Category Archives: Southwest trip 4

“They Only Go After the Old and Slow”

Several year ago, we were camping at Brazos Bend State Park, south of Houston, where there were lots of birds but also lots of big alligators. It was later in the year and the guys would bellow their mating calls and they all hung out on the banks, and even the trails. I recall whipping around a corner on my bike and skidding to a stop (with the dog attached) as a big ‘gator blocked my way. I decided that the long way home was the smart route.

I thought that they were sort of cool but Mary really disliked them, and the park. She was talking to a ranger one day about them when he said, "Ma’am, they only go after the old and the slow!" Moi?

It was like "Take a number, gator, some not-so-spry food is on the way." We’ll never go back there.

So, that’s been a running (excuse the pun) joke with us ever since. And I thought about it the other day when I encountered this sign at Alligator Lake at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

It is mid-January and I figured everything was dormant until our group came to an opening and across the water was this big guy/gal enjoying the sunshine. Our guide explained that they hardly move this time of year but come Spring when the gators get active, the Yellow-crowned Night Herons and others that roost there vacate to other gator-free ponds in the park to nest.

The night-heron was my ninth life bird of the trip so far. I have missed a couple that Mary saw but we have a few days left here.
World Life List

1 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Estero Llano Grande SP WBC (LTC 054) US-TX 15 Jan 2014

2 Sora Estero Llano Grande SP WBC (LTC 054) US-TX 15 Jan 2014

3 Tropical Kingbird Estero Llano Grande SP WBC (LTC 054) US-TX 15 Jan 2014

4 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet Bentsen-Rio Grande Val. SP WBC (Mission) US-TX 12 Jan 2014

5 Least Grebe Edinburg Scenic Wetlands WBC (LTC 061) US-TX 10 Jan 2014

6 Black Phoebe Bentsen-Rio Grande Val. SP WBC (Mission) (LTC 069) US-TX 08 Jan 2014

7 Green Parakeet Americana RV Park US-TX 07 Jan 2014

8 White-tailed Hawk 26.4828x-98.3865 – Jan 6, 2014, 12:48 PM US-TX 06 Jan 2014

9 Horned Lark 26.4828x-98.3865 – Jan 6, 2014, 12:48 PM

I have 109 birds in the County so far and am aiming for 115. It’s no wonder birders flock to the Valley.

More Rio Grande Valley Birds

The Green Parakeets were cool the first day or so but their noisy frenetic flying, throughout the day, is getting a bit old. However, like with many flocks of swirling birds, I wonder how they signal turns and swoops and dives. These guys chatter a lot but I don’t think it’s "Break right and dive toward that guy and dog" that they are calling out.

We’ve been going to some of the many birding sites and done a few bird walks. We have to manage the dog so often, I’ll ask Mary to take the walk while I go separately with Penny. I have used our bike setup a couple of times which gives her a workout. Yesterday, I came up on a perched hawk, stopped for a look but the squeaking front brake flushed it.

As we headed out the other morning, this coyote just stared whileI took long distance shots – then he just ambled off.

We see a lot of egrets – I had a wonderful Great Egret shot which I accidentally deleted from the camera. This Snowy Egret was also cooperative:

Monday, we birded for a while at a County Park not far away. Two British birders, who I had met the day before, showed us this Eastern Screech Owl in a tree right in the middle of the park. Talk about protective coloration!

This Green Kingfisher was in poor light but dove and got a fish just after I took this shot.

Driving along, it is common to see American Kestrel perched on wires. Perhaps these are the same ones we see in Vermont in summer.

And every so often, you get a reminder that this not New England birding:

Birding in Telcel Land

We are close to Mexico, in fact today I biked with Penny in mid-70’s weather (sorry, that’s a bit mean for our NE friends) down the Bentsen State Park trails, and hiked a mile to the Rio Grande. Aside from hot and dry and old flood debris, it was pretty plain – except for the birds.

However, as you get close to the border, the Mexican telephone system Telcel, grabs your signal and suddenly you are getting warnings about roaming charges. It’s a little maddening, especially in the midlle of a call. I just turn my phone off until I get a few miles north.

