Category Archives: Winter2015 Trip

Home Sweet Home

After a week of traveling, with one day off to let some bad weather pass, we arrived home Monday afternoon after ten hours in the truck. The trip was plagued by idiot drivers, some of them returning from Spring Break in Florida and others just afflicted with the "weaving through traffic" disease and so added to the heavy traffic and often-lousy pothole situation, it was not fun. Once we got off the Natchez Trace it was brutal until we got north of Albany, New York. We stayed at KOA’s in Tennessee and Virginia which are fairly predictable: cramped, weak electric systems, useless wifi and 50 cable channels of nothingness – no PBS etc. They are better than Walmart and like I said, predictable.

The last night on the road, we stay in a nice La Quinta hotel in Harrisburg. They are dog-friendly, clean and quiet, and a nice rest before the long last drive. We launched at 7:00 AM and fought trucks until we got to I-88 in Binghampton. Knowing the roads and getting closer and closer gave me time to worry about our driveway and what awaited us at home. I had talked to our friend Terry who has watched things for us and knew that the warm weather in Vermont was helping but we have a muddy dirt road, tough driveway turn, and monster ledge awaiting. (Every time I think about a newer, slightly longer rig I need to remember our driveway.)

As we always do, we rolled down the windows, tooted and yelled as we crossed into Vermont in Fair Haven and while the frost heaves from Killington to Bethel jounced the trailer, soon we were sliding through Montpelier, up Elm Street and on to Shady Rill Road. What challenges lie ahead?

Shifting into four-wheel drive, I climbed Wood Road and noted that the bad muck hole had smoothed out some but then there was a pile of ice and rocks at the driveway that I had to miss as I turned and climbed. It was a leap of faith. As we topped off I could see the ridges of frozen snowbanks that blocked the garage and the turnaround but I got stopped, spent some time with Mary’s help backing and trying to stay out of the soft ditches, finally getting the rig out of the way for the time being. We cut grooves in the soft gravel/dirt with the truck and the trailer tires but I chocked it, unhitched and we could relax and check the house (which was in good shape.)

The trailer is sitting in the mud, waiting for the snow to melt and for things to dry out.

So, some homecoming thoughts:

  • It feels so good to be back in the land of recycling and local food. It pains us to think of all the plastic we tossed away – most of the country thinks they are doing great when they collect beer and soda cans.
  • After three months with essentially no wifi (State parks and many commercial parks have dog-slow systems where it’s much faster, and costlier, to use 4G), it is great to be able to download software or magazines without having to drive ten miles to the library.
  • It is good to be back in the land of NESN, at least so far.
  • We know the warblers are following us, we saw them in Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
  • And while we avoid political stuff while traveling, it is wonderful to be back in a blue state, where the mud thrown comes from snow tires, not pompous politicians.

It was a good trip all in all. Sixteen new life birds for the trip and a number that are still waiting for me. Good birding to you all.

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A Rest Stop Surprise

We spent a nice day cruising up the Natchez Trace Parkway after spending the night at Natchez State Park. You drive the Trace at 50 mph which in itself is calming and the lack of trucks (or traffic) with everything green, flowering trees, windows down, 80 degree temperatures made it a lovely morning cruise. There are many pulloffs fro natural and historic sites, like this one.

The dogwood trees were more and more prevalent as we moved north on the Trace. There were pink blossoms like a wild plum and periodic swaths of bright yellow canola fields. (Here is one that I did not photograph but which we passed in Alabama.)

Mary posed beneath a flowering dogwood along the Trace.

We stopped for a lunch break at a picnic site along the creek and as we pulled in, I saw a VW camper with NY plates and asked Mary if we knew them. As we stopped, a guy came over and said, "Richard Mansfield, fancy meeting you here." I blanked on his name at first but it turned out to be some Oregon friends we met at Goose Island with their two English friends. I had thought they were headed to Florida but it turns out they are meandering. It was a great coincidence when you figure all the stopping places along the 200 mile segment we were on. Richard and Kris got to meet Mary and their dog Bella and our Penny continued the fued they started in Texas. It turned out that the Englsh folks loved the Vermont honey I had given the Oregonians.

As Mary prepared a sandwich, I took the dog for a stroll. There were warblers moving through the foliage and I saw a Black & White and a couple of Yellow-rumps but kept hearing this call I didn’t recognize. I looked and looked as we moved through the brush when I spotted it, a handsome male Prothonotary Warbler – life bird #426. He has a female with him and I watched them foraging, wondering why I lrft the camera in the truck. (I went back to get it, returned and heard him again and got these documentation photos.)

It was a wonderful stop: seeing our friends and getting a bird I missed in Texas. The rest of the trip up to Tupelo was fun – I couldn’t stop thinking of the surprise of having such a yellow gem pop into my binoculars. Likely the last life bird of this trip – and a great one.

