For the Birds - Tues., Nov. 12

Not working for four days in a row has given me new energy. Three days in a row, I have been walking. Today, I revisited Mitchell Lake Audubon Wetlands a few minutes from our RV park for a 5K (3.1 mi) walk.

I had a late start to my day because I didn't go to bed until late, then the cats woke me up at 4:00 a.m. Long story short, I finally slept until 1:00 p.m. The Audubon wetlands close at 4:00 p.m. I hustled over there by 2:30 p.m. and I had 1-1/2 hours to walk, take photos and leave.

Each time I go to the wetlands, I strive to find different birds, i.e., ones that might be passing through or ones I haven't seen before. Today, I felt lucky to see two new birds for my list: the Northern shrike and the ruddy duck.

A definite cold front is passing through south central Texas. The wind was chilly, but it was a sunny day. I had on a T-shirt, fleece sweater and jeans. The temperature was wonderful for walking. Tonight, however, the temperature is supposed to drop to 34 degrees and there will be a wind chill making it feel even colder. The propane furnace will be running tonight!

Anyway, back to the walk. I enjoy walking in nature so much. The more I do it, the more content I am in my life. Beautiful and interesting scenes keep me going back.

Mitchell Lake Audubon's "office" and gift store.

Take a close look at the bird house below. Does it remind you of the office building above? Pretty cool bird house.

Audubon bird house.

A small bit of fall color: seed pods.

Looks like an invasion of UFOs.

Bird blind

Bird Pond.

Northern shrike - note the hooked upper beak.

Mourning dove.

Least grebe.

I want to hang out here!

American pelicans.

Northern shoveler

American avocet

Great egrets

As I walked (or ran) along, flurries of fritillaries flew up from the bushes beside the trail. In the photo below, I found four fritillaries, one open and three closed. Can you see them?

American avocet eating.

Ruddy ducks - I've never seen these before.

Northern shrike.

Because I love taking photos, I knew 1-1/2 hours wouldn't be enough for my 3.1 mile walk in order to make it back to my car by closing time. Every time I stopped to take photos, I ran for a couple of minutes to make up time. If you know how much I hate running, you will then know that I love taking photos that much more.

I made it back to my car at 3:59 p.m. At home, I had checked the location and time of "Gravity 3D." It started at 4:30 p.m. and I knew I could make it there in time. I hopped in the car and had freeway all the way to the theater. Just before I got out of the car, I was going to grab my credit card so I wouldn't have to fish for it at the ticket window. Epic fail. I forgot to put my credit card or cash in my fanny pack before I went walking. So, no movie today.

Tomorrow, I plan to walk in the morning, see my hairdresser at 1:00 p.m., and meet Bob to set up an account at a Texas credit union. U.S. Bank, where we have banked for years, is not in Texas.

Update: Jim and Peri whose 5th wheel was totaled by the flooding in San Marcos, Texas, now have a new-to-them 5th wheel and are all moved in. That was really quick. They found a used 5th wheel (in almost new condition) in Marble Falls, Texas. Congratulations, Peri and Jim!

Travel Bug out.

Perched - Tues., July 9

Perched at the dining room window in the RV park, I witness all types of bird activity.

A few weeks ago, a golden-fronted woodpecker was assaulting our neighbor's window. (In the first photo, the bird is NOT pecking at the cable, I had an awkward photo angle.)

Golden-fronted woodpecker looking at itself in the window.

"Oh, hello, what bird are you?"

Golden-fronted woodpecker still examining the window.

Last week, the boat-tailed grackles were fluffing. (From Wikipedia: Fluffing = "In breeding season, males tip their heads back and fluff up feathers to display and keep other males away. This same behavior is used as a defensive posture to attempt to intimidate predators.") In the last of the three grackle photos below, look for the fanned out tail feathers and the pulled back wings. That grackle means business!

"Hey, you're invading my turf!"

"You better leave now."

"No, I think YOU should leave! Now!"

Today a golden-fronted woodpecker took a bath atop our neighbor's 5th wheel slide out. First it had to make sure the coast was clear.

"Am I safe?"

One wet bird - call it a wet-headed woodpecker.

Still checking the perimeter for intruders.

Wet bird flies into nearby tree.

Then there's the rusty blackbird. This is the first time I've seen this bird. The blackbird was drinking from the roof drain rail on the 5th wheel next door.

Rusty blackbird.

Rusty blackbird.

Rusty blackbird drinking water.

There is a new hummingbird feeder next door to us; the hummingbirds are already fighting over it. I have not been able to capture the hummingbirds in flight. The feeder is partially behind a tree, so it's not easy to catch the hummers at the feeder either. We will have to put up our hummingbird feeder outside our back window. Then the cats and I will be entertained by these fast feathered beauties.

While I'm on the subject of entertaining cats, I found the best cat toy to date at Walmart. It's called SmartyKat® Hot Pursuit™. The cost was $19.99 plus tax.* The toy takes three AA batteries (not included) to run the stick with a "mouse tail" around and around under the cover.

