It’s starting to warm up again, and I think this time it’s for good. I’m starting to spot all my tiny flower friends in the fields, and they make for quite a perky carpet in the horse playground.
Another friend showed up today, too! Now you can see how Tipper got its name. Look at the tiny tail tip! Kitty had been surveying its domain from atop the hay bales.
And before I keel over from my long workday, I’ll share Harvey, who was fixated on my empty dinner plate. He likes salmon.
What week is that? The week the Mexican plum and redbuds start to bloom in this part of Texas! This means a whole bunch of pretty flowers will be here any day now!
I’d been afraid I’d miss those trees this year, since I no longer drive there three times a month. But, hooray, today was the day to go out to my friend Carolyn’s to make plans for a field trip to her place to look at the unique wildflowers they have.
Our fellow Master Naturalist, Terri, joined us. She’s been working on a map of the property and its trails and wanted to refine it. She’s also going to make signs to help navigate the trails. She’s so talented!
We had lots of fun looking at the plants that are coming up and finding places of interest to share with visitors, like where the puffball mushrooms are.
I always have so much fun with Carolyn. I promised I’d visit more this year.
We found more than plants! The resident armadillos were wandering around, we saw a deer, and we got to watch AD feed the big catfish in the ponds. Plus, the cattle followed us around hoping for treats for quite a while. They’re very friendly.
It was fun to find a wetland that’s developed between the fancy pond and the well. It should be beautiful in a few weeks, too.
I think the people who go on the picnic will have a great time exploring the property, and I know it will mean a lot to Carolyn to have us visit. Before that, we still have work to do to get ready! Here are some more photos.
What a great way to treat the first official week of wildflower season.
In other news, our much-needed new washer and dryer came and were successfully installed. That impressed me, because I didn’t think we had all the parts, but we did! Our menfolk can work miracles.
Sorry about yesterday’s downer post. I think I’m just rundown. My “glands” hurt and ears are sore. I’ll have to take it easy tomorrow!
That’s been the highlight of the past few days. I’ve taken some early spring flowers and recognizable birds.
I’ve just not felt very emotionally connected these days. That makes it hard to blog. I’m just blanking my mind out and gliding through each day. I enjoy the birds, the poultry, the horses, and the changing weather.
It’s all fine. I’m just taking a break from the intensity. Voting means that I don’t have to listen to all the campaigning and can throw the daily collection of post cards from this Schwertner guy who keeps repeating the reasons I didn’t vote for him.
I did have some fun, sorta, when I helped Kathleen do some kitchen reorganizing and watched our manly men remove our old washer and dryer. Tomorrow the new ones show up. Dry clothing will be awfully nice.
Tomorrow I get to go hang out with some friends in nature. Yay. I’ll get to take more close-ups of late-winter new growth.
Plus I will keep crocheting. It’s probably why I’m so zoned out.
My mental state will head back up. It always does. In the meantime I’ll enjoy my numbness.
One of the books I got at the Texas Master Naturalist Annual Meeting last October was this little gem: Plants with Purpose: 25 Ecosystem Multitaskers, by Monika Maeckle. The purpose of the book is to introduce people who want to do gardening with native species to some easy to grow plants that they will enjoy in their gardens for many many years. One of the things I liked best about the book was that it is beautifully illustrated with line drawings of each plant. She discusses with some of the pollinators and other visitors who also enjoy the plants.
I don’t think there’s much in this book that you can’t find in other resources about native plants but the way she writes is enjoyable and you just can’t stop enjoying the photographs, the drawings, the quality of the paper and the graphic design, all of which I find important when I’m enjoying a book. It even has built-in bookmarks.
My favorite section I think was on the Cucamelon fruit, which is apparently what grows on my chicken shed every year and makes those cute little fruits that the chickens then eat. I didn’t realize they were quite as edible as they are, but I did realize that they’re really pretty and make a nice ground cover so she’s right about that. This plant is also known as mouse melon, Mexican sour gherkin and Sanita in Spanish, which means little watermelon. they’re one of our oldest fruits, related to gourds. Weird melons are a kind of plant I have all over the place at this ranch.
