A three-day cold spell just swept through here, as it did a lot of the country. Went from the low 80′s during the day and 60′s at night to the 30′s and 20′s, with one day of light snow and sleet. It’s starting to warm back up now.

I often find good picture opportunities in inclement weather. Got the picture of the blue-gray gnatcatcher above, and the caracara below in the cold weather, as well as the roadrunner further down the page.

Came upon a large gathering of caracara’s. One adult had found something to eat, and caracara’s from all over landed nearby to see if there was anything for them (there wasn’t). There were a number of juvenile caracara’s (seen above).

Inca doves on a cold morning.

Vermilion flycatcher. Also saw juvenile vermilion flycatchers.

There are lots of young ones in the flocks of pyrrhuloxia’s (adult seen above).

Roadrunner. Initially saw it sunning itself after a night of freezing temps.

Have not seen many vermilion flycatchers or scissor-tailed flycatchers, perhaps due to the caracara’s and the young red-tailed hawk that patrol the area around my campsite. Have never seen so many caracaras. You usually see them in pairs, they mate for life.

Osprey coming up empty, without a fish, after diving for one.

Gold-fronted woodpecker

Scissor-tailed flycatcher

After three or four days of warm weather, started seeing lots of butterflies. The ash-throated flycatcher above caught and ate one amazingly fast, in one gulp..

Returned to Choke Canyon State Park that I enjoyed so much last year. The el nino weather pattern does not appear to be present this year and the nicer weather probably accounts for more visitors here this time. There is still plenty of breathing room though.

Photos above: the oak trees in the park are full of green jays this year, much more so than last year. They are busy burying acorns and doing their part to plant more oak trees.

Great kiskadee. It’s so great hearing green jays and great kiskadees again. This is the northern edge of their habitat.

Scissor-tailed flycatcher. The only one I’ve seen so far. Also have not seen many vermiion flycatcher’s this year. Last year there was a resident one at my campsite.There are lots of raptors around: red-tailed hawks, caracara, osprey, and an amazing number of great-horned owls. There have to be 20-30 of them in the brush around the campground.

I drove the backroads through southern Texas hill country to get to the park. Started seeing creasted caracara (Mexican eagles) where the hill country and southern plains meet.

Golden-fronted woodpecker

Happened to see this curve-billed thrasher while watching green jays in an oak tree.

Armadillos are doing their part to aerate the soil. There have been groups of white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and armadillos grazing in the area around the campground.

After leaving Falcon State Park, I stayed at Lake Casa Blanca State Park, around 60 miles away, to wait out some bad winds. From there, went to Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site, just past the town of Del Rio. At Del Rio, you leave southern Texas brush country behind and enter the Chihuahuan desert. Next stop was the small town of Alpine, north of Big Bend National Park. I had thought I’d stop at Big Bend, but the weather this season has been too wild and more rain was due in two days. I continued on to Deming, New Mexico, to wait out that rain. It is always a bit of a jolt to leave the rural areas I have been staying in for a number of months and then drive the interstate through a large city, in this case El Paso to get to Deming.

In going from Falcon State Park to Deming, I had to stop at 4 border inspection stations. At the first stop, an agent even went into my trailer. First time that has occurred. Noticed they have a complex system of cameras and other equipment to get pictures of each car, both front and rear. Bet they are using face recognition software. Most checkpoints also had a working dog sniff your vehicle.

I love the town of Marfa, Texas, with it’s combination of art and ranching. It was most recently made famous as where Randy Quaid and his wife were arrested. I tried staying in Alpine, instead of Marfa, because they have nicer rv parks. Next time I’ll stick it out in Marfa’s one cramped park. You can boondock in rest areas if the weather permits (which it didn’t this trip).

Last year when I left Marfa heading to the I-10, I passed what you see in the picture above, out in the middle of nowhere. I was going around 60 mph and just made out the words Prada – Marfa. This time I made sure to drive slow and pull over to get a picture. It was created by artists in 2005. They got the approval of Prada to use their name. There are some purses and high heel shoes on display. The “door” is fake.

Ballroom Marfa is the non-profit art center that helped create the Prada – Marfa work. The second picture is obviously an old gas station made into an art center. The art community either reuses old buildings or builds new buildings that blend right in.

