Long, long day

Visitors from 8 AM to 9 PM.  Doesn't get much longer than that. May be a CMO record day. So far I've accounted for at least 47 visitors today.

Before I forget, for those of you who expressed concern over the fate of the bees, let me assure you they couldn't have gone to a better home. Tanya and Chuck are president and vice president of the Bee Friendly Foundation (http://beefriendlyfoundation.org/) in Austin and appear frequently in the newspapers there. They're experts and love bees with a passion. Last night they sat and waited to make sure every last bee was safely inside the box before they took it. I'll follow the progress of the hive and keep you updated.  I suggested just moving the hive a ways off from the oasis to a safe distance. Anywhere except above the picnic tables, but they said that if you move a hive it has to be at least two miles from the original location. Since I know nothing about bees I go with the experts.

CMO hosted the Native Plant Society of Texas today. A large group of 25. I hope they enjoyed their visit. I took them to see my Lyre-leafed Twistflowers and both kinds of paintbrush that I have. Hopefully we all learned some new flower species.

I'm too tired to sort out my pictures from today but nothing special that can't wait. Just the same flowers, butterflies, and birds as usual.

Busy days

There were four parties of birders visiting CMO today. No Lucifer Hummingbirds put in an appearance. Buntings are starting to arrive. Everyone got good looks at a male Varied Bunting coming to the thistle feeder. Late this afternoon I saw this Lazuli Bunting. I guess it's a 1st year male. Not sure.

Lots of Chinati Checkerspots around. I thought this one in among the flowers was pretty. Forgot what the flowers are. (Update: Someone told me they think the flowers are Blackfoot Daisies)

The bees are gone. Here are a few pics of the process. I wasn't here at the time (yesterday) so these photos were taken by Tanya. They said it's a new hive and probably hadn't been there more than a week.

Chuck Reburn (niece Tanya's husband) getting his smoker ready

Ready for transport to Austin

 My friend, Bonnie Wunderlich, kindly allowed me to share her photos of this interesting ocotillo blooming. Seems to be some sort of albino mutant. Taken near Big Bend National Park. Thanks, Bonnie.

Close up from same ocotillo

This is probably as intense as my rue (Ruta Graveolens) is going to bloom but I'm just happy it's alive.

And although I have a lot more photos from today, I'll just add one more. Right before dark an Elf Owl dove into this agave stalk. All I had on me was my little Lumix camera so a bad photo. I should have gone and got my Canon but it looked sharp through the camera lens so I thought it would be. Lesson learned.

Lots more people coming tomorrow. Lots more pics, I'm sure.

A long day today

Knowing I had to get up early and drive to Odessa was detrimental to my night's sleep, as usual. All the way there I kept thinking, at least it's the last trip. Then it's over. So I was horrified when the eye doctor not only said I have to come back in a month, but I have to continue on the steroid drops and protect my eye from UV light for six months. Really deflated me. But wait!

When I got back to Alpine and got online I found some wrap UV glasses that are clear. So maybe the whole summer won't be a total bust. They won't hinder peripheral vision or demolish the color that I so depend on to sort out odes, butterflies, and birds. It'll still be a hassle photographing and using binoculars through them but lots of people do it, so I'm sure I'll adapt. (Hearing about so many people fighting cancer made me feel guilty for feeling sorry for myself.) As for my vision, he said it should continue to improve, but if it doesn't I can live with what it is.

I never had any after effects from my 2004 Lasik surgery but I was younger then, And maybe because I didn't use steroid drops and UV glasses afterwards is the reason I developed cataracts. Anyway, all history. Going forward now.

Some friends from Fredricksburg are in town for the weekend, so we looked around the yard here at wildflowers. She knows them better than I do. Between us we identified Fendler's Penstemmon..

and Fleabane (erigeron)

Here's one of our patches of Bluebonnets. 

The wildflowers are just incredible everywhere. You almost just have to see it to believe it. So wish I could keep them longer. When you think of the price of a bouquet of flowers and we just have endless miles of them. Coming back from Odessa I took FM 1053 via Imperial and Ft Stockton and witnessed a whole other universe of them. I forced myself not to stop and take pictures.

A bee situation at CMO

There's a bee hive in a nesting box right above the picnic tables where a group is planning to have a picnic lunch on Saturday. My niece and her husband are bee experts and want the hive. They need to get it before 11 AM Saturday. I can't take a chance on someone being allergic and getting stung.

To be updated Saturday.....

My eyesight seems surprisingly good considering all I went through. So excited to get that contact out tomorrow.

I was really busy watering and pulling weeds this morning before I had to come to Alpine so didn't have much time for butterfly pics. This is the only one I got. It's apparently a Texola Elada.

Couldn't resist snapping a shot of this lovely primrose bloom.

