Back to Balmorhea

Couldn't resist another visit to Lake Balmorhea. Ebird had showed quite a few birders going there on the 16th, so I went on the 17th, hoping birders would be there, but none were.

Then I went again on the 19th, sure that some would be there. How can I not see birders there twice in a row? But none. I like birders to be there because more eyes see more, plus they usually have scopes and big camera lenses that help identify distant species. On my own, I'm able to identify fewer species. However, most were easy to ID, including these Western Grebes and Ring-billed Gull.

Yesterday I didn't go and there were several birders there. Just my luck! But none saw the caracaras either, so I didn't miss that. They didn't see any that would have been lifers for me that I missed either. But they did see a couple of species that would have been new for my Reeves County list. No big deal. I had fun anyway. Going more often helps familiarize me with what's there, thus improves my ebird list, and reduces my frustration. Maybe I'll go again soon. Nothing is going on anywhere else. I don't even have the hybrid hummer in Alpine to entertain me, anymore. Bleak! Here's one of the two Rufous hummers I have in town.

The days will start getting longer tomorrow. That always  cheers me up, which doesn't make sense since January is usually our coldest weather. But Lucifers are only two months away! 

Still going.....

I went to the oasis a couple of days ago to water trees. Had to get into the tank to move the pump deeper into water. It was icy cold so I hurried. Will have to start using the reserve tank after this. 

It'll rain eventually. Watering keeps things alive, but not thriving. I think it's partly because harvested rain water has salts in it. We need good soaking rains, with the microbes they contain, to leach the salts out of the soil. 

I went to Balmorhea Lake today to keep my birding skills, such as they are, alive, but it wasn't a very successful trip. It was about my fourth time to try for the pair of Crested Caracaras there, again without seeing them. I'll keep trying. I need the practice on shorebirds and such, anyway.

Thanksgiving

I took the opportunity to ride along with my son to my daughter's place in Rockport for the holiday. Had hoped to see 100 species in the county (Aransas). The weather was so cold and windy that I birded mostly from the car, only making it to 78 species. My daughter accompanied me on a couple of my forays. All in all, I had a great time. She and her husband have an awesome vacation rental there that she generously offered a discount to birders, so if you or anyone you know are interested, here's the link. Be sure to say you're birders.

https://www.vrbo.com/3540451

Here are a few of my favorite photos from Aransas County.

Meanwhile, the oasis is... well, still there. Not much happening these days

As always, so much to be thankful for!

Kudos

Kudos to frequent oasis visitor, Matt Walter, whose oasis photo of a Gray Fox graced the front page of the local newspaper, The Big Bend Sentinel, today.

Hard copy

Online copy

My back seems a bit improved, so I'm optimistic, although I'm sure I'll need to be real careful henceforth, and not lift anything over ten pounds. Birding is pretty boring lately, in spite of the continuing hybrid Anna's x Rufous Hummingbird here in town.

Bathing

Earth oven construction

Now that my creative son is living almost full time at the oasis, he decided to make a pizza oven (horno or earh oven).  It's a lot of hard work. Here's a link to a short video of him making the clay coating from the clay on our big hill. (I think you can click side arrows to see more of them.)

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMgboVZ6Iy-eF-Rgp4TXXa-X6llm_FTbW3JT-sKCVcANbjVAx5JezMoiJoCUIU5aw/photo/AF1QipOjVtkDqsICJ3K-CWwDlhluzjWUb95wM-suM4pY?key=SnFKMlBkTHBzUVlvR2RDOEFRckVQSkNuRERBa3NR

I know nothing about earth ovens. I hope it works good for him. It's not done yet, but here's how it looked when I last saw it. I'll post photos of it when it's done and in use.

The hybrid Anna's x Rufous Hummingbird is still visiting my feeders in Alpine, going on two months now. Otherwise, nothing going on. Might be a long winter ahead if wintering birds avoid this drought-ridden region.

Drought

In 2011 we had our dryest year ever, with only 2.25" of rain for the year. This year is shaping up to be the second dryest year. So far we're at 2.89" and likely won't get any more rain this year, although I'm always hopeful.