She also talks about Turks cap and sunflowers and many other fun plants that we have growing all over the place here. Maeckle also rightly cautions that you probably want to use the native varieties and not some of the hybridized commercially available ones if you want to really attract pollinators and you want the plants to keep living and reseeding.
This would be a lovely book to give someone who has just built a house in one of those neighborhoods where they completely eliminate every trace of every plant that was ever on the ground before the housing development was put in. The recipient can make the land happy again and native plants can live like little plants need to live, right? That’s what I had to do when I moved around rock after all.
The book might be hard to find because I don’t know if it’s in Amazon or not, but you can certainly order it from the Texas A&M University Press, which for all of the flaws of Texas A&M is truly a nice publisher of nature books.
I’ll write more later, but I just wanted to get this book review done before I forgot it again. Thanks everybody.
How did my weekend off go? Well, it featured some lovely conversations with dear friends and family. It always feels good to keep in touch, and I look forward to more of that. I guess that’s my current mission, to reach out and connect with people I care about, while I still can.
The governor of the state where I live has given our voting records to the national government. This will allow them to see which primary people voted in, since you have to declare which party’s ballot you want. Oddly, many people I know vote in the Republican primary because no one dares run as a Democrat, so many races are decided then. So maybe some of us wouldn’t be targeted if it comes to that.
Yeah, I’m not feeling any better. This whole deal where half the US lived in one version of reality and the other half lived in a completely different world only worked when there were checks and balances. The government now parrots the words of an evil regime and has their own scary police force with no incentive to follow legal process.
But gee, we still have birds and flowers. Yay!
As I mentioned last week, there has been a Black Phoebe here. It’s stayed for days now, and I’ve managed to see it three times.
I was very doubtful that Merlin was accurate on this one, because it’s not usually found here. But, I know what the Eastern Phoebe looks like (ours are medium gray with pale yellow breasts), and the bird I’ve seen is very dark with a very white belly, like above.
The app also registered a Say’s Phoebe, which at least has a closer range, and I kind of believe since my friend Michelle had one show up in Merlin at her house.
I now feel more confident, since remembered that part of the Merlin app is a feature where it will show you all the birds you’re likely to see on any day. Here are the ones I’m most likely to have seen today in Cameron, Texas. Note the Eastern Phoebe among my good bird buddies.
But hey, look what comes up when I type in Phoebe! If I’m going to see the two western phoebes, this would be the week!
So, this has been fun to observe! It’s been really cold (for here), but the birds have been out, especially the sparrows and wrens. Other than the incredibly windy Saturday, I’ve been out enjoying them every day, along with the horses.
Funny horse story. When it got so windy and cold, I figured I should put Dusty’s new blanket on him, since he’s so thin, though fuzzy. I didn’t think it through, though, and when I brought the blanket out to show him, Dusty was scared to death! He shook and ran as far away as he could in his pen. I’ll never forget the look in his eyes. I felt like I betrayed him.
I’ve left the blanket hanging on Dusty’s gate, and I put his food dish near it. He’s still not happy. I guess the old cow horse never needed a blanket before and doesn’t want one now.
Anybody need a gummy bear-themed blanket for a small horse?
Thank you for reading, for being kind to others, and for cherishing your life.
What an adventure I had today with my fellow Master Naturalist! We escaped to the wilderness known as her property outside of Cameron and searched for a rumored beaver dam on the spring-fed creek that runs through the land. It was a beautiful warm day for exploring.
At first we looked in the wrong place and got attacked by much greenbrier and dewberry vines that tried very hard to trip us. I did determine that the water was not out of its banks and was very clean.
My friend called the folks who’d been on the property monitoring their deer lease or something, and they redirected us upstream. There we found what appeared to be weird flat areas with brown vegetation.
That was actually duckweed on a big ole beaver pond! To say I was excited would be an understatement. The dog was also excited and immediately went swimming.
I enjoyed investigating the dam construction and listening to the water trickling through the spillways. It’s hard to believe animals can do this, even though I read that book all about beavers recently.
