Another front blows in...

I didn't have to work yesterday, so I planned to just relax. In the early afternoon, I got a call from Boggus Ford that my new plates from South Dakota were in, so I drove into Harlingen to pick them up. I wanted to touch base with them about a problem with the driver's door window molding, and got that fixed while I picked up the plates. It was a pretty peacefull day.

We had a full van load signed up for this morning's bird tour. I woke to temps in the sixties and quite a bit of fog. We hosed off the van so we could see out of the windows and headed for the visitor's center to pick up our passengers. The trip today would be limited to the bay side loop since the last archery hunt was still in progress. The winds were calm so the mosquitoes were out in mass just waiting to prey upon us. I got several bites just taking Emma out for her pre-dawn walk. A cold front was supposed to arrive some time during the day, but it was hot and muggy for the tour. We had folks from the Northeast today with couples from Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Maine. It was a good birding morning, and we had a nice variety of species.

Tri-colored Heron....

White Tailed Hawk........and White Tailed Kite........

After lunch, I headed out for Baker's Acres to get some reject oranges for the birds at the visitor's center and to get oranges for myself. Sorry to say, due to hurricane Dolly, the navel orange season is over at this orchard, so I bought some Mars oranges for my daily juice fix. They have quite a few seeds, but are very sweet. As I drove back to the refuge, the cold front from the north arrived with high winds, rain, and an immediate 20 degree drop in temperature. Temps will be into the forties tonight, so it's time to turn on my two small electric heaters for the night.

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

Go Fly a Kite!

I recall growing up in Chicago and building a kite with sticks, string wrapped around a twig, a knotted piece of cloth for the tail, and thin paper over the frame for the grand price of ten cents. I would take it to the school yard and run like the wind trying to get it to take off. The school yard was the only place where there were no trees. You had to look out for the surrounding electrical and phone wires, but you did have a vacant piece of sky to work with.

Fifty plus years later, flying a kite has changed a lot. Fellow Escapees, Sue and Vern, met us (Diana, John, their daughter, Aja, and me) on the bay side beach of South Padre Island for a morning of kite flying. Vern is a great teacher about kite flying. There are now four lines from the kite to your hands and the kites are quite a different shape. In my youth, I was thrilled just to get the kite into the air, but now kite fliers do acrobatics and intricate moves. After Vern's tutelage, I was able to really enjoy the possibilities of flying a kite. It was like soaring with the eagles...what fun. Sorry to say, the wind soon abated, but it was sure nice being on the beach with temps getting into the eighties. All too soon, Diana and I had to return to the refuge to man the hunter check station.

I enjoy working the check station, as I think I have said before. Today's take was three does, two hogs, and one five point buck. There are two hundred permits issued for this four day hunt, and about 120 bow hunters were out today. Tomorrow's temps are forecast for the eighties before another front moves through for the weekend. Bow hunters just enjoy being out on the refuge whether or not they bring down anything. They are a positive bunch to chat with as they check out each evening.

I have tomorrow off since I did the waterfowl count on Tuesday, so I'm thinking of going to Baker's Acres as my orange supply is nearly exhausted.

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

p.s. The dead ocelot that was reported earlier in the week turned out to be a dead large house cat. I guess that is a good thing...for the ocelots at least.

Preparing for the last archery hunt, etc.

I was up again today before dawn in order to prepare for the bird tour. We had a full van load of people waiting for us, but we had to clean the van inside and out before loading up. There's nothing worse than dirty windows when you're birdwatching. After the waterfowl count yesterday, I suggested a new route for the tour today. We spent the entire tour on the back roads with no return to the visitor's center half way through. This was only possible because, during the hunting season, there are porti-potties placed at various intersections in the refuge. A pit stop is essential half way through a four hour tour and not just for the visitors. ;)

The weather was beautiful, the roads were passable, and the birds were cooperative. What more can a birder ask for? This bird tour business is hard work, but somebody has to do it. :)

After lunch, Diana and I prepped the Outpost for the last archery hunt that begins tomorrow. We rearranged the room and furniture and restocked the snack supplies that we sell. There were also the hunt record books to track down and set up for use. The two of us are working the check station tomorrow afternoon and evening so we wanted everything ready to go. After today's bird tour, I know there are still plenty of deer out there and more than enough Nilgai and feral hogs to be eliminated.