We are ensconced in a small RV park which is a first for us. It is an interesting mix of old geezers looking for the best buffet, and birders, looking for all the specialties of the Valley. Mary and I awake to the calls of Golden-fronted Woodpeckers and Great Kiskadees and periodically through the day, to the noise of fast-flying Green Parakeets.

At the risk of boring our non-birding friends, here are a few shots from the last two days. The first is a Northern Mockingbird, the state bird of Texas:

A local specialty is the rather rare Clay-colored Thrush, which acts like an American Robin but looks like its name:

Yesterday, I went for an early bird walk in rather chilly foggy temperatures. The ranger brought us to this well-hidden Eastern Screech Owl which we likely would have just walked by:

Greater Kiskadees, with their color and noise, are everywhere. These were drying their wings, as cormorants do, this morning:

I remember the first Crested Caracaras we saw the first time we came to Texas. We could not identify this regal bird which sat on fence posts along the highway. Now, they are sort of ho-hum. Here are a couple perched in a tree this morning:

And lastly, the Green Parakeets, who came from escapees originally but have adapted to the "wild" like House Sparrows and European Starlings. Here, they paused for a bit before launching on their next frenetic flight:

This afternoon, we headed out to a "farm-to-market" busineess to get some fruit – a large bag of Pink Grapefruit and one of Navel Oranges. We won’t be getting scurvy on this trip. Bon voyage.

Southern Birding – Why We Travel

I think it was the dozen Eastern Bluebirds I saw as we drove in to Harrison Bay State Park in Tennessee, or else the flock of Pine Warblers at Clarko State Park in Missisippi, but about the turn of the year, it was obvious that "We are not in Kansas anymore." In the first four days of the year, I picked up 65 species, mostly birding as I walked the dog after the day’s travel.

One of the birds I see at every stop is the Eastern Phoebe – this is a Mississippi bird:

As a pilot, I was trained to keep a continuous scan pattern going, and I try to apply it driving. Check the road, the mirrors, the speed, and the fields and air for birds. I know the dangers of texting or talking on a phone – it is obvious when I see speed changes or lane weaving. Birding can be just as distracting if you are the driver so I stick to stuff in front of us. On a stretch on I-10 through Louisiana, I got Cattle Egrets, a Great White Egret that flew up in front of us, several Red-tailed Hawks, some Black-crowned Night Herons, and some Great-tailed Grackles at the rest stops.

We are in Goliad State Park in Texas and leave Monday for a two-week stay in Mission, where we will join some birder friends and immerse ourselves into the special place of the Valley. We have been without wifi for a week and our working off the iPads with crappy 4G coverage – but here, if I can upload them, are some bird shots from the last few days.

While birding with Penny on a trail at Village Creek State Park in Texas, I heard an unfamilier call and then this Eastern Towhee popped up:

Here at Goliad, there are many Ladder-backed Woodpeckers. The size of a Downy, they move a lot and are hard to photograph. This one is on the move:

Early Sunday morning, I saw this Red-shouldered Hawk before it saw me, and I got a great look – until the dog spooked it. I was able to get a long-range shot although it was watching us like a ….. hawk:

There are hundreds ot Turkey Vultures circling all day – right out of a Hitchcock film. In the morning, the trees are draped with them. Here are some getting ready for bedtime:

One of my favorite southern birds is the Great Kiskadee. They are noisy, colorful, and rather plentiful along the Rio Grande, and after a while, easy to take for granted. I hadn’t seen one in two years and didn’t expect them up in Goliad – so it was quite a pleasant surprise to hear their call and then see a pair. This one waited patiently for a long-range photo op.

The park ranger warned us this afternoon that it was going down to freezing tonight and that we might want to let our water hoses drip. There is a cold snap (for South Texas) coming but we are moving southward in the morning and should be ok. I stored my winter stuff in the truck today – Mary, who is wiser, is keeping hers close by for another few days.