For over a week, this toy has kept two cats very absorbed in catching and killing the moving "tail" sticking out from under the cover. I haven't had to put the attachment with feathers on yet because they're already having so much fun. (And no, I don't make any money off of these things.) See photos below. Happy, entertained cats = happy kitty momma.

Bowie always defers to Sunnie. Sunnie gets to play first. Once Sunnie is out of the picture, Bowie goes to town. He is such a busy, intelligent cat. He has to figure out every way he can possibly play with something.

In the photo below, note Bowie's feigned disinterest while Sunnie plays.

Sunnie attacking from the cat cave (box).

Bowie's turn.

You can't see it in the following photo, but Bowie has the cover in his mouth and is dragging the toy across the floor. He loves doing that.

Here you can see the little red "tail".

Conked out after playing with the toy. Notice the evil eye from Bowie.

*While sitting in the vet's waiting room last week, Animal Planet had ads for this toy. If you called then, it was $19.99, plus you got an extra one free. "But wait! There's more" ... the lady sitting next to me and I laughed because it sounded so much like the Ginzu knife ads that used to be on TV, so I missed what else came with it. I didn't write down the phone number or website to order it, but when I saw it at Walmart, well let's just say, in advertising terms, it triggered TOMA (top of mind awareness).

I'm so happy I bought it. You can see the result in the conked out kitties above. Too cute.

Travel Bug out.

Never a Dull Moment -- Fri., May 11

 Cotulla, Texas:

Compared to rainy yesterday, today was gorgeous and about 84 degrees, 70% humidity (tolerable).

Bob's shift was pretty routine. Normal amount of traffic. Oh, except there was a big mud hole just past where they had been grading and putting rock down into the caliche. Trucks were nosediving into it. A grader came out and many truckloads of gravel were put down which the grader then smoothed into the roadbed of caliche dust.

I came on duty at 3:00 p.m. Bob went to the post office to pick up our mail. On the way back he stopped to visit Kit and Jerry. He had a wonderful time picking their brains about internet reception, gate guarding, past history...just a good, old-fashioned visit.

About 45 minutes after Bob left for town, I witnessed an accident inside our gate between two sand trucks. I won't bother you with the details. I did get some pictures of the damage, though.

Tire removed already. Damaged wheel.

Crunched license plate, damaged grill, hood crunched upward.

Assessing the damage.

That was the first incident on my shift. 

Next thing I know, trucks that had exited the gate onto Harvey Smith Rd south were all backing up into our gate to turn around, even the rock trucks that were supposed to put more rock down. When the grader guy got off shift around 10:40 p.m., he brought the grader in and parked it across from our rig (which is where he left his pick-up truck). I asked him what was going on down the road. 

He replied, "An inexperienced trucker got stuck in the hole, broke the axle and ruined the transmission. I tried to pull him out, but couldn't. Two other trucks combined tried to pull him out, but couldn't. The road is blocked. I've been sending everyone I can around another way. There's nothing more we can do tonight. A semi tow truck will be here in the morning. I'll be back first thing."

While the second incident wasn't exactly at our gate, it impacted where our truckers had to go to get here. And some who left had to back up 1/2 mile to turn around at our gate.

Oh, I forgot to mention, we have an excellent bird feeder. Our night lights attract all manner of moths, beetles, termites, lightning bugs, and who knows what else. There are no bats! During the day, all kinds of birds come to the generator/light stand and have easy pickin's of whatever ever bug buffet suits them. We have Bewick's wrens, mockingbirds, a male and female cardinal, and other birds I haven't identified yet. Today the Bewick's wren came within a few inches of my shoe. My nature moment for the day.

Kitty story: We have discovered what floats our cats' boats...flying insects--moths to be exact. (Beetles are exciting too, but just not as much fun.) A moth enters the 5er, intense hunter cat mode ensues. Both Sunnie and Bowie go nuts, leaping tall furniture in a single bound, climbing upholstered valances, staring down moths on the ceiling as if they can entrance them to fly around some more.

Yesterday Sunnie caught a good-sized moth. He proudly carried it around in his mouth, would let it go and catch it again. If Bowie got too close, Sunnie hissed and growled.

This evening there were plenty of moths to go around and both cats had their own playthings. They don't eat them (probably too fuzzy), just play with them and carry them around.  Apparently Sunnie does eat beetles.

"I see a moth. Yum!"

Two cats hunting.

As I'm sitting here typing the two cats just finished hunting some bug under the dining chairs and I can hear Sunnie's bug crunching noises from where I sit...sounds like a crunchy beetle, not a soft moth.

They wore themselves out. Some moths live on, but the cats are sleeping. By morning, we'll probably discover more dead moths.

More random pictures from the last few days:

These cats love playing in and around boxes! See those little holes...they make good spots for Bowie's paws to attack Sunnie.

Bewick's wren. It's there, really!

Equipment move

Bob doing his job.

Pad B before the flood.

Bowie

Springbok antelope running away from me again.

Grackle

Grackle.

Trailing edge of the front--May 10, 2012.

Trailing edge of the front -- May 10, 2012

Trailing edge of the front.

The storm that passed over us, leaving for the day.

Kitties playing.