Plant Sightings – Page 3 – The Hermits' Rest

My Weird Way to Cut Down on Social Media

It’s only kind of weird, but it works for me the problem is that my phone thinks I look hours and hours at it, when, in fact, I’m not even near the phone. It’s hard to doomscroll if your phone is nowhere nearby and the computer you’re using is only connected to LinkedIn (and honestly, ten minutes is plenty to determine who’s been laid off lately).

I still enjoy social media, but do a quick Facebook check in the morning, play with my Finch self-care app for 20 minutes, see if I got any personal email, then walk away.

Also doing my nails creates at least an hour of phone-free time.

That’s because I leave the phone outside listening to birds once I have to stop birding with my own eyes and ears. The phone may think I’m staring at Merlin Bird ID, but no, I just check in periodically. Any texts or other messages just have to wait.

Today’s bird was this Ruby-crowned Kinglet, as photographed on the phone. blurry.

I can work undisturbed by my online social life except in breaks. That’s helped me from going down rabbit holes and letting myself get upset.

In the evenings, I read other people’s blogs and news sources that don’t try to get me all upset. This all works for me. I can still stay informed and keep up with friends without it consuming my day. This gives me time for horses, birds, domestic fowl, and wildflowers, not to mention friends and family!

She’s talking about us. We are domestic fowl.

So, my social media trick is to get your phone all busy doing something for you and ignore it for a good chunk of your day. It makes checking for messages and updates a fun interlude, not the whole day.

Morning fog on the window screen. It got very foggy this evening, too.

Today I enjoyed many things while the phone was ignored. I took some autumn photos, for one thing.

Pretty day! The yellow is a willow trees.

I watched a new run for the chickens and Connie get worked on. Connie was not impressed and tried to scare away the noisy dudes by gobbling and displaying her magnificent feathers. I didn’t even know hen turkeys could do that!

I also ended up with time to work with horses a bit longer than usual, so I picked out all the burs in Drew’s mane and tail. He was a true gentleman during the process. I think he’s feeling better.

In the evening Lee and I got a new coffeemaker, which is exactly like our previous one, only not worn out. We look forward to coffee tomorrow. I also got a slightly better toaster that should be less likely to burn my thick bread. These are our holiday gifts to each other.

We treated ourselves to dinner in a “real” restaurant and made our server very happy by forgiving him for not realizing we were his table. I had a magnificent beer and some salmon, which means I had a great Saturday with little phone time…until now, when I’m writing this.

That Windblown Look Isn’t Fun to Get

Last night the wind blew so hard that I felt like I was on a boat again, but this time the boat was in a major squall—not a typhoon but pretty bad.

Nonetheless, I got up early so I could go on a birding walk with a man named Kelly, who’s recently moved here in Rockport, who really knows his stuff. I was glad that Bernice, who works at the park office, mentioned it to me. But whoa, the temperature in the 50s, combined with cloudy skies and biting winds, made for mighty unpleasant circumstances.

I’m as cold as I look, and glad for the borrowed hat.

We started out on the big pier near our site, where nothing blocked the wind. I was glad for the railings and that I didn’t bring the big camera! We did see some interesting birds, though it was hard to see them well due to shaking hands holding the binoculars.

Mercifully, Kelly took us away and we went to the jetty I visited yesterday, when it was balmy at just slightly cloudy. There were some gorgeous Roseate Spoonbills flying around, and I have to tell you all that pinkness flying around with the dark gray background was striking, even in the wind. I was too cold to take pictures, so use your imagination.

We then caravanned back over to the Whooping Cranes, where Bernice and I got to see some flying overhead and whooping! We were like two little kids in our excitement! We no longer cared about the cold and were very happy to share our joy with others who were there. The birders here are very collegial.

While that was all fun, I had gotten a chill and didn’t get myself warm, despite tea and a warm meal, until I’d had a little nap in bed. Yow. Still, I dragged myself back outside in the afternoon, and went on a walk around the trail in the other part of Goose Island State Park.

Ooh, they have nice, large campsites with large trees in that part of the park. I enjoyed a relatively wind-free stroll through a coastal oak woodland full of beautiful understory plants like sweet bay, wax myrtle, and beautyberry. I felt a lot better when I got back to the motorhome.

I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to on this trip, so we will be back. I really like it here. At least there are birders in enough numbers to balance out the air boaters and duck hunters. And seafood!

We waited to leave until tomorrow to avoid traffic today. I’ll figure out how get some work in tomorrow. There will be lots of time before we leave.

Mountain Girl Wannabe

Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?

I grew up near beaches and I like them okay, though I prefer marshy land near beaches, which have more interesting birds.

Beach sunsets are pretty fine! I do love Hilton Head.