Bumper Tag

Dear Mayor of the City of Laurel, Mississippi: "I’m sorry about the scrape marks and gouge my Airstream left on 32nd Avenue but you really need to make those gutter ditches a little shallower."

Yes, we had a little "issue" turning into the driveway of our friens, Jason and Kevin, when we stopped for brunch the other day. It was a narrow street and a deep rain gutter before the driveway and sure enough, I heard and felt the rear end scrape on the pavement as we made the turn. Our back bumper got adjusted a bit and now looks like this:

We had a wonderful meal, with no skimping on calories, and enjoyed seeing our dear friends. Then, it was off for Louisiana. I didn’t dare back up and do more damage, so they offered to allow us to drive over the lawn, saying that it was pretty firm. Jason got some 2x8s to fill in the ditch where we would cross and aside from one tire spin (I should have used 4WD) the exit was easy. We did leave them a tire track to remember us by. And we have a souvenir as well, a nice splattering of southern clay, thrown up by the truck tires on to the Airstream.

We are now in Texas, heading to Mission in the morning. It was nice to get off I-10 and through Houston. Temperature was 73 yesterday although the stiff wind made the wind chill about 55. Cooler today but nothing like our VT friends are enduring.

A Look Back and Birding Goals for 2014

Last year, I decided to do an informal County Big Year in my home county since we were not heading out for the winter. It was successful in spite of operations, injections, and general immobility for over two months. I ended up with 154 species, tied for second place with a birder friend, and probably missed a dozen during the spring and fall migrations. I was very pleased with the results.

I ended up with 179 species for the year, most of the rest being in Massachusetts.

I only added six life birds with the best being a Northern Shrike – a nemisis bird which, after I got it, seemed to pop up everywhere, including our back yard.

The best bird of the year for me, like many other birders this year, was the Snowy Owl I found in December.

2014 Goals

Since we are enroute to Texas and Arizona, New Mexico, and southern California, I am raising my sights. Here’s what I am aiming for:

  • 250 species for the year

  • 50 new life birds (come on, you Western birds!)

  • Five counties with at least 100 species (Starr & Aransas in Texas, Essex in Massachusetts, Washington & Caledonia in Vermont)

  • Explore 25 under-birded areas in the Northeast

So, I’m off to a good start with 27 species on the first dauy of 2014. I don’t get crazy about the numbers, they are just fun targets. Today, my best birding moment was the 15 minutes I watched Cedar Waxwings and American Robins work over a choke-cherry tree with Yellow-rumps diving into the fray from time to time. It was an avian fast food frenzy.

We are off to Louisiana in the morning, hoping to see a pair of Great-horned Owls who in the past, have raised families there. What are your birding goals for the New Year?

Last Bird Outing of 2013

It was frosty in Tennessee this morning as Penny and I toured the nearly-vacant grounds of the Harrison Bay State Park. She could race off leash over massive parking lots and playing fields. It’s fun to imagine the thousands that visit it on a summer day.

Eight or ten Eastern Bluebirds greeted us, starting the day off well. Kinglets, warblers, woodpeckers, and several noisy Carolina Wrens were out and about.

We buttoned up the rig and were off to deal with the traffic of Chattanooga, then Birmingham, then Tuscaloosa, before hitting the Mississippi line and heading down to Clarko State Park. The trip was fairly easy and without incidents. I must say that Alabama drivers are a lot like Mass. drivers: to signal a lane change is a sign of weakness. And yahoos in the South who text or talk on cells drive just erratically as their northern kind.

I had time for one last birding outing with Penny this year so once I got the Airstream settled, off we went. We have been here before and found the birding good. Today was no exception – no sooner had I headed out when we flushed an owl just 50 yards from our site. It flew right in front of me and I tried to make it a Short-eared but the habitat was wrong and then it perched and it was obviously a Barred Owl – still a neat bird. The bird was obscured by branches which drove the auto-focus crazy but I got a shot for the record:

Barred Owl in MS

We had a nice mix of birds but the final ones were the best: very active Pileated Woodpeckers beating the heck out of pines. They are so much fun to watch and these were so busy that they seemed to ignore us. The flash of their red is spectacular. Here is a poor shot through the trees:

Pileated Woodpecker at work

So we end 2013 – a year that I missed several months of birding due to injuries to my neck and my knee. It will be fun to use eBird to analyze my results for the year and set some goals for 2014. With new states of AZ, NM, and CA up ahead, it should be a good year. I hope it will be for you.

