After Kerrville, we moved west to Balmorhea, which is not on a lot of maps. Although just off I-10, you would have to have a reason to go there. One reason would be to see the largest spring in west Texas (maybe all of Texas) as it puts forth 20 million gallons of water per day. This water flows into Lake Balmorea some 8 miles to the south. Then in the growing season it is slowly released to use in irrigating the many crops for aide area in dry, west Texas. Also here is a Cienega or small oasis for wildlife some of which we saw today. Of course it is the only water and habitat giving life for miles around so many birds and animals call it home. Two of them are endangered species opf fish that have been saved bythe Cienega. We camped there at the state park which surrounds the spring. The pool is king size to be sure. There are many Texas springs that come from the Edwards Aquifer which runs from Austin to El Paso approximately.
Another feature of the area is the aforementioned lake which has many bird species using it as a base for the winter. We did identify 47 different species both there (12 duck specie) and in the hinterland today including; Green Heron, Roadrunner, Common Goldeneye; Mexican Mallard (sic) Canvasback, Chihuahuan Raven, Curved Billed Thrasher, Spotted Sandpiper, Scaled Quail, Pyroloxia, White Winged Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, and the Chimney Swift...
The Swift I casually observed on Friday evening (we were here for two nights) as I was enjoying the warm (75 F) air and sunset and in came these birds helter smelter and all moving erratically to the north east. I watched them and recognized them as Swifts and knew they needed a “chimney” someplace. There were none around but all of a sudden they disappeared, seemingly diving into the ground among the tall weeds. Saturday night I waited until after sunset and sure enough they came, from the south this time and did the same thing. ‘disappearing’ into the ground. I believe they have a small building that they inhabit nearby that I could not see. They always come back “home” after sunset by about 10-20 minutes (light determines the time). Fun stuff.
Another venture today was a trip to a Canyon some 20 miles from the State Park, after I asked the Park manager if there were any other places to bird. He recommended a ‘Boy Scout Canyon’ (Buffalo Trails Canyon) that got us up to 5,200 feet and dead ended in a beautiful canyon that had a lot of potential for birding had we been there earlier in the day (We did the Lake in the morning). But now we know where we can find birds some the “next time”. We did hear a Canyon Wren and its wonderful descending call and saw more than a dozen Roadrunners on that one road.
It was a beautiful day (Sat) with the humnidity at about 22 % in the afternoon and down to 40% at night. The 80 F afternoon was easy to take. I shed my long pants at noon!
We ended the day with a chicken on the grill with salad, and took a walk around the park, but by that time the wind had come up (25-30) and the birds were down (except for those Swifts). The park was quite full and we met a number of folks on the ”walkabout” in the evening.
Tomorrow we move to Las Cruces NM for one night and then three nights in Willcox AZ , where we hope to see the Cranes on the Playa by the 10’s of thousands. Stay tuned.
Bless you all,
Jim and Ruth or Grandpa Jim and Grandma Ruth to some.(Uncle, Auntie??)
Again pictures will have to wait for a better Wi Fi signal.
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