Mystery Tree

There is a really nice tree here.

It has bark like a sycamore.





Leaves almost like a lilac.


Flowers.

And seed pods.

Anybody know what it is?

Special birds

There are birds in South Texas that you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the U.S. One of those rarities is the Groove-billed Ani.

I was lucky enough to find a tree-full today.


It’s hard to get a good picture. They’re a little shy.


And kind of goofy looking too.

Rosetta Stone

 

In south Texas, a good part of the conversation around us is in Spanish.  It would be nice if we understood more Spanish, so we’re considering getting the Rosetta Stone software to teach us.  We’re probably too old to learn a new language now, probably too hardwired into English, but we can give it a try.  Even if we don’t get conversational in Spanish though, at least it will give us the opportunity to not be able to think of the word we want in two different languages.

 

 

June birding

 

It was a good June for birds.  We traveled through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California.  We didn’t bird all the time, but just by being all those different places, we stumbled into a good variety.

 

We saw Gambel’s Quail, Cassin’s Kingbird, Crissal Thrasher, Phainopepla, Lucy’s Warbler, and Allen’s Hummingbird at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico.

 

Common Mergansers, Townsend’s Solitaire, Swainson’s Thrush, Western Scrub-jay, Lewis’s Woodpecker, and Cordilleran Flycatcher in Colorado.

 

Juniper Titmouse in Nevada.

 

Gila Woodpecker in Arizona.

 

California Quail, Prairie Falcon, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Wrentit, and California Towhee in Vista.

 

Heerman’s Gull, Western Gull, and California Gull, in Oceanside.

 

Band-tailed Pigeon, Anna’s Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker, White-headed Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse (the first time ever we’ve gotten Juniper Titmouse and Oak Titmouse in the same year), Pygmy Nuthatch, Dark-eyed Junco, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, and Purple Finch in the San Gabriel Mountains.

 

 

In total:

 

Canada Goose

Mallard

Common Merganser

Ruddy Duck

California Quail

Gambel's Quail

Western Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

American White Pelican

Brown Pelican

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

White-faced Ibis

Turkey Vulture

Northern Harrier

Cooper's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Prairie Falcon

American Coot

Killdeer

Franklin's Gull

Heermann's Gull

Western Gull

California Gull

Least Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Forster's Tern

Rock Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

Inca Dove

Greater Roadrunner

Great Horned Owl

Lesser Nighthawk

Common Nighthawk

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

Acorn Woodpecker

Gila Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

White-headed Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Western Wood-Pewee

Willow Flycatcher

Dusky Flycatcher

Black Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

Vermilion Flycatcher

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Cassin's Kingbird

Western Kingbird

Gray Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Steller's Jay

Blue Jay

Western Scrub-Jay

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Oak Titmouse

Juniper Titmouse

Verdin

Bushtit

White-breasted Nuthatch

Pygmy Nuthatch

Cactus Wren

Rock Wren

House Wren

Wrentit

Western Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

American Robin

Northern Mockingbird

European Starling

Phainopepla

Lucy's Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Spotted Towhee

California Towhee

Abert's Towhee

Vesper Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow

Sage Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Black-headed Grosbeak

Lazuli Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Common Grackle

Great-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Hooded Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

Purple Finch

Cassin's Finch

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Lawrence's Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

 

The White-headed Woodpecker and Lawrence’s Goldfinch were Life Birds for us.

 

 

Sandpipers Resort

 

Edinburg, Texas.  It was a long way to go, but it’s a good place to be.

 

When we left Junction this morning, I put gas in the car while Judy went inside to buy a bag of ice for the ice chest.  The clerk asked her “Small or Large?”.  Judy answered “Small”.  It’s not a very big ice chest.  The clerk charged her $1.99 and Judy went outside to grab the bag.  There were only 10 pound bags.  Is a 10 pound bag Large or Small?  Judy carried one back inside to ask.  The answer:  “They’re all one size”.  There were certainly more questions we could have asked, but we chose to drive on instead.

 

On our drive across North Central Texas we passed thousands of windmills.  They used to be a novelty.  Now there are so many they’re kind of annoying.  When I look at them though, I see all that oil and coal fired smoke that’s not in the air.  The annoyance fades.  I’ve heard the argument that it takes more energy to construct and install a windmill than the windmill produces over its lifetime.  I looked it up on Snopes to find that argument was disproved way early on, but it persists in the minds of windmill opponents.  I think I’ll believe Snopes instead of Fox News on that one.  Windmills are apparently a serious source of electricity now.

 

The Jeep turned 100,000 miles today.

 

Our first day back to the house; we ran straight into a mystery:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFbwSwIFzxg

 

 

Junction

Continuing south, we stopped for the night in Junction, Texas. Got caught in a rainstorm. We’re told it’s the first rain here since November. Since it coincides with our arrival, we’re taking full credit for the much-needed moisture. The Motel Manager told me it’s so dry here the fish in the South Llano River have ticks!

Got an evening walk at South Llano River State Park. Lots of birds. Mostly White-winged Doves, but there were Inca Doves, hummingbirds, kingbirds, chickadees, titmice, Bewick’s Wrens, Black-throated Sparrows, buntings and goldfinches too.

We’re not moving back to Texas for the winter yet. We’re just going to lurk here until the coach in Colorado is ready for us to move back into it. …and there is that wedding in September in Colorado we want to be at too.

Tomorrow, Edinburg! That’s about as far as there is to go.

Plainview

 

We drove through Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, one time-zone, and triple digits.

 

We got four new tires and three new tire pressure sensors yesterday.  They weren’t done until after 5 o’clock, so we just stayed with Becky and Brian for the night and headed out this morning.  Three states later, we’re settled in at the Best Western.  I wouldn’t say it’s the best place we’ve ever stayed.  On our way out we’ll probably suggest they change their name to just Western.

 

We’re in Texas, but there is still a long way to go to get to Edinburg.  We’ll probably get there on Thursday.