BBB Day 19

March 19

Hiked and biked 10 miles

Up early again and heading to again to Seminole Canyon State Park.

But first, our second Inspection Stop was for southbound vehicles, so we were waved through. But the third was for us. The cowboy-hatted dude chatted us up while the other, along with his canine friend, did a tour of the MoHo (we tried for a GoPro video, but it didn’t work out. Next time, and we’re sure there will be a few more next times).

We got to see the Pecos River for the first time:

We pulled in to the park with minutes to spare for the guide tour of the Fate Bell Shelter pictographs. These were found in the canyon and finally preserved by the state park. No Native people’s have claimed these drawings, so interpretation is really up to the beholders. They were beautiful, as was the dry canyon, apparently created not by a flowing river but by run off over the centuries. As you can see, they are mostly dry now. Here are some pictures from the tour:

…a modern pictograph, from a railroad worker in the 1870’s:

We had lunch then did the Rio Grande biking/hiking trail:

…ultimately to the Panther Cave, for which the park is famous. Normally these pictographs can only be seen from the water, and there is so little water that boat trips are cancelled. But good quality binoculars and cameras let us see these gorgeous drawings:

We did have two Life Birds: a Cactus Wren:

…and a Black-throated Sparrow (but might have deleted the picture).

Here’s the view of the campsite and from my chair:

BBB Day 18

March 13

Biked 9.1 miles

Another nice day. The overnight stay at the Flying J was fine, and we were able to leave very early.

North of Laredo, Highway 83 is lined with ranches with the familiar Mesquite, rather than oranges. But the ranches have also changed. It looks like the land has been adapted to oil and gas production with pipelines being laid for miles and miles.

We had our first Border Inspection stop (“Where are you from? then “Have a nice day.”). We saw a large presence of Border Patrol and Sheriff’s and State Police cars, including the black SUV with the large post holding what is probably a camera:

There are lots of RV parks along this stretch, but they have been taken over by pipeline workers. So it’s not very touristy here at all. Eagle Pass, a small town, is now booming with energy resource dollars.

Further north, there is more water in creeks, so more agriculture with several Pecan groves. We even saw some sort of African antelope, an escapee from a Game Ranch.

We went to the Amistad National Recreation Area, built on a huge reservoir that is now dry in spots. It is what should be a major boating and fishing area, but the RV parks and the reservoir itself are quite empty.

But it made for quiet and cheap camping ($4) at the San Pedro campground (only two other couples) and an amazing bike ride through the empty reservoir:

…to a portion that was filled:

AND we had a new bird, a beautiful Vermilion Flycatcher (great to the naked eye, but elusive for photos):

Here’s the view of our campsite and from my chair (yep, we’re in the desert now):

BBB Day 17

March 12

Time to move on. But first, a stop at the bird feeders.

The woman who looks after the birds and Butterfly Garden was so funny. She’s a birder but not a snob. AND she told us that the Roadrunner was NOT flirting with David: it was looking for a peanut butter ball (PB, lard and cornmeal they use in feeders and you can feed it from your hand).

We said goodbye to the Pyrrrhuloxia and Orange-crowned Warbler:

and headed to nearby Salenino where there is another feeding station. On arrival, we saw Mexican cows (yep, just a quick paddle across the river):

Then this little guy said hello:

We spent quite a while watching the birds with two lovely volunteers from Iowa. They also were NOT bird snobs, but were great teachers, and very funny:

Though we could hear the Audubon’s Oriole (rare but seen often around here), he didn’t appear. But we saw an immature and an adult Altamira:

and a White-winged Dove (a Life Bird):

On our way out, we saw the old and new of Salenino’s cemetery:

We got to Laredo, ate BBQ, bought groceries and decided on a free campground until we head towards Big Bend tomorrow.

Here’s the glamorous view from my chair:

BBB Day 16

March 11

Biked 5.5 miles

A beautiful and quiet day. And not a million bird pics! Well, a few.

All over Texas, people impale oranges on trees and shrubs for birds, so I tried it this morning. And, within a very few minutes, this Mockingbird showed up:

So, after breakfast, we continued our birding passion.

First stop, a dance between David and a Greater Roadrunner (by the way, I try to use the “correct” name, not to impress, just to learn). We flushed it out and he (I assume) showed David his feathers (and butt), gave quite a squawk, then came within three feet. Amazing:

Near the Rec Centre, a woman feeds birds, either for herself or for the park, and there are chairs and sun protection and, when she’s not doing the jigsaw puzzle inside, the woman herself.

Well, we sat there for two hours and enjoyed quite a display. We were joined by an Ontario couple who were quite serious birders (and sort of let us know, especially him) and the woman had an amazing lens (yes, almost confirmed there’s one in our future!). However, we did learn some new things and saw some sweet birds. See if you can recognize these (you’ve seen them before):

Couch’s Kingbird, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Curve-billed Thrasher Northern Harrier and Orange-crowned Warbler).

AND a bunny:

AND two new Life birds for us (this is getting crazy!):

…a Pyrrhuloxia

…a Scaled Quail:

…along with a bunny:

After lunch, we rode our bikes on the nature trail. This lake (huge, we found out, more than 40 miles) is famous for Bass fishing (the best in Texas according to our Texan informants). Because the Texas-Mexico border lies within the lake, it’s also famous for a lot of crime, including the Jet Ski murder of 2010 that some of you may remember:

The bike ride got only more interesting as I had yet another flat tire (thanks to a puncture from some desert thorny bush). David NEVER gets a flat!

Back home to the “orange watch”, and we were rewarded with our third Life Bird of the day, a Verdin (we saw a Verdin nest yesterday). Thus…

…the view from my chair: