Exciting photos

 I hope you all don't get tired of hearing about the Costa's Hummingbird because I'll probably be focused on it (no pun intended) until it leaves. Hoping it'll stick around long enough to get its lovely new gorget. Making progress. The left side of his gorget is showing the start of new "wings." My son took this photo this morning.

Also exciting are these photos by Michael Gray from Sep 27 at the oasis.

Red-naped Sapsucker

Cassin's Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Sage Thrasher

Least Flycatcher

Townsend's Warbler

Tomorrow I'm going to the oasis to service feeders and do a little watering. Maybe I'll have time to check out the birds there. And take some photos. I don't know how to take great photos like these guys do, but I know how to post them!

Costa's altered routine

 Since I just discovered the Costa's Hummingbird at my son's house a week ago today, it's hard to say it ever had a routine, but today was the first time it was seen visiting a feeder. 

At his usual time and place (northwest corner of the house) for appearing, it was very cold, around 42.° When we had waited in vain for over 15 minutes, I decided to go to the south side of the house and check the feeder there. It was empty so I took it to my house, refilled it, and brought it back and rehung it. Almost immediately the Costa's went to the feeder. I had only hung that feeder there since he was first seen a week ago and other hummers had been using it. Before that there was, and still is, a feeder on the north side of the house in front of a picture window, but no hummers have been seen at it since the Costa's has been around. The sugar solution in it doesn't go down either.

At 10 AM he was still foraging and visiting the feeder. Here are birders watching him at, or near, the feeder on the south side of the house. Maybe because the weather got colder or maybe because he's at a different stage of molting. 

Johnson Ponds was dripping with birds today. Visitors said it was like High Island. I've never been there, but I've heard plenty about it. One photo I took today was of a Townsend's Warbler foraging practically at my feet. Usually they're very reclusive. Makes me think they're desperate for protein.

 

My son isn't satisfied with his Costa's photos from this morning, and we both know he can do better. I hope he has time to try again tomorrow. Here's his first effort.

I wondered how much affiliation Costa's have with pomegranate bushes, so I googled it. I didn't find much, but I thought this might be what our Costa's will look like when he gets back to his own territory and his own pomegranate bush.

The universe works in mysterious ways

 My son told me today he's starting a bird life list. He's the son who is going to take over the oasis when I'm gone. Well, I want a seamless transition, so I'm sure by the time I'm gone he'll already be running it.

But anyway, his criteria is that he doesn't count a species until he has taken a photo of it. That's great! Whatever standard a person goes by, the result is the same. Here's one of the very first species on his list. Fitting.

Photo by Leonardo Sonoqui

In other news, my town habitat was full of birds today along with a mild cold front that came in the night. And the Costa's was at his station right on schedule this morning. Another visitor got their lifer Costa's today, and hopefully my son will get his tomorrow. 😀

I still have apples from our tree stored in the bottom of the refrigerator. Made Hugh this pie with some of them today. Enough left for another pie.

I readily confess that I dislike baking, don't eat desserts, and prefer to expend my talents elsewhere, but I try to keep peace in the home as much as possible.

Long tiring day

 I started my day at 7:30 AM at my son's house making sure all Costa's seekers would see the bird, then rushed to the oasis to service feeders there. My son helped me, then back to town so I can show the Costa's again in the morning. The oasis was real birdy. I snapped some photos when I could. The Least Grebe that I couldn't locate last time I was there four days ago is there. Either left and returned, or I couldn't find him.

I rushed around all morning without eating because after I eat my back starts hurting. But around noon today it started hurting even though I hadn't eaten. I'll be glad when we figure out what's going on. Maybe my back just starts getting tired midday.

Only brief Costa's visit today

 One person arrived at 9 AM to see the Costa's Hummingbird today, but, alas, it had already departed. I didn't see it after 8:05 AM. It'll be interesting to see if it even shows up tomorrow. Lucky for me I took photos before the light got good, or I wouldn't have gotten any today.

In trying to figure out why it likes the spot it likes, all I could come up with was the pomegranate bush there that maybe felt like California to it. Although pomegranates aren't native to our country, they're grown in the semi-arid regions of California and Arizona. They like cool winters and hot summers with low humidity. (This photo taken at my son's house this morning.)

The only other place in the Big Bend that I recall seeing healthy pomegranate bushes is Lajitas. Those I planted at the oasis some years ago are alive, but not thriving. 

Here's an update on our drought. Even though we don't need science to tell us what we've been dealing with, it's nice to have the affirmation.

Tomorrow I'm going to the oasis. I expect to see good birds there. We'll see...

Suspense!

 I knew when I got up this morning the the next hour or so was either going to be jubilant, or a real bummer... depending on the appearance of a tiny hummer. 

Well, right on schedule it showed up at its favorite perch near a pomegranate bush. I was so relieved I didn't even concern myself with photographing it. There were plenty of other birders there doing that.

