Torture in paradise!

I keep pushing myself to keep the trees alive a little longer. Just water one more time. Pump one more time. Realistically, I know I'm beyond my limit. And the trees will start dying. Today, I came to the oasis to service feeders, pump, and water. Again, carrying the 35 lb. pump down the muddy slope into the broken tank. Hoping I won't fall, or my back won't just give way under the weight, like my foot seems to have done.

This trip the mosquitoes were a nightmare! I'm watering with no relief, limping on my either broken, or arthritic, foot. Doesn't matter how much insecticide I cover myself with, or the head net I wear. They're voracious! I quit after 3 miserable hours. And the cowpen daisies, that I'm allergic to, are thriving. I doubled my dose of  allergy meds, but that didn't stop my nose from running like a faucet. Kept me breathing though.

Enjoying birds while I watered wasn't an option. Couldn't see through the net anyway. On the bright side, the mosquitos weren't bad during last month's festival tours. And I didn't get bitten by a rattlesnake. 😅 I did get bitten by a black ant. So painful that I wasn't able to nap after watering and lunch. 

Taking the pump out of the tank is the hardest. There's no way to wrestle the heavy, unwieldy 2" hose out without getting it covered in mud, which transfers to me, and I'm covered with mud. But, once again I topped off the stucco tank, which holds pretty well.

The only bird activity I was able to witness were three female/ juvenile Summer Tanagers feasting at a wasp's nest. I think they were eating the larva.

Interesting weather

The oasis got another big monsoon last night, and more rain is in the forecast. This one wasn't as bad as the one on July 3rd, but bad enough. During that July devasting monsoon everything was full and no place for water to go. At least this time, the broken tank was empty, as was the dragonfly pond. You can see where the water level was after yesterday's rain on the broken tank. 

Broken tank water level  going down fast

Dragonfly pond

While no catastropic damage this time, still a mess. What little mulch I had been able to retrieve from before, went away. Bit by bit, I had been trying to restore watering basins under some trees. All gone. Not to mention, I had just finished watering the oasis, which turned out to be a grueling labor for naught. Yesterday's deluge totaled 1.2". Everything brimful.

Lower dirt tank

Lower dam

Road is iffy. Bottom line, until monsoon season is over, and the road is repaired, be sure to have decent clearance if you visit. Other than that, migrants are trickling in, tons of butterflies, and lush vegetation. Quite a paradise!

Here are a few of the migrants I saw today.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

This Spotted Sandpiper is enjoying the fresh mud created as the water in the broken tank leaks out.

Learning the hard way

 A few days ago I stumbled upon a comment by a birder in an unrelated ebird checklist that he had a flat tire visiting CMO. I dread hearing things like that! I worried that I may not have raked up enough sharp rocks after the recent roadwork. So I contacted the birder to get the details. Thought I'd post it here in case it might help some future visitor.

The birder came in a rental car. Unbeknownst to him, rental cars don't come with spares anymore. Here's his description of the event. I added some clarification in brackets [ ].

"My problems began when I unwisely elected to use navigation to get to your place, went up about 1.5 miles after the Terlingua Ranch Rd. pavement ends and later realized it was fruitless.

I then followed your directions & map, but evidently ended up passing your house [my earth-sheltered cabin] (just as you warn against up top of p. 2) and then climbed a hill, I ended up reaching the end of the road at the CMO [house I gave my son].  I backtracked and reached the absolute end of the road on your map at the boarded-up house [my late sister's house way down a washed out, never used, lane. Can't hardly make it in my pickup. Don't know how a rental car could].

Instead of coming straight back downhill on return, I got lost; for some odd reason I kept wanting to turn left (west) prior to your house, ending up descending quickly, passing an arroyo, and then coming immediately to a gate.  Just beyond this gate, and very slightly uphill of it, is Andy's place [my neighbour just outside my east gate].  I nearly got stuck on the now-flat tire in this little arroyo [Almost impossible to turn around in that arroyo without getting stuck. You may recall a UPS truck getting stuck there a few years ago.]

The car, astonishingly, had no spare.  It had a pump-up kit (you can add air on the spot), but it was useless because the tire was very quickly destroyed (shredded).  Andy managed to get the vehicle's tire off, while I hunted in vain for the spare (in the place in the back where one would expect the spare, there was instead a hybrid propulsion system!).  So we put the tire back on and I limped (now riding on the wheel) down to the paved road [Terlingua Ranch Road blacktop]."