But I really love mountains and always have. I looked forward to visiting Chattanooga, where my paternal grandmother lived, each summer so we could look at streams, go through tunnels, and drive along the Blue Ridge Mountains.

As an adult, I’ve treasured my visits to other mountains in all weather. There are really good birds, too, and each area is so different! if I were rich, I’d head right over to Breckenridge and hike and snowshoe and be just fine. Or maybe Ruidoso, since it’s in another state I love.

Just dreaming. I’m here in Texas looking at a small hill. At least I have all these birds!

Look. I finally took bird photos you can identify as birds. Eastern Phoebe.

Off topic, but I enjoyed watching a huge flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds roosting and then departing en masse this morning. I had the good camera (Cameron EOSR5 Mark II) and telephoto lens in the birding area. Distance shots are from the phone camera.

I also dragged the camera to the Wild Wings Bird Sanctuary to practice close-ups. I got lots of chickadees and titmice at the feeders and a few others. I think a couple are pretty good. At least you can see details on them. I’m gonna practice this week so my camera muscles will be all strong for next weekend. Anyway, here are cute titmice.

And here are just a few Carolina Chickadees. They pose well.

I also got a couple of nice shots of water dripping into the birdbath. Look carefully and you will see many honeybees from the nearby hives.

I took lots of photos of new Wildscape plants, but that will be in a Master Naturalist blog. But here are a couple of insects!

So, whee. Mountains are great, but no matter where you are, there are birds, insects, and plants to explore.

I Like Naps

It’s a good thing I like naps, since I’m very good at falling asleep at this point in my life. I had a very nice nap on the porch this afternoon with the sun keeping me warm and a breeze to keep me from being too warm. Other than waking myself up snoring from being in an awkward position, it was great.

And the good news is that I still had time for horse activities before sunset.

I did have a pretty busy morning after a leisurely birding hour and a little walk. Lots of bluebirds were out competing for grasshoppers, which is always a joy to watch.

I can’t say my morning project tired me out, because after Chris did the hard work of pounding the hanger into the ground, putting up this cool solar birdbath was very easy. And the best part is the bubbler is quiet and doesn’t interfere with bird listening. I hope birds use it. This evening the sparrows were eyeing it.

It turns off at night and when the water runs low.

I spent the rest of the morning doing volunteer work at the Wildscape and bird sanctuary projects. The Master Naturalist volunteers I have done a great job clearing out the space so new plants can go in.

I enjoyed the sights, including a shy kitty and a chicken who laid an egg right in front of me.

I had a great time at the bird sanctuary, where there were at least 20 species out and about. Just the chickadees and titmice were at the feeder, but I saw and heard many more.

After chatting with others at the benches, I went to lunch with the group and had a very good time. I’m glad a was brave enough to do a group thing.

Jackie pretending to investigate a feeder while Debi looks on.

All the mice were out of the chicken feed box, so I can clean it out tomorrow. I guess I’ll need another nap then! Less rodent worry meant tonight’s sunset walk was calmer and I could enjoy listening to the Great Horned Owl and friends for a while. All is well.

I Found Heaven

Oh, you’d suspect I found metaphorical heaven here on the ranch in the beautiful sunset light.

That is a nice thought! It was a beautiful day, and my sunset walk was pretty darned heavenly.

However, the Heaven I found was not for me. It was for Lucky here.

You see, I went to feed the chickens and noticed the feed bag was rather well chewed. So, I picked up the bag. I was not surprised to see that there were little creatures in my sealed food bin. At least four tiny mice running around on a layer of chicken feed. That could be Heaven for tiny rodents!

I had trouble getting mouse photos. I was kind of grossed out.

That’s when I saw that the mice weren’t alone. Lucky was in there with them. Now, being in a safe warm box full of tasty morsels is any rat snake’s idea of heaven! Lucky is young, but climbed well enough to get in!

Well. Yuck. So, I took out all the food the mice hadn’t gotten to yet. One big bag I took out and emptied onto the ground. That’s where Lucky was hiding. That’s when I picked her up and took her over by the hay bales and let her go (former caregiver for a rat snake, so I have the skills).

I was able to go back to my violated storage container and create an exit for the mice. If they are still there tomorrow I’ll eject them when I clean and disinfect my storage box. I sure hope it hasn’t developed a hole in it. I’m pretty sure all these creatures got in when I had the lid up.

I’m outa here. Thanks for the hay and food!

Anyway, this was all kinda icky. Heck, I was a suburban band mom not all that long ago. I’m not always the tough rancher gal I’d like to be. That’s why I went on that sunset walk. I needed to breathe fresh air.

Ah, a beautiful clasping coneflower that thinks it’s spring.