But tomorrow I'll be there at first light again to document it, and probably take photos at that time. After everyone tired of photographing the Costa's most headed to Johnson Ponds and birded there. Birding is still good, with plenty of migrants.

Alpine Costa's Hummingbird

 Got up this morning early and headed to my son's to look for the Costa's. It was there already foraging right after daylight so I got word out to people wanting to travel a long ways to see it that it was a good risk to come. Meanwhile, a local birder rushed over and got to see it. At least I was no longer the only one. I would probably have located it yesterday morning had I not been at the oasis watering. Since I photographed it two days ago it molted its gorget "wings." Looks pretty funky.

This bird has only been seen early mornings (2) so it's not a sure thing to see it at all. I'm hoping that it's the one photographed at my place in Alpine on Sep 5 and is settled in at my son's house, but too soon to tell. If it's seen again tomorrow morning, I'll feel more confident in people traveling to see it. Fingers crossed!

A surreal year!

 Everything is so bizarre it's like something you can't wake up from. In the last two days I thought I saw three Costa's Hummingbirds. And as much experience as I've had with the species, I didn't identify any of them in a helpful timely manner. The first adult male I submitted as an Anna's until Kelly Bryan corrected me. Then the second one, a female, I saw at the oasis this morning but didn't know it until I downloaded the photos I had snapped while rushing around watering so I could hurry back to town to look for the first Costa's. Which I haven't seen again. So I lost a chance to get a decent photo of the second one.

Then while I was trying to relocate the first one back in Alpine, I saw what I thought was a third one, a juvenile male. Turns out, that one, that I actually thought up front was a Costa's, is the one of the three that wasn't one. So I got it wrong every time.

Hope I get some good over-wintering birds this year. Quite a few Green-tailed Towhees and Lincoln's Sparrows arrived. And White-crowned Sparrows are arriving. They usually are present all winter in large numbers and keep the seed feeder cleaned out.

UPDATE: It turns out the female I was so sure was a Costa's at the oasis, isn't one, according to the experts. I'm still convinced it's a Costa's.

Big hummer surprise today!

 I had given up looking for the Costa's Hummingbird that some visitors to Johnson Ponds saw and photographed a couple of weeks ago. (See my post for Sep 9) For no reason I can think of, I decided to walk a block away to my son's place and see if he had a hummingbird feeder up and if he had any hummers. Right away I heard a hummer in back of his house. Upon investigation it appeared to be a male Anna's. With nothing else interesting to photograph I concentrated on getting a nice pic of it. When I tired of that I walked back to our house and downloaded all my photos from today, then did an ebird report, calling that hummer an Anna's.

Next, I decided to show comparisons (on Facebook group "Trans Pecos Birds...") to it and the Costa's I had here in 2018. Both had one thing in common. Sometimes the gorget feathers looked red (like Anna's) and sometimes they looked purple (like Costa's). Nothing clicked in my mind. Today's bird was mostly red, not purple. Had to be an Anna's.

That is until Kelly Bryan saw my post. He said Anna's never have the "wings" hanging down from the gorget. It's a molting Costa's. Could've knocked me over with a gorget feather!

I think it's the same 2018 bird. I've since learned that when Costa's are molting their gorget feathers look more red.  Here are a couple more photos of today's bird. Yup, definitely molting.

A few migrants still

 Migration is winding down. It would have been a boring past couple of months without our good migration. No odes or butterflies. Today I spent a couple of hours out at the ponds to see if anything interesting showed up. Not much. Here are my favorite shots of the day. This House Sparrow doesn't seem to mind being  so close to this Cooper's Hawk.

Still at least one Warbling Vireo hanging around.

And I love this gorgeous Summer Tanager. It grabbed a berry from the Chinese Pistachio tree and escaped to a more private spot to enjoy it.

I'm sure I'll be back out tomorrow morning looking again.

Always a new project

A niece of mine has an app that colorizes black and white photos so I'm sending her bunches of them. Next I'll want to add them to my ancestry tree. I love color so I'm thrilled to bring old black and whites to life. Here's just one example (my mom and her younger sister).

Here's some more info on the New Mexico bird die-off.

https://www.aba.org/the-data-behind-mysterious-bird-deaths-in-new-mexico/

I've made an interesting observation here in Alpine. Normally, this time of year hummers are swarming the feeders. Now I almost never see one at a feeder, but dozens of them are gnatcatching over the ponds here... a drastic change in behavior. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then it started making sense. It has to mean they migrated before their bodies were ready due to lack of protein (insects) caused by the drought, an early violent winter storm, and wildfires in the west. So before they can fuel up at feeders, they need to get strong and healthy. It doesn't affect the Lucifers at the oasis because nothing affect their pattern. And the migrants that are there apparently were the stronger ones that made it past the drought/storms/fires to safety. 

