After five days of grey skies and cold temperatures, the Christmas-like scenery outside is getting a bit old and our thoughts are turning more and more to the Southwest. I have planned out the trip as far as Mission, Texas and in talking to a guy today about reservations, I decided not to ask him the temperature. I knew from checking weather reports, that it was about fifty degrees higher than here.
As I planned the trip through Houston down to Rockport, I smiled as I thought of one of our favorite gas stops — Buc-ees in Wharton, Texas. Mary jots down some of their signs that line the highway as we approach — thus the title of this post. Another one she noted was “‘Restrooms that make Mom smile.”
The store’s bathrooms have nice accoutrements, such as spacious closets instead of tiny stalls and art on the inside walls, as well as state-of-the-art, motion-activated sinks, toilets and hand-dryers. And they are very clean. photo courtesy of Buc-ees.
Buc-ees does not provide services or parking for 18-wheelers so there is a more family-friendly feel to the large convenience stores. They sell everything from outdoor clothing, souvenirs, and all sorts of road gear but you don’t go there for an organic low cal lunch. I swear I gain a couple of pounds just walking in the door past the assortment of comfort food — Texas-style. Here’s a section of their online recipe book as an example.
I’m glad that my cardiologist doesn’t read my blog.
Here are some of the neat signs that this great chain is known for.
Gas stops can be quite depressing — but I must say that we always leave Buc-ees with a “what a place!” feeling. There are always people cleaning, walking around picking up trash, just paying attention to detail. It’s a great success story in South Texas and safe enough if you sneak past the culinary temptations that abound. (Caramel and butter-glazed corn puffs known as “Beaver Nuggets” is Buc-ee’s #1 branded product.)
As I plan our fifth Airstream trip to the Southwest, I again have been fretting about the first three legs, when the trailer is winterized and when few RV parks or state parks are open. The first leg usually involves a very early launch from an icy driveway, a very long drive into Pennsylvania, and a cold night in a Walmart parking lot.
Here we are at the Walmart in Hazleton, PA after a surprise snowstorm a few years ago.
You can imagine an aluminum trailer hauled through below-freezing temperatures at highway speeds, is a bit cold when we stop. Sure, we have heat but it is a labor just to get the interior comfortable and there’s little insulation – it’s an ice box. I installed a propane heater in the front – and the dog loves that, but the rear of the rig is igloo-cozy.
The next night, usually in Virginia, is a little better but with no water in the trailer, it’s a little more “roughing it” than we need at age 74. The third night, often in Tennessee, is borderline but doable in the Airstream.
The other night I had what is really an obvious idea: “Why don’t we see about staying a few nights in motels?” So I’ve been spending a lot of time looking a motel web sites, finding out that “pet friendly” usually means dogs no bigger than 25 pounds (Penny is more like 60), and that there’s always an extra charge.
Now, we have some options for places to stay, where there might even be warm rooms and showers, and likely will be adjusting our plans accordingly. Once we get into Mississippi, we can find parks with power and water and get into our regular routine.
Already, the apprehension that I always have for weeks before departure has dissipated and I think we’ll wonder why we never considered “abandoning ship” on chilly nights before. I’ll let you know how it goes.
One of my favorite bloggers, Larry of The Brownstone Birding Blog, recently wrote a clever post called Cold Weather Car Brrrrrrding! This time of year, he notes, “birding by car can be a good option when you’re dealing with wicked windy winter weather.” Amen, brother.
I use my truck quite frequently, particularly in lousy weather, to scout for birds on the back roads of central Vermont. Not only is the weather lousy right now, it is also deer season and most outdoor people take a two week vacation from tromping through the woods. Even with blaze orange gear, it’s not too safe to venture into the woods, especially with a reddish-brown dog running beside you.
Yesterday morning, I headed out for a short jaunt – this time in the car which needed snow tires mounted – and after the studded snow tires were in place – I did a little road birding. I took a look at our local reservoir which was pretty, but bird-free.
New snow and no birds — it looks like most of our migration is over.
Larry pointed out some of the benefits of birding by vehicle in inclement weather:
you can stay warm
you can listen to sports, NPR, or music on the radio
it’s a good location from which to drink your coffee
your car makes an excellent blind so that you don’t scare off good birds and makes it easier to take pictures of them
you can cover a lot of ground by driving directly to some hot spots without spending a lot of time walking around
I would add that I can keep my iPhone plugged in and record birds into BirdLog without frozen fingers and also that I can keep Penny, our dog, happy in the back seat.
