Bird Sightings – Page 11 – The Hermits' Rest

Exploring the Unknown, Nearby

I’ve got to tell you how much fun I had this morning! My friend Ann and I went to see the property of our fellow Master Naturalist, to help her improve her skills and see what plants and birds were there.

Our friend lives far enough east of the Hermits’ Rest that the soil is very different, quite sandy compared to my soil. That means different plants will grow. I’d already noticed that along the road to my horse lessons, where the Gaillardia are solid red, and standing cypress lines the road this time of year, with its red plumes. So pretty.

Maroon blanketflower (*Gaillardia amblyodon)*

The birding where we visited was pretty good, and I learned the sounds of a Swainson’s Warbler very well when the ubiquitous White-eyed Vireos rested momentarily. It gave good opportunity for Merlin Bird ID lessons.

The plants were what had me all in a tizzy, though. There were expanses of meadows bordered by nice thick woods, plus excellent trails the homeowners maintain. So much to explore!

I found interesting insects, too. I wish I could have gotten photos of all the different bees and wasps buzzing around all the flowers, but I did capture a few as well as butterflies. The pale pipevine swallowtail was so lovely I will share multiple photos.

There were some impressive wildflower areas, and in one of them I found many species I’d never seen, even some Ann had never seen, and she doesn’t live too far away. A couple of these, like the prairie clover, are pretty rare, so no wonder I wasn’t familiar with them.

The flowers were in a place is where someone built a new tall wildlife fence about ten feet back from the original barbed wire. The area where cattle or other ruminants can’t reach was a blaze of flowers. It’s a secret botanical treasure we discovered!

It wasn’t just flowers that were new. There were plenty of fungus and moss samples to investigate, too. I’d never seen a moss inflorescence so spectacular as the one we found on a trail, and after the recent rains, mushrooms were everywhere.

I don’t mean to go on and on, but this unknown wonderland brought a lot of joy, as did hanging out with my fellow nature lovers. It’s hard to believe I found so much that was new to me, so close to home.

I’ve spared you most of the species I saw, but this location has gone from nothing on iNaturalist to dozens, including the rare ones. I hope this makes a scientist happy someday!

Voted Most Beautiful Flower, by me, was the propeller flower or *Alophia drummondii*

Another Post about Gratitude for Rain

You can tell I live in a semi-arid environment by how often I mention that I’m grateful for rain. Our land is so prone to drought that we always fear it will never rain again. Of course, that’s not true. Usually, we have a very dry period followed by a flood. We’re used to it.

This year we have had some dry spells, but also some nicely spaced rain episodes, just nothing huge, until last night. We had over 2.5″ of rain here yesterday, and since 2″ is usually enough to get runoff happening, that means our ponds/tanks all filled.

It also means that the creek is overflowing, which is always fun, as long as it doesn’t cover the road, which it did not. It only got to the top of the fence that keeps the cattle in. No giant logs banged into the fence, either, which means the new owners won’t have to fix it.

You can see the fence posts almost underwater.

The rain was scary, and there were tornadoes in the area. Some folks got damage, but nothing like what we see in the news in other places, so we’re lucky. One of my friends even got up to 6″ of rain over the past few days! We’ve had at least 3 in total. Now all the animals will be happy.

Something did die, though. The vultures right next to my birding chair told me, along with the large number of flies. Ick. I may have to move my chair!

I enjoyed many clean and shiny birds on my morning walk, though, which is the best bonus. I’m still seeing a Tricolored Heron here, so who needs to travel to see interesting birds?

I went into town to have lunch with a new Master Naturalist and help her get her Merlin and iNaturalist set up for ease of use. Driving around I saw lots of hail damage and trees with lost limbs. The storm was a lot worse southeast of the ranch!

Our Merlin lesson was a bust, because the birds decided to stop making noise at our Cameron renovation project, where we tried to practice. But I did give my student some hints, and we had more success with iNaturalist. A lesson that I learned (relearned) is that everyone’s cell phone and service are set up differently, which always adds to the challenge of assisting people. We had fun anyway, and found some plants we want to transplant before the old landscaping gets obliterated.

I want some of this Turk’s Cap to plant next to our woods.

Today remains sunny, though more rain is in the forecast. Other than how muddy the horse pens get, I’ll welcome all we get!

Mission Accomplished

Ha ha, mission is an appropriate word choice, since we did visit an area full of missions today.

Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, Park Service photo.

After a highly disappointing hotel breakfast, we drove a half hour from Victoria to Goliad, Texas. It’s where lots of Texas history occurred. Just go over here and read about it, unless you are a product of Texas schools, in which case I assume you already know.

Since we were pressed for time, we looked at the beautiful old buildings briefly and then went on a short hike along the San Antonio River, which appeared to be a very old trail.

