Bird Sightings – The Hermits' Rest

Camping Isn’t Always Peace and Quiet

At least camping in state parks is hit or miss in the peace and quiet department. Garner State Park, where we are now, is an example of a place with more chaos and noise (but mostly happy noise). This place is a beloved Texas treasure, and rightfully so, given its spectacular setting beside a clear, cold river surrounded by beautiful hills.

It’s the largest state park I’ve ever been to, with over 500 campsites. No wonder it has a small grocery store, when it’s full the population could be over 2,000. And everyone is here during good weather. I enjoyed seeing families of every demographic you could think of enjoying the weekend, young and old, all ethnicities, and rural and urban cultures.

How could I tell? Just walking around the circle of campsites we are in felt like driving down the road and searching for a new radio station every few blocks. There was rock, folk, hip hop, Christian pop, Hindi, Tejano, and even people listening to NPR (Lee).

The only demographic left out were us birders. Lucky for me, there were some pretty darned loud birds, like Ash-throated and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Yellowthroats, Black-crested Titmice, and endless White-winged Doves. Plus I saw many fun birds, like a Lark Sparrow that repeatedly came over next to our outside chairs to eat seeds and ants. A huge Raven sat in one of our trees, and I even saw a Vermilion Flycatcher and an Orchard Oriole. Here are my phone photos.

I enjoyed exploring the Frío River very much, even with the yelling people (mostly asking others to be careful or saying they slipped and fell). The water is as clear as everyone has always told me, and the cypress trees are stately shore guardians. I also enjoyed exploring the limestone formations along the riverbed.

I got 26 new plant species today, and thoroughly enjoyed the variety of flowers, corns, and trees. Here are just a few.

You can’t see them well unless you zoom, but these are perfume balls. Gaillardia with no petals.

Don’t worry, I got a bit of peace and quiet by hiding in the underbrush. Clever me. Lots to see there and I could really hear the birds!

In addition to hanging out at the park, Lee took me on a tour of the area, including Leakey, Camp Wood, and Uvalde. The scenic route was twisty and curving, with new vistas around each curve. We saw much irrigation of crops and many large exotic game ranches. I was glad to see this bit of Texas I hadn’t seen before with an experienced tour guide (Lee spent much time here before I met him).

While there were many, many children and large groups, no one was obnoxious. They all seemed to be having a great time. Still, I’m glad we didn’t come in summer!

It All Worked Out Today

Attitude really can make a difference. Today proved to exemplify the effect of a positive attitude very well. Let’s hope for more like this for us all!

Thankfully, we did not end up crashed on the side of the road like these poor folks.

The day started with me doing all my chores and packing, then diving into work with gusto. Why not? The folks I work with were happily surprised at how much I got done on our project. That was a good start to the day.

I found the first day flower on the ranch this year, too.

Rather than getting impatient with Lee about getting off to our distant campground on time, I decided it was his schedule and his trip, so he could leave when he was ready. Thus, no stress.

I got to walk around a bit and see pretty Texas Prairie Parsley, which attracts many pollinators. Yippee!

I ended up having to work three of the four hours of our drive, but I managed to see many gorgeous wildflowers on the roadside, as well as two Roadrunners and flocks of Cattle Egrets. Plus I managed to work quite well from the RV. It was pretty fun, for work.

When we finally arrived at Garner State Park, which is next to the Frío River and surrounded by hills, it was late. We were hoping it would not be too hard to find our campsite. But, we were delighted to discover the check-in was open late because it’s Friday. We had a great chat with the check-in lady, who had many park insights.

Then we went out to unhook the Jeep and I wandered to a trailhead near the parking lot. I was greeted by a loud chirp, and a bold little bird looking right at me. I thought that it was funny-looking for a White-eyed Vireo, because it didn’t have white eyes. Merlin identified it as a new lifer for me, Hutton’s Vireo, apparently fairly common here.

All happy about this, I led Lee to our site. I was cheerful, especially when a flick of Wild Turkeys walked across the road. But. Oops. The site I’d reserved had a short driveway with a large live oak tree right at the end, so we couldn’t hang over. And once he got to the space and tried to back in, he hit (gently) an overhead branch. It was not going to work. I got a bit flabbergasted, but managed to call the park and explain.

Not the original site, just showing the view.

A park ranger came and said they could trim the branch. Then he realized that couldn’t happen. The tree is big. So Plan B was to put us in an “emergency site.” It turned out to be more spacious with fewer neighbors. It worked out great!