Birding with someone to watch while you drive can be helpful but that infrequently works for me on local outings. However, more than once Mary has spoken sharply to me as I try it ID a hawk on a pole while driving toward it, sometimes literally.
Vermont has a strong new “no handheld device” law to try to help with distractions while driving. We’ve all encountered distracted drivers and they can be dangerous. Unless you are on a back road, keep your attention on the road while birding by vehicle. That life bird you just freaked out over can turn out to be a lifer – your life.
Yesterday morning, after seeing some Black Scoters on a local reservoir, I drove up to Lamoille County to try my luck there. I saw six male Hoodies on a small pond beside the road which seemed to bode well for the birding up ahead. Well, not exactly.
I pulled into the boat launch area at the south end of Lake Elmore, my usual first stop, and saw that the stiff wind had the water pretty roiled up. Scanning from the truck, I saw a line of Canada Geese hunkering down in the tall grass on the far side. I thought I saw some ducks also so I hopped out into the breeze and set up my scope and started quickly scanning through the six or eight geese, looking for something different like a Snow Goose. Here’s what I saw:
I then looked at the ducks thinking, “That’s a female Mallard – no it’s not.” Then I saw the male Mallard and realized that these weren’t ducks, they were decoys.
Without the bobbing and the shaking scope, these are obvious as decoys.
I swung the scope up lake and scanned everything else and then heard a couple of “wank, wank” calls from the decoy area. Figuring that a hunter was trying to yank my chain, I looked once more and saw a small camoflauged shelter in the reeds. I gave a wave and headed out, a bit chagrined but a little wiser.
I don’t monitor hunting seasons (obviously) and since we have limited waterfowl activity midstate, you don’t hear a lot of shooting or seeing hunting activity. I mainly worry about deer season.
We had a good morning although nothing unusual – it was just good to be out with the dog between rain showers. I stopped on the way home and grabbed a few shots of the decoys to illustrate this post. It is funny how obvious they are once you know they are decoys – but at first glance with a shaky scope…. That’s why they work for hunters.
The lesson of the day – if the birds are staying put in your scope they are probably not just being cooperative, they are probably tethered.
This year has been one of the best for attracting hummingbirds to our feeder — we had several families nest in the area. Many feisty juveniles have delighted us with their antics over the last few weeks. They have been hitting the sugar water and more than once, I have thought: “Tank up, you’ve got a long haul ahead.”
This past weekend, we took the Airstream over to New York state to visit some dear friends and returning Monday afternoon, I immediately noticed that the hummers seemed to have left. A couple of days later, it’s definite. They are on their way.
We saw trees turning color in the higher elevations and noticed the Canada Geese moving in New York state. Here, the goldenrod is everywhere and the bees are loving it. Soon the asters will blossom and more birds will depart. The Common Yellowthroats are still here as are the Song Sparrows but they have their bags packed to go.
Sitting on the back lawn with a blue sky above and northwest winds blowing the pines, I’m thinking of those hummers, wondering how far they have gone so far, and wishing them a safe passage on their long perilous journey.
See you in Florida or here in the spring. Buen Viaje amigos.
Stillwater State Park has 62 campsites, 17 lean-to shelters, a beach and boat launch.
We don’t do a lot of camping in Vermont, figuring that we already live in the woods, but it’s nice to visit a few of the parks mid-week when the campgrounds aren’t quite as crazy.
The park entrance landscaping is typical of the lovely displays throughout the campground.
We brought our kayaks, my bike, and our birding gear. We also found some “summer reading” mystery books at the “take one, leave one” collection at the visitor center.
We were at site 43, probably our favorite.
The area has some interesting geological features — many of them being these massive boulders – glacial erratics – which were lugged here by glacial ice.
This boulder was at the side of our campsite. Penny is putting up with me but ready to get down.
Vermont parks have no services per se and most of their sites are for tents, pop-up campers, or lean-tos so there are few sites for large RVs and not that many for our mid-sized 25 footer. There is no cell signal for many miles but a decent wifi connection at the office.
Many families spend a week or two at the park, often reserving the same site year after year. There are an amazing collection of tents, tarps, and lean-tos and more than not, several generations camping together. It’s good to see kids out on their bikes or just framming around in the park – and they seem to get tired and go to bed early.
The birding was ok for late July although we missed hearing the song of the Veery which we heard last time we were there. I did hear and see a Canada Warbler as well as some Nashville Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Blackburnian and Chestnut-sided Warblers.
