Travel day. We moved north to Fort Davis State Park. Still no cellphone or internet, but we discovered if we drove to the top of the overlook, we could send and receive. Here is my hilltop office.
Tuesday
Still at the Rio Grande campground; a triple digit furnace. Forays out into the Chisos Mountain Basin at 5,000 feet to hike. Cooler there. Only about 85. Today, the Laguna Meadows and Colima Trail for the Colima Warbler. Judy got a giant blister yesterday, so she stayed back with Annie and Eddie while Jeff, Carol and I went.
Another demanding hike. We didn’t mean to do a loop, just an out and back; get the warbler at Laguna Meadows and return. A 3 ½ mile grind to Laguna Meadows. No bird. We continued on to the Colima Trail. How could a person not get a Colima Warbler on a trail named after the bird? No bird. We did hear him three different times but couldn’t get eyeballs on him. By then we were well over halfway around the loop, so no out-and-back hike. We continued on over the Pinnacles Trail. Still no bird. We headed down.
The whole hike was wonderfully scenic. We gave the bird every opportunity, but he just didn’t take advantage of the situation and make an appearance. When we got home, I put him down on our life-list as a “heard only”. We’ll come back again some day and try to get an actual sighting.
Monday
I got the Google Map updated for our 2010 trip: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107013362562471418011.00047964b60d16d130156&z=7
The reason for any birder to visit Big Bend National Park is to see the Colima Warbler. It’ here in the summer, and only here. If you want the Colima Warbler on your North American Life-list, you’re coming here.
A Colima Warbler isn’t a drive-by sighting though. You have to hike a demanding trail at altitude in the heat to get it. We did a shorter hike today to check things out. Lost Mine trail, a 5 mile round trip with 1,200 feet elevation gain. Highest elevation about 6,500 feet. Judy’s knee is all better. She has full movement of her shoulder again, so off we went.
Jeff and Carol
Tomorrow, the Laguna Meadows and Colima Trails. A longer round-trip.
Sunday
Big Bend. Last night’s weather never hit. We watched severe weather all around, but it just seemed to circle us. All we got was wind.
We headed off this morning for Big Bend. We’ve been driving back and forth past the turn-off to Big Bend for 30 years. Finally, we did it. It isn’t the best time of year to be in Big Bend. It’s pretty hot here now. But we’re here.
Now my audit software doesn’t work and we won’t have any cellphone service, so I’ll probably give up trying to work while I’m here and just take a couple days completely off. I put a message on the cellphone and an auto-response on email saying we’ll be off the grid for a couple days. We’ll reestablish contact soon. (Turns out we do have sporadic email.)
It wasn’t hard to find a place to camp. The national park campground is a parking lot campground, and it was basically empty, but there are full hookups. We’re not here for the campground anyway. We’re here for the access it gives us to all the stuff around it.
Right off the bat while we were still hooking up, we got the Common Blackhawk circling above us. Life bird!
Here is what the campground looks like at 108 degrees.
Saturday
Fort Stockton. I got some work stuff sorted out. (I also scrambled my audit software by trying to upgrade it and will need tech support during the workweek to get that sorted out.) Judy got us all reprovisioned for a few more days on the road. We’re going to head off through Big Bend National Park as we continue our way west. We’ll probably have spotty cellphone and internet coverage for a few more days. Desert type birds here. Ash-throated Flycatcher, Black-throated Sparrow, Cactus Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Pyrrhuloxia, Western Kingbird, White-crowned Sparrow, White-winged Dove. Tonight’s entertainment in Fort Stockton is the severe weather warning. Thunderstorms, high wind, damaging hail, and tornadoes. There is a tornado on the ground 27 miles southwest of Fort Stockton. We’re on the east edge of Fort Stockton. We picked up everything outside and put it away. We took down the bird feeders. We pulled in the slides. We’re as ready as we can be to ride it out. Life on the road.