birds – The Hermits' Rest

Geez. I care about my phone.

What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

Why do I hold my phone dear? It is my memory. It contains all my photos, all my communication with friends, access to my memories in the blog…and yes, I can get to all those things from my laptop. Yuck. I think I hold some bits and bytes or whatever cloud storage is made of. That’s really depressing. What else do I hold dear? Things made by my loved ones. My mom and stepmom’s art. Dad’s woodcraft stuff. Gifts they gave me. Things that tie me to them.

New thought: I’ve started letting myself write in incomplete sentences! They’ll soon be taking away my Grammar Police badge. My take is that the incomplete sentences are not as unpleasant as those two blogs I dictated and then was too woozy to properly review. Poor Sue had to endure proofreading that. I don’t pay her well enough for that! (I do not pay Sue; she’s just nice.)

Another part of the phone I love is the camera. I was at a Master Naturalist outing at my friend Carolyn’s place, which I’ve showed you before. I got some images I really liked there. I don’t need to show you all 125 species or 25 birds I recorded, but I want to share a few for those of you who always want more nature pictures.

Purple Pleatleaf (***Alophia drummondii)***

This one was new to me. It’s an evening primrose that grows five feet tall. Wow.

Four point evening primrose (***Oenothera rhombipetala)***

And here are a few more plants.

We also saw lots of animal life. There was more than I expected, especially the suspiciously friendly raccoon. But it’s harmless.

Other animal news? No one’s come looking for Benny. He’s still over here trying to hump Carlton.

What bugs me?

Quickly, since the weather’s turning icky again.

Mosquitoes. They ate what bugs me. Of course they aren’t bugs. They are insects. We are overrun with them right now thanks to the previous storm and a much smaller barn swallow population than usual. I guess our new porch miffed them by taking two prime nesting spots away.

After riding around in the pasture on Sunday looking at the grass situation, then pulling a lot of weeds yesterday, I’m covered with bites. And once I get a certain amount of Culex spit in me, the itching is unbearable. I start to feel better, then more arrive. Gonna have to use all my organic and scary repellent methods. I have few bite-free surfaces. Ugh.

I’m sure glad my honorary daughter gave birth to her chunky and adorable son safely today. That helps balance out the sad things from yesterday. I guess I was on target yesterday !

Hey, Sweetums, the babies need to be fed and I’m exhausted.

Stay safe if storms, fires, random shootings, or killer mosquitoes are after you. Remember I care, even if I don’t know you in real life. You matter.

And Carlton would lick you if you were here. But he’s hiding from thunder right now.

Purple Martin Mania

I’m still easily tired and low on energy, but I’m glad I was able to go to see the incredible Purple Mountain colony maintained by Mike McCormick and his family near Buckholts. Not only were the birds (a type of swallow) beautiful to watch, but I enjoyed finding plenty of plants, too.

Two stunning males taking a break from insect hunting.

This huge setup of houses and a “condo” is one of the largest in the US. It’s the result of a lifetime of work. We are lucky to be nearby and that our Master Naturalist group has been friends for years.

The setting couldn’t be more beautiful, in a hilly ranch with mixed fields and woods. There are plenty of ponds to attract insects and keep the birds hydrated.

Pond, cattle, and chickens share the land with martins.

It’s a lot of work maintaining all the nest sites, but it’s a labor of love for the whole family. They’ve been responsible for many Martin housing innovations that they share with others, too. There’s a devoted group of Martin lovers throughout North America who provide homes for these birds while the raise their babies each summer who share information.

Two females in the condo, taking a break from egg incubation.

I enjoyed learning new things about these birds, which surprised me since I’ve been educated often about them. For example, larger hawks ignore them, but Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned find martins tasty. Ah, nature.

The houses and condo unit. It holds lots of birds. There are up to 2,000 pairs in good years.

I couldn’t resist the other life around the property. There were plenty of hens and roosters, plus chicks. And there were beautiful white domestic doves fluttering around (as well as Mourning, White Winged, and Inca Doves). The shed area had Barn Swallows nesting in it, so we got to watch them zooming around, too. And a pretty brave rabbit.