We got set up, chatted with nice park hosts, then went to look for dinner. It was pretty late by the time we got to the nearest town, Leakey (pronounced lake-ee). There used to be a La Leche League administrator who lived nearby, on an exotic animal ranch. So, even though no restaurants were open except a super crowded one, we were fine just getting food at a gas station and admiring feral cats. I finally saw Leakey, and that’s what counts.

No town photos, but here’s a “mountain.”

I’m happy to be here! We might be late and we may have had to change plans, but here we are!

Ball moss. It grows on electric lines here.

Earth Day Musings

All the rain has made it so green here. It’s so beautiful, like the Earth is celebrating herself.

Nature’s fickle, of course, or maybe just variable (I don’t think the planet is frowning or smiling on any part of herself). I was reminded a couple of times today by friends in North Florida, how dry it is there, and that fires are dotted all across the landscapes I frequented as I was a young girl and college student. As a Master Naturalist, I know that the pine forests of the region need fire occasionally, but you always worry about who fire displaces.

When we first arrived here, you could see wildfires on the horizon.

The lesson I have received from Earth Day in 2026 is that the planet can be in balance at a macro level but still swing back and forth from rain to fire, freeze to heat wave, extinction to replenishment. Our job is to observe and try not to push the Earth into unbalance. Humans aren’t in charge at the macro level. I just hope our small actions tilt the balance towards harmony overall.

And that’s the best I can do after pinging my way across projects and duties today. I was greatly assisted by my good fortune that I can step outside and breathe fresh air and enjoy my wild and domestic animal companions.

I hope you all get to step outside, unless you’re avoiding particulate matter, sand, or storms. Happy Earth Day!

Texas Rain

Not much excitement is going on here, because we’ve been getting nice, steady, light rain for two days. That’s atypical, because usually we go directly from severe drought to severe flooding, which means most of the rain runs off. This time the water has had a chance to soak in.

It is flooding down at the other family property in Yorktown, though, and in many places south of us. We just lucked out. The rain will continue this week, but I hope it stops in time for us to travel to our final camping destination for a while.

We’re going to leave Seneca at a motor home repair place when camping is over to get all fixed up for more adventures. The lack of hot water, a kitchen faucet, and a bedroom slide-out has all become tiresome.

The RV carport will be empty while Seneca is gone.

But if it rains, it rains. I’m just glad I haven’t had to drive a lot in it, like all the rest of the family have. I go out and obsessively check the rain gauge to get my steps in. And of course, the one time I forgot to put on rain boots is when I had to go in the muddy chicken house to fetch a turkey egg.

Dramatization. Yeah, I know…just wanted to try this.

I was surprised to get over 50 bird species on Merlin today, even with the rain off and on. It’s very convenient that my birding phone can sit on the back porch and not get wet. That enabled me to confirm to Lee that he truly did hear a flock of seagulls fly over. Franklin’s Gulls are on the move, heading to central Canada.

Note that this is the only week in the year that these gulls are likely to!

Let’s see what tomorrow brings! Woo hoo! Maybe more rain.

Getting Back on Track

Today was beautiful, as days after a spring cool front tend to be. Every color was bright, the animals were happy, and the birds were out in full force! Thanks to migrating gulls and other visitors, we had 72 species at the Hermits’ Rest today! That’s the most since I have been tracking birds.

The weather was so nice that Vicki decided to ride her new horse, Malone, over for a visit. He’s a very attractive red dun with an expressive face, especially when he’s looking at Darryl, Jr., who is his first turkey experience.

Here he’s looking at Drew, who also interested him.

I got Apache all saddled and warmed up, and we set out to ride around the field. Apache was fine for about five minutes, then decided he was done.

Here’s Malone watching me warm up Apache. Only later I realized the poles are set wrong.

It was pretty frustrating to see him back in his old ways. I remembered how to deal with it, but after ten minutes or so, my right leg was getting tired of trying to get him to go forward rather than sideways. It didn’t help that Drew and the other horses were in a tizzy and running up and down the fence line. Soon Drew broke the fence completely. He wanted to join us.

I got Apache back to the starting area and proceeded to do more ground work with him, so he won’t think I will stop asking him to do things if he behaves badly enough. He did fine.

Malone didn’t really want to leave, so it was Vicki’s turn to deal with an opinionated horse. Once they got to the end of the driveway and around the corner, it got better.

Whew. I need to get over my horse (more like horse trainer) issues and ride more often or Apache will stay uncooperative. Kathleen and I are encouraging each other to not work so late and do more horse activities. She had Dusty all saddled up and working in the round pen this evening. He’s getting muscles and seems to be enjoying it.

He’s remembering the old days. Doesn’t he look good?

