Oasis maintenance

My husband decided to come down from Alpine and clean out the settling pond. The dam in the background diverts the water that floods down that arroyo into a huge concrete below-ground-level tank (pictured in Jan 21 post) . We keep this area above the dam cleaned of the sediment that settles into it to keep the sand and gravel that accumulates from going into the concrete tank during flash floods. The settling pond is easier to clean out than the concrete tank and keeps the tank's space reserved for precious water.

All cleaned out for another year or two, depending on how much rain we get.

Oasis without electric lines

Well, for the first time in the fifteen year history of my oasis it isn't bordered on its south side by electric lines. (Clicking on this image may make it easier to visualize.)

Basically the pole you see in the foreground (with the nest box attached) is where one of the old electric poles stood. It's still there, but they cut it off for me (and us squeaky-wheeled Texbirders) above the nest box and put the new wires on the line of poles you see in the background. I'm looking south here and the line is running east to west. So it's farther away from my oasis now, which is important in several ways. For one thing, they would have had to bulldoze a road down the old right-of-way to be able to install the heavier electric cables they're upgrading to. That would have destroyed my precious dike, not to mention the habitat created by the dike. Plus that road would be used whenever they needed it... a huge blow to the ambience of my oasis, as just the road's presence would have been. You may wonder why they agreed to do this. Mostly because when I built the dike years ago I visited their Alpine office and asked how wide their right-of-way was. It's fifteen feet on either side of the pole, ie. 30 feet. So I measured them off that distance. But it turns out that distance was determined 40 years ago. Today their big equipment can't maneuver in that amount of space, in other words, within their right-of-way. I was prepared to fight for every inch that they didn't have a right to, or give them the space they wanted in a more convenient place for both of us. It actually shortens the distance of their line quite a bit. Apparently (?), they need corners here and there for strength and when the line was originally installed they put in a huge "big bend"... way more than was necessary. That corner was down beside the arroyo, which is the only place I could build diversion dams, and they often got stuck there in summer storms, which is the very time lines are likely to go down. So this is good for both of us, but it seemed to take an act of congress to get it changed.

They cut off several more old poles, too. I'm going to replant the cut-off tops of them the first chance I get. That will give the Elf Owls, Ash-throated Flycatchers, and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers even more nesting options.

Meanwhile, I'm still cleaning out one of my two storage tanks. As you can see from the above photo that tank won't be ready to clean out for a while. At least I hope so, as that's my irrigation water until it rains again.  Currently there's about 7 feet of water in it. In good years it doesn't get cleaned out because it rains before it gets low enough. On years it gets really low before a rain, I pump what's left of it into the tank I'm now cleaning. And ration water to my oasis accordingly as I clean out the above tank. I have to transfer my gambusias (mosquito fish) too, which is a real chore. After about the first million I just leave the rest and hope birds will get them. Right now, in the tank I'm cleaning there's a puddle of murky green water in the bottom  with dying gambusias in it. I took out all I could catch with my net. They reproduce  really prolifically in the summer and since the water in the full tank will keep going down, it's got about all the gambusias it can support in it.

It's hard to tell what's what on the below photo. My shadow in early morning light stands out as I'm positioned on the south wall looking down into the tank. The top 3 feet of the wall are above the height of the spillway. It had to be that way due to the terrain. So, althought the tank on the south end is 15 foot deep, it only holds 12 feet of water.  In a huge flash flood like the one I had in 2000 it filled the whole 15 feet, but of course when the water level in the arroyo that was flooding went down it flowed from the tank until it was  contained at the level of the spillway. It's an engineering marvel to behold during a big flood. Those tanks can fill up in a matter of minutes.

At the spillway, far right, mostly off the frame, the tank level holds 8 foot of water. That's due to impenetrable bedrock that our equipment couldn't dig when we built the tank. I've patched the tank again this year, as I do every year, and I think it's sealed good. Around that puddle of water is mud. Since I carry all the silt up a 15 foot ramp in 5 gallon buckets, and since I'm 70 years old, I wait for the mud to dry before I remove it. It's much lighter that way. This year the silt is only an inch or two deep so I'm about two-thirds through the project. And there's no hurry. I prefer to do it before the weather gets too hot, like it can in March and April. In previous posts I've posted photos of this tank when it's full.

Progress and birds

I'm told the old electric line will come down from beside my oasis tomorrow. Yippee!

Saw a few good birds today. Mid-morning I saw a Black-chinned Sparrow and got a really bad documentary shot from a great distance in bad light.

And some visiting birders observed a Sage Thrasher, of which I was able to get some documentary shots. It would have been better if the branches weren't in the way and if it wasn't almost dark. 

