Migrations

Our days in Winter Texas are winding down - both birds and people are beginning their northward Spring migration. 

Two days ago the sky was filled with vultures and raptors as far the eye could see, all headed in a northerly direction. Most larger birds tend to migrate during daylight. It is striking to see raptors scattered across the sky from horizon to horizon, not in flocks - all individuals moving in programmed directions to predestined destinations. Small birds tend to migrate at night so you cannot see them unless you look at the moon with a telescope. Like an elaborate magic trick, one day there are none in our Minnesota May yard; then the next morning our trees and shrubs are filled with wood warblers.

On this day someone with incredible eyesight spotted a kettle of Sandhill Cranes, tiny spots swirling in the high sky just beneath the clouds. They ride the thermals up a couple of thousand feet seeking elevation and tailwinds to carry them as they glide for two, three, four hundred miles toward their prehistoric northern nestling grounds. Very efficient winged dinosaurs. If they linger long on their journey, we may meet them again feeding in fields along the Platte, gaining energy for their final sprint to the Canadian prairies and tundra.

Last night we met with nine of our birding and bugging friends for an end of season dinner at a group friendly Italian restaurant. Having recently read The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture Of Criminals, Collectors, And Conservationists, I particularly enjoyed Rick's firsthand stories of the passionate backstabbing intrigue of the butterfly world. This morning one of the couples are already on the RV road, headed to their home in Missouri. The rest of us are hesitating, hanging back with the birds for a while, as we are all from either Minnesota, Vermont or Ontario. 

A good year? The weather has been tough, very unpredictably hot, cold. or wet, yet we have seen some great birds and have had good times with good friends and neighbors. And the party ain't over yet, we have two more weeks before we head to Rockport, Texas and then likely on to Kearney, Nebraska before returning to Minnesota in time to do our taxes. More photos upcoming.

In Quest Of the White-striped Longtail

I started out with Lorna's butterfly friends and after fifteen minutes of bugging I drifted off solo to see if there were any birds to be seen. With the heavy rains the water levels are high, and the sandy shores and mudflats are under water. The peeps, shorebirds, and waders that earn a living on pond edges have picked up their tools and moved their operations elsewhere for a while. Of course some ducks were still around, but they are starting to migrate north and their numbers are off.

It was late morning 80 degrees and the sun was hot, forcing birds to hide in the shade. The Pauraque are almost always in the same general area, so I stopped to try to pick one out on the stick covered ground to say hello. The Pauraque says,"Hi".

As the sun was really beating down on me out by the ponds I headed over to relocate Lorna and her merry band of eccentrics where there was more potential shade. When I found the group they were all excited to find another skipper, a White-striped Longtail. Uncommon if not rare.

These are the people that a couple of generations ago would have been wearing pith helmets and carrying bamboo handled butterfly nets, capturing the pretty flutterbys to mount them on long labeled pins in glass topped drawers. Now with the advent of modern cameras, catching and killing any butterfly is considered to be in quite bad form. An understatement. 

Young Nicholas shows off his picture to a friend.  Little kid.  Big camera.

White-striped Longtail

The butterfly was feeding in a type of Orange bush, The locals said it sets small sour fruit that really aren't edible. All I know it smells absolutely incredible and the butterfly seemed to like it too. 

Another Miscellaneous Group

It's sunny and warm today. There has been a lot of rain, 5 1/2" Sunday and Monday night, then another inch(?) last night.

Common Pauraque

Long-billed Thrasher

American Lady

Lorna is crazy for butterflies and it is a little bit contagious. I also recently read a book, The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture Of Criminals, Collectors, And Conservationists which was very intriguing. Who knew that rare butterfly smuggling is a major problem? There are collectors who will capture and kill ALL of the butterflies of  rare species to drive the prices up.

An interesting factoid from the book, Hildago County, where we winter, has as many species as all the of the states east of the Mississippi combined. At some point as we wander about it is almost impossible to ignore them. For some reason the Skippers particularly fascinate me - most are not colorful, but all are extremely fast fliers.

Fiery (?) Skipper

White Checkered-Skipper

Funereal Duskywing

Some kind of Grass-skipper, a Fiery Skipper f. (?)

Be well, -Gunnar

Sometimes Things Work Out

....sometimes they don't. Frankly this Rio Grande Valley winter has been a little ... iffy. We have had a series of cool, rainy days with a sunny day or two in between. That's life. 