Yesterday, I went down and frugally watered trees. Not much bird activity to entertain me.The best photo I took for the day was of this Black-throated Sparrow. No matter how often I see or photograph them, there's something irresistible about them. Maybe it's that tuxedo look.

The biggest surprise of the day was a California Spreadwing. I hadn't see one since early July. Not only that, but it was the only ode I saw all day. Hopefully, when it rains, there'll be a population of them here like there was a couple of years ago.

Of course, the Lucifers are gone, and of course, I miss them! Life is good, so not complaining!

Link to recent podcast

Had my first Johnson Ponds Wilson's Snipe when I got back to town from watering trees yesterday.

Here's a link to a second podcast I did a month ago, or whenever.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2077275/episodes/15904097-s3-e16-the-finer-things-the-christmas-mountains-oasis-with-carolyn-ohl

Looking back

I've been blogging for fifteen years now and decided to peruse as many of my over 2700 blog posts as I could stand to. While I can't read them all, word for word, it seems to me I brought up a lot of subjects that I never followed up on.

Like I talked about cleaning rent houses a lot. My husband sold them several years ago so don't have to deal with that anymore.

I talked about hoping I'd live to see my town habitat a good mature one. It now is, and I'm still alive. Today I got a better photo of the Blue-headed Vireo that's been hanging around. That was fun!

And I talked about being sick a lot. I don't remember being sick all that much. I think I'm in good shape for my age. I have aches and pains that slow me down, but I keep on going. I barely notice my vertigo anymore, and I eat quite normally with my implants. The secret of living long is to not think of yourself as old, having a passion that you focus on, and getting plenty of exercise.  I should live a long time yet. The only meds I take is a low dose blood pressure medicine, but I don't know anyone my age that doesn't. I didn't mention all the many days I felt great, only when I didn't, so that gave a wrong overall impression.

I mentioned several times about working crossword puzzles. These days, I work the New York Times crosswords online as much as time and my painful shoulder joints permit. I started with the first ones online and working my way to present. I'm currently in 1997 (from 1993), so doubt I'll catch up in my lifetime. I also play online scrabble with my daughter.

I talked about trips all over the place for odes, butterflies and birds. I have no desire, or intention, to travel anymore. I'm perfectly happy between my two habitats that have really come into their own in the last 15 yrs. 

I talked about hating winter. I don't hate it as much now that I have my water feature right outside the window in town, and I  don't have to water the oasis as often, so I'm less stressed by winters compared to what I used to be. I'm happy to play computer games. While I still maintain my Ancestry tree, I don't work on it much, and definitely don't want to grow it. I'm only mildly into odes and butterflies, not enough to travel to see new species. So cabin fever isn't really an issue anymore.

I talked about the tank patching, etc. a lot, but now it's not possible for me to keep them maintained. I've cut down on watering. It is what it is. I know when I'm gone it'll gradually disappear, so no need stressing over it while I'm alive. Water seems to have been my focus, probably obsession, all these years. I'm trying to wean away from that.

I love AI and technology. I must average asking AI questions at least ten times a day. Ebird and AI have enhanced my life immeasurably, not to mention cell phones, computers, etc. So I'm good!

Please ask if there are some long forgotten subjects that you'd like follow-up on.

Wood Thrush success!

 A Wood Thrush showed up at my Alpine ponds habitat four or five days ago. When I first saw a very brief shaded glimpse of basically its head only, I thought, "Wood Thrush," but as that would be rare for here, I tried to convince myself it was probably a robin. I didn't report it as either species. Another quick glimpse that same day, or maybe the next, same dilemma. Then I went to the oasis to water and saw some nice birds there (especially a Hooded Warbler), and forgot all about the thrush.

When I got back to town and back to monitoring the ponds habitat, I finally got enough of a look to be sure it was a Wood Thrush and reported it. But all I could manage was this bad photo into the sun two days ago..

It was driving me nuts wanting a better photo of it. Just couldn't make it happen. It didn't help that the place was quite birdy, not to mention the distraction of two Hermit Thrushes also visiting the berry-laden Chinese Pistachio tree. And the air was alive with hordes of Monarchs further challenging my not-so-good eyesight. (Mostly my eyes are slow to focus darting between sun and shade, as birding requires.)