Define progress

For over 8 months now I've struggled with the power company over their plan to replace the poles last June during Elf Owl nesting season. I got Texbirders on board and we got their attention. As it turned out by the time they got ready to actually do the work to my section of the job, Elf Owl nesting season was long gone. (The first half of the project was done before I found out about it, but it was done before the owls arrived in 2010. Or at least I try to believe that. Some of the workers did tell me they encountered owls in the poles.)

Now they have a contractor and are gung ho to do the job. And now Elf Owls will be returning in 6 - 8 weeks! No way can they finish by then, so to placate me they're doing my property first. Today they started putting up new poles. Later they'll come back and attach the new heavier cable. Happily, they agreed to bypass my oasis with the new line. And if I live another 20 years I may see the freeway (not much exaggeration here) they're dozing under the line, all the way across my land, heal over. This line carries electricity to Lajitas and parts beyond.

I  won't be totally placated that easily, but it's a start. I emailed the contractor and told him if the pole part of the project wasn't done by Mar 15th, I would go public. I also pointed out that it was illegal to destroy their nests. I haven't heard back from him. According to some of the workers, I'm not the only one trying to protect the owls. A huge ranch adjacent to me has a caretaker (Gene Kearns) who is also very concerned about the owls, as are a few others. The old poles by my oasis they'll leave as are, or shorten. Those they have to remove I'll shorten and replant here and there. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons here.

In all fairness, I enjoy electricity and they are doing their best, within fulfilling their needs, to work with me. I try to not be too difficult. See my article on the owls in the Texas Ornithological Society's " 2010 Texas Birds Annual. To be continued...



Cold weather brings new hummer

It was so cold this morning that I didn't even consider trying for photos of yesterday's hummer. I went to Alpine and was greeted with a new visitor at our home there, a young male Anna's. I hope he survives the arctic cold we're forecast for tonight.

CMO Allen's Hummingbird

I finally was able to take a few distant shots of the selasphorus that I've gotten occasional glimpses of this winter. It's definitely banded, which explains its elusiveness. I think it might be an Allen's based on how tiny the tail is. I'm going to try for spread tail shots tomorrow. Probably impossible with my lack of camera expertise, but if I could get a good one it could tell positively which selasphorus species it is.

Update: I sent Kelly Bryan photos of this hummer and he confirmed it is an Allen's. Now we need to see what the band number is.

Costa's Hummingbird still around

Earlier this month we captured Bonnie Wunderlich's Costa's for the third time. (see previous Costa's posts) I worried that she might have left, so I went to Bonnie's place today to check. The hummer was still there but understandably really skittish. She would not feed with me around, so I just snapped a couple of photos and left. Mission accomplished. Hopefully, she'll hang around another month. And no, we have no intention of recapturing her again before October. But I seriously doubt if she'll ever be lured into a trap again. She appears to be fat and healthy. Bonnie takes good care of her feeders.

Cold Christmas camp

My husband prevailed upon me to spend Christmas at Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. We went Christmas eve and came back the day after Christmas. Water in our wash basin froze both nights we were there. I hate cold. He went fishing, but didn't catch many. I do not like camping. It's a lot of work and deprivation, without the comforts of home.



My private portable privy in the foreground

Northern Harrier

A beautiful day and I had a little time while waiting on the well repairman to get here. I didn't have enough energy to start a new project (cleaning the stucco tank or gathering sotol comes to mind) so I sat, actually sat down, at my oasis to watch birds. So far I've seen 28 species including a few Anna's Hummingbirds, 2 House Wrens, a Hermit Thrush and this Northern Harrier. I didn't know what it was while I was photographing it, but when it flew I saw the give-away white rump. I guess it's a 1st year bird.

The well man isn't here yet, but I'm not the least bored waiting. Before you ask what I do with the sotol, I use it for overhead shade on my canopy, photo blind, camouflage rain tanks, and the left over scraps and crooked stalks I cut up for kindling. No steak tastes better than one cooked over sotol.  I'll post photos soon...

Tufted Flycatcher revisited

It might be the last opportunity I'll ever have to see a TUFL, so I went with my sister-in-law, Dale Ohl, to see it one more time at Rio Grande Village (BBNP).  One birder was already there when we arrived at 9:00 AM, and within minutes more arrived. The bird was promptly located in a Cottonwood tree where Matt VanWallene had originally found it. It stayed just below the high canopy all morning. We were all saturated with photos by the time we left.

Erik Breden looking north, road in background, TUFL in tree above

Black Vultures at a carcass in the Rio Grande River