A side-trip on the way home. It was productive. Birded there until after lunch. When I finished, I drove another 350 miles home, so it’s late. Well, it feels late.
More tomorrow.
Blue Creek Trail
One more bird before I go. The Gray Vireo is known to live along the Blue Creek Trail.
Bright and early, on the trail. It’s a dry creek bed.
An abandoned ranch building along the way.
And more great scenery.
This hike under the watchful eye of the Chihuahuan Greater Earless Lizard.
I gave it two hours, saw and heard lots of other birds, but came up empty on the vireo count.
Tonight, I’m in Del Rio.
The bird count is holding at 396. I’ve got one more spot near here to hit tomorrow morning on the way home.
Thursday
On the trail to Laguna Meadow.
I waited to start until I didn’t need a headlamp so I wouldn’t have to carry it all day.
Supervised enthusiastically by Mexican Jays.
Up early and back down by noon. I scored pretty well on the birds. A swing and a miss on Cordilleran Flycatcher, but I saw Hutton’s Vireo, and heard Black-chinned Sparrow, and Band-tailed Pigeon. 396. That’s about it for big bunches of birds though. I’ve got one more bird to try for tomorrow morning, gray vireo, then it’s a travel day back toward home. I might end up in Del Rio by nightfall.
Wednesday
The internet signal evaporated.
Hiked into Boquillas Canyon.
Just a little climb to start, but the rest of the trail was easy.
Under the supervision of a Yellow-breasted Chat.
Had it all to myself. Except for Raul.
He was there tending the tourists trinkets the residents of Boquillas del Carmen across the river leave out. The border is closed here, but no problem. He rides his horse across the ankle-deep river crossing and no-one hassles him.
Target birds, 0. I just hiked up to the canyon because I wanted to.
Spent the rest of the morning in the vicinity of Rio Grande Village.
Got the Scott’s Oriole. Went back to the Sam Nail Ranch in the afternoon where I got the Plumbeous Warbler after all, and got a good look at the Varied Bunting too.
393 Birds. Progress.
Tomorrow. Off at first light to hike the Laguna Meadow trail.
65 degrees
A cool misty morning. At 4900 feet, Fort Davis is about the highest city in Texas. Marfa, a smaller town, might also be the highest city in Texas. From here, I can’t tell the difference. South on Highway 118 to Alpine. Passed an RV Park named the Lost Alaskan. Funny. Way lost. Stopped in Alpine for a sip of fuel and a bag of ice. This is a car/hotel trip. That includes an ice chest so I can have all the home cooking leftovers. The ice chest is high efficiency. In this heat it can turn a bag of ice into a puddle in mere hours. That creates a lot of water in the ice chest that has to be dumped out. I however, healing a broken bone in my elbow, am not supposed to lift anything heavy. The solution:
I grabbed a piece of dripper hose from the house before I left. Anytime I stop, I use it to siphon the extra water out of the ice chest. It’s not hard to start the siphon, the ice chest never moves, and problem solved. Dare I say, brilliant!
100 miles until the next services. Big Bend is a long way from anything. The dashboard display says I have a 500 mile range remaining. I have the road to myself; myself except for the turkey vultures and ravens. There are no speed limit signs. The temperature graduates from the 60s to the 70s, then 80s as I drive further into the day.
Passed the turn for Christmas Mountains Oasis. Passed the RV Park in Terlingua where Judy and I stayed earlier this year. It was full then. It’s a dusty ghost town now. The national park entrance is not staffed; I drive right through. A right turn inside the park for the Sam Nail Ranch pullout. I’m not ready to stop already, but I do. Now it’s in the 90s. A secluded shady respite.
I spend an hour there. Two target birds, the varied bunting and the plumbeous vireo. The plumbeous vireo is unusual there; I whiffed on it. I heard the bunting but couldn’t get it to come out into the open. Hearing counts. 391. Drove farther down the side road to Santa Elena Canyon.
That canyon is carved by Rio Grande, dividing Mexico and the U.S. Now the temperature is in the 100s down here on the river. Time to retreat to Chisos Basin for the night. It’s cooler up there at 5400 feet.