After I got tired of being around people, I walked on the little nature trail they’ve built since I was last there. It has very nice bathrooms, too. I had lots of fun adding 75 or so observations for iNaturalist on the trail and in the fields, when I wasn’t distracted by how beautiful the views of the countryside were.

It is a privilege to see this place again and to learn even more about these migratory birds and the environment where they spend their spring and summer, after flying in from Brazil.

Moving mud around

No blog yesterday, because the day didn’t feature anything worth mentioning to the blogosphere. Today wasn’t much more exciting, since I was mostly problem solving issues of no interest to anyone other than me and a couple of coworkers. At least my mind is occupied!

Some birds are still hiding. This Green Heron thought it was invisible.

It’s been a nice couple of days full of interesting birds, like a Canada Warbler, which of course didn’t pose. We’re getting quite a variety these days.

I enjoyed a visit with this friendly Lark Sparrow. They are brave little guys.

The highlight of the day, at least for those of us in the household who do horse care, is that more work is being done around the pens (rain slowed progress down, but all the rails are back up!). I heard noises outside, and when I checked it out, the tractor was busy moving dirt from the big pile that created our tiny pond into the pens.

The dirt has smoothed out the areas than have sunken in since Kathleen bought sand to put in the pens when they were first finished. The mud from rains, especially where it dripped off the shelter roof, is very slick and no fun for horses or people.

We hope this will help drainage, but it’s been pointed out that the new dirt will just make new and different puddles. And it’s darned clay-ish in this part of the property.

Butterflies drink from the clay mud. It has minerals.

It sounds like the shelter extension will go up soon. It will have a gutter that will drain away from the pens and give the horses a much nicer shelter and a dry shaded place for grooming, hoof trimming, and veterinary stuff.

Bonus photo of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

There are even rumors of a concrete pad for bathing. I don’t know…that sounds awfully fancy! It’s fun to dream of, though. And Apache could sure use a bath!

Getting a Little Jumpy

Though it’s been two whole days since anything weird happened at the ranch, I’m on high alert. Any sudden movement gets me on defense. That has included swooping Barn Swallows, a deer in a field, and an owl on a fence post suddenly turning its head.

Most of this is normal, though the owl was pretty cool.

This Black Caterpillar Hunter didn’t set me off. I thought it was interesting.

I’ve been throwing myself into work, which is useful. And coaching coworkers does keep my mind off potential threats. But the minute I’m outside I’m watching for anything amiss. I’ll get over it after a few days.

Worst, we were watching our nightly television hour, when we heard loud screams. It wasn’t our TV, or the one in the bedroom. We ran outside to see if someone was hurt, then it became clear that our coyote neighbors were closer than usual. One coyote can sound a lot like someone screaming. It got my blood pumping!

I will do some breathing exercises after I finish this.

Today’s best news is I felt well enough to go eat some Mexican food with Lee. I sure enjoyed my tacos al pastor.

Bird Stories

Warning: I have some pain in my index finger, probably from writing on my phone. Yes. I use my index finger. So the fun stories I was going to share must wait.

I should have spent more time sitting on a rock watching the river flow. But no, much keyboarding occurred.

It was misty again most of today but I went for a couple of walks anyway. The park was nice and empty, which made it easier to hear and see birds. One group of birds I enjoyed was the swallows. In the tent camping area next to ours, I saw many Cliff Swallows swirling around. I realized they probably live under the nearby bridge.

You can sorta see the bridge behind the outcropping of rocks and shrubs.

I was proud to ID them by sight and sound before checking Merlin. Square tails were the helpful feature.

Back on our camping loop I saw a group of barn swallows pecking near the mud puddle that kids played in over the weekend. I thought that was strange since they have plenty of clean water in the Frío River.

I later saw Cliff Swallows there, but by the time I got my camera out, all that was left was a White-winged Dove. Darn.

