The Australian Open. Men play best of five. Women play best of three. Women can’t play five sets? What’s up with that? The weaker sex?
Meanwhile
Last weekend’s edition of Conner’s News 
Conner’s News 1-22-12The Conner museum will be an ant museum.It will be opening soon.A cruise ship sank.This weekend is the stock show.
Conner’s News 1-22-12The Conner museum will be an ant museum.It will be opening soon.A cruise ship sank.This weekend is the stock show. The End of the Road Trip
We’re back at Sandpipers. Judy had an afternoon doctor’s appointment in McAllen today. We did that, went to 10th and Dove and got the Green Parakeets and Mitred Parakeets, got some Chinese food, and came home. Our campsite at Falcon yesterday. That’s Barb and Henry over on the right, Judy in the middle, Huck on the left. Me, I’m the empty chair. 
The State Park lets us put up as many bird feeders as we want.
The State Park lets us put up as many bird feeders as we want. Monday
The weather was grungy; cold and wet, but the birding was bright. We popped over to Salineno before work. It’s only 7 miles away. In the cool mist, we got the Brown Jay.
The Brown Jay rarely visits the United States. The last time we saw it was in 2005. Good to get that for a year-bird. Then I got to thinking about Zapata County and our seedeater efforts. So far we’ve recorded the second most number of species in that county. We’re only 4 birds behind number one. I thought: 4 birds? We could go back and get 5. Then we’d be number 1. But then I thought a little more about it and realized having the most birds in Zapata County may not be a badge of courage and honor. It might just demonstrate that it has taken us longer to find the seedeater than it has taken anybody else. Okay. Nevermind the Zapata County bird count. Until the next time we get an opportunity to go search for the seedeater again anyway.
The Brown Jay rarely visits the United States. The last time we saw it was in 2005. Good to get that for a year-bird. Then I got to thinking about Zapata County and our seedeater efforts. So far we’ve recorded the second most number of species in that county. We’re only 4 birds behind number one. I thought: 4 birds? We could go back and get 5. Then we’d be number 1. But then I thought a little more about it and realized having the most birds in Zapata County may not be a badge of courage and honor. It might just demonstrate that it has taken us longer to find the seedeater than it has taken anybody else. Okay. Nevermind the Zapata County bird count. Until the next time we get an opportunity to go search for the seedeater again anyway. Road Trip!
We’re at Falcon State Park. Drove up here yesterday in the coach, all of two hours away from our place at Sandpipers. Came to make a home base closer to the White-collared Seedeater and the Brown Jay. There is only one place in North America where the seedeater is being reported and another place where the Brown Jay is being reported, and they’re both within reach. We’ve seen them each before, but we thought we’d go get them for our year-list. Today’s was a valiant effort. Up early, I stood security watch against the howling hunting coyote pack while Judy emptied the dogs in the dark. We were gone in time to arrive 30 miles north at the park in Zapata by dawn. We stayed there and monitored the seedeater spot for six hours. We saw a lot of birds, enough to move us to number 2 for most birds recorded on ebird in Zapata County so far this year, but we didn’t get the seedeater. Seedeaters or not, this is a nice place to be. Maybe we’ll get a Scaled Quail in our campsite tomorrow morning.