Leaving Goose Island

I saw my first fireflies of the year early Monday morning before dawn. Like the predawn birdsong and seventy-degree temperatures, it will all will soon be put aside for the realities of April in New England. We have launched on our 2200 mile journey home.

One of the challenges each year is Houston; this year I decided to do a wide circumnavigation to the west and north. But first, we needed a bit of Airstream drama. First, after I hooked up I got an alert that there was a wiring issue with the trailer. I ignored that since everything seemed to be working but then noticed some loose trim hanging off the trailer’s side. That loosened more as we got up to speed and soon I stopped and removed it until later.

We were counting Scissor-tailed Flycatchers perched or feeding along our route – the last time we’ll see those beauties for a while. After a few hours, we stopped at our favorite gas stop, [Buc-ees in Wharton](http://www.vtbirder.com/beef-jerky-one-of-the-five-basic-food-groups/), Texas.

Soon, we were truckin’ through coton fields, then cattle country, whipping along at 70 much of the way. Each small town has a 75-55-45-30 speed zone that comes at you quickly, with nearly hidden school zone lights that drop it to 25. With the polished trailer and Vermont plates, we sort of stand out so I keep it legal.

The high humidity and temps call for air-conditioning but we can’t do that when hauling the trailer so it’s windows down and cruising. Much of Texas, even secondary highways, have 75 mph limits. In one stretch, with trees lining both sides and dips and climbs, I said to Mary, ‘This is like the Elmore road with a 75 speed limit.” I tend to keep it more at 68 or so, still a little dicey to a Vermonter.

It was a long first day but we got to our campground, Martin Dies State Park, in plenty of time for walks and relaxation. There were hardly any campers (after having a thousand there for Easter) and the birds were busy. Unlike the Gulf Coast where they were silent, here many were calling. I heard and then saw a gorgeous male Scarlet Tanager. Other highlights were a Little Blue Heron, my first American Crow in three months, also my first Blue Jay. The downside was that the bugs were really tough, seeming to laugh at Off and Cutter’s. Here’s a shot of the Cypress adorned slough beside our site.

We leave Texas Tuesday after a long visit during which time I saw 235 different species and left ranked 55th in the state. It was all-in-all a good stay. Bays con food, amigos

Some Monday Birds

I was out walking the dog before daylight, listening to the morning chorus of birds and frogs when far off, I heard a Great Horned Owl hooting. After another coffee and bagel it was getting light out so Penny and I headed out for another jaunt, this time with my binoculars and camera. Not much was moving – we seem to be overflown by migrants – until I took a side trail, noticed some movement, and spotted this owl. It was very large, facing away from me, but turned periodically to check us out. It was difficult, with the limbs and lighting, to get a decent photo but a great start to the day.

We had planned to go over to Port Aransas for the morning for some birding and after an easy drive and short ferry ride, were at the wastewater treatment facility – one of our favorite birding spots. The Leonabelle Turnbill Birding Center has hundreds of waterfowl that are used to visitors and just hang out on the facility’s ponds. Boardwalks and spotting scopes make this popular and very productive. Here are a couple of Roseate Spoonbills overhead (most are getting their breeding plumage).

We had Cinnamon, Blue-winged, and Green-winged Teal.

Ruddy Ducks in breeding plumage were eye candy for Vermonters.

Even this Common Moorhen looked pretty spiffy trotting along.

We took a drive down to the beach, just to see it again. I noticed a flight of about thirty Brown Pelicans flying very low coming up at us so I stopped the truck and grabbed a shot. As an aviator, I admire their flying skills and love to watch them in formation.

On the way home, we picked up some healthy lunches from "The Shack," a local barbecue place. Afterward, I felt a bit like this Black Vulture which I saw later on – fat, dumb, and in need of a nap.

A Morning Jaunt to Aransas NWR

One of the "must-do" trips when we are a Goose Island State Park is to get to the [Aransas National Wildlife Refuge](http://www.vtbirder.com/aransas-national-wildlife-area/) so we loaded up some lunch, our birding gear, and the dog and headed out yesterday morning. It’s only a short trip, much of it at 70 mph, and it is always a bit unreal to take the narrow roads through cotton country. The fields are continuous black soil, flat as can be, cut only by irrigation ditches. Way off, like mirages on a desert, trucks float along just on the horizon. It’s about as far removed from Vermont as possible.

The refuge is large and being remote, not that busy, even on a weekend. Mary and I get in free with our Senior Pass (one benefit of getting old) and there is a pretty driving loop along the coastline with several overlooks.

The first stop after the impressive visitors’ center is the alligator viewing pond. They’ve constructed a new viewing platform and right below it was this young alligator, taking the sun. It’s Mary’s type of alligator viewing – there’s no way, unless he sprouts wings, that he’s going to bother her.