While I was attempting to get a better photo of the thrush, serendipitously, the Blue-headed Vireo (see previous post) popped into the berry tree where I got a better photo of it, my best one for Brewster County. All fun! It took twenty years of nurturing that tree, but so worth it because it makes tons of berries for fall migrants. (The mulberry trees are for spring migrants.)

I persevered, and yesterday morning I did get this halfway decent photo. But I still wasn't satisfied. 

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Visiting birders yesterday afternoon spent an hour and couldn't even get a glimpse of the thrush. It seemed to stay hidden in a lush pine tree near the berry tree, making brief forays into the tree for berries.

After my all-morning vigil today, the bird spent some time foraging on the ground (for protein?), and I got my desired photo! It was very satisfying, even though it wasn't any kind of record for me. The species had been here in 2021 and I had good photos of it, besides having good photos of one in Marathon from 2020. It's just always a fun challenge to get nice photos of birds rare to this area whenever possible.

 

Another nice bird I had here recently is this Black-throated Gray Warbler.

Fun oasis day

Yesterday morning in Alpine I got my first* ebird Blue-headed Vireo for Brewster County, which was exciting! (Alas, no time to focus the camera, but it's still IDable.)

After lunch yesterday I decided to go to the oasis and see what was showing up on the trail cam there, since this morning I would be busy watering trees. I wasn't disappointed. The cam had captured a beautiful male Hooded Warbler! So even though it was late in the day by the time I sorted through nearly a thousand video clips, I rushed down to the drip, hoping to photograph it. The cam showed it had been hanging out there frequently. Here's my setup...

There were so many cam clips of it that I couldn't decide which one to include here.

I didn't have to wait long to get my photo.

Per my plan, I watered trees this morning. Normally, when I finish, I head back to Alpine, but I wanted photos of the warbler for my today's ebird list, plus a couple of other species I had seen on the trail cam video clips. The warbler was really skittish, and I was only able to get one bad photo today. Didn't get the other species at all, even though they were captured on the cam while I was watering.

It's probably no wonder I didn't get them in the hour or so I dedicated to the task. I sat so still, watching the water drip that a fox and roadrunner came right up to me, not even knowing I was there. Also, mornings are the most active time for birds. Mid-afternoons can be really good if it's hot, but today was a perfect temperature. When the warbler did appear at the drip, the process of me focusing and zooming the camera flushed it. I would likely have been successful had I waited a couple more hours, but I was tired and hungry and already had that decent photo from yesterday.

I think I fixed the problem why I haven't been able to comment on your comments. Yay!

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* A female had shown up on my trail cam last year, but I hadn't been there that day (Sep 11), so couldn't count it.

Oak remorse

Started watering at daylight this morning, hoping I'd have enough energy to finish. When I saw new bear damage, I figured cleaning up the damage would push me beyond my limit.

Luckily, some big strong men (with big heavy cameras) showed up and made quick work of the damage. What would have been an hour of torture for me was five minutes for them. I've decided to have my son cut down what remains of that Chinkapin Oak tree. It consistently makes lots of acorns that bears consistently tear up the tree to get to. Here's how it looks now.  Just a waste of precious water. Not smart to keep doing the same thing, expecting different results. LOL

When Mike Gray designed the viewing blind, he installed a ground level opening for photographers. However, I'd never seen anyone, other than Mike, actually use it. So when I approached the blind, thinking no one was in it, I was surprised to see someone stretched out on the ground photographing quail through the opening. Of course, I flushed the quail when I went charging in. I'm sure they returned promptly though.

Birding is somewhat slow both at the oasis and in town. The hybrid Anna's x Rufous Hummingbird is still at the town feeders. 

Also a juvenile Anna's male hanging around that's very difficult to see or photograph.

A cold front is predicted in a few days. Maybe it'll bring some interesting birds with it.

Missed out on the fun!

A group of naturalists visited the oasis yesterday. I wished I could have been there. I was stuck in town recovering from a stomach virus that my husband was still sick with. It's all over town. My case was short, but violent.

In town, the hybrid Anna's x Rufous Hummingbird is still present. It really loves the Turk's Cap flowers. Since birding is really slow, I spend a lot of time photographing it.

That, and watching hurricanes (Helene & Milton) on TV, is about my main activity lately.

