Bird Sightings – Page 39 – The Hermits' Rest

Where I’ve Never Been (around here)

Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.

The next big town north of here is Waco, Texas. You know, Baylor Bears, Birthplace of Dr Pepper, Cameron Park Zoo, and the Magnolia Empire. I’ve been to a nursery there, a really cool wetland, a classroom at Baylor (dang that’s a fancy campus), an equestrian facility, an antique store in an old house, and a place with mammoth remains.

However, I’ve never been to any of the Chip and Joanna Gaines collection of enterprises. No Silos, no bakery, no castle, no restaurant, no hotel. (I admit I watch their television shows because I think Chip is funny.) I guess my dislike of crowds has a little to do with it but I also feel like it’s a bit overly manicured and perfect, like Disney World. So I’m probably not going any time soon.

I’ve also never been to the Dr Pepper Museum or the Texas Ranger place. It’s funny how you often don’t go places that are tourist attractions where you live. (I did go to a few places in Austin, though I tended to hit nature spots like the Wildflower Center more than buildings.)

And Austin has succulent nurseries. Trendy.

I think I’ve been to all the “attractions” in Cameron. But new things keep cropping up!

What cropped up here today was more rain. Judging from the intense interest in the wet ground that I observed in the sparrows and cardinals, I’d say lots of waterlogged larvae and bugs are coming up and providing excellent snacks.

I also think the blue herons are just standing beside the rushing output from our pond, ready to snatch up food that floats by. The rain has made them happy.

Where I live, in the middle-ish part of Texas, it’s considered poor form to complain about rain. However, I’m stepping out on a limb to say I wouldn’t mind a day or two to dry out. At least it’s warmer.

Five Fun Things on a Soggy Day

List five things you do for fun.

Sure, I can list five things I do for fun. But let’s make it more interesting and find five fun things to do on a very wet and soggy day.

1. I can listen to birds. Ha, I do that fun thing most days. Today my phone survived listening for birds in light rain, for which I’m grateful. There was a heck of a lot of singing and calling, along with flitting and swooping. Even the owl and kingfisher joined in the chorus in the late afternoon.

2. I can inspect the creek to see if it’s flooding, really flooding, or the floodiest. It was really flooding. The water didn’t go over the bridge, but it sure spread out. All sorts of islands had formed.

I also had fun seeing how the water flowed. I discovered that the big cedar elm I enjoy is so big because it’s in a springy spot.

3. I can hang out with wet horses. Oh my, I have a lot of grooming ahead of me when it dries. But everyone was friendly and didn’t mind that they all got the same food and supplements this one time.

Apache had been refusing his medicine, but I tried burying it in a new cranberry apple pill pocket treat today and it went in. I wish I could talk to him and explain how much he needs the meds. I should have mentioned that yesterday.

We still don’t trust you after that umbrella incident.

4. I can cook warm and nutritious foods. Yes, I am trying to cook more. Today I made a thick bean soup with beef and veggies. The beans were some dried kind that started with an “a” (I discarded the bag too soon). They had a creamy texture I liked. But wait, I found them. They’re Peruvian beans or canary beans. Peruano Mayacoba in Spanish. They do not start with “a” after all.

I used some of that new-ish “Better Than Bouillon” stuff for the base. It’s quite tasty and doesn’t appear to be full of harmful ingredients. I’m figuring out recipes that don’t use sugar and carbs that my household will eat. It’s a fun challenge, especially since I’m a big fan of carbs. But I also eat anything, so I can adapt.

5. I can knit. Knitting is always fun, especially the temperature blankets. The soggy day had so little temperature change that I almost ended up with a solid colored square today. But I got two greens! 50-56°.

This isn’t a very imaginative list of fun things. It’s stuff I do most days, if you categorize looking at floods as analyzing the weather. But that tells me something: I have fun every day, rain or shine, summer or winter. Simple pleasures for the win!

If I Could Talk to the Animals

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

Actually, I think I communicate pretty well with my animals. But, if I could fix one thing it would be to convince Harvey, who doesn’t move unless he truly must, that he can bark all he wants to…outside. Dang, that dog watches all the other ones to dash out and bark their heads of at cattle, coyotes, or deer that dare to get too close to the fence, and he just sits on the couch and bellows his lungs out.