It was a great joy to investigate this new ecosystem. I found a new-to-me butterfly, the Texas Crescent. It’s so beautiful.

Even more beautiful (to me) was the new grasshopper I found, which is apparently the most distinctive grasshopper in the southern US.

The Eastern Lubber (*Romalea microptera)*

It’s so pretty. And big! They get to be up to four inches long! I was impressed and very grateful to Lee for spotting the first one.

We enjoyed the river, woods, trees, and birds. I even identified a Northern Parula before seeing the ID on Merlin. I’m learning!

There was a bird blind, but we were too late for the morning feed and only saw a male and female House Finch. The male was very colorful, though, and since I usually only hear them at home, I took it as a birding win.

We were ready to head home, but enjoyed going a different route, which ended up being a tour of different roads Lee used to take to visit his parents in the Cuero hospital. That’s where they’d go unless they had heart attacks, in which case they’d go to Victoria, where I’d already had the hospital memory lane tour. Yes, my previous visits to Victoria had been hospital or funeral visits. A wedding was our first happy reason to visit. [edit: second happy reason—we also went down to Yorktown for Chris and Kathleen’s wedding!]

All is well at home. I didn’t even lose any plants! The dogs, chickens, and horses were fine, too. Kudos to our pet sitter!

I should return to non-travel content tomorrow.

Victorious in Victoria, Texas

It’s a victory, all right. Figuring out how to have some fun when our day wasn’t what we expected was hard, but we did it. And we two hermits who aren’t good in crowds or loud places made it just fine, and were able to share in the happiness of Kathleen as her daughter got married. Yay!

Lee came up with the idea to go to the local zoo today, and I found a birding spot nearby. That gave us a nice way to fill the early part of the day. The Texas Zoo is in a large park next to a very large cemetery complex. It’s not very big and is a bit of a mess with many empty exhibits, but the animals all seemed well cared for and healthy.

Many animals there are rescues or natives. I always enjoy the natives, especially the river otters, javelinas, and birds.

We had the best time watching the water birds being fed, while a young boy asked the zookeeper many excellent questions about the birds. What an educational experience! And the pelican and spoonbill were hilarious with their fish. (Lee crops his photos to be short but wide, which explains the look.)

The spoonbill is about to catch a fish. It’s just to the right of the tree

I’m glad Lee brought the good camera with him, because he got some great shots of a fox, coyote, red wolf, and jaguar.

We didn’t have as much luck at the birding place, as it was midday and brutally hot. There were Couch’s Kingbirds and Great Kiskadees, though, so I knew I was in south Texas.

We got dressed for the wedding and headed back to the venue. It was still stifling hot, but just the ceremony was outdoors, so no one got sick or anything. We enjoyed talking to a few family members we knew…well, pretty much the only ones we knew that will talk to us.

Yes, I was there. No Lee photos since he took them all.

It was a beautiful wedding and the decorations they worked so hard on came out great! Now, remember I’m old and don’t attend many weddings, but I was surprised to see that there were “beer boys” in the wedding party, passing out beers as they came down the aisle.

They played it up very well, and many attendees took beers from them. Apparently I’d have known all about this if I went on Tik Tok (or went to more Texas Western-themed weddings).

The “doorway “ the wedding party walked through.

Everyone else was lovely and I got all teary-eyed as the bride walked down the aisle escorted by her stepdad. That was my highlight.

Since I can’t share that photo, here’s Kathleen looking fantastic watching her daughter.

Afterward, Lee spent some time in the car relaxing and I went out to look at birds a couple of times, because we’re hermits and a little weird. It was fun enjoying the young kids playing, young adults acting their age (so much beer), and older folks beaming at each other with pride. I’m so glad it went well, at least up until we left. Who knows…

That was another victory for us. We wanted our family who live with us to have a great “parents of the bride” experience, and it looks like they did.

Now we can go to Goliad State Park tomorrow, at least briefly!

Pivot! Or Making the Best of Things

There was a plan for today, but it didn’t work out very well. One part of the plan was to get more work done on the porch. That didn’t happen because the lead guy had a sick child to take care of. Family always has to come first! The wood isn’t going anywhere and will be here next week.

I did find a young garden spider. They look so different at this stage.

The other part of the plan was to go to Goliad State Park in the RV so we could both camp and attend a family wedding. We got ready in time but of course the Seneca decided it didn’t want to go. The rear slide wouldn’t go in. Again. These are finicky machines.

I was not thrilled since I’d run around all morning getting everything fed and watered, loaded things up…and boom. Not moving. Time to pivot.