At Lake Casa Blanca State Park there were a couple of hundred dead fish on the shore. The visitor center said they were tropical fish that were not supposed to be there. They died as the water got colder. The second picture shows a caracara making a meal of one of the fish.

Pictured below: I was so surprised to see mountain goats a little past Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site. There were puddles of water in rocky areas that may have allowed them to graze there. Before the town of Marathon, and after the town of Alpine, saw several small groups of pronghorn elk.

Have been in this area for three weeks now. It has been cool, in the 50′s and 60′s most of the time. Weather Seattle would love. There are some positive things from it—less people and bugs. From the early cold weather in Socorro, New Mexico, the snow in El Paso, and the cold all down Southern Texas, it has been a cooler season than usual. A cold spell is supposed to arrive Thursday, with strong winds. Hope it doesn’t hurt the grapefruit crop. Love the 5 lb bags of grapefruit you can get here.

Above, a male kestral with prey (top) at Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge and a female kestral (bottom) seen near the refuge.

Another white-tailed kite seen near the refuge. Have seen three pairs of them. They are striking with their dramatic red eyes and white and silver color.

An osprey with a fish coming out it’s rear.

A caracara. He’s only the second one I’ve seen here. Saw a lot of them on the drive down through South Texas.

A kingfisher (top) and a black skimmer (bottom) both seen on another visit to South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center. It’s the first black skimmer I’ve ever seen.

A golden-fronted woodpecker on a telephone pole.

Top picture: broad-winged hawk

Bottom two pictures: crested caracara (the Mexican eagle).

House (top) and marsh (bottom) wrens. They are elusive, fast moving guys.

Swamp sparrow

Heron’s have to be the curmudgeons of the bird world.

Below, watched a group of white pelicans work their way along a shore, forming a circle to catch fish. They did this over and over, swimming a few feet, then forming the circle. Reminded me of an old dance movie.

Still at Choke Canyon State Park. It has been cool, but not freezing. Have not had to use much propane. I am the only camper in my section of the campground, which is nice.

Have not seen the bobcat again. It has been to cool to sit out and watch for him.

Above, scissor-tailed flycatcher and vermilion flycatcher.

Green jay with an acorn. Looking forward to seeing lots of green jays in the Rio Grande area.

In South Texas’ thorn forest it is easy for javelina and bobcats to hide.

Beautiful young white-tailed deer. Deer graze all around my rv. Enjoy watching them.

Egret with mouse. Have also seen heron’s hunting for them.

Harris’s hawk

Yesterday kept intermittently hearing a strange sound that didn’t sound like birds. Finally stepped out of my rv to investigate and saw a bobcat in the brush. It looked at me briefly and then went about it’s business of looking for prey.

When I arrived at my campsite, there was a resident vermilion flycatcher hunting there.

Scissor-tailed flycatcher. First one I’ve seen.

Osprey diving into the water. Didn’t get the fish.

A kingbird, either a tropical or Cassin’s, both uncommon.

Crested caracara

I’m currently at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. I’m staying at the same county park I stayed at last year in the village of Arroyo City near the small town of Rio Hondo which in turn is near the city of Brownsville, Texas. You still see a lot of boarded up windows and piles of debri in the area, but probably a lot of damage is unseen. The refuge looks great. It was pretty dry when I visited last year. Now there is water all over the place.

Above: A green jay at the refuge visitor center; below it, a crested caracara on a hot and windy day.

Reddish egret on the same hot and windy day.

Long billed curlew

Placed some grapefruit on a tree limb outside my door and took the pictures below through the screen. The order reflects the bird ranking: woodpecker trumps the green jay who trumps the cardinal who trumps the sparrow.

I’m currently visiting the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. It is summer here, in the 80′s, with a warm Santa Ana type wind off the ocean. Winter Texan’s in south Texas are starting to think about heading north, as after March it gets pretty warm here. Next winter, I want to come to this area by December.

A green jay, the first one I’ve even seen, is shown above. They are just found in south Texas, Mexico, and South America.

Above is a view of Laguna Madre from the wildlife refuge’s 15 mile auto tour route. The yucca are in bloom and Padre Island is off in the distance. The refuge has the largest protected area of natural habitat left in the Lower Rio Grande Valley–88,000 acres.

A pair of crested caracara, seen on the 15 mile tour route.

This picture was taken a few days after the one showing the caracara on the ground. It might well be the same two.