There's more, but you get the idea. All the wrong turns originated within easy sight of the oasis. I'm sorry that happened. It's rare something like that happens, but I'd like to prevent it from ever happening. Also take note, he said the tires were "nearly bald" on the rental car.

On a brighter note, fall migrants are starting to trickle in. I had this Dickcissel today.

My favorite find of the day was this Zebra Heliconian butterfly. Had only seen that species at the oasis once before (July 2018).

I watered today, so plan on focusing tomorrow on birds and butterflies.

Life is like a whirlwind!

Second day group

Every single afternoon of the festival the oasis got a big rain. The groups came to the oasis in the mornings, so the rain didn't affect the first day's group, but the roads were a mess for the second and third day groups.

Third day group

Then this afternoon, after the third and final group left, I was packed and ready to head to town. It started to sprinkle, so I decided to cover the bear-proof ground feeder with plastic since rain fills the ports and clogs them up with wet seed. I did it successfully as yesterday's rain started, so rushed to do it again today. Like yesterday, the deluge came quick and hard as I was covering the feeder. Yesterday, I made a dash for the cover of the viewing blind. Same today, only this time I accidentally stepped on the bear unwelcome mat in my haste. Normally, that wouldn't be so bad, but today I was just wearing thin crocs because my broken navicular bone seemed to hurt less in them than regular shoes. It hurt bad and my sock got bloody. Soon my feet were soaked with water and I focused on setting up a pump in the broken tank. Water was gushing into it and I knew it wouldn't hold water for long. 

I waded out into the tank and hooked up the pump and began pumping. Before long, my punctured toe swelled and was unbearably painful. Walking was an ordeal, between the injured toe and the broken bone that had already had me limping. I started worrying that going into the tank mud and all might have been a stupid thing to do with an open wound. We shall see. Meanwhile, I unpacked my pickup and prepared to spend another night. I estimated the stucco tank will be topped off around midnight.

Everyone watched a pair of Curve-billed Thrashers relentlessly carrying food to this nest. The bottom of the box has fallen out and I worry the nest will fall before the nestlings can fledge. I simply am not able to climb a ladder to fix it.

A nice species during the festival was this Common Ground Dove. 

Too bad it's feast or famine with rains.

___________________________________

UPDATE: Toe less painful Monday morning.

One hurdle behind me

Finally got someone out to work on the road. It's still a rough road, but not as scary, in my opinion.

I killed myself raking and picking up rocks for two days, so back in town to rest. I would never rest at the oasis with so much to do. The road needs a lot more raking, etc, but for now it should be ok. I'm hoping we'll get some rain to settle the dust, but likely won't. Once it rains, it's too late for me to rake anymore, as it packs hard. I still recommend visitors have decent clearance because of the steep rough big hill.

We're a week away from the hummingbird festival, so I'm hoping to rest up for a week. For some reason the road looks better in photos than it actually is to drive on. Frustrating!

I had to water before coming back to town today. Since I had to do raking in the morning, with a little help from a dear neighbor friend, I had to water in the heat of the day this afternoon. It was 103° but that doesn't bother me, it was just the no-nap exhaustion that did me in. When I'm watering in heat I sprinkle myself down with the hose frequently, and shivver through it. LOL

Reality

I have to face the realization that neither I, nor the oasis, is a forever thing. I'm just hoping to keep the oasis going for the rest of my life. For a time, I had hoped Lee would be passionate about keeping it going, but it's not his passion. Without having a passion for it, it's just a sentence to slavery. His happiness is more important to me. And like I've said many times, the oasis never should have been built in a nearly inaccessible location that had no water source other than unreliable monsoons. 

So, in a manner, I'm mourning its demise. It reminds me of when my mother was terminally ill. I moved in with her and kept her alive for another year. During that year, I did my mourning, and when she died, I didn't grieve. Now I feel like I'm watching the oasis in its decline toward death, and the grieving feels similar, as does my fight to keep it alive. The secret is to keep it alive as best I can, while accepting that it's temporary. 

Yesterday, I went down and serviced feeders. Also got Lee to put some concrete patches on a couple of bad spots going up the big hill.

Today, I'm back in town. He's completing the list of chores I left him with. Here he's leveling the drip reservoir after the devastating monsoon of July 3rd caused parts of it to sink into the saturated ground.

