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| Left: Texas Selenia Center: Uinta Ragweed Right: Filaree |
I planted Tree Tobacco all around the perimeter of the new tank. When I had potted them in December, some were so tiny I had to use tweezers on them.
I identified a few more common plant species in March. Doing pretty good in that department, but still have trouble remembering all the Latin and English names. The digital guide I spent most of the winter making has been really helpful with species that I was able to find online photos for.
April started getting really busy with visitors. I uncovered the Tree Tobacco finally, excitedly anticipating when they mature.
Had a novel flower, Red-horned Poppy (Glaucium corniculatum) come up at the oasis. It's a rather invasive European species that farmers don't like, but won't be invasive in the desert, and has a beautiful bloom. Probably came in with bird seed. Dr. Powell had never seen it in the Big Bend before. So it's kind of an infamous record.
An award winning film crew started filming Lucifer Hummingbird displays and Elf Owls at the oasis for a documentary featuring Big Bend wildlife. It'll air on PBS in late 2020 or early 2021. As luck would have it, neither species cooperated.
In May I went up my mountain to the summit to photograph a Poling's Hairstreak. I had photographed one years ago in the park, but none at CMO. Got that species, but not the Ursine Giant-Skipper that I had hoped to get a better photo of.
The Lucifers stayed foraging in the wild on ocotillo longer than they ever had, and the Elf Owl changed nesting cavities. A very frustrating time for the film crew.
Also in May I got a lifer damselfly, Tezpi Dancer, near Balmorhea.
June started off with a bang, literally. Followed by hail, then three daily rainstorms. The hail smashed the big lovely Tree Tobaccos, but they soon recovered. Tanks filled with the help of some pumping. The plumbing Dr. Williamson helped install last December was a life-saver for me.
With all the tanks full, odes started showing up in decent numbers. Late in June, I photographed several California Spreadwings. Only a handful have ever been documented in Texas. The first one was from the oasis in 2012.
The Tree Tobacco looked great and one bloomed already in June. It was a good month.
Rainy weather continued into July. All tanks were full and no need to water. I had been frustrated by how hard it is to interact with blog followers so I started a Christmas Mountains Oasis Facebook group. Visitors can share their photos as well as see others' photos. And I can keep people updated at what's going on at the oasis. Next best thing to being there.
After a rainy start to July, the weather turned hot and dry. It was exciting to document a couple of odonates new to the oasis.
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| Citrine Forktail Halloween Pennanat |
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| Tree Tobacco |
July was declared the hottest ever recorded on earth.
August started out even hotter and drier. Had to water twice weekly in triple-digit heat. And so many hummers that I went through nearly a gallon of sugar water a day. With a knee injury, it was a real struggle to keep up. In spite of that, one of the highlights of the year for me was two unexpected lifer odes at the oasis, Tawny Pennant, and Chalky Spreadwing.
Places not far from the oasis got decent rainfall, but missed the oasis. Since I couldn't be there 24 /7, I couldn't prevent these awful Lubber insects from ravaging the Tree Tobacco leaves. Most of the plants were totally stripped of leaves.
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| Photo on Tree Tobacco by Sid Ehlert |
However, it seemed that the rains came too late for dragonflies to make a meaningful resurgence. Butterfly numbers never did amount to much all year.
By October, I pretty much resigned myself to the rains, as well as good dragonfly sightings, being pretty much over. Despite the record heat and half of normal rainfall, I managed to keep the oasis healthy looking.
Had a couple of bear visits which forced me to reconstruct a more bear-proof feeder. I even built and installed an "unwelcome mat" (board of nails) below it.
A Golden-fronted Woodpecker helped eat the acorns as they ripened. I hoped that would make the oasis less appealing to bears.
By the first week of November the oasis still hadn't had a hard freeze so things continued looking lovely. Even got a couple of decent rain showers. Two Allen's Hummingbirds hung around, so birding wasn't a total bust.
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| Left, juvenile male/ Right, adult male |
No more bear visits so I lowered the feeder and replaced the chewed up base late in November.
A virus I caught over Thanksgiving pretty much consumed most of December. I thought it was a cold, but later discovered it's actually Flu type B. I had it on Thanksgiving two years ago too, even though I always get flu shots. So I spent a lot of time in Alpine watching my hummingbird feeder out the window.
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| Male Anna's |
December weather was on the mild side so that should make winter seem shorter. And the adult male Allen's Hummingbirds stayed at the house near the oasis. That goes a long way toward making winter less miserable.
Not being well enough to do anything strenuous made me less anxious for spring. I just focused on getting well. Unfortunately, while sick, I became remiss in diligence and didn't turn off the pump when I left the oasis to go to town. As a result a hose coupling froze and I lost a foot of water (about 10,000 gallons) from the stucco tank. So devastating for me. Since I have my new above ground tank it won't jeopardize the survival of the oasis, but it would sure have been nice to have plenty of water in the spring without having to ration for a change.
Next year my focus is going to be on improving the road. All things considered, 2019 was a good year.
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