Better than Sam Nail

I used to love to bird at the old Sam Nail Ranch in Big Bend National Park, but hated the long drive down there. It's sort of an oasis in the desert with a windmill that pumps a trickle of water most of the time. Dugout Wells is another such place in the park. But Sam Nail Ranch was closer for me.

Then when I built my own oasis I dubbed  the bench near one of my water features "the Sam Nail bench." It even faces east like the one at Sam Nail. Not a good choice of direction for either place,* since early morning birding is the best, and facing east into the sunrise isn't. But I still love my Sam Nail viewing area, and the birding is generally better at it than at the real Sam Nail.

"Sam Nail" bench (closest to camera) taken today

Closeup of water feature today

The next photo gives you a good idea of the size of my Chinese Pistachio trees, which are planted 12' apart. The new little one is in the front with the stake still attached. That's because when you buy them at the store they're so tall and spindly. Wish they weren't, but I don't anticipate buying any more. I'll be lucky to live long enough for these two to make a canopy of shade.

I think that dark shadow on the right corner is the madrone tree that the pistachios will hopefully shade some day soon.

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* I didn't construct the oasis with birding and birders in mind. Originally, just a desert oasis for trees and wildlife for my enjoyment. It (and I) evolved from there.

UPDATE: That madrone tree eventually died.

Final family day

Well, whew, hard to keep up, but I did pretty good today. Since they're leaving early in the morning and it's a long time until next Thanksgiving, I took them out the Agua Fria road to a swimming hole in Terlingua Creek that my son used to enjoy as a child. He hadn't been there since, so we took lots of pics. I won't bore you with many but I've nothing else to post today. Could not find any interesting wildlife or plants of any kind.

We actually did see a half moon in the sky above this moonscape but I didn't think to photograph it.

I have pictures of my parents and various other family members at this spot in the creek. I was going to dig up some from decades ago but couldn't find them, and too tired to continue looking. Maybe some other time. Meanwhile, more of the granddaughters.

And that was my day. I think Kelly is coming to do our hummingbird banding circuit Monday and Tuesday so that should be interesting.

Holiday help

Got down to CMO last night with son and granddaughters. Put him to work first thing this morning. Just little odds and ends that I couldn't do by myself. Feels so good to have those chores done. He and the girls gathered me some sotol so I could finish my windbreak in the courtyard. You probably forgot all about that project, but it was literally staring me in the face whenever I entered the courtyard.

Here's the sickly Mexican Elder tree I'm trying to protect. Next year by this time I expect it to look a whole lot better.

Also got Lee to help me move a seed feeder to where it can be enjoyed better by birds and people. I was able to handle it alone except for the heavy concrete base. Can't wait to start enjoying good birds there. Should have had it there those five months the Varied Thrush hung out in that area.

And have some impressive fall color these days.

Apricot tree

Chinkapin Oak

Thanksgiving time so soon again

The older one gets the shorter the years are, because everything is relative. A year is now just another short blip in my life. My son surprised us with a painting he did. I was really surprised too. I had thought he had quit painting years ago.

I think he has quit, but years ago he promised to paint my husband a windmill picture, and I guess it was weighing on his conscience that he hadn't done it. He's always so busy. So he surprised us with it. But the oils weren't dry enough for him to do all he wanted to do before he visited for the holiday, so he may work on it again someday. Or not.

Shades of autumn

Not much color going on at CMO, but then I did not plant based on what would make good fall color. My preference is evergreen year around.

The red leaves in the next photo belong to the one surviving Bigtooth Maple. The yellow, of course, is the cottonwood tree, also the only surviving one.

Alpine habitat vs CMO

The past ten years of creating a habitat in Alpine have really been difficult and frustrating. Our soil here is the most impervious clay there can be. The ponds hold water so good that a couple feet away from them the soil is rock hard. And nothing grows fast. We planted a couple cottonwoods some years ago and they're barely surviving no matter how much water we flood them with.

On top of that, deer strip everything, fences and cages notwithstanding. When I chased this deer away and examined the poor mulberry tree that has been struggling for many years, unlike those in the sandy soil at CMO that are huge, I see the deer chewed the twigs right off, even as far as 6 inches inside the cage. Alpine is overrun with deer. If you want a million bucks, this is the place for you.

Don't even get me started on the fire ants. And goat-heads that are so big they go right through the soles of my shoes.

CMO certainly isn't without its challenges, but the deer don't bother it (except in the record drought of 2011), no fire ants or goat-heads. And when the tanks don't leak, an awesome habitat with interesting and rare birds, butterflies, and dragonflies, is an exciting reality.

I can only survive Alpine because I have the oasis to go to for recharging my batteries. The first thing that I notice when I get there is the quiet. The magical quiet liberates my soul to breathe. It energizes my creativity. No stifling barking of dogs, nor oppressive trains with whistles screaming, night and day...... even now as I write this.