In a couple of days he's heading back to Colorado for a month or two. It puts him nearer to his daughters there, and his wife (an only child) is nearer to her parents. Music is his passion, and he can do it anywhere. He plans to spend this winter at the oasis. I sure hope he does.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting to hear back from the road contractor who I'm hoping will fix the road. It has to get done before the hummimgbird festival in less than a month. That's my priority at the moment. And practicing gratitude! I have so much to be grateful for!

Flood recovery ongoing

I'm hoping my sons will fix the road. If not, I'm prepared to hire someone. Meanwhile, I'm working at repairing the severely, nearly compromised, dike. At 85, it's slow and painful going. I was asked about getting a volunteer crew to help, but it's just not practical. I'd have to be micro-managing it all, and I'm only able to manage one or two helpers at a time. I get worn out in 3-4 hrs and it's not worth having them make the long drive for that amount of time. Less stress if I just whittle away at it. My son, Lee, will be back from his summer in Colorado on Friday. That'll be a big help. I'm going down to work some more Thursday, and thinking of asking my neighbor Ricky Green for help.

In the above photo, I'm in the middle of repairing an area of the dike that washed badly. The white rocks are holes I filled with rock, and then topped with dirt. After that, I restored the steps as best I could. There're two other similar areas to do. No hurry, in that we won't get another deluge like that in my lifetime.

I also did some weed-eating, besides managing to top off the stucco tank from the broken tank. Before I came back to town, I took my pump out of the tank. Exhausted, trying to get the 35 lb. pump out of the water that was covering a good six inches of mud, I lost my balance and fell smack into the mud. I have an agonizing time getting to my feet any time I get down, so it was an ordeal. I crawled a ways, but only got more mud-covered. Finally and painfully, I used my walking stick in one hand and when I got the pump dragged up the slope a bit, I was able to use both the pump and the stick to get to my feet. It hurt my knees a lot, but I had no options. After that, I had to spend an hour getting mud off me, the pump, hoses, electric cords, etc. No photos because I don't dare take my phone with me into the tank.

I need to pump water Thursday and I discovered the heavy 3" line going to the stucco tank had washed away from the connecting joint during the flood. That's something I can't fix by myself (I could have 10 years ago), plus the 3" pump connected to it is very difficult to start. Also it's time to start watering again unless it rains soon. Thursday will be two weeks since things got watered. Normally, I don't let it go that long, but after the huge deluge, I felt ok with doing that.

Lots of butterflies, and saw my first migrant bird of the season, this lovely Yellowheaded Blackbird.

The BIG ONE

 

The BIG ONE is the one I never want to get.  I watched it from town on radar. It concerned me because it's the first time I had seen the center of a bad cell directly over the oasis since I've been watching radar. The last, and only, BIG ONE since the oasis was created, was in the year 2000. It overran the dike around the oasis, washing some of the dike away. After that, my late husband raised the dike. It never breached again.

Yesterday, the BIG ONE went over the dike. It didn't breach it, but cut into it badly (above photo). When I first arrived at the oasis late this afternoon and saw the devastation, my first inclination was to just give up. Nature won. But then I made myself focus on what was left. My cup half full, not half empty, so to speak.

A BIG ONE inundates the whole oasis, takes away all the mulch, washes random places away, piles silt in other places, and leaves debris everywhere. In 2000 it flooded the potty shed with about a foot of water. We raised it a foot after that. Yesterday it flooded it again, although just a couple of inches. When the water recedes, it leaves a thick coating of mud inside. So much to do and so little energy. But I have time, so I'll do it bit by bit. What made it worse was that when it hit, all the tanks were already full and the ground was already saturated. No place for the water to go. 

I guess the road is the biggest concern. Right now only high clearance is doable. I'm going to try to hire someone to work on it. The problem is, what's left is basically rock. It needs padding, not grading. But I'll address it as a challenge, not a problem. We'll see. It's not over til it's over. 

UPDATE: It was late last night and I was exhausted when I posted this. Forget to mention that my oldest son, Eric, got all 3 pumps in top running shape in no time. He can, it's just if he will. The oasis is a full-time job and my sons have their own lives they want to live. Eric did say when he got back from a trip to Florida in a week, he'd come work on the road. That would be so wonderful if he does.

