The Windy City?

I grew up in the "Windy City" of Chicago. Let me tell you that today rivaled the winds on Michigan Avenue. The hunters were complaining and we had no takers today for our guided bird tour. Even the gulls were hunkered down in flocks in the water. The ospreys dotted the fields surrounding Laguna Madre and just hung onto the ground. I usually lead bird tours every Wednesday and Saturday, so today Diana, a volunteer that drives for the tours, and I spent the day scouting areas to find birds for this month while the hunts are on. Normally we take visitors on the back roads of the refuge for the bird tours, but during the hunt only one unit of the refuge is open to the public (a unit where there are no hunters so you won't get shot).

These are a couple of the white Ibis that we saw today. They didn't seem to be bothered by the winds. We didn't find anything too exciting, so the four hour bird tours in December will not be as exciting as tours in other months.

As a solo, I put in 32 volunteer hours per week. In exchange, I receive a full hookup RV site in the Volunteer Village. The accomodations at Laguna Atascosa are some of the best sites in the National Wildlife Refuge system for volunteers. We have a volunteer building called the Outpost that has showers, laundry, cable tv, a full kitchen and an area to use for potlucks, games, and other activities. During the month of December, the Outpost is also used as the hunter check station, so our use of the building is somewhat limited during that time.

One of the not so nice things about this site is that if you don't lift the hoods of your vehicles and light them up at night, you stand the chance of having wood rats (pack rats) invading your motors and chewing up all your wires and insulation. So, the nine volunteer RV pads are pretty lit up each night. That really helps when it's time for last outs for Emma. I still take a flashlight though, since there are things that go bump in the night like snakes and coyotes, rabbits and toads! Oh My.

Well, I'm having a real challenge trying to upload photos tonight so I guess I'll end for now.

Thanks for stopping in....talk to you later... Judy