No Time

No Time refers to a couple of things. One, we have done so many interesting things in the past week, had so many new experiences, seen new places and new things, there hasn't been enough time to put it all down. Besides, we haven't had good internet or phone for ten days or so. So, there hasn't been time to write about our travels and experiences.

Also, not always being plugged in to electricity, such as when you stay at Big Bend National Park in the regular campground, or when you are on the road traveling from Big Bend to Davis Mountain State Park, or to El Paso, Texas; when you are staying in a Wal-Mart parking lot in El Paso, or when you are driving from El Paso to Bisbee, Arizona, the clock on your microwave oven just says "0" instead of the time.

Even though you have a watch and a smart phone, which easily tell you the time, while you are sitting and eating a meal, your tendency is to look at the clock on the microwave. (You have already taken your watch off, and your phone is being a charged.) And it just says "0". Which maybe is a metaphor for the fact that we haven't had a lot of leisure time. Which is not the same as saying we aren't having fun, because we are having a great time!

The fun we have had since I last wrote on this blog post includes:
Staying at Davis Mountain State Park

Indian Lodge at Davis Mountain State Park

Visiting and touring McDonald Observatory

Driving to El Paso

Driving to Bisbee, Arizona

Watching the Sandhill Cranes at Whitewater Draw

Whew!

Something else that has kept me busy is the e-bird January Challenge of submitting a bird list for each and every day of the month of January. Today is the last day and I have done it! I am really proud of myself for sticking to this commitment. I have learned a lot of new birds, and taken the time and effort to identify almost all of the birds I saw. I took a lot of pictures, too.

Ringed Kingfisher

Black-throated sparrow

Bluebird

Canyon Towhee

Kestrel

Chihuahuan Raven

Great Blue Heron

It has been a lot of fun for both of us. We continue to meet really nice, interesting people who are happy to share their knowledge and experiences. It is such an amazing journey that we are on, and we are grateful.

We hope that your journeys take you to some interesting places and times, too. And we hope you will be able to share your stories with us sometime in the future.

--- Mari

Greetings from Big Bend National Park!

View from the nature trail at Rio Grande Village campground in Big Bend National Park

Great hiking, gorgeous views, warm days and cool nights: what more could one ask!? Here are some of our favorite sights so far.

Steps leading to the big surprise - a window overlooking the valley below.

Looking out the "window" on The Window Trail.

The scenic drive to Santa Elena Canyon included many scenic views and sights. We had a nice hike about half way around, a nice chance to get out and stretch our legs a bit. 

Having fun with Photography and "Mule Ears" peaks.

The Rio Grande River in Santa Elena Canyon: one side of the canyon is in the United States, the other is in Mexico.

We have enjoyed seeing new birds, and continuing our photography lessons trying to capture good quality photos of them.

A group of western bluebirds were some of the first birds we saw on arrival at Rio Grande Village campground.

Sunset over the Big Bend.

Moving On

January 18, 2017

Texas 684 is a small gray line in the road atlas...and not much more than that in real life.

Driving west on Texas road 684 can really shake a person up.

This is clearly the land of the Crested Caracara, a great bird with a wingspan similar to the turkey vulture’s. I have seen them on the ground in the median, and soaring above in the thermals. Two of them landed on the road ahead of us, giving us a good glimpse of their wing markings, and the black crest on top of their heads.

 

Crested Carara. Photo courtesy of http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=11987&picture=crested-caracara

Heading north on 281, we passed a farm field filled with sandhill cranes – probably at least 50 of them. There were various perching birds on the wires: kestrels, hawks, blackbirds, shrikes – possibly others which we are at a loss to identify as we flew past them. Trying to slow down enough to get a good look only resulted in their flying off in the other direction. Binoculars and camera failed to capture identifying markings.

 

It's doubtful we'll see any more green parakeets on our remaining journey. We will miss their raucous noise which had become a daily occurrence the last week or so. 

The gray, overcast sky and cool temperatures this morning, created the kind of day you really just want to curl up with a good book for. But, we had to say our sad goodbyes, and see-you-next times, to our new friends at The Americana Birding Center RV Park.

We are looking forward with anticipation to a place we’ve only heard good things about: Big Bend National Park. It will take us the better part of two days to reach Big Bend N.P., so we are stopping over night at Seminole Canyon State Park. Both of these places are located along the Rio Grande.

We had a wonderful past few days, having friends over for Happy Hour; visiting Nuevo Progreso one more time; having our next-door-neighbors over for white pizza – they brought the Grapefruit pie (pink) topped with whipping cream – amazing and delicious(!); and dancing one more time at the Border Theater Big Band Jam.

 

Lunch at Angel's in Nuevo Progreso. We had the Molcajete - a chicken, beef, and shrimp combination.

We have met a continuous string of friendly people from Texas, the Midwest, and Canada. Even last night, our second time at the Jam/Dance, someone said it was good to see us there, and we must be new. She was immediately inviting us and telling us about other dances in the area. Her husband played clarinet in last night’s jam. We were also invited by a singer (Joy) to another dance. We felt like we were living in a senior living paradise!

Long-billed thrasher seen on a car mirror across from our site at the Americana Birding Center RV Park - an RV Park that lived up to its name. 

It has been an amazing month, full of new experiences and pleasant surprises. Now, as we move on, we’re curious to see what’s around the next bend….