We found trees that had been gnawed by beavers (some from the previous dam a few years back). There were also trees whose bark had been gnawed.
We moved upstream some more and found a second dam, which has created a magical pond full of fish, butterflies, and plants. It was hard to pull myself away from the tranquility.
But, I wanted to see if there was a third dam below the first one we found. Sure enough, following the cool beaver trails led to another one that my friend thinks is a reconstruction of the original dam.
Here I located the tunnels they dig for entrances and exits, which is fascinating. I even found some beaver tracks in ant beds, but my pictures weren’t great. That’s okay, just seeing evidence that the amazing mammalian construction workers was a bucket list item for me.
Since we had time and a truck, we went off exploring other parts of the property, which are mostly hay fields. We stopped and got to see a spectacular Northern Harrier fly right in front of us when we both had our binoculars. They’re beautiful hawks with a white patch just above their tail.
We then explored a ravine that lead to the big creek and observed how it is slowly moving northward. I did not fall down when I clambered down the embankment. I held onto trees.
We ended our exciting afternoon doing some more birding back by my friend’s house and enjoying each other’s photos. I’m so pleased to cross another mammal off my list of Milam County sightings, even if I didn’t see an actual beaver. All my beaver knowledge really helped me see the signs of them. I’m sure they’re glad the prowling humans and dogs are gone!
We had some little adventures getting out of the campsite, but all was not lost, because I did get an hour of birding in this morning and got photos of birds I wanted to see.
I also found out from the birding volunteer that there used to be a roller skating rink at the park during the years between when the Rectory was built and when the land became a State Park. There are no signs of it now, but a 92-year-old visitor described it to the Lake Corpus Christi State Park folks. It turns out the water tower was from when the land was a farm. So many changes!
Anyway, I was very happy to capture the elusive White-eyed Vireo and Great Kiskadee today, even though the lighting wasn’t perfect. At least the sun came out!
That was one of the good things for the day. The worst thing I have no photographs of. Be glad I can’t transfer smells through the blog, though. I’d broken the kitchen faucet on the way down (improper bungee cording) and we’d used our “nice” (from Target) rug to mop up the mess that happened when the water was turned on. So, I set it outside to dry, but every morning the fog would wet it again, then I’d forget to bring it in when it dried back off.
The upshot was that the rug was still outside last night. When I went to put it in the storage area to take it home to clean it, I thought it smelled bad, but put it in, anyway. When Lee opened the bin later he nearly gagged. It didn’t smell a little; it smelled a lot. Like some virile woodland creature had decided to mark it as his territory with extra-musky urine. Not good. We will replace the rug, because there’s no way we’d take it home. The dogs would have gone crazy. I felt bad putting the odiferous parcel in the dumpster, knowing people would be opening it to add refuse.
The next stinker came when we went to leave and Lee had forgotten to release the hand brake. That also was very loud. But we quickly fixed that!
The other good thing that happened was that I finally found my previous phone. It had been hiding in, of all things, my phone holder I use when riding in the motorhome. Well, now that it’s charged up, I have a better phone camera again.
We made it home just fine, and of course I immediately went to check on my livestock. The horses were quite insistent that they were starving, as were the fowl. I fed the birds, and discovered that Darryl had done his manly duty so well that Connie started laying eggs again! No one has told her or the hens that they are supposed to wait until spring.
It was good to be back home with all the buddies. I was happy to see my gift from my son—it’s a new door for my tack room. It’s too heavy for him to lift it by himself to install it, though! It looks good where it is, though.
Happy Kwanzaa to all who celebrate!
I promised some plant photos, and I’ll add them here, but first I wanted to share the gifts I received on this Christmas morning. Now, my family is only exchanging handmade gifts, which we will exchange later. So my gifts today were experiences.
I set out for a morning hike with just my binoculars (arms are tired from hoisting the telephoto lens). Of course, I later wished I’d brought one of the Canons. I just decided to enjoy what I saw without worrying about recording it. And I received so many beautiful gifts.
