Steve and Judy's Travels!

  A very birdy place.  Nothing unusual for us, but lots to look at.  Nothing unusual except for that rusty blackbird that’s reported to be over on the other side of Elm Lake.  Haven’t seen that one before.  Took a walk around the lake.  Got him!  Lifer!  Number 488, Rusty Blackbird.   Took a loop around the park in the dark tonight.  Got possums, armadillos, bunny rabbits, white tailed deer, and lots of scary noises.   Here is a gator pic.  Can you find the gator in this picture?    

  Travel day.  From north of Houston to south of Houston.  We’re at Brazos Bend State Park.  Ninety miles closer to Port Aransas.  No big cities left between here and there.   This is a favorite place.  We were last here two years ago.  Swarming with birds.  Swampy.  Most of the camp sites are back in the forest.  We got one out in the open so our satellite dishes can see the sky.     

   

  Here is one of the woodpeckers we found along the way.  Can you spot the woodpecker in this picture?    

  Persistence pays.  We got the Red Cockaded Woodpecker.  Number 485 for us.  Funny thing, in the search for the woodpecker, we got two other lifers, the Bachman’s Sparrow, Number 486, and the Brown Headed Nuthatch, Number 487.  We’ve been looking for the nuthatch.  The Sparrow was a total surprise.   Birding doesn’t always work like you expect.  We went to the forest every day to look for each bird, the nuthatch and the woodpecker, in the appropriate habitat.  Today, while I was getting out of the car, coffee in one hand, car keys in the other, the brown headed nuthatch flew down and landed on a parking bumper post right next to the car.   After we gave up on the woodpecker, walking back to the car, we found one stuck to a tree about twenty feet away.  Persistence pays.