Wet Texas Weather

Day two in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The weather is cold and wet. Almost freezing at night. Miserable. Lorna and I, and our friends Paul and Carolee, drove over to Estero Llano State Park this morning. We had the parking lot to ourselves. For that matter, we had the whole park to ourselves.

In past couple of weeks I have gone from crutches, to a staff, to a knee brace, but my knee is still a little weak. The others hiked off into the cold wind and drizzle, leaving me alone on the covered, wind-sheltered deck. Dim lighting - generally poor photography conditions, but I took a handful of photos. Except for the ducks the birds all looked cold too, especially the poor little Black-chinned Hummingbird. Takes lot of fuel to keep a hummer humming at these temps. They kind of go into fuzz-ball mode and tend not to move much unless food is involved. 

Wilson's Snipe

Least Sandpipers

Black-necked Stilt

Curve-billed Thrasher

First-year male Vermillion Flycather, just coming into breeding plumage

Later we walked through the "tropical zone" to see the Screech Owl (nadda). Finally, coming to our senses, we went back to the truck and drove to the Blue Onion for calzones, po-boys, black bean soup. With an Abby Ale.

Cold and Gimpy in Texas, Gunnar