A Riveting Day

It’s never a good thing when a trucker passes you, tooting his truck’s horn, and pointing back toward your rig. The only time this has happened to us was on I-10 outside Baton Rouge and we made an emergency pullover to find our heavy electrical cord had got loose, had draged along chafing the plug connectors to nubbins. Well, we had a similar event today outside Knoxville.

I had thought that the trailer was acting a little squirrelly but once warned, I grabbed an exit, looking for a place to stop and look, and ended up in the parking lot of Tennessee RV Sales. As we stopped, I told Mary that I was almost afraid to go back and look.

The rear part of the belly pan had broken loose and was dragging on the road. Heavy rains had soaked the insulation and the weight had caused the collapse. I didn’t even think of trying to get the service guys to fix it – on the day before New Year’s Eve – plus, I’m a Vermonter – we fix things ourselves (sometimes not a smart idea.)

It was 38 degrees with a wind but Mary and I tackled it. She stuffed the insulation into garbage bags while I hunted for tools and stuff in the truck cap. Fortuntely, I had bought new drill bits and brought the riveting stuff and after a half hour of grunting, dropping rivets with numb fingers, I had four good rivets through the frame and we were on our way. I’ll look at the pan when I get to warmer climes but I think we are OK.

Yesterday’s trip was mostly in rain, very heavy at times. The truck traffic, even on a Sunday, was nasty as they threw up geysers of spray. We stopped overnight in the parking lot of a small Walmart in Marion, VA. It had this Sonic burger joint across the street so we had the faint noise of folks ordering from the takeout spots – always reminds us of that wonderful Peter, Paul, & Mary routine – called Paultalk.

Today’s leg, aside from the mishap, was easy. We finally got off I-81 and tonight, are in Harrison Bay State Park outside Chattanooga. We have stayed here before and it’s a little decrepit but there’s water, power, and hot showers. We de-winterized the trailer and are ready to rock and roll. I took Penny on a walk just before dark and saw a bunch of birds – including some real active Golden-crowned Kinglet and my first- of-year Carolina Chickadees. Off to Mississippi in the morning.

Leg 2 – On The Way

After a wonderful Christmas visit to Jennifer, Ben, & Mac – where we went to a frenzied but fun church pagaent, participated in a memorable Christmas buffet coked by iron chef Ben, and had lunch with our dear friends, the Russell’s, we headed out from MA Saturday morning. (this was after several days of thawing out the Airstream, loading gear, and finally, hoooking up Friday night.)

My plan was to leave Saturday to avoid the heavy commuting traffic on I-495 beltway, and later, through the I -84 passage of Hartford, CT. That worked as planned – we lauched at 7:50 AM and the first few hours were easy. The truck pulled well, the weather was great, and things were rosy – until Danbury, just before the NY border.

I have decided that there are too many people and too many cars in the Northeast. I noted a warning sign saying, "traffic congestion Exits 3-1" and shortly thereafter, a long line of stopped cars and trucks. It was awful – extremely slow moving with no relief. (I later realized that it was caused by the I-184 exit down to New York city.)

Finally, I came to an exit and got out of the mess, made a wrong turn, explores some new industrial parks, and eventually, with Mary’s help on the iPad, got into another slow moving stream on a small road that followed I-84. We were moving and soon, travelling at 50 mph. We entered the Interstate just before the Beacon-Newburg bridge and off we went westward. After fueling (don’t ask) we stopped for a lunch break at spot where Penny could get a short run, and we could sort-off picnic outdoors in the 50 degree weather.

