Visited the Salineño birding site near Falcon State Park that I always make a point to visit while I’m here. All kinds of bird food is put out for the birds, including peanut butter (mixed with lard to make it easier to swallow). There were so many blackbirds at the site this year, however, other birds often had to fight to get some of the peanut butter.

Golden-fronted woodpecker

Black-crested titmouse

Curved-billed thrasher

Male and female northern cardinals

The altamira oriole, above, was chasing a lot of birds away from the peanut butter.

Below, one bird not with peanut butter, an Audubon’s oriole.

Stayed at South Llano River State Park two days to wait out another cold front. There was light snow that quickly melted. The park is in Hill Country, so cold weather is expected.

Above, inca dove and white-winged dove.

Male and female northern cardinals. This is where I usually start to see them.

Black crested titmouse

Wild turkeys. Looks like adult females with juveniles.

Below: the ranch next to the park has exotic elks. Guess if you pay enough you can “hunt” and shoot them.

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 am currently in Austin, Texas for a few days. First time I haven’t had to use the furnace at night for a while.

From Bosque del Apache, I went to:

• Bottomless Lakes State Park in Roswell, New Mexico
• An Escapee park in Pecos, Texas
• South Llano River State Park in Junction, Texas

Pictures are all from South Llano River State Park.

Thin looking white-tailed deer. It was sad to see road kill deers about every 5 or 10 miles on I-10.

Black-crested titmouse

Lots of red cardinals.

Stayed at McKinney Falls State Park in Austin, Texas for a week to allow me to get my rv serviced and to stock up at Costco.

Was trying to get a picture of a bird and this kestrel flew down to get it. The bird I had been watching started screeching and I clapped to distract the kestrel, so it left the bird alone. Know that was probably a no-no, but it was my instinct.

After leaving Austin, spent one night at Choke Canyon State Park on the way to the Rio Grande area. There were signs saying don’t feed the wildlife, fine of $500, but these wild turkeys would come up to you when you raised your hand. Someone had to be feeding them.

Left drizzling, congested San Diego before Christmas, heading to the Gulf Coast of Texas. Made three stops in Arizona—Yuma, Casa Grande, and Benson (seen above), at Escapee parks. Started to get some pretty cold weather at night that required the use of the furnace. Stayed at Rockhound State Park in New Mexico one night before heading into Texas via El Paso.

Back-in rv sites at Balmorhea State Park.

One word to describe Texas…vast! Stopped at Balmorhea State Park the first night. My pull through rv site is shown above. Beautiful park based on their spring water. An oasis in the desert. There is a spring fed swimming pool and canals run through the park. Not many people there this time of year, very quiet and peaceful. Next day started to climb out of the desert into the hill country. Stopped at South Llano River State Park near the small town of Junction, Texas. The land was donated to the state by a rancher who wanted to allow others to enjoy the area the way he had. In the summer, people ride down the river in innertubes. A lot of the park is closed from October to April to protect nesting wild turkeys. There are still trails and several bird watching blinds open, where you can observe birds without them seeing you. There were lots of red cardinals (below). The park presented me with a sort of bait and switch. It was beautiful when I arrived, so I decided to stay two days. The second day it was freezing cold, with biting winds making it hard to stay outside. Do hope to stay at these two parks again.