Anyway, when I got back to our site, I looked to see what Merlin had picked up. I saw the app had put one of its bird trivia videos up, which I usually delete. But this one was on Cliff Swallows, so I read it.

Well. Now I know what those birds were up to, collecting nest material! I should have known that. it’s always good to learn something new.

Another quick bird story. I saw the Park Host taking a rag out from under his car. I asked him why he stored rags there, and he laughingly told me it was to keep wrens from nesting in there. He can’t get them to stop trying (thankfully, he’s heading to another park tomorrow.) Wrens are quite persistent. I thought it was a fun story to share with Lee.

Then I came back and worked a bit. Lee went outside to escape my meetings. Soon, he returned with news. We have our own pair of Bewick Wrens building in the Jeep’s back bumper. Sigh. They’re so sweet but on a futile mission.

A pair of Bewick’s Wrens were busy all afternoon working on their project. They mostly chose the flower stalks off ball moss to take up to the Jeep.

Searching for sticks (both are in this photo)

I had fun watching them, Black-crested Titmice, Lark Sparrows, flycatchers, Cardinals, and Eastern Bluebirds for a long time in late afternoon, when the mist finally dissipated. I could just sit in my rocking chair and watch the bird show. Ahh.

I’ll share plants and more river stuff tomorrow. My hand is tired.

Lost among the Maples

The weather here at Garner State Park and surrounding areas was strange today. It started off misty and stayed misty/foggy all day. That’s not typical Texas Hill Country weather.

It made the hills look mysterious. This was mid afternoon, when fog has usually been burned off for a long time.

After a pleasant morning of coffee and birding, Lee took me to Lost Maples Natural Area, a place he’d been many times when he was younger, but I had never been. You may know of Lost Pines, which we’ve visited many times. Both places have remnants of the forest that was in Texas the last time it was much cooler.

The trees in this preserve are still around because they’re surrounded by hills and have a river in the middle, which creates a perfect microclimate for bigtooth maples. The area is extremely popular in the fall when the trees turn colors, so coming in spring is a much better idea for us hermits. The mist also helped keep away crowds, but didn’t distract from the spectacular scenery.

The Sabinal River was fun to cross repeatedly.

We did a mile walk, which was a bit challenging for Lee with the rocks and water crossings, but I’m glad he could join me, because this is such a special place.

In addition to the plentiful maples, there were many fun plants to spot along the trail. The most spectacular sight was Scarlet Leatherflower (Clematis texensis) which attracted hummingbirds like crazy.

Best I could do. More flower photos later.

I also found out the identity of the yellow flowering plants growing out of all the rock faces along the road, Lindheimer’s rockdaisy (Laphamia lindheimeri). It only grows in this area, the Edwards Pkateau.

One more I’d like to highlight, because it was new to me, was the Texas Mock Orange (Philadelphus texensis), which is a pretty shrub with white flowers that do resemble citrus blossoms. I didn’t get close enough to sniff the flowers to see if they smell as good as orange flowers. It’s related to hydrangeas.

There were many more interesting plants, so I’ll do a photo dump. I do want to add that there were also interesting birds, including only my second ever observation of a Golden-cheeked Warbler and many striking Black-and-White Warblers. I got to see Yellow-breasted Chats, too, which I usually just hear. But since the only bird photos I got were of blurry hummingbirds, here’s another Vermilion Flycatcher that posed for me back at Garner.

Mostly, we gawked at the scenery, switching our focus from trail to hills to river. This is a special place, and there are much longer trails, so if you ever get to Vanderpool, Texas, do stop by. It’s the only thing in Vanderpool, Texas, but I like it because I had a teen crush on a curly-haired musician with that last name. Anyway, here’s some scenery.

I know, quote the photo dump. It’s just so pretty! And for my reference, here are more interesting plants. I’ll spare you oak trees and grasses. These are the most interesting to me.

All in all, it was a great day to be outdoors and geek out over plants and birds. And rivers and hills. We are here until Tuesday, so maybe I’ll see some more interesting stuff tomorrow!

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!

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!

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.