Finally made it to Davis Mountains State Park in Texas. A lot of people I’d seen in Big Bend also stopped here. At a mile above sea level, the landscape is made up of a oak trees, junipers, and grasses. They are in the midst of a drought and many oak trees have died in the Davis Mountains. Water is a precious commodity. Also, the two recent cold fronts that brought freezing temps to west Texas killed a lot of plants. While in a hardware store in the nearby town of Alpine, heard people say they lost most of their plants, including cactus and palm trees. During my visit, a red-flag condition was in place, with temps in the 70′s-90′s and the humidity around 4%.

The picture above was taken from a scenic viewpoint looking down at the Chihuahuan Desert near Fort Davis.

Spent a lot of time at a bird watching station hoping to see some Montezuma quail. It never happened, although some people were lucky enough to see them.

Again with the peanut butter! Although I didn’t see any Montezuma quail, was pleased with the birds I did see.  Shown above are a cactus wren, a black-crested titmouse, a ladder-backed woodpecker, a Bewick’s wren, and an acorn woodpecker.

An overabundance of white-winged doves were present. Their call sounds like “Give us this day” to me. I will definitely recognize a white-winged dove by it’s call from now on.

Above: a dark-eyed junco and a canyon towhee.

In Big Bend you were warned not to leave food out at night because of the javelina. Didn’t see any while I was there, but they did come around at night here. The javelina and the deer both visit the bird feeding stations for water (drinking all the water meant for the birds). The javelina trump the deer—the deer gave them wide berth when I saw them both there at the same time.

The deer above has it’s head in an oak tree.

Seen below, the campground at Davis Mountains State Park. The park was established in 1933/1935. The white structure is Indian Lodge, originally constructed in 1935 by the CCC. It’s a beautiful building. There’s a trail up the mountain nearby where you may see mountain goats.

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 have been in Big Bend National Park for more than a week. Have really missed not having internet access. This is one place your can’t even get Rush Limbaugh on the radio (yeh)! There is only one am station from Mexico and one NPR station on fm.

The Chihuahuan Desert you pass to get to the Rio Grande Village Campground has to be one of the prettiest deserts there is. Of course, February through April is the prime season. There is so much green cactus that appears to be new growth.

The second picture is of the Sierra del Carmen mountains in Mexico that you can see from the campground.

The last place for “river runners” on the Rio Grande River to come ashore in Big Bend is in Rio Grande Village (third picture).

Boquillas Canyon near the campground. There is a small Mexican village here that used to boat Americans over to eat at their restaurants and buy crafts. This stopped after 9/11. Now there is a problem with theft of items from tourist’s cars near the border. There is also a problem with drug smugglers going through the park.

Candelilla plant (foreground). People used to extract the wax that coats the plant to make candles and other items. This is still done in Mexico.

Roadrunners in the campground area. They are not tame, but they don’t usually run from people like they do elsewhere.

Eastern bluebird. There is a grove of trees planted by early settlers near the campground that are kept watered for the shade they provide.

White winged dove. There was a flock on them in the same grove of trees as the bluebird.

There was a hot springs spa near the campground that was in business until 1952. The flowers have reseeded and grown for 50 years without attention! What a great legacy. Stones like you see in the cliff above were used as flooring in some of the early adobe homes.

Rock nettle is shown growing in the picture above.

This daisy plant may give a clue as to some of the flowers. There was flooding along the Rio Grande in the fall. A number of campsites were damaged from it. You can see the dried mud around the above daisy. Maybe the flood gave a lot of seeds a chance to germinate.

Getting here: From Falcon State Park I went to Lake Casa Blanca International State Park, then Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site. The highway from Del Rio to Marathon is a nice two-lane one. At almost every hill there is a passing lane on the uphill side. There were also frequent picnic areas. Really a great road for rv’s.

In David Sibley’s bird book he says the great-tailed grackle is common and increasing. While staying at Lake Casa Blanca in Laredo I noticed that between 5-6 p.m. there was a continuous stream of grackles (and some black birds) flying over my rv to roost near the lake. It was like all the grackles in Laredo, Texas were coming in for the night.

I am at the World Birding Center at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, Texas. It is made up of a number of sites in the Rio Grande Valley, but this is their headquarters. Cars are not allowed in the park. A tram circles the road every half hour, so you get on and off where you want. Very nice for biking and hiking. Have to get a bike!

Above is a great kiskadee, a tropical flycatcher found only in South Texas in the U.S.

An altamira oriole

Chachalaca’s. They are a chicken like bird that moves like a road runner and likes to climb up trees.

A dove and a squirrel on a bird feeder.

A mother javelina grooming her child. The tourists here love seeing the javelina, but I noticed that nearby Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge considers them a pest.