Forgot to blog

 A few days ago I was at the oasis watering, weed-eating, servicing feeders, etc. I meant to blog and share a few photos from there, but somehow forgot. So here they are a few days late. Things are looking lovely. Here's some of the soapberry bushes that I so love.

And here's how the water drip is looking these days. Not quite as lush as I'd like it, but at least that makes the birds easier to spot. 

Newly hatched Scaled Quail were running around all over the place. I was too slow to get decent photos of them before they disappeared, but I did manage a rather blurry shot of the last one before it too disappeared. So cute!

Back in Alpine one of the neighbor's chickens seems to love my water feature.

We love the neighbor's chickens. They keep us supplied with fresh eggs. 

While checking out our ponds in town today for interesting odes or birds, the only interesting thing I found was this juvenile bird. I couldn't decide if it was a Pyrrhuloxia or Cardinal. I settled on the latter.

Hanging on by a thread

Monday I endured the worst dental pain I've ever had, and I've had a lot. Will spare you the gory details. Got the last two broken implants removed and now healing. The dentist said it'd be up to a year before I can get new, then operational, implants, so he's going to make a temporary denture (for an extra $2000, of course). I hope that gets done soon. I know a person can survive on liquids, but not maintain optimal health. Not to mention loss of appetite and all other complications that go with it.

View from Terlingua Ranch road on way to oasis early AM

We're in a heat wave, record heat, I believe, so I had to water at the oasis. Things are still looking quite lush. Even had to cut weeds and branches out of the pathways. Lots of blooms, butterflies, and dragonflies to enjoy to the extent that I can tolerate the heat. Thankfully, the mosquito plague has abated.

The best bird of the day was a Crissal Thrasher at the water drip. I know they're around, but almost never seen. When the temperature reached 110,° that did the trick.

This dragonfly was perched too high for a good photo. It took me a while to figure out it was a Gray Sanddragon. Not a new oasis species, but nice, nevertheless!

Today I'll finish watering and weed-eating, then head back to town. Hanging on.

Bear videos

Went to water and service feeders today only to discover a bear had moved the rocks we used to wedge the "bear-proof" feeder so it wouldn't jiggle. However, I saw no evidence that jiggling is how the bear gets to the seed. It appears the bear just crouches and licks it out with its tongue. Maybe if that's all the damage it does, we can just buy more seed and live with it. If it becomes a nuisance hanging around, we may have to modify the seed feeder. We'll see.

I seem to be almost well. No relapse from watering today. And my foot didn't hurt too bad today either. Mosquitoes still real bad, so I didn't linger.

I also discovered the bear won't put its weight on the unwelcome mat. Good to know!

Can't tell if the bear ate some nectar from the hummingbird feeder. The feeder was empty when I got there, but hummers may have been the reason.

I have two dozen video clips of the bear but the above ones are the ones I learned the most from, I think.

Also enjoyed seeing a Burrowing Owl along Highway 118 about 40 miles south of Alpine. My first for the year.

Sick again!

I can't believe I had a relapse. I was being so careful! Having been well for a week or so, I planned a very careful day for going to get a life bird (Thick-billed Kingbird) at the Davis Mountains Preserve. Got up at a normal time, drove to meet and ride with someone else. Dressed plenty warm, took plenty of food and water. We drove right up to the tree the bird is nest-building in. No hiking involved. But I noticed I was starting to cough more than usual since recovering from my viral infection. Then my throat started getting sore. By the time I got back home my throat hurt bad and I was very hoarse. This morning, hoarse and sore too, although not as bad as with my initial infection. Whatever it is that's going around, my oldest son had it too. We hadn't been around one another, so didn't get it that way. My husband didn't get it.

I'm just wondering if stressing about my upcoming dental surgery is weakening my immune system. Bummer, whatever.

The kingbird excursion was a lot of fun, though. Mike Gray so generously took me and another birder into the preserve where we saw lots of good birds, including a Grace's Warbler and Montezuma Quail.

Mosquito overload!

I expected the oasis to be mosquito-ridden when I got there today, but it still overwhelmed me. Couldn't enjoy odeing, or anything else. Likely, it'll be a couple of weeks before it'll be tolerable. So I serviced feeders and headed back to town.

Saw a couple of California Spreadwings before leaving, but nothing else of interest.

West Corazon peak stoked my imagination for a while today.