Lee then yells, “Outside, Harvey!” over and over, adding to the cacophony. It gets oh so tiresome.

Ha ha, I’m never bad. (Not true, Carlton)

Today I wished I could communicate with my horses and let them know it was me walking up to them under a giant umbrella. They shot out of their shelter like little four-legged rockets when they saw me.

It was really wet. I needed the rain gear. Poor horses. Then I had the nerve to scare them again when I walked down the road to inspect the drainage. They all stood there with their ears pricked, ready to flee the demon who sounded like me, but looked very scary.

Since the ground is pretty saturated, 2.5” made for a lot of standing water, as well as a lot of flowing water. The creek was extra wide and came close to going over the road.

I should’ve gotten closer, but I was wet.

There were 6 calves and a cow separated from the rest of the herd by the property line fence, and they were NOT happy. My Merlin recording today could also be a tutorial on the variety of sounds a cow can make. Eventually the cow led most of the calves through the water to their friends, but two didn’t follow. They yelled and yelled and ran around randomly, disturbing the sparrows.

The mama and the calves, mostly staring at me like I can fix things.

One finally realized the barbed wire is loose and escaped. The other one came up to me and said MOO twice. So I telepathically communicated with her that the could go through water or the fence. After more running around in circles, she made it. Whew. My ears were sore.

At last the app “heard” the mallard and wren the cattle had drowned out. Yeah, that was my excitement for the day!

Oh, and I made chickpea “pasta” Mac and cheese and it was fine. Healthy eating, here we come.

Pork loin in that covered stoneware baker thing is sooo good.

All right, your turn. What would you say to an animal if you could?

Who Am I?

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

Well, I’m glad I don’t hide who I am on this blog, or this would be more of a challenge. No doubt I e answered this before over the years, but here I go, in case anyone is at all interested.

Sue Ann means “graceful lily,” according to name books’ etymological declarations. I am pretty damned sure my parents didn’t look at my round and wobbly baby self and name me based on that.

No, after a couple of days of indecision, they named me after two of Dad’s sisters. Of course, as the Kendalls tended to do, they gave me their middle names. I’m glad. Bettye Doris is a mouthful. Bettye went by “Pug” all her life and Doris Ann went by both names, or either, randomly.

Suna came from an existentialist Japanese movie (and book by Kōbō Abe) that affected me deeply. It was called Woman in the Dunes or Suna no Onna (砂の女). Suna means something like grains of sand, which I metaphorically interpret to be like all the different facets of oneself. The idea of being fluid yet solid, like sand, stuck with me, and so when the time came to choose my own name, that stuck. Like sand on the beach.

I used to be quite the little gloomy existentialist intellectual in the olden days.

By the way, Suna is a given name in other cultures. The source I saw says it’s a female Turkish name meaning “duck.” The cute kind, I’m sure. Ah, upon further reading, it means beautiful and tall, like a drake. I guess since male ducks are prettier?

I saw a lot of ducks today, along with white pelicans, along the Cooper Lake dam.

Or it could be gold, from a Sanskrit word. In any case, a hint of my love for the name comes from the fact that it’s much less beautiful backward. Ha!

I’ve driven that topic into the dirt (another sand reference?) so let’s move on. Today dawned cloudy and gusty. Hiking in that weather is not fun. I did try, and got a couple more plant photographs and bird sounds, but checking the forecast led us to head home sooner than planned.

Rain is forecasted for tomorrow, and Lee didn’t want to take Seneca the motorhome on back roads in bad rain. So we visited the park office, where buying a magnet was quite difficult, then headed out.

This pretty stand of yuccas was one photo I was glad to get. The only ones I saw.

It’s an interesting drive from Cooper to Cameron if you avoid the interstate. There are lots of horse farms (yay) and lots of this kind of thing (ugh).

Proudly declaring to the world he’s Suna backwards.

It was good to be home and get caught up with things back home. It can rain all it wants to now!

A Dream Job That’s a Walk in the Woods

What’s your dream job?

My dream job has changed over the years. If money were no object, I’d teach knitting and crochet part time. I don’t want to be a famous knitting guru like some of my friends; I just want to bring the joy of a lifetime pastime to others. It’s so rewarding.