We took the short hike up to Owl’s Head and enjoyed some pretty views. The water behind Mary is Kettle Pond.
One of the objectives of the trip was to test the new adjustable weight distribution trailer hitch. Our original hitch was carrying the trailer nose too high and so, after four winter trips, I decided to get a new one. After a lot of messing around and replacement parts, I got it hitched up and it worked great.
We read a lot, paddled a bit, hiked some, and went to bed early. It was a wonderful stay at a pretty well-run state park. And it was only an hour’s drive home.
As I have launched a County Big Year for Lamoille County, I have found a “patch” where I have been focusing much of my attention: it is close and pretty, and it is productive.
Lamoille County is about 10 miles from the house and the “patch” is 2 miles further.
The patch is a hiking/bike/ski trail from Route 12 up to Little Elmore Pond. Here’s the starting point with a bridge across the North Branch of the Winooski River.
Note the post, with a lock, to keep out four-wheelers and snow machines.The North Branch is a lovely stream here, colored brown with tannic acid.
Yesterday, I had a couple of hours so the dog and I went up for some birding. I hadn’t even got out of the truck when I heard two Ovenbirds calling back and forth.
Ovenbirds are probably the most common bird along the trail — usually hear five or ten — but rarely see them. This one was more accommodating than most.
There’s little traffic on the highway but it’s nice to get up the trail a bit and get away from what road noise there is. The the woods come alive with the calls of warblers however the new foliage makes sightings a challenge. I never meet anyone along the way and it is wonderful just walking along, listening. I usually keep the dog leashed going up so that she doesn’t spook everything before I get there and it pays off, we heard and saw a Tennessee Warbler early on the trail.
The trail has water in vernal pools and a small brook runs alongside and the black flies are out and about. Last week, about a quarter-mile in, I heard a loud bird up ahead, low in the underbrush, but didn’t recognize the call. Quietly moving ahead with the dog straining, I saw a small bird moving and got it in the binoculars (one-handed since the leash was in the other) and saw an Ovenbird-like bird with a different call. I realized that I had my first Northern Waterthrush of the year.
A “Selfie” along the trail – birding was slow.
Of course, although the landscape is wild and beautiful, there is debris — some from hunters (shell cases), and some from former logging operations. I spotted this big black object off the trail and thinking “bear cub,” saw that it was just an abandoned skidder tire.
Why haul it out when you can just leave it in the woods?
It’s really been fun getting to know this little area. I see Common Yellowthroats in the same spots each visit and am getting to know the hot spots along the way. I took my bike a few weeks ago and rode/pushed the six or seven miles up to Little Elmore Pond. I approached the pond carefully, thinking that I might see some waterfowl but nothing was there. I sat by the water’s edge, hearing a Barred Owl and a Pileated Woodpecker, when a shorebird whizzed past. It settled on a rock and I got a few shots of this lonely Spotted Sandpiper.
So far, in about a month I have over 60 species in this birding patch and got three new birds yesterday. It’s been a good find and in fifteen minutes I can get there and be in wild country filled with some pretty good birds. It’s a great place to slow down and enjoy things. Here are a couple more shots of things along the way. Good birding.
Fungi on yellow birchMany patches of violets adorn the pathway.
All Spring we’ve had a great variety of feathered visitors to our feeder and back yard but today was special. This morning we’d seen the hummer, the grosbeak, the purple finches along with chipping and white-throated sparrows but just before lunch, I glanced out a the apple tree and saw a blue blob that can only be one thing up here: an Indigo Bunting. What a special treat — I think it’s the first here since we’ve been keeping records.
First Indigo Bunting we’ve seen on our property.
I got Mary to the window as another one showed up. The camera and binoculars were out in the truck so I scooted to get those while Mary watched our visitors move about the tree.
Two boys in blue looking for love.
Just as I was trying to capture a couple of shots, a third male showed up. I grabbed this photo of all three in the tree.
Can you see the third one?
They soon flew off together to a White Pine and then departed. I figured that was it. However, later this afternoon, two showed up in the tree and one came to the thistle feeder, to the dismay of the American Goldfinches who consider that their restaurant.
We did not see any females and I doubt that buntings will stay since most of our land is very wooded and they like more open spaces but you never know.
It was such a surprise and such a delight to see these handsome dudes. Unlike the brown flycatchers and sparrows that can drive me nuts, these guys are my kind of bird: flashy and unmistakeable.
