CMO is winning against the bear

The oasis is about as bear-proof as it's going to get. No bear can reach the feeder, or bend the pole. So unless a very smart, strong, and determined bear messes up the pulley system, we're good to go.

That top section is at least a foot taller than it needs to be, but I have a plan to fix it. Next project.

Still a few Lucifer Hummingbirds around. A male Rufous is trying to dominate the feeders. To prevent that, I hung one feeder on one of the feeder poles that I didn't want to use anymore during bear season (Oct & Nov). So the pole that feeder is on might get flattened.

Today I had some help doing a small project that I should have done years ago. In 2013, I created a shaded area to grow citrus trees in. I wasn't sure how it would work out. On my blog post of October 17, 2013, I said. "The shade that the sotol is creating is a great place to view the feeders from in the afternoon. Will hate to lose that when I fence it in for the citrus. May have to rethink some things. The place is always a work in progress."

Well, today I decided that the citrus are growing so slowly and taking up valuable viewing shade, so I compromised and took the gate down but fenced in the citrus trees (Trifoliate Orange). You can't see the chicken wire around the trees on this photo. Now two people can enjoy the shade on hot afternoons.

Rabbits and deer don't eat the citrus, so it would just be the javelina that might dig them up. They don't dig up my other small trees and bushes, so it should be OK. That's not to say they never dig them up, but it seems they do it only after they've been newly planted. If they do demolish the trees, I'll just give up on growing the citrus, take down the fence, and use it for a viewing area. The citrus have been there over five years, are only about two feet tall, and given me no benefit. I've watered them regularly. Gotta consider cost versus benefit.

Bear-proofed at last?

Over the years I've had many different feeders that I thought were bear-proof, only to have bears demolish them, but I feel really confident that a bear cannot bend this new feeder pole.

Couldn't ask for better helpers than Bruce and Stephanie. Here we're setting the 2" solid steel rebar into concrete and rocks, then putting a slightly larger diameter steel pipe around it. And finally, the 3" steel pole.

I'm waiting for the cement to dry overnight before I hang the bucket from it.

It was dismaying to discover my mulberry trees with the undersides of the leaves covered with teensy worms. Last year the poor trees lost all their leaves to the worms, grew new leaves, and lost those too. This late in the year I don't think they'll grow new leaves at least. Gonna withhold water, which might prevent new growth. Tough country here. The oasis is way too popular with wildlife of all kinds. Too bad I can't just select for butterflies, birds, and dragonflies. LOL.

Always logistics

Yellow-rumped Warblers & Chipping Sparrows enjoying bird bath

I had to come to town, but that means if the bears come tonight and tear down the hummingbird feeders, I won't be there to fix it. Rather than hanging them up out of reach on my 2" diameter poles that I know the bears can pull down, I chose to leave 3 feeders low plus one off under the canopy where hummers never use, but bears can't tear down. My hope is that if the 3 are gone, the hummers will settle for the one under the canopy. I only have about 4 hummers left that I know of.

Meanwhile, progress on the new bear-proof pole. It's going to be 3" in diameter, with a 2½" pipe inside and a 2" solid steel bar inside that for the bottom half of the pole. I'm confident that will do the trick. The pipe they bent was 2."

It's nice that my husband is good for something. Wearing sandals, he invented a couple of new dance steps. LOL  I'm going to need help installing the new pole. Any volunteers?

Coming to town past the rest area near Elephant Mountain, I noticed a dead part of a huge Soapberry tree had fallen down. The two Soapberry trees there must be of record age. I like the dead parts because they're usually a reliable place to find W. Screech-Owls. But I see there are still other holes left for the owls. I won't live long enough for my soapberry trees to get that big.

Bear time of year

Yesterday when I said "not much happening," I wasn't complaining. Got up this morning to bear damage. One Chinkapin Oak tree had two of it's 3 major limbs broken off, and the seed feeder pole was flattened.

My plan is to concrete a 3" pole instead of this 2" one.

Saw a nice Tropical Leafwing today.

This next photo is of Aoudad taken between Alpine and Marathon by Adam Brandt. Aoudad are a big problem here. They out-compete our native species, and really destroy vegetation.

Here's the oak tree after I got the broken limbs pruned off.