The temperature blanket for this year is so fun and has purple in it! Cool. Literally.

Nowadays, though, I am getting so much from my time out in nature that it would be a dream job to be a park interpreter. I could lead walks and hikes that show folks how ecosystems work, what plants and animals there are in different habitats, and how to identify what they see, hear, smell, and touch.

I could lead a hike here and show folks all the future wildflowers in midwinter.

I could also teach hiking etiquette. Like, don’t bellow at the top of your lungs and sing rock songs so loud you scare all the woodland creatures for miles, which is what the only other hikers I saw today did. Ugh.

Anyway, we’re enjoying a very peaceful time at Cooper Lake State Park. We are the only people here who don’t work here. It’s glorious and peaceful, probably the quietest state park we’ve been at. Someone was shooting something somewhere nearby and it was SO loud with no other noise around.

It was really cold last night here in northeast Texas, down to 20°. We got in late, and the heater just couldn’t cope. It got down to 58° inside, but I slept so well. Quiet. Once the sun came out, the heater coped and tonight it’s fine.

Because it was sunny and there was no whipping gale wind, it actually wasn’t too bad outside, and I was able to go on a couple of nice walks around this huge lake and the hardwood forest around it.

There were ducks, herons, a cormorant, gulls, greater yellowlegs, belted kingfishers, and more on the lake shore.

The bird highlight for me was getting to see a golden-crowned kinglet close enough to see that little crown. Theirs are way easier to see than ruby crowned.

Woodland birds included lots of crows, blue jays, cardinals, robins, and woodpeckers. The most popular tiny bird was the yellow-rumped warbler, but there were plenty of titmice, wrens, chickadees, and sparrows. Two nuthatches also showed up. Lots of singing and flitting to enjoy. Who cares about the cold!

You could see all the wildflowers and grasses in their winter resting states. There were colorful leaves and berries if you looked carefully, though. I found it fun to try to figure out what the dried flowers and bare trees were. I’ll see how well I did when I put them in iNaturalist.

What didn’t I see? Insects. Not one butterfly showed up. No bees or flies. They’ll be back soon as it warms up again. The little insect-eating birds like phoebes and mockingbirds were busy with other food in the meantime.

I could do this observation stuff for a living with other people! However, wow, it’s nice to do it alone. Traveling without the annoyance of other humans sure is pleasant. I prefer this to cities.

To wrap it up, here are some fun pictures of tracks I found along the lakeshore. There are herons, ducks, little birds, raccoons, and a canine. I didn’t see deer tracks, but I did see deer, so of course they are here!

You Can’t Un-Invent War

If you could un-invent something, what would it be?

I saw this question and said, well, this is like going back in time and changing one thing, only to realize the consequences are horrible. Like the butterfly effect?

I first thought I’d un-invent guns. Then I thought that would be too complicated. What about hunting for food? But there are other ways to hunt. I don’t know. Maybe just un-invent automatic weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

Then I mused, well, we wouldn’t need those horrible things if there were no wars. If people lived together peacefully we’d not be fighting all the time.

We could just look at pretty horses. Ahh. I love watching Drew.

But people fight. It’s part of being human. And so much of civilization arose because of conflicts between groups of people. They lead to innovations, migrations, and of course heterozygous vigor. Maybe we’d be a very different species if it weren’t for these tendencies to want to eliminate “the other.” We aren’t alone. Other mammals, birds, insects, etc., do it.

People fight, and horses get annoyed. Drew is not pleased at how much work Tarrin made him do.

So. Screw it. I wouldn’t be able to make war not exist. And if our current weapons went away, we’d have something worse, or just go around poisoning each other. We may do that anyway, clever humans as we are.

I don’t like humans as a concept, I’m afraid. Or in real life, as a whole. I do like the urge to be kind, help each other, and create communities, which I hope is as strong as the urge to eliminate people unlike ourselves. We will see, maybe sooner rather than later.

My apologies that the blogs haven’t been very interesting this week. I’m lacking in writing inspiration. Tomorrow will be more interesting, I’m sure.