One of the neat things about tackling a new county for a big year is that you get to explore many new places. In reviewing the Lamoille County map online and in a printed atlas (I need to get some topo maps), looking for interesting back roads and features, I came across a tiny body of water called Russ Pond just over the County line, not far from the highway. There was nothing online about it other than a map, showing it with a trail leading to it.
With visions of flocks of unmolested waterfowl at a secret place, I took the dog on a hike to it the other day. I didn’t see any ducks or grebes but found an interesting mystery.
Gated roads are no big deal unless they are posted — and you don’t block the entrance. Or at least that’s my theory.
So, up the steep road we trekked and soon were away from the highway noise and hearing Yellow-rumps and the other usual suspects. There was no evidence of recent travel but there was one small tree that had fallen across the path with a saw cut from perhaps this winter. We came into an opening and up ahead, several large I-beams lay in the field. I thought that a bridge might be up ahead but was puzzled by them.
What are these massive I-beams doing in the middle of nowhere?
We pushed ahead about a quarter-mile and through the sparse trees, I saw a big rusty structure that at first looked to me like some sort of an industrial building — but as I got closer it turned out to be a massive A-frame skeleton built on ledge, anchored by a large reinforced concrete base. Eerie to say the least — no sign of recent activity.
This photo does not reflect the size of this large structure — it is very large — and rusting away.
Since birding was the objective of the trip, I scanned the small pond, finding nothing on the water but one aluminum boat lying on the shore. Penny went down to check it out.
Any critters under this boat?
I went down to the water and watched a Belted Kingfisher, oblivious to us, fishing on the far bank. It was very still except for a few warblers and peepers — and a pretty little pond.
Russ Pond on a May morning – 2014
I walked back to the truck, after seeing my first Black-throated Blue Warbler for the county, wondering what the deal was with this place. Did someone die? All sorts of scenarios came to mind — but why haul skyscraper-style I-beams up a mountain and leave everything?
I searched for Russ Pond history online — nada — and decided to do a little research next time in the County. So, yesterday morning, I stopped by the highway garage — they were out working somewhere — but found a young man working at the volunteer fire company building. He didn’t know much about the place but said, “The guy who will know, if anyone does, is Warren over at the store.”
Warren Miller is a fixture in the County, a long-time resident who has operated the Elmore Country Store for ages, and who knows everyone. I know him by name and dropped by, explained my birding trip and asked if he knew Russ Pond. He responded, “Haven’t been up there in years, but the place is owned by a doctor from Nova Scotia. He wanted a little piece of Vermont so I sold him 504 acres, for cheap money back then — about $80,000.”
I asked him about the massive structure and he related that the guy’s brother-in-law was a steelworker (which brings up all sorts of steel beam acquisition scenarios) and that the doc wanted to build something that could withstand anything. Guess plans changed – there it sits.
I expected to have to get into tax records or go on a long chase for information but in the time it took to order a coffee and muffin, I had my answer. No bodies, nothing newsworthy, but still a good example of some of the interesting things you stumble into into when you get off the beaten paths of Vermont. Looking at the photo of the pond, I can see why the doc bought it.
We survived the last several days of intensive tractor-trailer rasslin’ on I-81 and after a real long drive got to the saner roads of Vermont. We dropped the trailer downtown at Shawn & Helen’s (which will work great) and came home to snowbanks and mud, and our home base. We’re catching up on rest and doing some unpacking but every night, I wake up and wonder where I am – which park? what route tomorrow? It’s wonderful to be grounded.
So we outpaced the warblers that confused me in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi and I’ve got a week or two to review their calls again. Meanwhile, I’ve started checking out our Vermont birds since some of the winter folks (Purple Finches) are still around and new arrivals (Eastern Phoebe) are showing up each day.
This morning, I took the dog in the truck on an outing to check out some back roads in an adjacent county. About six miles into the trip, I came up to this old barn on Route 12 and automatically checked the fields. I glimpsed a hay wagon with some sort of white contraption on it, and after I passed the barn and moved down the highway hill, saw this:
I
I thought Snowy Owls had left but sure enough … I had traffic to deal with but dodging a trash pickup truck and commuters, got turned around and took a few pictures out the window. I then backtracked, turned around again, and parked in the farm’s muddy turnoff.
When I returned a few hours later, it was gone. I heard from Chip at North Branch Nature Center that they seem to be moving – reports are trickling in – perhaps as a result of the warm weather we are experiencing. It was a great start to the birding trip and added a Snowy to my year’s list. Who knows when they’ll be back again like this winter? Vermont birding rocks!