Feast or famine

Lower dirt tank brimful

Broken tank

More accurately, deluge or drought. This afternoon, it deluged again. The good news is that everything is full of water. No need to pump... or water. The bad news, other than that the big broken tank won't hold water for long, is that my best gas pump that was at the upper dirt tank got inundated.  I used to drag it well away from the tank so that couldn't happen, but these days I'm not able to do that. It's been years since it was necessary, but if a big surge of water rushes over the spillway, it can happen. Due to my vigilence, this is the first time that has happened while the pump was vulnerable. A surge of water over the spillway doesn't last long, but long enough. You can tell from this photo, the water had been much higher. (All photos by Ricky Green) 

Tomorrow I'm going to go down, and with help loading, bring the pump to town. My one son is in Colorado, but my other son reluctantly agreed to try to salvage it. It will need lots of drying and cleaning. New gas, oil, clean the plug, etc. and hope for the best.

Maintaining the place has become too much for me, but I just can't bring myself to let it go. I'll fight till the end. Fortunately, I don't seem to be any worse for the wear after those last three days of pumping. Of course, had I known nature was going to fill everything I could have saved myself the torture. Such is my life! I wouldn't trade it for any other, although I'd sure make myself younger if I could! LOL

My deepest gratitude to Ricky Green for his invaluable help in my time of need! And to the continued support of all the wonderful birders out there!

The price of rain

Lately, the oasis has gotten a couple of nice rains, which means pumping water if everything doesn't fill up from a huge monsoon. I hadn't known that the rain filled the [upper] dirt tank until two days after the fact. By the time I got there, half the water was lost.

I finally managed to get the remainder pumped out into the stucco tank, adding 10" to it. Thereafter, I went back to Alpine to recuperate.

Photo by Ricky Green

That night it rained again, and filled it again, so yesterday I went right back down, still unrecovered from the previous day. Terlingua Ranch resident, Ricky Green, volunteered to help me with the pumps. That was a godsend for me.

We eventually got the pump going. The broken tank had also harvested a lot of water in that second rain, so we set up an electric pump in it. 

Photo by Ricky Green

It no longer holds water so I planned to pump it into the stucco tank. It contained enough to top off the stucco tank. After Ricky left, the gas pump quit running and the electricity went out. In hindsight, I should've used a gas pump in the broken tank. I had thought I could make the pumping easier by using the lighter electric pump. Didn't expect a power outage.

This morning, I tackled the situation by myself. I changed the oil in the gas pump, leveled it better, and finally got it going. Since I had anticipated topping off the stucco tank with the broken tank water, I continued pumping the [upper] dirt tank water into the lower dirt tank, which holds better. Good plan.... if it had worked. Without help, I couldn't change the setup. It was locked in.

All morning the electricity went off and on, mostly off. By the time I got the upper dirt tank emptied into the lower dirt tank, I was too worn out to continue. So I went to town. Naturally, after I left, the electricity came on, and stayed on. But I didn't sleep well last night and couldn't bear the thought of another night without AC. And even if the AC is working, it's too loud for me to sleep well.

Currently, the stucco tank lacks about 18" of being full. I plan to go top it off in a few days from the lower dirt tank, unless a monsoon fills everything. The pump at the lower dirt tank is harder to get going. Ricky said he'd come help if I need him to. 

My back is hurting real bad, but I think it'll feel somewhat better in the morning. It's never pain-free. Those days are long gone.

Still hanging on

Not much has been going on lately. My broken toe is better, but I always have pain on the bottoms of my feet when doing a lot of walking, or when watering trees. My understanding is that our padding thins as we age. So yesterday I bought a pair of expensive (for me) Skechers shoes that seem to give more padding. I'll know more next time I water.

The oasis has been getting a few small showers, which is nice, but so far, not enough that I don't have to water. More rain is forecast, so we'll see.

I watered two days ago and enjoyed seeing lots of newly hatched Scaled Quail.

The oasis is hosting California Spreadwings dragonflies again this year, which I like. I doubt I'll get any Mexican Amberwings since the big tank that had them has failed, but we'll see.

Here's the latest drought map for our area. Not looking good, but for now the oasis is fine.

Surviving and hoping

I feel like I survived a near "perfect" storm. Last week our car was in the body shop, my foot had a broken bone, water had to be pumped, my son was in Colorado, and my pickup was broken down. The only thing that kept it from being a "perfect" storm was that it broke down in the carport in town, and not at the oasis. That would have been unbearable. 

I survived dealing with the heavy gas pump and all that entailed. (That was before I got the special shoe for my foot, while the bone was freshly broken.) A terrible ordeal. Thereafter, I rested in town for several days.

So, yesterday it was time to go water and service the feeders. I finally had my pickup back. At least I didn't have to go through the torture of climbing into and out of my husband's big tall pickup. I got a late start, as I had to take care of some business in town first. 