Drew had a hard afternoon. He was really scared by construction noise by the tack room when I tried to groom him. I ended up taking him to lessons early so he could relax a bit. It worked. He was only a little squirrelly for me, and Tarrin helped him stretch.

Daily Birds

It was a glorious and beautiful day today. Hard to believe it was 12° yesterday and 70° today. That’s Texas for you. I truly enjoyed standing in the woods surrounded by sparrows, chickadees, and titmice being their most cacophonous selves. Here’s to the tiny birds of the woodlands and their big voices!

The other bird is an intriguing mystery. Every time I go to Tarrin’s Merlin hears an Osprey. I don’t hear it, and I certainly haven’t seen it. I guess there are enough large ponds nearby to support one?

What I did see was this downy woodpecker.

Clutter, Not My Favorite Word

Where can you reduce clutter in your life?

I will first tell you where I want to reduce clutter: in my head. That goal is slowly coming to fruition as I discard guilt over past mistakes, sadness over lost lives and friends, my endless lists of rules I think I have to follow so my friends and family won’t desert me, etc. (Abandonment issues? Yes, thanks Mom.)

How to cope? Go out and watch deer when it’s 18°.

The last thing is still a big issue. I want to be considerate of others and respect their boundaries and wishes, but I don’t want to constantly second guess myself in deference to others. What topics do I avoid with Person X? Remember not to argue with Person Y! Never mention Person Z by name! It’s a balance. It’s definitely the reason I’m quieter now.

So, yup, I need to sweep out some mental clutter. It’s a good goal.

However. As for household clutter.

I’m not a minimalist. I enjoy having things to look at in my environment that I enjoy. Like I’ve mentioned before, some objects seem to carry a spirit somehow, of people who made them or gave them to me…they have meaning. So don’t tell me my house is full of clutter. I like it that way. If I want to live in a bland hotel I can go to a condo.

At least I keep the birds outside…except for my bird journal. Clutter.

That said, my house bothers me right now because there is mess. To me, mess is stuff with no purpose that is just sitting around waiting for someone to do something about it. There are boxes of yarn I can’t fit in my office closet because it needs to be rearranged to add shelves and such. There are two china hutches in the entryway, because I can’t move the big one so I can empty out the small one and trade things out. There are paintings and needlework that need to be hung. All this is from my Austin house and former office. IRS hard to consolidate.

I should just sleep outside. These guys do.

So I do need to rearrange things, remove what isn’t meaningful to me, and get the house back in order. Oh, and remove magazines that have been read so others can enjoy them.

But there will still be “clutter,” just organized into collections.

It’s too cold for daily birds, but I did see a lot of woodpeckers flying around today. After tonight, the Arctic air will head off and we will be back to more normal winter weather.

I’m still waiting for my yarn to arrive so I can do these extra cold days on the temperature blanket. Yes. Last year’s blanket is now “clutter” until I can attach the segments and photograph it. Soon!

Yes, I Like Horses, Even Cold Ones

What is your favorite animal?

I think anyone who has read a couple of entries in this blog can figure out that I’m fond of horses. I always have been, even though most of my life I had neither the space nor the funds to have any. I’m so incredibly grateful for the chance to work with horses now.

They have plenty of food and water! And of course their new shelter.

Horses have fascinated me since I figured out they existed, but I’ve also loved dogs my whole life. I think regular readers can also figure that out.

I’ve had cats when I lived in apartments, but I had a couple that made me decide I like them better at other people’s houses. Cat pee is not a thing I can handle well. Plus, Lee has one of his many allergies to cats, and outdoor cats don’t last long here due to hawks, owls, coyotes, and guardian dogs.

I could use a barn cat, though. Sigh. Mice are another cute animal I’d prefer not to cohabit with.

It’s the coldest day I can remember here, but we’re coping. I’ve especially enjoyed watching the animals running around in the dusting of snow and/or ice. Penney and Carlton seem to be energized by it, and seem to smell many new smells. Alfred was out all day, since he was made for this stuff. Goldie goes out to annoy cattle but doesn’t seem thrilled. Harvey and Vlassic run out to pee and go back in.

The horses have spent less time in their shelters than I expected. Instead they’ve been eating a little more than usual, as expected, and are playing on the crunchy pasture. As a wise family member has said, they are livestock, after all. They are smart enough to crack the ice in their water trough without my help, too. Huh.

