Watering day

Still have a very sore throat from Covid, but felt I really needed to do some watering at CMO. Arrived around 8 AM. The feeder was still hanging. YAY! I measured the distance from the bottom of the feeder to the ground and it was over 9 feet. Surely, no black bear in the Big Bend can reach that high. I'm also excited about the new bear proof low feeder Lee is building. He's very busy, so has to do a bit here and there, but no big urgency now that this one is bear-proof. For real this time! It's extremely hard for me to refill, so needs to be a temporary solution.

I watered until around 9:30 AM, then took a short nap and watered another 1½ hours. That should be enough for this time of year until I get more well. While watering, I enjoyed watching a huge flock of Lark Buntings in their winter plumage. I'd estimate as many as one hundred. It's been quite a few years since I've seen large flocks of them at the oasis like we've had this winter.

Also there's still a Hermit Thrush hanging around the back water drip. I love it when birds think the oasis is a good place to spend the winter.

Of course, raptors take notice of the bounty, and hang around too. I saw two Cooper's Hawks and two Red-tailed Hawks. Hard for me to get decent shots of them in flight, but I always try. Might get lucky one of these days.

A House Wren got into the potty shed, but flew out as soon as I propped the door open. If I hadn't, after I left it would have found its way out! Wrens are good about that.