Recent research has convinced me the lack of insects is what caused the die-offs.

https://www.aba.org/the-data-behind-mysterious-bird-deaths-in-new-mexico/?fbclid=IwAR0KQTtFVekXjV-rUBibXRjvfr7Cu8ycV3PDq2_aaFyPuVO-ocB3h4b7PFE

Today was good birding again in Alpine. Of my three Chinese Pistache trees, one is a female loaded with berries. I'll let the photos tell the story.

Starling

                                                                                                                         

Warbling Vireo

Nashville Warbler

An ordinary day in town

 I shouldn't call it ordinary since there are still a few migrants straggling through, and the new of having my youngest son live in Alpine hasn't worn off. He and his wife love living here. He's still pinching himself to believe it's real. Right now he's overworking himself setting up his sign business, bringing the rest of his stuff from Austin, and finishing his mobile home. A new roof is the next step. I'm pleasantly surprised how nice and homey the inside looks already.

As for birds today, I was thrilled to get a better photo of a Hermit Warbler. I had one at the oasis this year but wasn't very happy with my photo.

So much talk among birders this year about what a great and crazy migration this is. Part of that might be birds trying to bypass the fires out west. Millions of birds have been dying in New Mexico so maybe those that came farther east fared better.  

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54183430

But no one has mentioned that while West Texas is saturated with  Wilson's Warblers, there are hardly any Yellow-rumped Warblers, which normally are more common than the Wilson's (pictured below).

A week just flew by

 No wonder people are asking me if I'm OK. I can't believe it's been a week since I blogged. Lot of catch up to do here. Never did see the Costa's in Alpine. Then a birder to the oasis said he saw a female Costa's at CMO there yesterday. No one else saw it and no photo. He's a good experienced birder. It's possible all these fires out west are sending the hummers there scattering. Both sightings seem to have been one time events. Maybe one that comes through will decide to hang around.

My final pump fiasco. When I got to the oasis a few days ago to water and service feeders no water would come out of the one faucet. That had happened once before and then it started working. This time it didn't. I figured it had to do with the old pressure tank still connected to the system so I killed myself removing that. Didn't change anything. People had suggested sludge in the line but I knew the water from all the faucets was always clean. To leave no stone unturned I removed that faucet. Sure enough, there was a small stick inside it. So, I just hooked the hose up directly to the water line now. No faucet. That's going to speed up watering. I'm keeping it simple. Keep faucets open, turn on the pump, and out comes water. Just have to keep moving the hoses from tree to tree. Then turn off the pump. With cooler weather I won't be watering as often. The only possible problem now would be a water shortage. I did only get one rain this year and so early in the year, followed by all that record heat, that I may have to ration water next year. And I don't have to worry about faucets freezing anymore since no check valves to keep water in the lines. Finally fool-proof. I'm so relieved. Dependable at last!

Birding was great the past week. I'll post a few of my favorite photos from the week. The Least Grebe is still at the oasis. Here's a photo of it that I like.

Normally I have trouble telling an Olive-sided Flycatcher from a Western Wood-Pewee. The white patch on the flanks of an Olive-sided is usually hidden, but not so with this young one (Alpine).

There were several American Redstarts at the oasis but way too fast for me to photograph plus I didn't have time to sit at the drip and wait them out. But this Nashville Warbler was more cooperative. 

Here's a colorful Black-headed Grosbeak from this morning (oasis).

And even an Osprey rested at the oasis.

The awesome migration really has me spoiled. Gonna hate it when birds are few and far between. Maybe some good species will overwinter to keep things interesting.

Here and there

 During the night the oasis got a bit over half an inch of rain, the first since late June. It was a slow soaking rain, no runoff for my tanks, but the ground desperately needed it. Now if we'll just get a good monsoon in this next week, I'll be a happy camper. Chances are about 50-50.

Meanwhile, my son left Austin, driving during the night to beat the rain, with an open trailer loaded with furniture. He covered it good with tarps but you know how that goes. They shredded somewhere along the way. Naturally, he drove through two monsoonal storms and probably ruined his furniture. Oh well, not important in the scheme of things. His mobile home in Alpine is coming along nicely, but not done yet.

The oasis isn't the only place that was saturated with migrants ahead of this first cold front. Our ponds in Alpine were too. While I was at the oasis watering several days ago, some birders at our ponds in town reported a Costa's Hummingbird there. I came to town as soon as I could but haven't seen it. And if one was here, I would have seen it.  I think it's the same individual that was here in August 2018 for a week, as a juvenile. On both photos I noticed how flat his head is. Surely, that isn't a coincidence. I don't think Costa's as a species are that flat-headed. Note that gorget colors are variable depending on the lighting. I have photos of the 2018 bird with the gorget purple but this one is closest to the angle of the head for comparison purposes.

Photo by Greg Duncan

August 2018