The birding was so-so with the exception of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, who have just begun to show up. Some will stay here, others will continue their migration northward. There were over a dozen and all were having trouble perching in the stiff breeze. This one balanced on a sign.

As did this one.

Later, after seeing a couple of Whooping Cranes from the elevated platform, I thought I saw a bunch of white birds way up high. I tried to get my binoculars on them with no luck, finally giving up. I told Mary that I must have mistaken a swarm of insects for a flight of birds.

We moved on, driving the long scenic loop, when I thought I saw a similar group of white objects. I stopped the truck and realized right away that they were birds that showed up when the sun was on them but disappeared when they turned away. They were making large circles, thermalling and drifting with the wind. I got Mary on them and through the binoculars, could see that they were White Ibis. My camera didn’t focus well but you can get a sense of the neat swirling birds we were seeing.

The temperature showed 80 as we stopped in a grove overlooking the water. The wind, while making casual dining a workout, kept the bugs (which were there) away. It was a nice Saturday morning in southern Texas.

Whole Lot of Frackin’ Going On

We started seeing signs for "ecolab services" and similar PR-approved company signs as we drove into Tilden, Texas. As we turned the corner toward Choke Canyon State Park I said to Mary, "I thought this was a sleepy cow town last time we were here," but several hundred yards later, seeing muddy tanker trucks, oil field equipment, and cheap RV parks it became obvious: fracking!

This man camp, one of many for oil field workers, was the first clue.

Next door were several muddy lots filled with workers’ RVs.

We were just disgusted at what we saw in the next twelve miles – flaring smokestacks, security checkpoints on every dirt road, anda highway laden with muddy pickups and tractor trailers and torn up by the heavy traffic. Here’s how an article by Bryan Mealer in Texas Monthly describes the drive:

As I hooked east and joined Texas Highway 72, the main corridor through the Eagle Ford, the world was instantly transformed. The once quiet two-lane road was as furious as a Los Angeles freeway. A tanker truck slid up behind me, lights flashing, then jerked its load into the opposing lane to pass. It barely made the distance, forcing an oncoming pickup into the grass to avoid a collision. I stepped on the gas to keep from being run over and soon I was rocketing along at 85 miles per hour, amid a convoy of semis and tractor-trailers, all of us shrouded in a haze of road dust.

I began to notice the gas flares burning over the tops of the mesquite trees. Drilling rigs appeared every couple of miles, some far away, others pressed against the barbed-wire fences that lined the road. They seemed a product of science fiction, both beautiful and barbaric, like battleships turned on end. Each was festooned with Texas and American flags and surrounded by a ring of air-conditioned trailers. Billboards shouted at me from the sides of the road: “Mineral Acquisitions!” “Frack Water for Sale!” “Packers Plus: The Leader in Open-Hole Multi-Stage Fracturing.” “Hit by a Semi? Call 1-888-277-HURT.”

If we had had options, we might of kept going but fortunately, the state park is an oasis in this environmental madness.

We can see a dozen or more waste gas stacks off in the distance from our campsite. We are sitting on the Eagle Ford Formation, an area of porous shale rock 50 miles wide and 400 miles in length. Some local folks have made many millions, others pay more for the every day items they need.

It’s school break and many families are here. I met a guy from West Texas in the shower room and we talked a bit while he waited for his wife. When I mentioned Vermont, he asked me how construction workers handle the snow and cold. After explaining about closing in work early, finding interior jobs, or collecting unemployment and going ice fishing or snowmobiling (yes, I said that) I asked him if he was a carpenter. He told me that he was an oil driller, working in the other big shale field, and said "Sir, we go all day and night regardless of weather."

His wife came out and we talked about how important is was for them to take time to go camping with their kids, to ditch the electronic games, to hike and fish, play board games, get dirty.

It was a conversation I could have, and have had with young parents in Vermont. This wiry little driller and his born again wife were delightful and made me realize that there are pluses and minuses to fracking. He’s gone for days but working hard, making good money. And worried about his job. The boom rush is tenuous – last winter many were laid off as the oil companies regrouped.

With oil prices continuing to drop, this whole black gold rush may come to a screeching halt in the near future. Our kids and grandkids will likely end up paying for the environmental cleanup.

Sunday Afternoon Digiscoping

I took advantage of a damp Sunday afternoon to practice some digiscoping with my iPhone. The lighting was poor but the dog and I had several outings and got a lot of fresh air. I can see why people opt for carbon-fiber tripods- my aluminum one gets pretty heavy one long jaunts.

Here’s a female Northern Cardinal which I sometimes confuse with the Pyrrhuloxia, her Mexican cousin. (Thanks, Sue, for the correction.)

You can’t walk 100 yards here without seeing the Texas state bird, the Northern Mockingbird. They are singing and tussling for territory but unlike blackbirds, they don’t wear out their welcome.

