W15 Days 20-22

Day 20 March 5

It was 78F when we went to bed last night and 42F this morning. It was meant to be a rainy day, so we headed further west for a long drive to Seminole Canyon State Park.

Since it was a driving day, it was filled with observations from the passenger seat:

• travelling on the “Texas Tropical Trail”-ha!
• our first batch of Blue Bonnets
• “All Saints Nursery”; are they growing them from seed? raising them?
• Canada Creek
• “Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Convicts”
• A “doggy” Border Patrol (we got two thumbs up as Canadians
• the size of Mesquite on the roadside was getting smaller and smaller (in the desert now)
• some exotic animals on Wildlife Ranches among oil, gas and fracking ranches
• much less of a  Border Patrol presence than in the past
• Zorro Creek

It actually was a good drive and we got to Seminole Canyon State Park (Site 2, E/W, $50 for three nights with final 1/2 price coupon)

Nice to be in the desert. Here’s the view from my chair:

Day 21 March 6

It was VERY cold this morning (32F) and we planned on taking the Fate Bell Pictograph Sit tour at 10:00!

The woman next door had thrown some birdseed (we were told we could not and were disappointed since we had our oranges, a “found” feeder and some cracked corn ready to go), but David got some shots of our campground birds including a Cactus Wren, a pair of Canyon Towhees, a Curve-billed Thrasher and a Black-throated Sparrow:

We donned our down jackets, toque, headband and mitts and headed off to a tour with volunteers Laurie and Allan and a couple from Oregon. We had done this tour the last time, but it’s a good one, and Laurie added her touch to the explanations of the pictographs we were seeing.

This statue is at the beginning

…and leads our way down into the canyon and a walk to a nearby cave:

These are some of my favourite pictographs from the first stop:

Other than for Mr. Flindfield, a likely railway worker, there has been no claim by any known Aboriginal people as to the meanings of these pictographs. The paintings are fading fast and watercolours created in the 1930s may end up the only record of these stories.

Another site showed more pictographs:

…and we enjoyed the morning looking and listening and imagining. We were also out of the wind!

After lunch, we got the bikes and rode 5.5 miles along the Rio Grande Trail. This park has good biking/hiking trails along the canyon.

They’re challenging enough, and worth the effort, especially when you get to the “prize”, another pictograph in Panther Cave:

It was a chilly, windy but sunny day. A good one!

Here’s a view of the View and our campsite:

Day 22 March 7

Here’s a shot of last night’s beautiful sunset:

We had no real plans for today, so puttered around hoping the wind might die down (it was around 45F). David got some bird pictures, including a Life Bird, a Lark Bunting:

No down coats today, but we bundled up and headed along the Rio Grande Trail:

Our first stop was the Preso Outlook, and we saw a Red-tailed Hawk tucked in a cave:

Later, there was an in-air between this Hawk and another we couldn’t identify. Amazing.

We probably hiked more than biked on our 3.7 mile journey since we were on the Canyon Rim Trail (literally):

We got back and relaxed for the afternoon and David took a few more campsite bird pictures:

The Spring Break campers have started to arrive (it is Saturday). We’ve had three relatively kid-free weeks, and this may change next week. We’ll move on tomorrow.

Here’s the final view of the View in Seminole Canyon:

W15 Days 17-19

Day 17 March 2

We had intended to stay at Chimney for another day of sun, according to the forecast, but a chilly, drizzly start convinced us to move on. We said our goodbyes to Dan and Patty from Kansas, whom we’d met last year, and to a guy from Lindsay, and headed out early.

We got groceries and got to Falcon State Park around noon. We took site 127 ($24 for two nights; second night 1/2 price) and settled in for some birds and maybe two days of sunshine.

We just hung out at the site (it was only about 50F) and saw TWENTY ONE different species of birds right in our backyard. amazing. And there were three Life Birds: a Black-throated Sparrow, an Olive Sparrow, and a Yellow-headed Blackbird:

Here is a sampling of the other 18:

…the bigger ones:

…and the smaller ones:

Here’s the view of our site and David, in his element (and down vest and toque):

 

Day 18 March 3

Okay, another 80F prediction we couldn’t believe when we set out for the Birding Centre nearby in Salineno. We spent three hours there in about 60F enjoying the birds and the company of two of the hosts and a guy from Washington State.

The hosts were so generous teaching us about recognizing birds, especially the different Orioles. Below is a Hooded Oriole and an Altamira Oriole. Can you tell the difference? I can!

And, FINALLY, third time was a charm for the Audobon’s Oriole! We had heard about it the first visit, heard it the second, then finally saw two this year. So rare and so exciting.

Here’s the yearly picture of me on the Rio Grande beside the Huisache:

We came back and hung out on under the shelter for the afternoon. Dennis, the guy from Washington State joined us for wine and some pictures (his wife is a homebody, so these six weeks he’s on the road taking pictures of birds is his birthday present from here). By the way, it got into the 70’s by 5:00! Loved the covey of Northern Bobwhites!

Here’s the (ugly and smelly) view from my chair (I, of course, was on a chair inside because these Javelins scare me!):

Day 19 March 4

We were promised sun at 7:00 AM, and it wasn’t drizzly. but muggy, so we decided to stay another day.

We headed out on the bikes (6 miles today) and rode around the park. It IS a fishing park with great paved roads for riding, a huge boat launch, and a large Day Use area with shelters (including air-conditioned and screened shelters you could stay in overnight).

I forgot to mention that I had a flat tire when we were in Bentsen State Park (thankfully we found it in the parking lot). I say this now because I had a flat HERE the first time we visited. I am a little scared when riding amongst thorns! But no problems today:

We got a great shot of a Caracara on the road and saw Eastern Meadowlarks:

Here’s an Osprey with a nice fish!

It DID get around 80F and beautifully sunny, so we hung around and got a few more pictures with sun on them, including a Hooded Oriole couple:

AND we got the 22nd campsite bird, a Common Ground Dove:

It was nice to be warm, especially since another cold front is coming. We`re going on the theory that they`ve been wrong on the good forecasts, so maybe they`ll be wrong on a couple of bad ones!

Here’s us getting a view of each other:

And a Cat’s Eye View of Mandy in the front overhead window, enjoying some sun: