400!
A morning walk at the Palo Alto National Battlefield.
Shortly after the admission of Texas as a state, there was a confrontation here in 1846 between the U.S. Army and the Mexican Army to settle the border dispute between the two countries and set the Rio Grande River as the agreed-upon border, and not the Nueces River which runs through Corpus Christi much farther north. (The U.S. Army won, so where Judy and I live now is the United States and not Mexico, even though Mexico was here first.)
There are four species of sparrow that live here, and all like to hide in the grass; little brown birds that are very hard to see. I got here early this morning to have the best chance of hearing the birds. They’re hard to see, but easier to hear, and as a general rule, birds tend to be a lot more talkative before 9:00am than after. This year we’ve seen the Lark and Olive sparrows already, so those weren’t target birds. The two birds I was after, the Botteri’s Sparrow and the Cassin’s Sparrow were both in full voice. Part of one bird’s song, for me, is reminiscent of the two-note song of a chickadee, so that bird was easy to identify. The other has an accelerating sound like a bouncing marble dropped on a hard surface; like an olive sparrow, but a little faster and higher pitched. A good use of time this Saturday morning. Two new birds for the year, and only an hour away. We hit the target. 400!
Now, I wonder which bird should be number 401…
Little birds
After I’ve looked and looked for a particular bird and it finally shows up, I sometimes find myself muttering under my breath “Thanks little bird.” ( Realize, I come from a house where we talk to inanimate objects, and tell Alexa “Thank you.”) Whatever little bird I just saw didn’t have to ever show up where I happened to be looking, but that it did gave me great pleasure and probably did the bird no harm. Even with the “thank you”, I realize there was likely no charitable motive on the bird’s part.
Watching a wildlife program a while back, I recall a scene where the person killed some grouse to eat. As she was dismembering and plucking the carcasses, she solemnly recited a “thank you” for giving your life for my sustenance; that little recitation having been inspired by Native American tradition. I’m not sure she got the subtleties entirely right. Somehow, thanking a bird for involuntarily getting slaughtered and eaten just feels a little wrong. If the bird had any control over that outcome, that person would still be hungry.
It’s July
And the crape myrtle is in bloom!
The birds
I can find 9 birds remaining in the state, that we have a good chance of seeing, and still need for the year. We need 2 to get to the target count of 400.
Wood Stork and Bullock’s Oriole. They’re both the same direction. The oriole is being seen at Choke Canyon State Park, only 160 miles north of here. The Wood Stork is at Wright Ranch Pond, 125 miles away, but almost on the way back. That would do it. Or there are two sparrows, Botteri’s and Cassin’s, we might be able to get that are only 65 miles from here at Palo Alto National Battlefield. That’s an easy day-trip. Maybe we should try them first. There is also a single parrot at 70 miles, Oliveira Park in Brownsville. Another day-trip. Lots of chances…
Mississippi Kite and Zone-tailed Hawk. They’re a little harder to pin down. They’re being seen, but rarely in the same place twice. Barn owl and Burrowing owl. Owls are a little harder to get. Neither one of them seem to be anywhere close to us right now. It might take a trip back to Lubbock unless I want to wait until they come back farther south in the winter.