I did make my nails look festive and get caught up on my temperature blanket today, but I still have Master Naturalist stuff to do. I’m just giving myself permission to take it easy, however.

It may be starting all over again, but Apache and I will get back on track! Plus, the fence is repaired again, at least for a while.

Visiting the Official Wildflowers

Yeah, yeah, I write about wildflowers all the time. But today four of my Master Naturalist friends and I traveled to the deepest depths of Austin, Texas (which only took 1.5 hours on a Saturday with no huge festival happening). There, we found the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, a regular treasury of Texas wildflowers, many at their peak of bloom.

We were prepared for rain and dropping temperatures.

I used to be a member when my children were young and I only worked part time, but it had been quite a few years since my last visit. Seeing how well the plants have grown, as well as finding new places to look around, was a great experience for me.

One new area is a circle of young oak trees, all of which were grown from acorns of trees of historic importance in Texas. The tree shown here came from the Big Tree on Goose Island, which Lee and I visited recently.

I am a lot better at identifying native plants than I was 25 years ago, so I had fun figuring out what I was seeing before checking its sign or looking it up on iNaturalist. Of course, some plants were new surprises, which added to the fun. I think I ended up being the ID guide, though a couple of my companions were pretty good, too.

After enjoying the gardens, we went to the annual native plant sale, where the group picked up some interesting plants for the urban wildscape our group is making at the church where we meet.

We rewarded ourselves with a visit to the gift shop, where we found the Texas Master Naturalist textbook among the offerings. I got a book I can’t wait to read, with plant and insect mandalas.

When we were finished, we drove up to Georgetown for a late lunch at Wild Fire restaurant. It was pretty spectacular and a great ending to our trip. Plus! When I got home it started to rain. Yay! Let’s celebrate by looking at some plants I saw.

Looking forward to a cool day tomorrow and a good rain total!

Gee, but It’s Great to Be Back Home

You didn’t hear from me yesterday, because I didn’t feel up to writing about lots of meetings followed by all the endless steps it takes to go from one place to another these days.

The only Portland photo I took yesterday.

Still, work was actually quite productive, so it was all worth it. I was pleased with myself that I coordinated packing, returning Jasmine’s nice warm coat, driving to the airport, returning the rental car, walking great distances to find planes, and remaining patient when my flight from Phoenix to Austin was delayed so the brakes could be repaired. I’d certainly prefer a delay to not having good brakes on a 737 when it lands.

One of the things flying across the country accomplishes is to remind me how amazing our landscape is.

I got lots of reading done in the Phoenix airport, so I was glad the second book I brought with me is over 500 pages long. You have that book report to look forward to!

I was quite pleased to find my bag that I’d checked (first plane was tiny) was already on the carousel when I got to Austin at 1:30 am and that the hotel driver was waiting for me. That was so nice of them to send him when the plane arrived! The familiar sight of the oddly shaped rooms of the familiar hotel was so welcoming.

After a pleasant hotel breakfast I headed home and made it through a couple hours of work before I had to nap. I was much perkier after that and got all my late meetings done so I could visit my animals. I gave the chickens and turkeys some dewberries. It was great fun watching them go after the fruit. Clint the rooster tossed one in the air and caught it!

The horses were in great shape, thanks to Kathleen’s care, and I enjoyed seeing the new horse-area flowers that came up in my absence.

Of course, I had to say hi to all the birds! The Painted and Indigo Buntings are back! What a happy sound! I also got to see this Belted Kingfisher, which proved it wasn’t a Mockingbird mocking me.

After all my chores were done, Lee and I sat by the pool and enjoyed the hummingbirds around the red yucca blossoms. These natural hummingbird feeders were a great addition to our yard. We saw both male and female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and Lee even realized they are green! Forgive all the pictures. I had too much fun.

The palmettos are sending up flower stalks, too. Those attract butterflies.

Of course, I also greeted the dogs. Here’s Penney indicating she’s glad I’m back.

Thanks for sticking with me and being so supportive, friends and readers! You’re appreciated!

Oregon Has DUCKS!

I mean, I knew that…college mascot and all…but I got to see plenty of them today! I’m in Tualatin (near Portland) for work for a couple of days this week, and I figured the only birding I’d get to do was around my hotel and the office.

I was very pleased when my boss, Jasmine, suggested we go on a walk after a team lunch yesterday. After many hours on a plane and a stressful rental car drive, I welcomed the chance to move around. I swiftly got many plant photos and heard some good birds. I love the little woods next to the office buildings and am so glad they saved it.

When I got to my hotel in Lake Oswego, I was charmed by all the cherry blossoms fluttering around. I’d never seen them in person!