The chickens appreciate their heat lamps, but they are not alone. I was a bit startled when I opened the hen house to get food and leave water for them, because there were dozens of house sparrows in there with them. I startled them, too. everyone flew right out.

No bird photos, because I only took these few outside.

As for us humans, the heater downstairs had trouble coping with these 14° temperatures, but upstairs was great. If only my work area and television were upstairs. We found some oil heaters that came with the horse trailer and put one in my office for my Zoom chats and one by where Lee and I sit to watch football. We have plenty of afghans, so it was cozy enough.

One more really cold day and normal winter will return.

Road Trips and Staying Put

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

Lee and I have been on many memorable road trips, and I hope we have lots more. We made a lot of memories the time we took our first big RV, Ursula, to New Mexico in 2012. We first visited my friend Steve from grad school and his husband, Guy. They lived in Las Cruces at the time.

The only photo I can find from this trip. There were tons in my old blog.

We did so much in southern New Mexico, and we’re only slightly creeped out by surveillance drones. This was long before Build That Wall. I had the best Mexican food ever and saw so many great rocks. And old Las Cruces!

I got to watch Guy work with his rodeo horses at liberty. It was the first time I ever saw such a thing. Guy was so good with the animals and I guess was good under saddle as well since he had a huge saddle he won at gay rodeo in the house.

Later we drove farther north and went through deserts and forests, saw White Sands and the Malpais. We visited petroglyphs and a trading post we returned to on later trips for my turquoise needs.

Since I have no photos, here’s our woods today.

Other than the RV breaking down, all was well. We need to visit Steve again where he is now that he’s a widower.

We aren’t going anywhere this weekend. We were scheduled to camp, but chose to stay home and prepare for the bad weather that’s coming tomorrow. It’s our turn at last.

Who needs to travel when you can watch horses play?

The highlight of preparation was getting some sides added to the horse pens to add a lot more shelter from the wind and cold. Here’s how it looked before.

I was impressed that they got red metal to make the sides from. I didn’t expect coordination! Here are some in progress photos.

It really looks snazzy now that it’s done, and it’s very sturdy. May as well do it right the first time. Next we will get more covered roof for summer shade and rain protection. There will be gutters! Anyway, here’s how it looks now.

We hope the horses use the new shelter. My guys looked pretty displeased.

Daily Bird

I’m just gonna declare all the sparrows birds of the day, because they were just so cute today bopping around through the trees. I didn’t bother them one bit. Enjoy them.

We’re ready for the cold and maybe snow tomorrow. Hope we got everything safe and snug.

You Mean I Have to Write a Mission Statement?

What is your mission?

Do I also have to have a vision? Argh. I’ve written so many mission and vision statements for institutions and organizations. I’d prefer not to do that again, thanks.

Mission statements have to have bullet points and be active! (From what I vaguely remember.) So:

Suna’s Mission is to:

Respect the Earth, yourself, and others
Be mindful
Maintain healthy boundaries
Be kind
Never stop learning

Today I spent some time learning about using my legs better on my beautiful young horse, Droodles (Drew). That fulfilled my mission of learning, respecting myself, and treating the animals in my care kindly, but with boundaries. And when riding a horse, you need to stay in the moment and be mindful. I guess that mission statement works.

He was ready to GO this afternoon! Good thing, because we got lots of exercise.

Drew’s “Christmas” present arrived so he got to wear his new halter and lead rope today. He’s looking good! Sometimes I still can’t believe I have a chance to be a part of my fantastic horses’ lives.

Apache is still a little lame, but getting around okay. I still can’t find where the abscess is, but I’m hoping he’s better soon. Finding that thing is my mission for him! He got a cinnamon colored halter and I hope to try it out tomorrow when I check him out.

Daily Bird

It was extra windy and pretty cold today, but I did my bird watching like a good scientist. The best thing I saw was the first thing, though. I got to enjoy watching the great blue heron chow down on a fish. it usually doesn’t come this close.

Later, after I checked the rain gauge, I saw it catch another one and I guess wrestle it to the ground. It kept poking at it. Maybe it was a crawfish.