At the oasis, I serviced the feeders. By then it was brunch time and hot, so I ate, and napped. After my nap, it was 110° out. I started watering, hoping it would rain and I could quit. Looked promising, but didn't happen.

It did cool things off though, so I was able to finish watering in more comfort, not taking into account how bad my feet, knees, and back hurt, especially the broken foot. Since rain is forecast  during the next week, I did a brief three hour watering only, and got back to Alpine before my regular 11 PM bedtime. I would have spent the night at the oasis, but that would have meant running the AC all night. I simply don't sleep well in a room with a loud AC running.

This morning I'm not feeling too bad. My broken foot hurts, and I'm a bit more sore than usual. Hoping to be able to take it easy for a few days. And if it does rain at the oasis, I hope everything fills up so I won't have to go pump. Surviving and hoping seems to be my lot these days. But so thankful to be able to survive and hope!

As I watered, chats were very vocal and the water drip was very popular!

Scott's Oriole

Crissal Thrasher

Broken foot bone

May 25

May 29

On May 24, I stubbed my little toe on a chair leg. I figured it was broken, but as the swelling, etc. subsided, I could pinpoint the break and it was in the bone leading to the little toe. When it seemed not to be improving, I went and got it x-rayed. Dr. says the break is healing, but slowly because I flex my foot, so he put a non-flex shoe on it.

I really had been abusing it. On May 27, two days after the break, I watered the trees at the oasis, which entailed walking for four hours on it. Then after I got back to town, the oasis got a good rain and caught some runoff. On the 29th I went back down to pump some of the water. That meant dragging a heavy gas pump, carrying priming water and gas, getting into the tank of water to arrange the intake, and too much other torture to mention. When I finished that, I took a nap, then cleaned out a storage building that my son had recently mouse-proofed. (He's currently in Colorado for a month) Plus all my regular housework, feeder servicing, etc. Basically, from the time I broke it, I did all that I normally would do, plus some. With this unflexible shoe, and resting it, it should heal now.

A couple of years ago I cracked my other foot's navicular bone and was hobbling in pain for nearly 8 months, but this isn't as debilitating.

As for the rain, the oasis looks lovely, and I added a couple of feet of water to the stucco tank. It loses 1½" per day, so not a great gain, but I've learned that every little bit helps.

Sometimes I feel like life is in a holding pattern, just waiting for the next hurdle! But so many people are so much worse off, that I can't complain. I feel gratitude!

I survived migration!

Normally, migration is the last week of April and the first week of May. However, birding was almost at its best the second week of May. And birders just kept coming. During that bonus week, I was sick with what I think was covid. In bed for two days. Then I had to deal with difficult trespassers, a difficult neighbor, watering, and more. So it was an exciting, but hectic week. I was really glad the birding was good since there were so many birders visiting. It's always a letdown when migration is over. 

Birders are the best! However difficult things are, birders make it so worth it! I plan to hang on until my last breath.

It surprised me how tiny this American Redstart looks on a Prickly Pear Cactus!

And this would've been a great  Yellow Warbler photo if it had been sharp. Never saw one with a fanned tail before.

Fall migration will be here before we know it! Meanwhile, I sure hope we get at least one good monsoon. I feel optimistic about it. 

Catch up

As I was approaching the oasis this morning, a bear was departing. As usual, he left fresh scat at the oasis. But no damage, and no bird seed in the scat.

Another trunk of that cottonwood tree is in imminent danger of falling. It was erect two days ago and now it's leaning precariously. Shouldn't do damage if it falls into the dry dragonfly pond. It might clip the edge of the big Live Oak. If it stays up until my son gets here in a few days, he can attach a rope to it and guide the fall to where it won't damage anything.

I watered for a few hours this morning, then after lunch I sat at the back water drip to see what was showing up in the heat of the day. Here are a few photos I snapped of the action.

.

Hepatic Tanager

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Bullock's Oriole

Townsend's Warbler

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, It's unusual for this time of year. Seems to be molting.

A week or so ago I took off the sheet covering my couple dozen stored extra hummingbird feeders to discover mice had gotten into them, and left them covered in droppings, and whatever. I had to take them all in and clean them. A big job at a time when I was overwhelmed with migration and birders and watering. No wonder it escaped mention at the time!

The Texas Ornithological Society wanted a photo of me with my Dennis Shepler Birding Ambassador award so my son took one for them. Here it is. (I'm even wearing the shirt Dennis designed for me.)

 

I think that about catches me up.