Fish, oatmeal, and beef.

Sounds like selections on a menu, doesn't it?  Well, I experienced all three things today and it didn't have anything to do with eating.  I picked up Peggy this morning around 9:00, at the Flying X, and we headed out in the rain for Burnet, TX.  That's where the bird tour I'll be guiding on Saturday will begin.  As I said yesterday, I wanted to check out the locations where the tour will go ahead of time.  We only had one wrong turn and detour before arriving at the County Store where the tour will begin.  Since we didn't have very good directions, we went inside to ask where the Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery was.  Of course, we had to buy some fresh bakery items to fuel our journey.  :)

FISH....This is a foggy, overcast view of the fish pond areas of the hatchery.  Since we were traveling in an official Fish and Wildlife vehicle, we were given a personal tour of the hatchery grounds.  The staff was aware that there would be a bird tour coming on Saturday, and they showed me the best places to take the group to observe birds.  That was a great help to me since I've never been here before.

This National Fish Hatchery raises several kinds of fish including catfish, striped bass, trout, and another species that I can't recall this evening.  Behind this pond, you can barely see the outline of the Texas hills.  The Colorado River borders the hatchery and I will take the group down along its bank.  We observed scaup, egrets, an osprey, and a grebe, through the rain, during our drive. The forecast for Saturday is for much more pleasant conditions, so I'm hoping that will result in better birding.

We checked out the other two places that the tour will go, but didn't have access to them today.  One is on a ranch and the other is at the local water treatment plant.  I feel better after having located where I'll be going.

After stopping for lunch, we headed back toward the refuge via a slightly different route.

OATMEAL....Since we took a back road on our return journey, we were able to go through the town of Oatmeal, Texas.  This town is very small, and about the only things around are this oatmeal (?) tank and the town cemetery.  I don't think they raise oats around here, so don't know how this town got it name.  I'm thinking it took us less than three minutes to go through there.  :)

After I dropped Peggy off at the Flying X, I decided to take the more scenic route back to headquarters. 

BEEF....If you were reading my blog last year at about this time, you will recognize that I was traveling down aptly named Cow Creek Road. 

I just love looking at these Texas longhorns.  There's such history in their breed.  Cow Creek Road doesn't have a lot of traffic, and I'm happy about that.  These longhorns wander along the road, and there is great birding along this ten mile stretch of back country as well.  Last year when I was here during the drought, there wasn't much water in the creek, but today, the creek was rushing along and there was water crossing the road at several places.  I'll be sure to go back down this road again when the rain stops to take some pictures of the scenic areas the creek has cut through this canyon.

What an enjoyable adventure today was despite the rain.  I'm looking forward to leading that bird tour on Saturday!

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

Could you lead a bird tour this Saturday????

I was down at headquarters this morning checking over the box with supplies in it for the bird banding education station which is a part of the Bridges to Birding school program that we offer in the spring.  I will be teaching the teachers about this station later this month, so I wanted to be sure everything was in order.  As I was finishing up, a fellow volunteer came in to inform me that Rob, the volunteer coordinator, wanted me to take a phone call.  Who could possibly be calling me here, and not on my cell phone?  It turned out to be a member of the Balcones Canyonlands NWR Friends Group. 

It seems that the Hill Country Bird and Wildflower Society, and the Friends of Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery, are sponsoring a Winter Bird Fest in Burnet, TX, this Saturday.  It also seems that the person that was to lead their bird bird tour had suddenly cancelled, and Rob suggested that they ask me to step in.  I'm sure you can guess my answer to their request.  :)  So, I'll be leading a bird tour all day Saturday, and will even receive a small stipend.  You can't beat that....getting paid to do something I enjoy.

Since I've never been to Burnet, TX, I felt it was necessary to scope out the places where I'll be leading the tour. I knew that Peggy has been cooped up inside doing office work for the last month,  so, I asked if she'd like to come with me tomorrow as I go take a look.  She, at least, has been to Burnet.  I also told her that we would probably have to eat lunch out during our journey.  ;)  So, off we'll go on a little adventure tomorrow.  I hope the roads aren't icy.  The weather forecast is for a wintry mix of precipitation all day tomorrow.

This afternoon, after I got back to the rig, I was able to get a few more shots of some of my avian neighbors.

Northern mockingbirds are common throughout much of the US.  While they don't frequent bird feeders, they do often run along the ground searching out tasty insects.  The males do tend to sing many different songs and will mimic other species.

I finally got a pic of a tufted titmouse that wasn't just a complete blur.  They are so active that it is hard to get them to sit still long enough for a photo.  This is the black-crested variety that is found in this part of Texas, and southward.  They really like the oil seeds at the feeder, and, like the chickadee, only take one seed at a time and then find a perch to crack the seed open on.

It only took overnight for the American goldfinches to figure out I had put a Niger seed feeder up!  I haven't had such busy feeders in some time.  Looks like I'll have to go to town for more bird seed on Friday.

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