This year back home in Oakwood, winter has been a walk in the park, at least by Minnesota standards. We get occasional updates from Penny across the street, or from Lorna's sister Linda next door, and from Cheryl who holds down the actual 1410 homesite and defending it against all interlopers, at times risking her very life. Today she sent us a couple of pictures of her harried life on the Oakwood deck. We appreciate her suffering. Note the wine bottle. I hope the wine was shared - it would be a shame to waste a solo bottle of wine on a warm sunshine Spring day. Or maybe not; maybe it was a time for quiet reflection on a life well lived and the pending rebirth of nature, and ........ sunshine!!!

 Be well, sunshine, - Gunnar    

Wilson's Snipe

International Women's Day, Obesity and Pastry

Rambling thoughts with tenuous links:

I cannot prove it, but it seems the lower people are on the economic ladder the heavier they are. Hildago County is very poor and unfortunately it is the most obese county in America. It is awash in fast food, there are taquerias on every block, the grocery stores are filled with prepared food, candy and junk snacks. It is not the grocer's fault; grocery stores stock what sells. A young man of possibly questionable status told me, "South of the border people are all skinny, here in the north, they are all fat". People have come across the border and left a lot of their day-to-day food traditions behind. Not quite that simple I am sure, but possible. Enough about that.

There was a lot on the morning television about International Women's Day. My wife is a woman who always has been a social activist so I asked her what she would particularly like to mark International Women's Day. She hesitated. I wondered what was it going to be? Gender pay equality? Reducing spousal abuse?  Eliminating sex trafficking?  Reduction of the bullying of young girls? The causes she backs passionately is long - after a long time, she finally said, "Pastry".

The El Manjar Bakery is two blocks down the the street from us. It's great. You grab a paper sack and a grabbing clamp and browse the full length glass case on the south wall selecting whatever American or Mexican style pastry that strikes your fancy. Then you set the sack on the scale at the register and pay the pretty young clerk whatever it weighs. Pastry by the pound! Wonderful pastry by weight! They don't make cinnamon rolls or caramel rolls, but they make a pretty fine Danish, a little heavy on the sugar, but still good. (It's hard to believe that a man of Danish heritage would think any pasty is too sweet.) I have developed quite a liking for their pumpkin empanadas. We obviously have to pace ourselves, least we start contributing adversely to the county weight average. We try never to buy more than two or three items and we often divide what we buy. Another theory I cannot prove: Two or three ordinary sweet rolls are not more satisfying than two or three bites of one good one. With coffee.

(Spellcheck has wiggly red lines under "taqueria" and "empanada". What English language are they living in?)

Sora (Rail)

"Uncommon in wet marshes" according to the Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, wt: 2.6 oz, length: 8.75". 

"A skulky little bugger, really easy to hear, damned hard to see" per Gunnar's Guide to Seldom Seen Birds. 

See it? We watched it taking a bath in the sunshine, posing for as many pictures as we wanted to take. I do not know what goes on in their birdie little heads, but birds do seem to find real joy in splashing about in water and then preening in the sunshine.

Reddish Egret

The various Herons, Egrets and Bitterns can be beautiful, graceful creatures. And some are not. They can be positively goofy. The Reddish Egret's method of hunting is not a patient wait, nor a slow-motion stalk; Reddish Egrets run, picking up speed, then spread their wings and prance and leap around in the shallows, scattering fish helter-skelter, then suddenly stop, umbrella their wings and stab at the shelter seeking fish. This one is a little aberrant with a few white wing feathers. And one goofy bird.

Enjoy, - Gunnar

South Padre Mixed Bag

I have a couple of more postings from our outing to South Padre Island two days ago. These are some leftovers - things that don't really fit a theme, but are just nice photos of great birds.

Reddish Egret

Eurasian Collared Doves

Man with a Fishing Rod ... who later, with a little luck, may prove to be a Fisherman.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Laughing Gulls with a Great Blue Heron

Willet

American Widgeon

Laughing Gull

This one is fun because of the variety of birds just hanging out in a bar, or rather on a bar. Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Mottled Duck, Northern Pintail, Redhead, Willet, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Tricolor Heron.

Have some variety in  your life.  - G.

A Brown Pelican Miss

Back in 'Sota we have White Pelicans. Sometimes I see them in mornings down on our lake, working as a group with their Cormorant sidekicks, herding schools of fish toward shore where they can corral and catch them. On the other hand, Brown Pelicans are solo hunters, spotting and diving after fish near the surface. I was a little disappointed when I saw this set on my computer. I was expecting to see a fish in the last picture instead of an embarrassed pelican grin. Oh, well.

Good fishing, -Gunnar