Mari

A Quick Trip to Mexico

We finally decided that maybe it was time to go across the border and see for ourselves what the attraction was. A lot of our Winter Texan friends, many of whom are Canadian, have suggested going over and having a meal. We heard that the shopping was great and everything was inexpensive.

We've also heard about certain places not being safe due to drug cartels running things in some of the border towns. One news program reported on a university study that showed a drop in Winter Texans in recent years, with the number one reason given is fear of immigrants coming across the border. We were told by our Canadian friends that they were not fearful, but that many Americans are.

We were invited to go over with our next door neighbors last week, but then Ron had a bug and couldn't go. So, this week we decided to try it out for ourselves.

One thing we learned before going is that for $2.00 you can park your car on the American side and walk across. It costs 50 cents to go into Mexico, and 25 cents to come back. You walk across a bridge over the Rio Grande.

Interesting sign over the bridge crossing into Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. 

If you want to drive over it costs $3.00. There seemed to be lots of parking on the Mexico side. Also, you could apparently have your car washed while you shopped and had lunch.

They had a nifty way of getting bags of cement to the second story of a building...not.

You can buy bags of charred wood...I guess for cooking?

We ate lunch at a patio-dining type of place, although I didn't get a photo...the interesting thing was that one by one, vendors who were walking up and down the street, now paraded by us as we waited for our food, each one showing us what they had to sell. It seemed to me that if I just said no, they persisted and asked me multiple times if I wanted to buy. But if I showed a little interest, looked at their item, and then said no, they accepted it and left.

The most unwelcome person was a man who had a karaoke strapped around his shoulder, along with a microphone into which he sang too loudly, with the background music blaring. He also had a tip jar attached (taped?) to his shoulder. Happily, he left us after about three songs.

The food was good, and the service was also good. I drank bottled water (Ron had brought some with him), and no one got sick.

We didn't see much that we needed to buy, but the pottery was fun to look at. It reminded me a lot of Nogales, which I had visited a couple of times back in the days when I lived in Tucson.

We paid our quarter to leave and showed our passports on the way out. No one was harmed, and it was really not a big deal. Our neighbors still want to take us with them and show us their favorite place to eat. So, if there is time before we depart here next week, we may make it over one more time. I might have to get one of those colorful flower pots for a plant I brought along on this trip....

Going back to the United States.

More Than Birds - There Are Butterflies, Too!

On Monday Ron came down with some sort of a bug. We don't know if it was something he ate at the restaurant the day before (sea food), or something he picked up somewhere. We had been invited to go over the border with our neighbors, but had to cancel that.

Queen butterflies on tropical milkweed

So, I decided to do something on my own. I really had a hankering to see something different. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day of sunshine, so I settled on going to the North American Butterfly Association's nearby National Butterfly Center.

 

Reakirt's blue - a little frayed around the edges

We have had many days of cloudiness, fog throughout the morning, and some rain. The polar vortex that has affected the entire eastern half of the country also brings colder weather all the way down here in the southernmost tip of Texas. In addition to the weather, this is not really blooming season for many local plants. So, I did not have high expectations for seeing lots of butterflies. But I figured at least my chances would be greater on a warm, sunny day than a cloudy one.

White peacock butterfly on tropical milkweed

For admission, I was given the "Winter Texan" rate, which was only $5 instead of the usual $10. I took my Olympus camera with the new 70-150mm zoom lens and decided to see if I could get any good photos of butterflies with that. 

Two sulphurs on glossy red flowers provide a nice contrast in color

 I think I did pretty well! Then, for a bonus, after walking around for about an hour, this wonderful bird flew into the scene and sat on this fence for quite a long while. I took photos from further away, but slowly worked my way toward him to try to get something close-up. At the same time, I didn't want to spook him. Finally, I got a nice shot, and confirmed that this was a species I had not seen before - the loggerhead shrike.

Loggerhead shrike sits on barbed wire

It turned out to have been a wonderful morning, and by late afternoon, Ron was over his bug.

Hopefully we'll be crossing the border sometime soon. We've heard many wonderful things from others who have been. When we do, you can be sure, there'll be some interesting photos posted here!

---Mari

Every Day is a New Day

The brown pelicans love to splash onto the water to stir up some grub.

Happy New Year!

Every day is a new day. We are grateful for the chance to start new things in our lives.

The black-crested titmouse is a local variant. Love the "mohawk"!

A new question we ask each other pretty much daily is, "What are we going to do for nature today?" Ideally nature and exercise go hand in hand, so it is the same concern we address on a daily basis. It's just that being here in a location that is different in many ways from our home in Illinois, we are trying to take advantage of our limited time to see and experience local nature.

Black-necked stilts and their pretty pink legs.

Since the Rio Grande Valley is known for its bird watching, and there are many avid birders all around us, seeing nature inevitably leads to bird walks, guides, hikes, tram rides, and conversations with many people about birds. We learn on almost a daily basis new places to go and see birds!

Here are some of the latest bird-watching exploits:

The board walk at South Padre Island Nature and Birding Center is a fantastic way to get in amongst the birds in the marshy area on the shore of Laguna Madre, a saline intercostal waterway.

There's a lot of Spanish moss around here!

Near the Visitor's Center at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.