I quickly canceled the camping reservation and at least got some money back, then booked hotel rooms in Victoria, much closer to the wedding venue anyway. This ends up costing less thanks to points. We loaded our bags in the car and headed out, down the familiar roads to southern Texas. Tempers did not flare and panic did not occur.

We passed mounds and mounds of McCartney roses on the sides of the highway.

Tonight was the rehearsal and we were kindly invited to it along with the wedding party and other family. I got to help a little bit with decorating while Lee went back to the car because he didn’t like the music. Oh, Lee. He pivoted in his own way.

We did have a nice time exploring Tin Spur Ranch, which is a tasteful and rustic place with ponds and a nice setting for an outdoor or indoor wedding. The bride made a good choice!

In addition to attractiveness, the setting was perfect for many birds, including Bobwhite Quail and two kinds of whistling ducks (as if one kind isn’t plenty, but the Fulvous one has blue legs!). There were also many unusual flycatchers, including the Brown Crested, which is migrating still.

There were 40 birds heard and seen in the late afternoon. I bet mornings there are spectacular!

So everything turned out fine. Lee even ate dinner and talked to some of his family! (You didn’t think it was my relatives getting married, did you? The only relative whose wedding I was ever invited to was my dad and Flo. so any family weddings I attend have been on the spousal side. I digress, in a self-pitying manner.

We will probably see a sight before the actual wedding tomorrow and maybe see Goliad on Sunday. Yes. We know there will be Memorial Day traffic. We aren’t going down any interstates.

No matter what, we’ll be flexible, because we’re learning to pivot without panic.

Will I Have a Legacy

What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

Here’s a question I had not considered before. I tend to have an overly existentialist view of life, that we’re here while we’re here, and when we’re gone, we’re gone. It’s been many years since I’ve thought about what happens when I’m gone.

My genes won’t live on in future generations, so I’m not sticking any thoughts in mitochondrial DNA. My books won’t sit on bookshelves and my knitting isn’t good enough to pass on reverently.

Nor is my bird photography. It’s barely adequate!

I think the volunteer work I’ve done has the most chance of leaving a legacy. I know I helped many, many women with feeding their babies when I put all that material on the old La Leche League website. That will pay forward for future generations.

And I survived those years only going a little cuckoo (this is a Yellow-billed Cuckoo).

The many hours I’ve spent documenting organisms found wherever I go on iNaturalist is another legacy. That data can help scientists in the future to learn more about how life changes through time. I’m proud of this work. Plus, it’s fun.

The third legacy I hope to leave is that if I helped anyone feel better or inspired them to take action, those I influenced will pass on the assistance or inspiration to others. I’d be very grateful to pass that legacy on.

A Visit to the Local Ghost Town

It’s been a long time since I wrote about the Walker’s Creek community, which is nominally where we live (or Silver City, another town that’s gone). On today’s weekend walk, I decided to investigate what’s left of the community.

Definitely a scenic walk, including the yellow Gaillardia.

Last week I went to the cemetery, so I’ll just show you the entrance. There are older cemeteries in the area, but here’s where all those Hightower and Laywell ancestors are. I mostly enjoy the ancient oaks and birds.

As I’ve mentioned, the cemetery is still in use.

I climbed up the hill to get to the historical area, stopping to enjoy some gorgeous Pitcher’s Leatherflowers. I declare them to be my favorite wildflowers (sorry milkvine).

I found many birds, including lots of raptors. There was even a Bald Eagle, which usually don’t stray so far from the Alcoa lake. I was happy a Swainson’s Hawk flew over, too.

This is my only bird photo. It’s exciting though, because it’s a Painted Bunting NOT hiding in a tree. How do I know that? It was vigorously singing the Painted Bunting song.

I decided to see if there were any fascinating plants at the site of the old Walker’s Creek Church. I think that was also the school site?

I saw the remains of many of the oaks originally planted by early English-speaking settlers. The trees have not handled recent drought years, plus they’re old.

I found a dragonfly, some wildflowers, and the usual trees for around here, cedar elms and hackberry trees. The most unique feature was all the Inca Doves that seem to only live on the top of this hill. They don’t come past the creek to my house. Here’s a sample of what I saw. I’ll spare you yet another dead armadillo.

Female common whitetail *Plathemis lydia*

That wasn’t too exciting, but I enjoyed thinking about the people who settled on this hill so long ago. I’m glad we still have some friendly folks in the community, even short-timers like us and “the dog lady” (Vicki, who raises amazing Shetland sheep dogs).

Alfred says he’d be a sheep dog if we’d get him some sheep. Until then, he’ll just chew his “cigar.”

I’ll have more excitement for you in the morning.

This is the purple box. Everyone notices it. Says it’s an insect trap. Ok.