Swarms of butterflies at CMO

I spent as much time as possible out looking for butterflies. My eye started bothering me after a while, and I didn't want to jeopardize the healing process. As it is right now, I could live with it this way. I think I'll be happy with it once it heals, the contact comes out, and I don't have to keep putting drops in that burn painfully. The eye still isn't as good as the other eye, which is by no means perfect vision either. But I think it's slightly better than it was before this last procedure. I'm still hoping it'll get as good, or better, than the other eye.

I think this is a Saltbush Sootywing, not a new species for CMO, but the first butterfly I saw on my new Woolly Butterfly Bush. Thanks to the great folks on the Facebook Texas butterfly group for help with today's IDs.

While out looking I saw this little plant that I think is a Twin Leaf Senna. I don't remember seeing that species here before. All the rain is producing wonders. Can't wait to see what the Native Plant Society locates when they come visit Saturday.

Also don't remember seeing fruit/seed pods like this on a juniper before. This is a volunteer that came up several years ago.

And this butterfly is a Tiny Checkerspot, I think. Brian can correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't seen very many of those before.

It appears as if my Ruta Graveolens is going to bloom for the first time this year. Can't wait to see what that attracts.

Courtyard photo

It was cool this morning and rainy in the afternoon. Good thing I only had birders in the morning. Next week I have some afternoon groups coming. It wouldn't surprise me if it rains again. I spent the lovely morning digging weeds out of my walkways. Even though it's a hopeless endeavor, whatever I get done is better than none.

I kind of like these tiny greenish flowers but I don't know what they are.

Trip to Odessa for Lasik

So glad to have that over with. I feel confident that I'm going to have great vision tomorrow after the fogginess wears off my eye. Here's a selfie just before the procedure.

I'm sure I'll always need reading glasses but I don't mind that as long as I can chase odes, birds, and butterflies with full peripheral vision. Not to mention the nightmare of keeping glasses on while fighting camera straps, binocular straps, hat straps, and in cooler weather I'm always putting my headwarmers on and off as comfort dictates. Really a nightmare for me. Like spending all your time untangling wire coat hangers or something like that. 

On the way home from Odessa I had to stop and photograph these awesome Mexican Hats, even though I just had my iphone with me.

Forgot to post this one yesterday. It seems like such a luxury to drive up the driveway to my house at CMO and see the driveway lined with Desert Marigolds.

Catching up

Yesterday I didn't get all the photos posted that I wanted to. Here's the oasis as it currently looks.

And here is the latest attempt by javelina to get to the bird seed in the feeder. I think I'm winning, but I may end up having to pour a concrete base under the feeder.

Here's the courtyard. That tree is a FanTex Ash that leafed out too early, froze, and now is leafing out again. Half of the branches are dead on it. I figure it won't last much longer. The courtyard has gone through a lot of trees in its existence. Eventually some trees will be happy there. There's just not much soil for trees. The pad where the house and courtyard are built was dynamited into solid rhyolite, so the only soil there is that couple of feet I hauled in.

Too late in life to redesign and rebuild, so what is, is. Here's an interesting bug. I don't know what it's doing or what it is.

Apricot crop looks promising

Flowers for every taste

Whatever your preference, CMO has the flowers to satisfy it. Like masses of purple?

Or how about yellow and gold?

Here's one that'll really grab you.

Or tall and white?

How about a cluster of red?

I totally wore myself out today looking at flowers and butterflies. It's just overwhelming. This is just a small sample of what I photographed today.

Another busy day at CMO

Kelly joined the Sul Ross biology class's field trip to CMO to do a banding demonstration for them, and to accompany them up the mountain to look for Lucifer Hummingbird nests. It was a horribly cold windy day, wouldn't you know. So much for summer!

Under the circumstances all went well. I was very impressed with the students. A really fine group of people. They certainly came a step closer to becoming naturalists today.

While they went up the mountain I hung around on the road below with walkie-talkie just in case. They didn't find any Lucifer nests but they did find the Peregrine Falcon nest. I will post pics of it from afar when I get some. It was near where I had thought it was, but not exactly there.

I photographed wildflowers, and this one cactus really grabbed my attention. I've never seen so many blooms on one "cylinder" before. Actually, it might have cylinder in its name. It's an Echinocereus of some variety. Maybe cylindricus. More likely viridiflorus, or russanthus. Don't know.

Nature has gone all out this spring with flowers following such a wet winter. I say "spring," though it feels more like winter, or on several days, summer. Anything but spring.

Here's a picture Kelly took up the mountain with his iphone of Lyre-leaf Twistflower. 

As the group was preparing to leave, I yelled, "Two-tailed, don't move anyone," and ran for my camera. Since birds were the focus of their visit they were expecting to see a two-tailed bird, they later told me. Nope, butterfly. I got my camera in time and got a much better photo of it than I had gotten two days ago.