I did discover multiple spring flowers starting to grow. I assume the next freeze will slow them down, but right now it’s spring-like.

Ah, before I forget, I got my “furniture” set up in the birding station. Two low stools are a table and footrest. They were a pain to put together because the legs are slanted, so I had to smoosh them together to get the bottoms to fit into the tops. I just about didn’t have the arm strength. But I prevailed.

I also got another weatherproof storage box that was easier to put together because it was cheap plastic. I will not store mouse food in it, just my binoculars and cushion in case of rain. It also can serve as visitor seating. So far, the only visitor has been Harvey.

I need to figure out what to do with the leftover wood. I’m not sure if there’s a plan to use it.

Notice that the inside walls are also finished. This is one classy outdoor folly. My friend Tandy says it looks like the stand where Lucy in Charlie Brown comics used to dispense her mental health advice.

I need a sign that says, “The birder is in” perhaps.

Thinking of all of you, especially those dealing with health challenges.

Sixty-four Bird Species!

Today was a fun one in the bird department! It was a beautiful day, and I guess the birds thought so, too.

Look at that bright sky and brilliant foliage.

I guess the birds are on the move or something. Of the incredible 64 species that either I saw or Merlin heard, there were even two hummingbirds! I know a few hang around during the winter, but I was surprised to see Merlin heard a Rufous Hummingbird! But, hey, it turns out that they do come through here in the winter! I wish I’d actually seen it.

Other birds that have shown up in the past few days are more expected, though I don’t know if we get Towhees and Juncos very often here (common elsewhere in Texas). It’s as if we had a sudden influx of the birds from further south and west.

My notebook. Three full columns is 60 birds. I do abbreviate many names, just like Amy Tan.

Ones with an x in front are new this month, though I think the Brown Thrasher was here not too long ago. I love writing down the birds every day. It only matters to me, but it brings me joy to track their comings and goings on this one little spot where three habitats meet and there are many natural food choices. It’s not going to get written up for science, but it interests me (and a couple of you).

I’m almost done with my first pretty bird notebook. I’ll have to choose one with a winter bird on the cover next.

Other than birding and working, I enjoyed spotting a few intrepid flowers still blooming. I meant to capture some dandelions but forgot. All these cheer me up, though.

As always, it’s good to have nature to distract me from…I guess, nature. Something has given me a stuffy head this week (Lee, too) and today my ears were clogged. We assume it’s an allergen, though maybe we got a virus while camping with all those germy people (just kidding).

I was around more people this evening, as I learned about bears at the Master Naturalist meeting. No one breathed too hard on me.

So why am I blogging with this sinus headache? I’ll be back soon!

Sometimes It’s Hard to Leave

But then it’s good to be back

That’s the story of my day. Lee and I were enjoying our time together in Blanco and almost decided to stay until tomorrow, but we dragged ourselves home. That’s probably for the best, given the strong winds blowing in that early cold front.

I still managed to get in a walk to the only trail I’d missed on this visit, which allowed me to enjoy the resident non-native geese.

And since I figured out Bluetooth on the upgraded camera body, I can now share images from it and the phone. I’m glad I took it on my walk, and look forward to trying the other lenses. I just took the standard one. It took nice tree photos. I was captivated by cypress and sycamore trees.

I also enjoyed leaves, lots of leaves.

Berries? Want to see berries?

Here are other interesting sights and some new ones for me.

And finally, I can share that I was happy to enjoy the windy morning (very few birds), but a bit sad to say goodbye to Jennifer, even though I know I’ll see her at least a couple more times before she moves away. Sniff.

The dogs were glad to see us, as was the human resident, when we got home. I should have more than just photos tomorrow. At least it will be photos of something that is not next to a river.

One More Good Day at the River

I’m not kidding. If I lived on one of these Texas Hill Country Rivers like the Blanco, you’d find me every day sitting under a huge bald cypress tree looking at the river life, marveling at the life within the moving water.

I spent a great deal of time this morning just watching fish being fish. It makes me miss my aquariums.

Look at these bluegill beside a cypress.

The morning was magical in many ways, from the light shining on grasses to meeting some interesting Master Naturalists and birders. That’s one reason I love visiting state parks! It’s so much. Fun to talk about what birds and plants we have on our land.

I did find birds farther down the pump house trail, where my binoculars let me enjoy the crown of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, who also sang his entire repertoire for me.

I also managed to find some palafox and skeleton flowers, which was a pleasant pink surprise.

After that walk, I uploaded everything to iNaturalist until I was invited to lead a nature walk by some fellow campers. We went on the trail that goes under the highway, and I showed them the things I found yesterday as well as finding new plants and a Greylag Goose.

