Talk about serendipity!

The weather had been great all Christmas week, but a cold front was due to hit today. So yesterday, I was itching to go birding before it moved in, since I was pretty well recovered from my long bout with bronchitis. There just weren't any interesting birds to be had within reasonable driving distance of Alpine. A thirty minute drive was all I was willing to do, especially since it was already late in the morning. Checking Presidio County reports, I noticed a Couch's Kingbird had been reported in northeast Marfa a week earlier. It'd be like looking for a needle in a haystack, even if it was still around. At least that would give me a target, as opposed to none. I was absolutely positive I'd not find it, but it would be a fun treasure hunt looking. Not a lifer, although I didn't have a photo of one, and it would be a new Presidio County bird for me. Plus, I might find something else interesting while looking.

When I got to Marfa, it was packed with tourists and traffic. Very discouraging, driving the streets, avoiding cars and people, and trying to see birds. Plenty of doves and sparrows, but nothing interesting. Even worse than I had anticipated. 

Suddenly, the Couch's appeared, unmistakably, in a yard as I was driving past. As quick as I could, I grabbed my camera and jumped out of my car. In the process, my phone (with the Merlin app) slipped between the car seats. I knew it would be a pain to retrieve, but my full attention at that moment was on getting photo documentation. As luck would have it, the bird was between me and the sun, always a bad shot. There was no other option, so I took it. After getting a few photos, I wanted to record its calling for further documentation. By the time I got the car parked and my phone retrieved, I couldn't see or hear the bird. The yard was fenced with a tall wooden fence, and it was amazing to me that I had even seen the bird way back in the yard in the first place.

Apparently, the house behind that tall fence was some kind of Air B&B. People were leaving through a tall wooden gate in the fence with suitcases and loading them into a car next to where I was standing. I explained that I was watching a bird in the yard. A woman replied that she had probably flushed it, which I'm sure she had, but I politely demurred.

My quest had lasted less than an hour, and I was ready to go home, a happy camper! 

On my way home I got a text from a person that I get pine needles from every year, so as soon as the cold front passes, I'm going to take a load to the oasis. The home owner will load it, and at the oasis my son will unload it. Just gotta keep on keepin' on!

2025 in review

I started blogging in 2009.  Between 2011-2022  I averaged over 200 posts per year. In recent years, that number has dwindled. In 2024, I made 67 posts, and this year only 46. 

January and February were cold and uneventful. 

March brought a very surprising monster monsoon that caused the big tank to fail. It had been the one tank that never leaked.  All mulch washed away and the road became almost impassible, besides much other damage.

During April the oasis hosted lots of birds and birders. Isn't it funny how the two seem to go together! A Prothonotary Warbler and Hermit Warbler were perhaps the most exciting finds of April.

These were the May highlights.

Cape May Warbler (photo by Troy Williams)

Hooded Warbler

At the TOS Spring meeting I was given this award.

Also in May, we did the Big Sit, but didn't win. A new group at a better location won. I'm happy for them. We had the fun of winning for many years!

In June, I broke a toe, which slowed me down a lot. Well, some, anyway!

July was overwhelming, to say the least! Three days after a big rain filled everything, a huge deluge came, with no place to contain the water. Nearly destroyed everything. Washed away all the laboriously replaced mulch and made the road impassible without a good clearance vehicle.

 

Early in August, I spent nearly $1000 to get the road more passable. There's not much can be done without hauling in padding for it though, which would ultimately wash away. Like my joints, pretty much bone on bone. By later in the month, I had brought in more mulch and gotten things more tolerable when another big monsoon arrived and washed the mulch away once again, besides undoing most of the new road work. It seems the oasis is me, and I am it, both declining toward the end. But I'll hang on to whatever I can of both, for as long as I can.

The best part of September was this Magnolia Warbler at the oasis, plus, in Alpine, a Broad-billed Hummingbird and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

Broad-billed Hummingbird by Tim Handren

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher by Kym Morse

Incredibly, October brought another monsoon along with about 3" of hail. More damage, and more lost mulch, just when I had thought there could be no more!

Still a couple of Lucifers around in November. There was a brief visit by a Williamson's Sapsucker that I captured on my trail cam, but didn't see. The next day some visiting birders saw it and got this photo of it. 

Photo by Corey Rich

After Thanksgiving I came down with a mild cold that turned into bronchitis, which laid me low for nearly the whole month of December. My lungs handle the cold dry air of winter worse every year, but I'm working on getting better control of that problem. We shall see. (At least I tested negative for flu and covid.)

Another problem I have is that it's getting so painful to hold binoculars up to my eyes that unless they hurry and invent some that fasten to the head and autofocus, I may not be able to bird watch much longer. I use a monopod to hold my camera to my eye, but still have to use my right arm to zoom and use other functions on it. My left arm is pretty useless.

The oasis rain total for the year was only a little over 13," but it sure seemed like a lot more. The worst one was on July 3rd with over 2," arriving at the same time as the Guadalupe River went on its deadly rampage.

With the help of antibiotics and steroids, I finally overcame the bronchitis. Days are getting longer. In a few months it'll be spring once again, with all that entails. And once again, I eagerly await its arrival!

Visit to East Texas

I just returned from going to my granddaughter's graduation from Texas State University in San Marcos. Her degree is in computer science. As is the tradition there, after the ceremony, the graduates take a plunge into the spring-fed San Marcos River. The icy water and cool weather didn't slow them down either. Here's Erynya with her proud father before the swim. 

The plunge!

And afterwards...

While at my daughter's, we feasted on her gormet cooking. Here are a couple of the five star meals she made.

Beef enchiladas, beans, and guacamole

Chicken-fried chicken breast with mashed potatoes and salad

All in all, a great trip! My son, Lee, did all the driving. I added a few species to my Hays County list while there, too. I think I could've done better if not for my lingering respiratory infection. The weather was really cold. I coughed so often that by the time I got home I was totally hoarse. 

Riding the tram to the stadium

Wintery-ness

Quite typical for me to get a respiratory infection this time of year. I'm pretty much well by now though. Fingers crossed that I don't relapse. Any birding I've been doing has been from the window near the fire looking toward my little water feature in Alpine. But birding is bleak. Even ebird reports for the area are scant, so it's not just me.

The best bird I've had lately has been a Northern Flicker of the rarer Yellow-shafted subspecies. My best photos of that subspecies ever. That was fun!

For now, I'm grateful to be as well as I am, and enjoying technology! Young people raised with it surely take it for granted and don't appreciate it as much. And I realize a lot of people my age aren't as open to it as I am. They don't seem to feel any need for it. Stem cell technology will undoubtedly extend lifespans, but that won't happen in my lifetime.

I'm looking forward to going with my son to his daughter's college graduation this weekend. And looking forward to spring. And any minute a rare bird could show up. That keeps life exciting!