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Along the Natchez Trace

Friday, June 7, 2013

Bird #60... and... Bye, Bye Birdie

It was cloudy when I got up this morning and kept getting darker as I drove into Carrizo Springs to run some errands.  I got home just after noon.  I'd hardly got back in the door when the rains hit...  and the wind...  and lots of thunder and lightning.  My kind of storm!  

After I got the laundry and groceries put away it was the perfect day to lay on the couch and read.   All that was lacking was having a kitty curled up by my side.  KC, our last cat, died 3 days before we started our travels...  way back in 2001.  

Anyway, the rains came down really hard at times.... and we sure need the rain here in Texas.
This is a photo of a tanker truck leaving the site yesterday...
 Yeah....  that's dust
And that's our motorhome and tow vehicle on the left.  Since we have been using the AC nearly every day lately the rig has been closed up so we have been spared a lot of the dust and grit that those big trucks stir up.

And the rain also cooled things down a bit...  yesterday a tanker pulled into our site by mistake.  He had to back to get out onto the road...  The asphalt was so hot...
 He left huge ruts in the road...  
I was popping tar bubbles when I walked out to take this picture.
(Did you ever do that as a kid?  Pop tar bubbles with your bare feet?  The water that squirted out always felt cool....  Heck, maybe you still do it as an adult...  I might one of these days)

This isn't the newest bird, but I finally got a shot of the Yellow Breasted Chat
 He's got his mouth open, so his head looks kind of distorted...
He's one noisy bird!  But I love hearing his raucous chatter.

Nope... this isn't the newest bird either...
 A front view of the Painted Bunting...
By far the most colorful bird I've ever seen in the USA
There are lots of them here, but I've had a time getting a decent photo.

And now...  Ta Da!  Bird # 60
Blue Grosbeak
You can barely see the chestnut top of his wing.
At first glance I thought he was an Indigo Bunting (remember, I'm a Buckeye... that's what we have there), and I never heard his song, but my trusty binoculars set me straight pretty quick.

Seeing him this evening brought our total "positive" sightings to 60 birds during our stay here.  Birds are still migrating, so I'm sure there'll be more passing through.

But it's time for us to migrate as well.  Sunday we'll pack up and head further south.  Right now we're thinking we'll head down to Falcon Dam for a day, then on down to Alamo, TX.  Alamo is just a few miles from New Progresso, Mexico - time to get my teeth cleaned and buy some cheap drugs.  Okay, the only drugs I'll buy are perfectly legal...  only far less expensive than in the US.  We'll probably visit Santa Ana NWR - we volunteered there in 2002.  I must have seen at least a dozen "life" birds during that stay.

So tomorrow we'll start putting things away.  We've been here 8 weeks and it always surprises me how much we make ourselves at home when we're at a place that long.  Not sure when I'll be able to post next.

That's All For Today!

6 comments:

  1. I do remember hot tar and we still have it on our street. The summers can be hot enough to bubble it. There was a grandkid set to some years ago when the entire flock of them coated their shoes with tar then walked through the house. They learned how to clean tar smears off floors with solvent. Hasn't happened in a long time.
    Safe travels.

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  2. gorgeous gorgeous birds .... don't recall ever popping a tar bubble! seems the water innit would be hot not cold.. jeeeeez that place looks so hot and dry and dusty and such .... but what birds and wildlife you've photographed! really something.

    I can't believe it's been 8 weeks. what have I done in those weeks. 8 weeks. doesn't seem right.

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  3. I hope you loved your stay there as much as I did. Your blog postings sure brightened my day, especially the bird and other wildlife pictures. Can't wait to see whay you will be up to next.

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  4. Well, bird watching and blogging-wise, your stay has been very productive. I'm so glad you got some rain there!

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  5. Those birds are so bright and colorful! I've only ever seen the Black-headed Grosbeaks, the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. and a female Evening Grosbeak once.

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  6. Well, it seems like you made quick work of that!! It is always interesting to hear of other's new adventures. Maybe after your stay in South Texas you can head for somewhere a little cooler!!

    Mark

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