Hybrid hummer in Alpine

Yesterday late afternoon, when it was too dark for decent photos, I took this photo of what I posted on ebird as an Anna's Hummingbird. It bothered me a little that there appeared to be a hint of rufous on the tail, but I dismissed it, since with a bright red throat patch, it had to be an Anna's. The appearance of rufous was just an artifact of light, or dingy feathers, or something, I assumed.

First thing this morning birders, Dania Sanchez & Greg Reynolds, showed up wanting to see an Anna's, having read my ebird report. They were doing a "Texas Big Year," and needed that species for their list.*

We searched diligently all over the property. After a while our Merlin Apps recorded what it ID'd as an Anna's. We concentrated our search at that location. Soon Dania located the source of the call notes, but I told her that couldn't be an Anna's because I saw rufous on it. Had to be a Broad-tailed or Rufous, I suggested.... or maybe insisted. And so it went like that repeatedly for nearly an hour. (We had to sort through other hummers too, such as Rufous, Black-chinned, and Ruby-throated, all chasing around inside the canopy of a large mulberry tree near the feeders.) It seems quite humorous now, but was frustrating at the time. Finally, when I couldn't locate what I considered to be an Anna's, I began questioning if this one could be a hybrid, so I texted their photos to expert Kelly Bryan.

 

Photo by Dania

Photo by Greg

I was relieved to leave the problem to Kelly. It was beyond my expertise. Soon he replied that it was indeed a hybrid Anna's x Rufous female. I don't know if Dania and Greg can count that in their official tally, or not, but it was an exciting find, nevertheless. 

Soon after they left, other birders showed up, and I assumed word had traveled fast. I took them to see the bird, although as it turned out, they hadn't known about it. Just a coincidence. Right place, right time. They got photos too. Late today I took another photo. I don't have the fancy camera equipment the others have, of course. It'd sure be cool if this hybrid sticks around for a month or so.

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* I believe their goal is 500 species, and I think the all time record is a few over that number. They're currently at around 475, with three months to go. I was so focused on finding them an Anna's that I didn't pay close attention to the stats. After leaving our ponds in town they headed to the oasis and picked up one they needed (Sage Thrasher). Probably got, or are getting, others also.

It bothers me that I can't respond to your comments. I just don't know how to fix the problem. Be assured I appreciate them all though.

No summer monsoon this year

Hanging in there, keeping my spirits up. Yesterday the oasis got a small shower, no runoff, but I'm grateful for any rain we get. Also cooled off a bit so I got my son to put a concrete patch at the bottom of the slab going up the big hill where tires had dug a big hole getting onto the slab. Lee also spent about an hour filling a bad washout on top of the hill with dirt. I appreciate him more than he'll ever know. (Ladder is to keep the concrete from being driven on before it sets.)

I've been spending most of my time in Alpine. Enjoyed having a Great Crested Flycatcher at our ponds there for several days.

Otherwise, not much to blog about. No news is good news!

Fall migration chugging along

It's a testament to my determination that javelina haven't destroyed the back water drip since I re-strengthened it a few years ago. I've taken hundreds of video clips of their rough-housing. Painful to watch.

 

Several days ago I had a couple myiarchus flycatchers in Alpine. I struggled with the ID of one that is apparently a juvenile, or possibly a Brown-crested Flycatcher. First photo of adult  Great-crested Flycatcher by me, second photo of yet undetermined by Kim Morse, but likely juvenile Great-crested. (Her camera is way better than mine.)

So I got to the oasis this morning and first thing I saw two myiarchus flycatchers.. again. Still working out ID, but I think they're both Brown-crested Flycatchers. (Photos are both of the same individual.)

One reason for my ID is the mouth lining is yellow-orange. This photo from the trail cam.

And to further keep me confused, there is also an Ash-throated Flycatcher present. I was very gratified that when a Black-capped Vireo showed up, I could confidently ID it. Whew!

Fall migration trickles on, even though the oasis hasn't had a single monsoon this summer. Early June was our one and only so far. 

UPDATE: Ebird reviewer said the two myiarchus from the oasis are juvenile Ash-throateds. Still no word on the Brown-crested/ Great-crested at Alpine. The two were just there that one day.