Not much happening

Woke up in Alpine this morning to a cool day, so was anxious to get to the "land of fun and sun." On the radio coming down they said we basically had an extra month of summer this year. On the face of it that sounds wonderful since I love summer best. But what we actually got was an extra month of record heat. Not an extra month of monsoons.

When I arrived at the oasis it was cool and pretty breezy. This time of year my allergies act up, so I did a couple of necessary chores, then came indoors for a nap. It might be cool enough for me to sleep upstairs tonight, a month later than I normally start sleeping up there.

I couldn't believe all the Familiar Bluet damselflies at the oasis. There's a plague of them.

Lots of flowers blooming also, but unfortunately, that doesn't translate into more butterflies.

Feather Dalea (Dalea formosa)

Yellow Bells (Tecoma stans)

Lovely autumn day

The weather was perfect. I watered the trees once again. Will be glad to get some rain but chances aren't good. Every year I sleep upstairs in my house except from around May to September when it's too hot to sleep upstairs. This year it's October and still too warm to sleep upstairs. (I have AC downstairs only.)

Here's a photo showing what determination, passion, and tenacity can do for habitat. This is in El Paso, TX. They have more water than I do, but water has still been a big challenge for them since their type habitat requires a lot of water. They started theirs a couple of years later than I started mine.

The family got some sad news today. My niece's wonderful husband, Charles Reburn, has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. We all know how bad that is. They found out two weeks ago, but only shared the news with the family today.

Brave smiles

Tuesday my brother starts treatment for prostate cancer. Makes his seem like a piece of cake by comparison.The older I get the more people are dropping dead around me. Had three relatives die within the past three weeks. Two of them were spouses of close relatives and one was a first cousin. I don't really take stuff like that very hard. Since I lost my beloved first daughter in 1977, and then my beloved husband in 2003, I've become inured to that, I guess. Still, it's a constant reminder of how tenuous our grip on life really is. And how life can change in an instant.

_____________________________

Charles passed away in 2020.  Her daughter died in 2022, and her mother (my sister) in 2023.

Town life

As if being in town isn't bad enough because of noise (trains, dogs, sirens, etc.) and being away from the oasis, my husband makes it worse by mowing where I'm trying to create a natural habitat. And the city isn't complaining, so that's not the reason. He's just a manicured lawn type person.

Usually this time a year we have lots of tomatoes, but they died this summer. Not sure, but maybe due to the record hot, rain-less summer, even though we gave them plenty of water. Hugh hates store bought tomatoes but he discovered if he leaves them sit out for 3 or 4 days they're not so bad.

On the bright side, I'm headed to the oasis in the morning. I'm lucky for what time I get to spend there. I'm sure many other people wish they could spend as much time there as I do.😀

A few more oasis pics from yesterday

And here's some of the cholla patch. Cactus Wrens fill it with nests.

Lovely oasis day

Temperatures are perfect in the mornings. Every day a few migrants trickle in. Today I had a Cassin's Vireo. It was way high in the cottonwood tree so my photos aren't good, but it definitely had some yellow in the flanks, etc.

Hardly any hummers. I felt lucky to even see one Lucifer, although I was busy watering trees and not watching very closely. Had a couple of Dickcissels today.

Still hardly any butterflies, and no interesting odes. I think the rains came too late in the year. Maybe next year.

On the way to town today I stopped off at Calamity Creek. It was running nicely, but I couldn't locate one single dragonfly.

Allergies alive and well

Started weed-eating at the oasis this morning and had to take several meds in order to continue breathing. It's that time of year.

A couple of visitors from Austin had an unexpected adventure today. First, they had a flat tire from a sharp rock on Snake Road before even arriving at my road. Then when they got here, I asked him to help me move a heavy pump. They got two life birds here. The only adventure they probably expected was the Lucifer Hummingbird lifer.

I saw several darners that could either be Blue-eyed Darner, or rare Arroyo Darner, which would be a lifer for me. The only way for me to tell for sure is to get a photo of the cerci (tip of the abdomen). Luckily, I did get one diagnostic shot. Just a Blue-eyed. But one of these days.

Here's a comparison between the two species.

Arroyo Darner

Blue-eyed Darner

And here's an enlargement of my photo from today. Obviously a Blue-eyed.