The butterflies were magical, especially around these nondescript plants with tiny blossoms, Narrowleaf Forestiera (Forestiera angustifolia). The blossoms may be tiny, but butterflies, bees, and even flies love this source of winter nectar.
I knew they were blooming because I heard a plant buzzing with pollinators, then I saw dozens of butterflies covering the bushes like ornaments. There were the Snouts I saw yesterday, joined by Queens, Monarchs, and Red Admirals. What a gift to see this reminder that something is blooming all year round here.
The other gifts of the morning occurred while I was at the bird blind area. First, I was able to help three families understand what they were seeing by pointing out the birds and telling about the plants. I enjoyed the thanks and getting to share some of what I’ve learned as a Master Naturalist and Merlin fan.
My reward was spending enough time at the blind to see fun bird behavior. For example, the birds decided it was bath time and I got to watch four Orange-crowned Warblers splashing and splashing in the puddle made by the drip waterer. They were then joined by Cardinals. The blurry photo shows where they were.
Right after that a chubby little Yellow-rumped Warbler took a bath right in front of me. It was so fluffy and scruffy and wiggly. If I had the good camera, there would be some charming photos. Instead you get this.
But the thing is that I saw all this, which is what matters. Between all this fun and talking to my friends and family, Christmas morning was wonderful. I hope you can find beauty and joy wherever you are today. Who needs presents when you have nature and the meaning of the season.
Now, as my gift to you, here are a few of my favorite plant and scenery photos from yesterday and today!
Go enjoy your day!
Today I probably went overboard with nature photography, since I drug/dragged both the camera with the telephoto and the camera with the macro lens all over Lake Corpus Christi State Park and took as many pictures as I wanted both distant and very close.
I got up early to go to the birding area right after the birds were fed. However, conditions were not ideal. It was so foggy that it sounded like rain falling on the RV roof, and certainly was not great for bird photos.
I got lots of sounds on Merlin, though it was acting up, and I did manage to get photos of many species, less foggy as the morning progressed.
The most interesting birds to observe were the Red-winged Blackbirds. At first, only females were at the feeders. That gave me lots of time to really admire their plumage. The stripes in various rich browns are quite striking.
At least 45 minutes after the females showed up, males made their appearance. There were many juveniles, too. Much mass feeding then occurred.
Later, after the sun came out some, I got photos of the birds near the lake. The Great Blue Heron and Great Egret were entertaining, as usual.
In between, I walked around with the macro lens camera and found many tiny things. I’m going to just share butterflies in this post, because I’m really tired!
Yeah. I’m too tired to write more. I’ll be back tomorrow for an all-nature Christmas.
I had the loveliest day of bird and plant watching here at Lake Corpus Christi State Park! This is a great place in southern Texas, where many plants and animals native to northern Mexico mingle with organisms from farther north. This makes for fun observations!
On my morning hike through a shrubby woodland I was delighted to see many blooming plants and others with interesting seed pods. It even smelled nice to walk through the misty woods listening to the “exotic” Great Kiskadees and Green Jays (plus an Audubon’s Oriole).
I even left some out. It was fun to see what grows down here, like palm trees and giant reed. I enjoyed the winter scenery.
After my long walk I came back so Lee and I could get vital supplies (coffee creamer and blackberry cobbler). We enjoyed looking at the town of Alice, Texas, then came back just in time for some rain showers. When they were over, I went out to the other part of the trail to enjoy the sunshine.
I looked at the very nice birding setup they have here, then made it to the CCC Rectory on the lake. It’s one of their nicest structures.
I discovered the volunteer who leads the bird walks waiting for someone to take out, so I said I’d go. Then a French-Canadian woman bicycled up and joined us. It was a challenge teaching her bird names in English, but she liked the Green Jays and shiny Great-tailed Grackles. I showed her some plants, then headed back to our campsite.
As if that wasn’t enough for one day, I had my monthly tarot group this evening. It was interesting, as always.
Tomorrow I’ll get out the good cameras and maybe get some better photos. If I can rouse myself.
The Hermits' Rest 