I had never driven I-84 in PA over to Scranton – it was hilly, lightly travelled, and an easy drive. The entrance on to I-81 was smooth (the interminable construction seems done) and soon we were cruising toward Wilkes-Barre, until we weren’t. Again, an abrupt stop, two long lines of stopped vehicles, and a long wait. A police cruiser raced by on the shoulder and we crawlwd, for a half hour. It was a minor accident that clogged things, and then it was the typical I-81 rat race of many trucks heading toward Harrisburg.

Ten miles north, I saw another electric sign: "watch for slow traffic due to an incident at exit 77). Great! What a trip this was turning out to be. Six miles or so out, we hit stopped traffic, that crawled ahead, but then loosened up for a few miles. Then, three miles north of Exit 77, we hit another long line and spotting an exit, headed off to try something, anything. Mary launched her iPad, which was getting low on juice, and I spotted a possible alternate route. No one else was taking it – now I know why. It was a Vermont-type narrow wingong road – a challenge hauling a trailer at times – but damn it, we were heading west and not just sitting there. There was no internet signal so the iPad essentially said, "You’re on your own, folks" as we wended our way through parts of PA we had never seen, and hope not to see again.

We made it to Harrisburg, joined the trucks and cars heading south, never really knowing whether my "shortcut" was worth it. About an hour later, we pulled off at Chambersburg, ans found the Walmart where we have overnighted before. Saturday night brings out all the country kids with their tune-up pickup trucks so we went to bed to the sound of noisy exhaust pipes, and slept quite well.

This leg was planned to be our toughest of the trip – just get out of the winter weather. I never anticipated the extra several hours due to traffic. Today (Sunday) is a shorter run down I-81 to another Walmart in Virginia. It’s raining, and will much of the trip today but it will help remove the road salt from the trailer. I hear a crow calling and of course, Penny has to growl at it. After more coffee and yogurt, we’ ll ease out of here and be traversing Maryland, West Virginia before lunch. Traffic should be light on Sunday (famous last words.)

Stuff-A-Truck

Knowing that Monday was the departure date, I started packing the truck three or four days in advance, starting with the trailer spare tire, generator, compressor, solar panel, and two bikes.  Right away, I knew I was in trouble, space-wise.

I had moved the Airstream to Massachusetts a few weeks back — a very smart move in retrospect given our snowstorms, then ice storms, and generally crappy weather.  However, we didn’t get a chance to load a lot of stuff we still needed at home, and could not leave food and other items in an unheated Airstream — so we had a lot of stuff to lug.

Mary had a Christmas Cactus and a Poinsettia in wastepaper baskets, plus two Red Hen pies, and dog biscuits next to her -- we used every bit of space.

Mary had a Christmas Cactus and a Poinsettia in wastepaper baskets, plus two Red Hen pies, and dog biscuits next to her — we used every bit of space.

I won’t bore you with the details but I started Sunday afternoon and began again early Monday, stashing stuff in ceiling-high layers in the truck cap.  I wore knee pads as I crawled in and hoisted items, fitting last-minute things in through the side windows.  Mary got very sick of me saying, “I have no idea where that is going to fit!”

Half of the space Penny normally has was filled with gear -- she just curled up and slept.

Half of the space Penny normally has was filled with gear — she just curled up and slept.

I jammed and stuffed and got the tailgate shut.  I had to try the back window a few times but got that closed and locked and we were good to go.  (I should have taken a picture – it was packed to the gills.)

We crept down our icy driveway — which was in fairly good shape after I scraped it with the Kubota Sunday and soon through Montpelier and on our way south.

It rained, with some freezing rain, the whole trip.  The temperature hovered around 32-33 and there were many warnings of freezing rain but no issues.  The truck seemed to run a bit rough in heavy rain — which I read is a problem with some F-150’s.  It was fine when the rain let up.

Unloading in cold rain was not much fun but we have a little heat in the Airstream, much of our gear is in there in boxes and bags, and we have several days to sort things out.  We’ll stay in Jen’s house given the cold temperatures, icy rain, and lack of electricity but we are launched.  I only had to leave one small toolbox behind — and our rusty old propane grill — so we’ll celebrate Christmas here in Merrimac and head westward, then southward, on Saturday.  Merry Christmas.