After that was done, Diana headed off to the Harlingen airport to pick up her daughter who is flying down from Houston for a short visit. I decided it was a perfect afternoon to give the new dog training exercises a try. Today's lessons went a little better than the other day, and Emma is making progress walking on a loose leash. I also was able to subject her to some minor distractions along the walk and her behavior was much improved. I will follow the rules and no longer use one of those retractable leashes that pulls out fifteen feet. I've decided this should be called the three Ps method...perseverance, patience, and praise. Wish me luck!

My plans for tomorrow include kite flying on South Padre Island beaches and then work at the check station.

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

Another Waterfowl Count....finally

I set the alarm for six this morning and woke up to a heavy mist/light rain and chilly temperatures. I thought it might cancel the waterfowl count once again, but my intrepid driver, John, ignored the inclement weather and we were able to complete the route. It has been at least three weeks since the roads have been drivable for the count. The best part was seeing almost seven hundred sandhill cranes. I really love their calls. The rain seemed to keep many of the birds down for the morning so we could count them. White pelicans are not a species that we count, but they seem to arrive at each stretch of water as we approach. They remind me of B-52 bombers as they come gliding in to land. After five hours, we finished the route and headed back to camp.

In the afternoon, I returned the power-point projector, that I forgot about yesterday, to the office and turned in my tally sheet for this morning's count. I also stopped by the visitor's center and found out that we have a full van for tomorrow's bird tour. I'm happy that after being on the back roads today, we will not be restricted to the Bay side loop tomorrow.

Fast forward to six this evening and our weekly pot luck. As usual, the food was good and I think the two meatloaves I made turned out well. Peas have always been my least favorite vegetable and I usually avoid them. Tonight, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy a pea salad. Maybe it's because the peas were still partially frozen.

I'll be up at six again tomorrow to get ready for the tour, so I'd better think about calling it a night.

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

Busy work on a day off

My list of things to do for today included calling my car insurance company to get the new car covered, re-registering, the motorhome in South Dakota for the year, locating the title for the old Focus, trying to set up appointments for the Blue Ox base plate and US Gear brake system, and grocery shopping. I was successful with everything except the appointments. My daughter had the title in her safe deposit box (as I thought), I did the motorhome registration on-line, and the insurance company called me back and coverage was begun and they sent me my insurance proof via the Internet. I kind of got a runaround about the appointments and even drove to Harlingen to provide some in person pressure, but things are still not settled. Maybe tomorrow... Living fulltime in a motorhome doesn't mean it's a fulltime vacation. ;)

One of the things I forgot to do today was return the power point projector to the office, and of course Leo, the biologist, needed it tonight. By the time I found out about his need, he was already on his way off of the refuge to the meeting where he will make a presentation. Oh well, he wasn't angry so I guess he had another source for a projector. While talking to him, he asked if I could do the waterfowl count for this week tomorrow morning. He was reluctant to ask me to do it on my day off, but I assured him that a morning spent birding wasn't exactly a great sacrifice for me. I'll just take an afternoon off later in the week.

Here's another of the critters that are found on the refuge...the nine banded armadillo. You can count them; there are nine bands. Did you know that if an armadillo has to cross a river he has two options? He/she can either submerge and walk along the bottom to get to the other side, or, if it is a wide expanse, it inflates it's innards with air and floats across.

While I was doing my grocery shopping this afternoon, I picked up the needed supplies for the meatloaf I'll be making for tomorrow's potluck and some really delicious cherries. What a great snack those cherries are, and healthy too.

I have been watching a video the last few evenings on turning your dog into the "perfect" dog. Emma is a great traveler and behaves most of the time, BUT she has a real issue and goes berserk any time we encounter other mammals (including people, dogs, and anything else that breathes). I tried to begin the process this morning of the prescribed training. It was not successful. I guess I need to watch the video a few more times as the instuctor suggests. I have raised quite a few dogs in my time including seven guide dogs for the blind, but I've never run up against a canine as resistant to correction when approaching distractions as this one. Patience is a virtue they say. ;)

Emma has a few words to say this evening:

What is up with this new collar??? I am really protesting my human's attempt to reign in my exuberance. I really could be a good circus dog...jumping and flipping and running around in circles. Why doesn't she appreciate this? Now, if only I could figure out how to make her forget about this stuff....