I took a little walk around the neighborhood, found a path around a creek, and walked by some beautiful homes while listening to birds and enjoying plants, both native and cultivated. Oregon is truly verdant.

This morning I woke up early, since I’m still on Central Time, which enabled me to drive through tree-lined streets, many of which were in full bloom to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. Jasmine came up with the idea of going for a walk in the refuge before our meetings started, because she really wanted me to have the chance to go there.

I was grateful she loaned me a coat. It was pretty chilly!

This wildlife refuge is mostly a huge wetland teeming with life, including beautiful plants, both native and introduced.

We had a blast looking at all the birds we found. There was a White Pelican, Great Egrets, Red-winged Blackbirds many Robins and Yellowthroats, a Harrier, Song Sparrows, a Spotted Towhee, Mourning Doves, Canada Geese, and so many beautiful ducks. We had so much fun trying to figure out what we saw. Ones I’m sure of were Mallards, Gadwalls, Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, and a gorgeous Cinnamon Teal that Jasmine actually spotted.

There were also many fascinating plants in the wetlands and wooded area. We particularly enjoyed this native Horseweed. It’s one weird plant, especially the flowers.

Many of the trees were new to me, being Oregon natives. The Oregon ash had very soft leaves in an ashy green. The maples were in bloom, as were many others. I learned so much. Here are some scenic pictures and some named trees.

Things like this fuzzy caterpillar made us a little late to our meetings. But we had so much fun, it was worth it.

And now I’m ready to catch some zzzzz. A half day at work tomorrow, then back I go!

Birding and Driving Success

The last day of camping didn’t lend itself to hiking, since it kept raining off and on. So I did more friend chatting and snuck over to the shore of Lake Somerville to see if I could find any of the birds I hadn’t seen yet. I knew those Pelicans had to be somewhere!

I saw some Ring-billed Gulls. Oh boy! Perhaps that wasn’t what I wanted.

I turned my head to the right, and there was a lot of white. Ooh. That was promising.

I moved closer and saw a Great Blue Heron and some Great Egrets. That knocked one white bird off my list.

I finally got close enough to see the distant birds (binoculars were in the motor home). Yes! There were some American White Pelicans! They haven’t all migrated (I have seen some flying over).

Looking more closely, I realized there were bonus while birds—Snowy Egrets!

The ones at right with black legs are Snowy.

After enjoying all these guys and the fun sandpipers for a while, I was happy with my bird sightings.

I found a few more pretty plants, too. It’s always lovely to see raindrops on flowers!

I left the campsite mid afternoon to try to avoid hard rain, but didn’t. I was a bit shaky by the time I made it to the airport Hilton. I’m not bad at driving in the rain, but it takes concentration. We still need more rain, so I’m not complaining. Naturally, it’s flooding in some spots. I just hope the plane takes off on time and I make it to rainy Portland tomorrow morning!

The Old Fashioned settled me down nicely.

Fire Brings Beauty

On today’s big morning hike in Birch Creek State Park, I walked all the way to the far edge of the park. I quickly realized that the trail I took had experienced fire recently. I remember there was a fire in January or February at Lake Somerville, but I’m not sure if it was in the park or not. I do know there are prescribed burns in the fall and winter months.

Anyway, the point is that the number and variety of wildflowers I encountered on the burned grassland astonished me. I found myself muttering and exclaiming to myself as I encountered one beautiful plant after another. For example, there was a carpet of trailing Rhatany (Krameria lanceolata) in many places. This is a deep red blossom that’s unforgettable.

Another striking plants I was delighted to find was Prairie Nymph (Herbertia lahue), a wild iris that you don’t expect to see in a burned field.

In addition to those, there were hundreds of wild garlic plants blooming, phlox, colorful spider worts, and tiny flowers called Arkansas Leastdaisy or (duh) tiny daisy (Chaetopappa asteroides). There were winecups in large numbers, too. It was not apparent that there were so many flowers unless you looked carefully, but by stopping to look, you’d be greatly rewarded. I was in heaven.

As I moved on, I found the Eagle Point trail, which had no eagles to see today, but provided spectacular views of a large wetland area, along with some fine large oaks. It was a great place to take a rest.

I actually called Lee to come pick me up, because I didn’t feel up to walking nearly 3 miles back. I got some rest in while it rained, which gave me time to put all my plants on iNaturalist. So many photos. A few more.

I went out again in late afternoon, just because, why not? The Wilderness Trail went through dark woods and near the lake. I dodged mosquitoes, which I didn’t photograph. But it was pretty and I enjoyed all the birds.