But I'm not complaining. I get a four-day vacation every week. Few people are so lucky. Meanwhile, I try to make the best of my time in town.

The Madrone Project

Got inspired to work some more on the madrone terrace and retainer wall, even though it was really cold this morning. I have to work to stay warm on mornings like today. This summer while the project idled, two Mexican Buckeyes sprouted on the fill dirt behind the wall.

I figure they're as good as anything else for fast-growing shade for the madrone... if I prune them up as they grow. And they're native. And best of all, they're already planted, although not where I would have planted them had I had a hand in it. 

So, that means the project is done except I am still going to plant something of my choosing on the top, even if it's a flower bush. Preferably something evergreen. I left a hole and pot where I want to plant something. I'll  just go ahead and let the buckeyes provide the needed shade. Normally when stuff sprouts underneath the madrone I remove or relocate it, but since this is on the side that needs shade, and since it's an acceptable species, I'm going with it. I don't know what kind of symbiotic relationship it'll have with the madrone, but I have a small Gray Oak to the west of the madrone that should cover that need. The madrone is in the very center of this photo. As you can see, things are still pretty lush and green so far. The cottonwood and other deciduous trees have yellowed.

This next shot shows the pot where I'm going to put a plant. That's the stream on the right side. I built that out of concrete when I made the grotto water feature, but it's another of those things that don't get used. It's sort of an overflow now for the water feature, which I've posted tons of photos of in the past.

Madrone in upper left corner

Which sort of reminds me, I've blogged for over five years now and the last several days I've spent going through the 800 plus posts, doing a little tweaking here and there. I was really amazed at how some trees have grown. I see them so much I don't notice that they're growing. One isn't of course. That's the dead cottonwood tree. I'm enjoying burning cut up logs from it in the stove, even as I write this. This next shot shows one of the two buckeye sprouts. It's straight below where the pot is on this photo, nestled in a cubby-hole I made around it inside the "wall."

Madrone on left side

This last shot was taken from the "stream" on the east side of the madrone showing the madrone in front of the terrace wall. Hopefully, it'll thrive now. It may take a couple years before the buckeyes shade it. Meanwhile, other trees are growing in the vicinity and will provide more shade than they have been. Thankfully, I have plenty of water to ensure good spring growth.

Madrone on right side

Extreme nature of nature

From lovely weather to a Blue Norther in a blink. I don't remember that happening before when everything was still so lush and green.

It was unbearable to contemplate my precious flower bushes freezing, so I rushed around until dark last night covering as many of them as I could, with anything I could find. Why, you ask? Good question. I guess just so I can enjoy them a few weeks longer. I know it's not realistic to think that I can save them until spring unless I was down here 24-7, which can't happen. If we hadn't gotten all that rain a few weeks ago, things might not have been (past tense here) so lush, thus not as painful to watch.

Even the lone hummer that usually hides out high in the trees is staying close to the ground near the most protected feeder. I couldn't get a sharp photo of it. I think the camera was too cold. Or maybe I was.

Female Anna's Hummingbird down low in Mexican Buckeye bush

It got down to 23° here last night. Now I have to stay here until danger of frost passes so I can uncover things. Maybe sometime tomorrow.

Cataract surgery selfie

Glad I only have two eyes and they both are now cataract free.

Freeze may be headed our way

We banded hummingbirds at Lajitas today. The impending cold (arctic vortex) likely won't freeze things there, so maybe I'll get another time or two to look for dragonflies there. We didn't look today because there were lots of golfers on the course, and for other reasons we needed to get back to town.

The place is full of blooms. This bush has been planted (along with innumerable others) near the motel units there. It's gorgeous with red tubular flowers, red-edged leaves, and maroon-colored berries on it, but I didn't know what it was called. Research has informed me that it's a Firebush (Hamelia patens), and adores hot weather, the hotter the better.

A very interesting plant. The fruit on it is acidic, but edible. (No, thank you.) Sometimes called Scarlet-bush. Hummingbirds purportedly love it. The leaves turn red as the weather cools, and it is very susceptible to freezes. So definitely a tropical perennial that I'll have to enjoy at a distance south of CMO.

There were a lot of ducks at Lajitas this morning. Quite a few of these. I thought they were scaups, but Kelly told me they are female Ring-necked Ducks. I'm terrible on duck identification. They were way far out in the middle of the lake so not a great photo, but rather interesting how the pink and blue-ish reflections on the water comprise about the only real color on the photo.

Before Lajitas, we banded at another of our banding sites where a visitor excitedly watched his first hummer being banded. This is my cell pic of him cell-videoing.

I must add that visitors are always welcome to watch the process and Kelly is incredibly accommodating to all. Not only are observers highly entertained, but so much is learned, too. Soon Kelly will be publishing the mind-boggling data that has been learned from this ten year project, as we wind down our seventh year now.