Balcones Canyonlands NWR Songbird Festival

I didn't get much sleep last night.  :( The predicted storms began to roll through the area in the late evening.  Shortly after midnight, the rig began to rock and roll, and rain and light hail began to fall.  I got up and retracted the slides after moving things around so I could do so.  Storms rolled through all night.  When I looked out my window in the morning, the tree with my bird feeders in it was bent way over.  The tube with the seeds in it was only a couple of inches off the ground!  So now that tree grows horizontally instead of vertically.  The birds, however, were undeterred by this occurrence and were back feeding as soon as the sun rose.

The skies had cleared by dawn, so the early bird tours went out on schedule and had a good morning.  By the afternoon, the temps had risen along with the wind.  I co-led an afternoon tour on the breeding birds of Balcones.  I was able to show the participants nests of blue-grey gnatcatchers, barn swallows, Eastern phoebes, the hummingbirds, and a black vulture.  As those of you that are birders know, the middle of the afternoon is not the best time to go birdwatching....they're all taking their siestas!  We had a good group to work with, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  That's what's important.  I was pretty worn out by the time the tour ended and we returned to headquarters around 5:30.

There won't be many picks from this weekend as I'll be busy insuring that the participants enjoy their tours.  I'll be heading out early tomorrow morning to lead the only "Endangered Ones Tour" of the day.  Then in the afternoon, we have a big free program for families.  It will be a very busy day!

I need to just chill this evening so I'll be ready for tomorrow.  I'm sure glad Emma is at the kennel for the weekend.  She would just be raring to go, and my energy level is low right now.  :)

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy