Today took me to Westcave Preserve with my friend, Doray, to participate in the annual Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count. I’m still learning how to identify the many bird species beyond those that frequent my own backyard. There’s much to learn, but I am enjoying the time spent out in the beautiful hill country of central Texas immensely.
We counted birds that we saw or heard. The counts get rolled up for each locality and are used to monitor bird populations from year to year. A very nice day spent in a place that I love.
Today I went birding with my friend, Doray, to Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve. I’m a novice. I was able to get a lot of amazing photos of tree branches. 🙂 If I ever get an amazing photo of a bird, I may share here. But for now, I won’t bore you with it. We did see several kinds of birdies, so I’m calling it a success.
My best shot of the supermoon rising last night. Not as good as I would have liked. I played with ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Forgot to take off polarizing filter (doh).
Over the weekend I took a roadtrip with 4 girlfriends to Big Bend National Park in far southwest Texas. I’ve lived in Texas over 20 years and have never made it out there. And it was long overdue. It is all that they say it is. Big, beautiful, rugged, inspiring, with mountain, desert and river views to die for.
We made it!
Six and a half hours by car from Austin, we made it to Ft. Davis by about 7pm Friday night. We had reservations to attend one of the evening Star Parties held 3 times a week at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, and made it with a little time to spare. The skies were dark and the stars were out. The Milky Way was amazing. The stars and constellations visible to the naked eye were too many to count. Through the telescopes they had placed for visitors, I saw Saturn, the Andromeda Galaxy, M11 star cluster, and the 2 star clusters in the Perseus constellation. If you’re going to make the trip all the way out to Big Bend, you really should combine it with a trip to the observatory. Get tickets ahead of time online. They sell out frequently and have to turn people away.
McDonald Observatory giant telescopes on the hill – viewed from where we stayed outside of Fort Davis
Saturday morning we drove to Big Bend and hiked inside of Big Bend National Park. Saturday afternoon we did the Window Trail – to experience the Chisos Mountains part of Big Bend. Four hours round trip, a moderately challenging hike, with breathtaking scenery all along the way.
The Window in the Chisos Mountains from the beginning of the Window Trail.The Window view at the pour-off at the end of the trail. Watch your step!
We started Sunday at Santa Elena Canyon at dawn – to experience the Rio Grand river part of Big Bend. It was about an easy 2 hour hike roundtrip – though we had to bushwack a bit to get onto the trail. The Rio Grande has sliced a 1500′ deep canyon through the mountain there. At sunrise, the face of the sheer mountain walls glow in the brightening sunlight.
The Santa Elena Canyon trail, looking northeast with the sun rising over the Rio Grande.About a mile and a half into the Santa Elena Canyon trail along the Rio Grande.
Sunday afternoon we hiked the Mule Ears Springs trail – to experience the Chihuahuan Desert part of Big Bend. A 3 hour hike, moderate difficulty, mainly due to the rough terrain and 90+ degree temperatures. Packing water with you is a must!
Mule Ears, in the distance on the left, from the Mule Ears Springs trail.From the Mule Ears Springs trail, looking back south to Santa Elena Canyon in the distance.Chihuahuan Desert scape, looking north to the mountains from the south side of the park.
Another very awesome trip. We hiked our butts off.
I enjoyed playing with my big-girl-camera while photographing the moon last night. The first one was right after it rose above the horizon, and the second was shot a while (and many frames) later. I was especially pleased that I got a good shot or two given that I took them from the boat. It’s a magical time for a moon dance….
I planted a 2-gallon sized Pride of Barbados shrub yesterday. It’s a bit late in the season, but I’m hoping that planting it now will give it a good month or so to acclimate to its new home before the cold weather hits. That should make for a good winter’s nap before spring. We’ll see. If this one doesn’t pan out, Monte’s starting a few from seed.
At home I am feeling the absence of the little birdies and squirrels lately. They started making themselves scarce about the same time a hawk was spotted swooping around the trees in our yard. Hopefully this won’t last long.
In the mean time, I was thrilled to see a flock of 20 or more Monk Parakeets flying around the Lamar & 51st street area as we headed home from dinner tonight. We stalked them for a while but didn’t get a great shot.
This is a picture of them near one of their nests. I count 16 or so in this shot. Kind of reminds me of a musical scale with the birds as the notes.
Sheila365 