A shift in the winds

Yesterday we were blasted from the south with winds that brought temperatures up into the seventies. Overnight, the winds became northerly, and the temps began to plummet again. It may go down to 30* tonight. I know that's nothing compared to you folks in the Midwest, but that's the reason I head south for the winter. :)

I worked several hours this morning on getting familiar with all the science requirements for elementary students here in Texas in preparation for developing some education programs. Emma and I also went for a good hike. We headed out to the Skillern Tract on foot down Farm Road 1985. That is more of a challenge than it sounds to be. Truck drivers blast down this road at way over the 60mph limit. They are mainly oil trucks and trucks carrying debris from the hurricane clean up. Emma hates the traffic and goes berserk every time a vehicle passes. Eventually we made it to Skillern and had a nice brisk walk along the refuge road through the moist soil units. Of course, we had the same challenge on our return trip to the rig. :(

After lunch, I headed to the shop to turn in my present vehicle for the one I was supposed to have. It's a drive of about ten miles to get to the shop or visitor's center. After I got the switch accomplished, I decided to take a drive around Shoveler Pond and out to the boat launch. Surprisingly, I was able to see an alligator. Most of them died during the hurricane.

As you can expect, I found a few of my feathered friends willing to pose. This is a neo-tropical cormorant. Cormorants dive for their dinner and must spend quite a bit of time each day drying out their feathers.

This is a snowy egret. How do I know?....

Just look at those yellow dancing shoes he has on....a distinguishing feature.


Today was the first time I have seen a wood stork on this refuge. I have seen them in Florida and at Laguna Atascosa NWR, but this was a first for me at Anahuac. I was able to watch one stork feeding. They put their beak down to the water and then swish the water with one of their feet to stir things up....a cool adaptation.

I headed back to the moist soil units of the Skillern Tract and found an abundance of black-necked stilts working the shallow flats.

I know this photo is awful, but I wanted to show you what I've decided will be one of my challenges while I'm here. I want to take a good picture of a vermilion flycatcher. This one has been hanging around the visitor's center, so I should get a chance to show you a better picture.

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

Back to work

Today was my first official day on this volunteer assignment at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Even though I have volunteered here two times in the past, quite a bit has changed due to hurricane Ike's arrival in the fall of 2008.

The building on the right, with half of it blown away, was the Visitor's Information Center (VIS) the last time I was here. The temporary VIS, on the left, is a 10'X12' shed where I will work once a week greeting and informing the public. Besides demolishing most buildings, Ike also eliminated about 90% of the alligator population. There are no bullfrogs any longer in the pond behind the VIS. Shoveler Pond, on the auto drive loop has very little birdlife on it. In the past, it was teeming with waterfowl, turtles, gators, and other wildlife.

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After stopping in at the VIS to visit with Collin, another volunteer, I decided to drive all the roads in this part of the refuge to familiarize myself with what changes have taken place so I can be knowledgeable when I work the VIS tomorrow afternoon. Before and after my drive, Collin brought me up to speed on operating the VIS so I'll be comfortable tomorrow.

Since I'm back on a National Wildlife Refuge, you know I'm going to have more bird pictures to post. ;-) This is a tri-colored heron. Too bad he wasn't on my side of the fence

I drove down to the Bolivar Bay boat launch and found this cooperative Willet.

Willets are abundant on the refuge.

Two kinds of vultures occur here; this is a turkey vulture.

I snapped a fleeting photo of a female Cooper's hawk approaching one of the overlooks. There were also plenty of great blue herons, great egrets, killdeer, and snowy egrets around, but they weren't in the mood to pose. There are definitely less birds around than in the past, but I shall endeavor to seek them out for you.

Here's a quiz for you. What kind of sparrow do you think this is? If you guess the right answer, you just could win another diamond willow walking stick! I'll post the results at a later date. It's been about 9 months since I've run a quiz, so I thought it was about time.

The temps last night got down into the 20's, so my hose was frozen when I got up this morning. I switched over to the fresh water tank so I could brush my teeth, etc. Hopefully, I'm safe for the next week or so with the temps. The snowfall here yesterday, which quickly melted away, was the earliest snowfall on record for the Houston area. At this rate, I'm thinking my propane supply won't last through my ten weeks here. :(

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

"Craning" my neck!

If there is one thing that the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is famous for, it is the abundance of sandhill cranes that migrate here to spend the winter season. My mission this morning was to pick up John, and head out on the auto tour route to find what birds we could and photograph them. On my way to the volunteer village, I stopped at a viewing area just as the sun was coming over the mountains.

The sandhill cranes spend the night in the water to stay away from coyotes and other predators. As I pulled over, they were getting ready to head out for the morning to feed in local fields.
It wasn't long before they took flight....
The sun was just peeking over the eastern mountains as they headed out for the day.
It was a gorgeous morning to be out and about on the refuge.

Sandhill cranes aren't the only birds to be found on the refuge. Flocks of snow geese have also begun to arrive.

Their numbers will increase dramatically in the next month or so. Every time there is an approaching cold front, more cranes, geese, and ducks arrive.

Cranes are one of my favorite birds, and we saw many today. So, you'll have to put up with several pictures of them. I love listening to their calls as they fly, and as they prepare to move from one field to another. This sandhill was fluffing his feathers in the wind. Cranes mate for life, so this pair is bonded.
See the red top knot?
While the cranes and geese were feeding, many Northern harriers were coursing the fields looking for rodents.

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What a great morning it was touring this refuge! It was in the 30's when we started out and the wind was blowing up to 30 mph, but seeing all the wildlife was worth the frozen fingers. ;)

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I leave you with one last silhouette...

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