Here's another view of the refuge...sunset on Laguna Atascosa (muddy lake).

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

Housekeeping Sunday & Bayside Drive

I generally like to do my laundry on Sunday. I work on Saturday, and Sunday is the first of my three days off, so I like to get all the domestic chores out of the way. Besides the wash, I also started up the motorhome to keep the battery charged, ran the generator for its once a month workout, and did a major vacuuming job. I can't understand why Emma isn't bald considering all the hair that she sheds! I also restocked the orange halves that I put out for the birds and transferred everything from the old car to the new.

Along about 4:30, I packed Emma and my camera into the new car and headed out for Bayside drive. I like to do the 15 mile loop late in the afternoon when the sun is behind me.

The Yuccas are beginning to bloom. Their peak blooming period is in February, but I won't be here then.

I have a favorite spot on the drive...it is an inlet to Pelican Lake and this year with all of the water, there always seems to be something interesting in the inlet. Tonight it was a Reddish Egret:

The winds were calm, so it provided a great reflection.

I'll be leaving here in a little under three weeks. I know I'll miss all the bird life.

It has been in the eighties for the last few days, but right now at 11:30, the winds have kicked up from the north. A front is approaching and we may be getting some more rain. I leave you with a sunset shot from two nights ago.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy....I'm experiencing the recurrent problem of no spaces between paragraphs. Don't know how to fix that.

Friday presentation and Saturday bird tour...

Yesterday we did another presentation at an RV park in Donna, TX. We had to leave here by 7:00 in order to get there in time to set up and present at 9:00. All went well and we were asked to return again in February. Of course, both Diana and myself will be gone by then, so we'll pass it on to one of the next sets of volunteers.

Janie and Bob moved on to their next assignment yesterday and by today, we had two new couples join us on the refuge. It's sad to see good people move on, but we know we'll probably see them again sometime down the road. We have had a really good group of volunteers here this fall and early winter. Everyone got along well and made the time very enjoyable. That doesn't always happen.

Anyway, after the presentation, we decided to visit Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge since it was in the vicinity. I had visited there last year, but Diana had not. We walked one of the trails and scoped out the visitor's center. Santa Ana gets a lot more visitors than Laguna, mainly due to their mid valley location (in my opinion). Laguna has more birds and mammals and is 50 times the size, but is more remote and difficult to get to. We also took a look at the volunteer RV sites for future reference.

Leaving there, we stopped at Willie's BBQ for lunch in Alamo. Not sure I'd ever return there since my chicken taco had bones in it. Yuck!! We also stopped in Harlingen on the way back to try to set up an appointment to get the Blue Ox base plate installed and have the braking system switched from the old car to the new car. I wasn't entirely successful with that venture and will have to call them again on Monday.

Once back to the refuge, we put the van away and after giving Emma some exercise, I made a homemade personal size pizza for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent watching TV and catching up on some blogs that I follow.

We had a bird tour this morning, but weren't able to use the back roads because of the torrential downpour that we had on New Year's Eve. It takes at least a week for the back roads to become usable after a good rain. We had a very pleasant couple from Indiana on the tour and spent an enjoyable four hours on the paved roads in the refuge.

This afternoon, I went to the visitor's center to turn in my December work hours and spent some time helping out Andy and Brenda since it was a day that was very busy for them. Then we got a phone call from someone reporting a dead ocelot. Since there were no "brown shirts" working today, Brenda had to call dispatch which is located at Santa Ana refuge. After a little hassle from them, I ended up going to the house of the refuge biologist that works with the ocelots to let her know about the report. All reports of dead ocelots are immediately investigated to get the body and determine cause of death and whether or not it is one of the refuge ocelots. I'll have to find out next week what became of the investigation.

I'm thinking we should have another potluck this week before the last archery hunt begins on Thursday. I'd better get an announcement and list up in the Outpost tonight so folks have a chance to sign up.

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