Curved-bill Thrasher are amazing singers and seem to go on for minutes without a pause.

We went down by the lake and found this Great Egret trying to hide in the rushes

This Eastern Phoebe and a partner were actively feeding and calling. It’s nice to think that the “fee-bee” call will be in our Vermont woods in a couple of months.

Not to be outdone, this female Vermillion Flycatcher performed for us. There are perhaps four pairs in the park and while the males are the most spectacular in plumage, the gals do ok.

Vermillion Flycatchers are my kind of bird: easy-to-see, wonderful to watch in action, and inclined to return to, or near the same perch. What’s not to like?

Another Cute Owl

Having found the Eastern Screech Owl the other day, yesterday I went hunting for a Burrowing Owl who is located not far away. I had driven there Wednesday but only found a feral cat hunting on the rock piles where the bird was reported.

Yesterday afternoon, the first thing I spotted was a Loggerhead Shrike and then another feral cat. “Great,” I thought, being pretty sure that the bird would be laying low.

Feral cats are everywhere in Texas -- and while pretty, are quite devastating to the bird population.

Feral cats are everywhere in Texas — and while pretty, are quite devastating to the bird population.

However, as I scanned the piles of rocks along the dike, a Burrowing Owl was perched up like nothing was amiss.  This is the best look I’ve had at one — and I took a few shots through the open truck window as the guy/gal posed.

BurrOwl1W

The Burrowing Owl appears to be diurnal because it can often be seen foraging during the day. In fact, it hunts all day and night long and is most active in the morning and evening. It catches more insects during the day and more mammals at night.

"Hey, you looking at me?"

“Hey, you looking at me?”

I plan to return with Mary to see this guy again once the cold front winds die down. It’s a great bird.

 

Hello Mr/Ms Eastern Screech Owl

Last year, a couple put us on to an Eastern Screech Owl nesting in a tree at nearby Anzalduas Park. I could not spot it during our first visit this year but yesterday, a friend pointed out the correct spot (we were keying off the wrong building) and sure enough, there he/she was. I took a rather long-range shot so as to not bother the bird although it seems to sleep through hordes of visitors.

You can't see me (without help from others.)

You can’t see me (without help from others.)

The park is very birdy – lots of activity in the trees and overhead.  Here are a couple of other shots from Wednesday’s visit.

Golden-fronted Woodpeckers are pretty common and pretty noisy -- and just pretty.

Golden-fronted Woodpeckers are pretty common and pretty noisy — and just pretty.

There were dozens of Eastern Bluebirds at the park.

There were dozens of Eastern Bluebirds at the park.

I’m waiting for better weather to launch the kayak here in the Rio Grande. The border runs down the middle of the river so as long as I stick to the correct side …. perhaps I’d better carry my passport.  Good birding

 

 

Goodbye Goose Island State Park

After a chilly (by Texas standards) start, we had a good end to our week at Goose Island. The birding was good and I got a couple of life birds: Clay-colored Sparrow and Harris’s Sparrow. One of my birding goals for 2015 is to get at least 100 birds in five U.S. counties. I did it in 2014, just squeezing through with my home county. So I was hoping to reach 100 birds during our week at Goose Island. It’s not easy since while the waterfowl are around (although I missed Green-winged Teal), only Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers are present.

One of the common sites at Goose Island is the Brown Pelicans waiting for anglers to return and clean their fish.

One of the common sites at Goose Island is the Brown Pelicans waiting for anglers to return and clean their fish.

By Saturday night, I was at 99 species; we were leaving Sunday morning. I got up early, took the dog for a long walk, and visited some feeders which had been unproductive all week. As things would have it, the 100th bird who hopped out of the bushes was Vermont’s State Bird, a pretty Hermit Thrush. Then, four White-Throated Sparrows arrived and I called it quits at 101 and went back to hook up the trailer and get ready to depart.

Large rafts of Redheads are everywhere, as are duck hunters traveling by noisy airboats.

Large rafts of Redheads are everywhere, as are duck hunters traveling by noisy airboats.

We are rather limited with Wifi and busting our data plans for the phones and iPads so posting photos is a challenge. After a long wait one night, I told a fellow who was standing their in the dark with his cell phone that “It’s like watching grass grow.” He didn’t get it — turns out he was a visitor from the Netherlands. He certainly agreed that the reception was awful. We are now in the Rio Grande Valley with thousands of other Winter Texans, many from Canada. Each year, as more folks get multiple devices, the signals get worse. You can get a 4G signal with three or four bars but there’s so much demand that you might as well forget it. I get up early and it works like a charm.

A face only a Turkey Vulture mother could love.

A face only a Turkey Vulture mother could love.

We are not sure we’ll make it back on the way home but in any case, it remains one of our favorite state parks in the Southwest.