Teaching Adults = Herding Cats

It’s a good thing I find cat herding to be entertaining (if tiring). I remembered this today when I did my best to teach a group of adults how to use Merlin Bird ID. I’m happy to report that each attendee learned something on the actual topic! Huzzah!

I’d like to have joined this horse in a nice cool pond when I was done.

And I had fun, even while being frustrated by my inability to answer three questions at once. There was one attendee who couldn’t get to the App Store to download Merlin, a couple who couldn’t log in because they didn’t have their password, some who were eager to learn, and one who figured everything out faster than I could tell the rest. In other words, a typical in-person training experience. We were, however, missing the person who falls asleep. No one did that!

Luckily there were few enough people there that after showing everyone the UI basics, I could help people wherever they were. Whew. That’s my favorite way to teach adults. Seeing the smiles in people’s faces when they figured out how something worked was very satisfying!

Also satisfying: Linda Jo found this wheel bug.

We ended up finding birds, recording them and creating some life lists. Everyone made progress! And then they learned a bit about the new iNaturalist, even the ones who didn’t have iPhones (there’s no Android version).

One more fun insect. A ponderous spur-throat grasshopper.

I felt good doing what I like to do, and on a topic I’m actually interested in. It also felt great to get more of my fellow Master Naturalists interested in what makes my life so full of education and entertainment these days.

I was educated by identifying this baby bird as a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (it’s being well cared for and heading to rehabbers soon).

Nonetheless, I took a little jaunt over to Tarrin’s neighborhood to take some medication to a horse friend. I had some time, so I did something I’d wanted to do for a long time. I pulled my car over on Tarrin’s road and entered the interesting plants I keep seeing into iNaturalist.

Woo hoo! I can’t really pull over and take pictures towing a horse trailer!

Other than that, it’s very hot and humid. I’ve been thinking about recent tornado victims. It encourages me to enjoy all life’s joys and challenges while I can. The weather can strike anywhere.

Farewell to the Migrants

Get your mind off politics, I’m talking about avian migrants! For a few days my bird species counts here at the Hermits’ Rest were incredibly high, much higher than I’d ever seen before. One day I observed (with Merlin Bird ID, sight, or my own ears) 74 species, as I mentioned earlier I think. I’d rarely hit 50 before.

It was the migrating warblers and friends who added so much to my totals. It seemed like there were many more kinds of warblers this year, along with vireos I hadn’t seen, nuthatches, and the seagulls I wrote about last time. I know there were a lot of birds coming through here on the central migration corridor, because there were news articles about them showing up on radar. That’s impressive, isn’t it? You can even see the migration live on the excellent BirdCast website. What fun!

The moon has been full for the past few days, and I think that may have been a big incentive for the warblers to head to more pleasant climes. Or maybe they knew that the temperature forecast for this week was grim – we’re in for our first near-100-degree days of the year this week, after a very pleasant spring so far.

This is the Weather Underground forecast for the next ten days. I miss last week already.

I was really enjoying the bird variety since I got back from Hilton Head. Here’s a list of all the warblers and vireos I’ve identified here in Texas in the past week:

American Redstart
Bay-breasted Warber
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Pine Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo (both warbles and is a vireo!)
White-eyed Vireo
Wilson’s Warbler
Yellow Warbler (lots)
Yellow-rumped Warbler

I saw many more warblers in South Carolina, but this is a lot! Even without warblers, though, there are still a lot of birds here now. A Green Heron family is living in the tree in our back pond/tank, there are buntings and grosbeaks popping in and out (Painted Buntings are omnipresent, and I even saw a pair mating yesterday).

I was too entertained to reach for my phone, so enjoy my new portulaca.

I wonder if the heat will affect my observations. I know the heat affected me yesterday. I was trying to work with Apache and my legs turned all wobbly and I had to hose myself off and drink a lot of water to keep going. He’s probably thinking he’ll get out of all the riding and exercise we’ve been doing, but no such luck. I’ll stick it out!

By the way, I’m moving a lot of my content that’s philosophical or personal musings over to my Substack site, so feel free to go over there and read or subscribe. You’ll get the posts via email if you subscribe. I even have special content for my paid subscribers (yes, there are a few, and it really helps now that I have a tiny Social Security income).

I See a Seagull

Well, I saw some. It taught me to believe Merlin Bird ID more than I did before. On Saturday, Merlin identified a Laughing Gull. I was dubious. I saw many in South Carolina on the coast, but I didn’t expect to hear any here. Of course, sea birds do pass over here, but never these.

Notice it says they rarely venture inland. No wonder I doubted the observation.

I shouldn’t have doubted the sighting. This afternoon when I was feeding the horses, I saw birds overhead. Yep, Laughing Gulls. A whole flock of them!

I guess they’re going somewhere.