Later in the day I practiced taking pictures with Lee’s newest camera, once I got some help with the settings. Another reason it’s nice to see old friends again. I’d share photos, but they aren’t showing up for me.

I also have no photos of the enjoyable potluck dinner this evening. I got to meet some very interesting newer members and their fun kids and dogs, and enjoyed catching up with others. I’m glad I was able to be more social and really get into some meaningful exchanges.

I’m really going to hate to leave tomorrow, but since the temperatures are going to drop I will need to go bring in some plants. I’ll miss the fish, though.

Autumn in Texas

November in the part of the world where I live is our prettiest autumn month. If the leaves on the deciduous trees are going to change colors before they fall off, now’s the time for them to do it. Sometimes a freeze comes, turns them all mushy brown, and that’s it for leaves.

We are back at Llano State Park, because that’s where our friend Jennifer chose for the fall campout for our former UU church. Those of us who moved to Cameron still tag along (that’s us, Martha, and Mike). I still know a few campers, and I enjoy meeting some new people. Usually. Today I could only take small doses.

This is one beautiful, clear river, and it’s not crowded this time of year.

Yes, it’s a great time to camp in Texas. Last night was lovely sleeping with the windows open, and it wasn’t too hot today. It looks like an early (for us) freeze may be coming to knock all those leaves off, so Jennifer picked a good weekend.

Today I got a little stressed due to lots of work stuff and worrying about all the motorhome issues. Work ended up ok, and Lee managed to find a guy to come figure out why our air conditioning and chassis power weren’t working. That’s good, because getting in and out of Seneca takes a lot of upper body strength when the stairs won’t come down.

All the church people thought the repair truck was an ambulance!

The guy did a very good job, and Lee is planning to drive Seneca back around here to his repair place to get the numerous other issues we have fixed. That will make me feel better.

Also making me feel better was getting my tree art hung in the wall. We got rid of an ugly clock.

I did a bit of walking, as you can see from the photos. It was such a beautiful day that it was hard to stay all worried. There were some birds, and I got to see many of them. At least one Carolina Wren was VERY friendly.

I’ll go visit the bird blind tomorrow. And I’ll try to be more outgoing. I did stop and talk to people, but wasn’t up for group activities. We just went to dinner at the same place we ate last time. I believe they make the best charro beans I ever ate. Texas Cannon Brewing.

No photos of dinner but here’s a very long picnic table built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

I’m looking forward to another day on the river. The water is very clear. I could see fish and watched a young turtle swimming around. I hope you enjoy some of my sights from today.

Outdoor Projects Moving Forward

I didn’t write last night because I was chatting with my family. This makes me think blogging is what I do when there’s no one to talk to. Perhaps two occasions of that happening in one week aren’t enough data for such a sad interpretation. It is not the case that I have so few people to talk to in real life that I chat with an unknown audience. I have both friends and readers, many of whom ARE friends or step-sisters.

The weather is probably making me weird(er) today. It kept acting like it wanted to rain, then just displaying attractive clouds to distract me from the projects I was planning to talk about.

Before the projects, I’ll share a story of mama cows who are brave. There was a new tan calf this morning and I saw the vultures heading over to the pond to bother the mom and baby. Vultures look beautiful in morning light with dark clouds behind them (last tree photo above was the setting). The mother cow was looking unhappy and let out a weird short moo.

In response I hear hooves. The new white calf is running toward the new family. That calf is quite the zippy little thing. Her mother was right behind, mooing loudly. Mama walked right up to the vultures, lowered her big bovine head, and shooed the birds away. So much flapping! After that, everyone settled down for peaceful nursing and grazing.

Okay, so I did leave the ranch in time to do some volunteering over at the Wildscape project with some of the Master Naturalist chapter. There was a large pile of dirt to spread over a weed barrier, and there was also some cleanup to do as the team gets ready to plant new pollinator-attracting plants for the H-E-B pollinator grant we got.

I was not very helpful, but I did take some unofficial photos of everyone working.

Then I ran off to the bird sanctuary, which is hanging in there without our help. I wandered off to the area where prairie is being restored and found myself all alone and unable to see signs of humanity other than fences. That was good energy for the new year (Samhain and Día de Los Muertes).

I did go back and interact with people, plus get to connect with my friends Ann and Donna, who have been dealing with health issues that annoy them.

I’m glad I got to go help a little, even though it meant I missed a funeral. Lee was able to attend and convey my condolences, though. I always feel a lot of sympathy for spouses who are left alone after many years. I’m glad our friend who lost his wife has a large supportive family.

When I got home from my errands, I got to watch more work being done on my birding station. They had to go back for more wood again—I think the design has been refined. I was told the project just eats wood. Anyway, it now has siding along the bottom, so there’s just top and roof left, I think.

Exciting stuff, huh.