bird's age.

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* I was so determined to have the birdbath drip working that I rigged up a pump that recirculates water with two long hoses going, one to the drip. But I can't go off and leave it running. It doesn't build up pressure and turn off like the one I brought to town. Just keeps pumping nonstop and it's not designed for that kind of use. But I'm thinking about putting a tank up high on something and using gravity to keep the drip going. Thinking about it. Funny I went all these years without a birdbath drip and now I can't stand to be without it. Like all the years without internet and now I can't survive without it.

A pretty good day

The day started out at 65,° too cold for rattlers to be active, or so I thought. Minutes after thinking that I had an encounter with a Diamond-backed. And he had already fed. Now, I'm told, they can become active at 60.°  Good to know.

The electrician called that he'll be here tomorrow morning. Yay! there is hope. Meanwhile, I decided to remove a bunch of water from the stucco tank so if he has to get to the pump, it'll be easier. I left 3' of water in the deep end for the pump to operate on. Then as I need more for watering in the future, I'll put more back in. This way cuts way down on surface area, thus evaporation.

And here's that water going into the tank that doesn't leak.

I saw a first fall male Townsend's Warbler but it was moving too fast for me to have time to focus as good as I wanted. Had to take what I could get.

And a juvenile male Calliope Hummingbird...

Still fighting adversity

My rain dance didn't impress the sky gods. Three miles to the south of the oasis got over an inch last night and the oasis only got a quarter-inch. So I dragged hoses around watering all day today. Using my little pump since the one installed in the stucco tank wouldn't come on at all. For a year or two it's been intermittent, but if I keep the pressure from building up and cutting off the switch by running two hoses, I can water fairly efficiently. But now something else is wrong. So an electrician is supposed to come by tomorrow afternoon or the next day.

While watering, I carry my camera and snap photos. Keeps watering from being onerous. Here are a couple of female pondhawks.

Common Pondhawk, formerly Eastern

Great Pondhawk

An interesting unknown bug...

I'll try to do better tomorrow. At least I'm not short on water. It could be worse. 

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Update: Brian says the bug is a carrion beetle (silphidae) larva. Thanks, Brian.

Missing Lucifer-land

Stuck in Alpine again. Tomorrow I have to accompany my husband to Odessa to his eye appointment. Just another day subtracted from my life. But as soon as we get back I'll head to Lucifer-land.

Here's a photo I love that Mac took back in June when we got our only real rain of the year so far. Enough to fill my tanks, but not enough to make it through until next year's rainy season. Hope monsoons come soon. Can this photo count as my rain dance?

Trying to endure town, I birded our ponds here. They're looking good. A few migrants coming through and the year-round species. Some of the nesting species are still around too. Nothing exciting.

Last day of Hummingbird Celebration

Sunrise

Today was a good day at the oasis. The weather was a little cooler than it had been and another awesome group of birders arrived. I had been wondering how the parking area would work during the festival and it worked great. Each day had about 8 cars and it wasn't so crowded that people couldn't maneuver. None too big though. Forgot to take a photo, but it would look similar to yesterday's. The new bird bath was popular with birds and birders.

The PASTEL * archilochus was still there, but real secretive.

I had seen only two darners. One was a Common Green and the other was a female mosaic darner that I hadn't been able to get a photo of to ID. So when we saw an Olive-sided Flycatcher with a darner in its beak, I was hoping it was the Common Green, but feared at the great distance I wouldn't be able to get an IDable shot. But I can see it is the Common Green. I didn't have time to look for the other darner. I'd guess it was a Blue-eyed Darner.

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* https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273348895_What_Colour_is_that_bird_The_causes_and_recognition_of_common_colour_aberrations_in_birds?fbclid=IwAR2KOIxjB54cQt-7kjYpqhVN87PcRi2RD_G6V6Ch3ZQV_q-zQUBzfHufdHA

2019 Hummingbird Celebration - day two

OMG! After my Lucifer presentation in Ft Davis yesterday afternoon I wanted to hang around and visit with friends but forced myself to rush to the oasis to get ready for today's group. Got to the oasis in good speed only to find the electricity was off. Couldn't water. It was too hot to sleep. Couldn't fix myself supper. No internet.  Nothing.

Today's group showed up around 8 AM. Still no power. So my water drips that attract bathing birds had no birds at them. Very disappointing.

Still birding was decent. The electricity didn't come on until afternoon. Three poles had gone down in the park.  One interesting hummer we saw was a leucistic archilochus, either Ruby-throated or Black-chinned.

2019 Hummingbird Celebration - day one

Today is the day of my Power Point presentation, followed by a mad dash to the oasis to get ready for tomorrow's tour group. Besides servicing feeders and watering, there are a couple of repairs I need to get done while I'm down there.

Hummers are easier to identify when you can get a photo of their tails spread.

Rufous in Alpine by me

Ruby-throated at CMO by Jean Northington

Alpine goings-on

This morning I visited a small pond I had never visited before hoping for interesting odes. Didn't find any, but it was a neat place and one I'll definitely monitor in the future. It's located on private property near Alpine.

Having more birders visit our Johnson Ponds here in town. This afternoon a birder from Austin visited with his delightful son, who is an avid, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable birder. A joy to behold!

Here's a female Calliope Hummingbird we observed. (There has been at least one male Calliope reported and photographed at the oasis this past week.)

Here's a nice dragonfly. I think it's a female or juvenile Plateau Dragonlet, but could be wrong.

Festival week

People are starting to arrive in the area in preparation for the festival. I hope it turns out to be a memorable one. I'll be giving a PowerPoint presentation on Thursday afternoon in Fort Davis before heading to the oasis to get ready for the tours on Friday and Saturday mornings.

Meanwhile, I'm stuck in town. Trying to find good odes or hummingbirds here, but no luck so far. The oasis has me spoiled.

I wish I had never cleaned out the big tank at the oasis several years ago. The pond-weed is really struggling to make a comeback. Here is the only patch of it at this time.

You can see by this close-up how the damselflies love it. Three pairs on this photo. Just need more of it.

Familiar Bluets laying eggs

I'm contemplating making some improvements to my dragonfly pond at the oasis. It's bowl-shaped and, when wet, very difficult for me to walk along the edges looking for odes. Especially since my knee injury.* I shuffle along like a little old lady now for fear of tripping over the least little thing. Like a rock, stick, gopher hole, grass runner, etc. At least I don't have to worry about getting snake-bitten anymore, like I worried about for the past 50 years. I keep my eyes focused on the ground when walking, not scanning the skies for odes, butterflies, or birds like before.

Anyway, I'd like to make a flat walking area on the south edge of the pond. Just don't know if I can make it happen. I'd have to find help and that's never easy. But I'm not going to do anything until the weather cools off. Some years ago I used a pick-ax (grubbing hoe) to flatten a few spots for putting a stool on, but they're not flat anymore.

This photo is looking east, so the south side would be on the right side of the photo. The walkway would have to be above the concreted area. I wish I could seal the tank, but no way can that happen. It would take equipment and that would mean destroying habitat to get it in there. Way too traumatic for me.

Here's the tank when it was full of water (and dragonflies) this June. Sad that it only holds water for a month. Hoping the monsoons will come soon!

Looking west

UPDATE: I just checked today's Pacific hurricane forecast and there's an 80% chance that red X will develop into a hurricane within 48 hours. If so we could get rain or monsoons from it.

Here's our forecast for the next week or so. I see hope. Of course, it's more likely to happen when the festival is in progress.

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* My knee is pretty much better now, but my knees were bad before the fall, which is why I fell. So now I have to respect that my knees are bad and treat them as such.

Lifer spreadwing

Got a third of an inch of rain yesterday. So I watered a bit less today. Things need more in this heat, but it's too hot for them to grow, so just keeping them alive for now.

I was really surprised to see a new damselfly early this morning. Not a common one either. I couldn't ID it, so posted it online. Someone ID'd it as a female Chalky Spreadwing. Never even expected I'd ever see one, much less at the oasis. I'm always amazed at what all shows up here. Sometimes I think I get more species when it's hotter and drier outside the oasis. At least the oasis has water in tanks and trees that get watered, although last night I got less rain than places around me. Anyway, I'm thrilled with the lifer.

It doesn't really look like the images in my damselfly book, so I would never have ID'd it correctly. When I photographed it, I thought it was a Southern Spreadwing. Had I known what it was, I would have taken better photos. When have you heard me say that before? After I downloaded my pictures and saw it wasn't a Southern, I tried to relocate it, but couldn't.

That makes five spreadwing species I've documented at the oasis. (Great, California, Plateau, Southern, and now Chalky.) I can't find any records for Chalky in the Big Bend region before now. It mostly occurs in Southern Arizona, Southern New Mexico, and Southern Texas.

Rainbows waiting for rain

I usually get my monsoons when there's a hurricane in the Pacific. None are there at this time, but will come eventually, maybe in a month or so. Gotta be patient, but it's hard when I have to water twice a week in triple-digit heat.

While thus engaged today I accidentally flushed an Elf Owl. That's the only way you even know they're here after breeding season.

Also had a nice ode in the stucco tank.... a Giant Darner. Second time for that species at the oasis that I know about. The other time was in 2016. But they don't hang around long so it's possible they come by more often. I never see them land so have to do what I can in-flight... not my strong suit.

Birds really love the new bird bath. Here is a migrating Wilson's Warbler and a juvenile bunting, probably Varied, but could be Painted.

It started raining a bit while I was composing this post.  Would be lovely if I don't have to spend all morning watering tomorrow. 

Life in quicksand

Sotol crop

Trying to keep my head above the quicksand. So much going on. I rushed to the oasis this morning to do my feeders and water, then come back to town in time for my Austin son's visit. When I got to the oasis, with bags of seed for the seed feeder, it was ripped down. Not bears, but a squirrel had chewed through the rope.

 So I put up a temporary cable until I can get a chain. I'm sure that big squirrel can eat through these strands of cable wires one by one.

While I was watering the courtyard I saw this interesting damselfly. Got it ID'd as a female Lavender Dancer. I had that species at the oasis before but it was a male and I didn't get a good photo, so am glad to have a better photo of that species from the oasis.