Day 12, Fri. April 13, Muggy, no rain, some birds, MIchigan has big storm.

Here we cannot complain about the weather, but back home in Michigan they are really getting socked. I read a few weeks back that April could very well set a record for snow and rain as the totals are not very far over average. It looks like they are going to get  it BIG.  Be safe up there.

Here we have been hit with a south wind that has allowed many of the birds to head north with that tail wind or hide in the grasses. Like I was saying in a previous post, the weather quite often determines the birds movements especially at this time of the year.  So after a leisurely morning we headed out before noon to the Dos Vacos again to watch the water drip . There was little moving except a very brilliant Wood Thrush at the drip, and in the field there some Blue Grosbeaks and Summer Tanagers. That made it a brief trip , so we headed back to the trailer for lunch.  I stopped at the office as my daughter Kathy said she had mailed me a package  and it was there. YEA! A "Mason Dixon Clay Busters" Team tee shirt. (The grandchildren in PA are trap and skeet shooters) . I will enjoy that as the only other one I have is a team sweatshirt and would wear that seldom this summer.

The Wood Thrush at the water drip

Ruth on the bench at the water drip.The photo above was taken there.

 Lunch we usually make simple. Ruth has an apple and some cottage cheese, and I settle for a turkey, cheese and onion slice sandwich in a flatbread. Once in a while I'll add some fruit jello. And here of course there is much water drinking all day.

Then we worked together on identifying places and birds on the photos. On a long trip it wouldn't be many days before we would have forgotten the names  of geographical places, and place names as well as where we took the photos, so "better to do it as we go" is a good motto and not to wait to identify places, birds and events. (Our memories don't get better!)

This afternoon even though we searched along some of the very best birding roads and places we saw little. There was also a high tide in the afternoon and that  meant few of the wading birds could get onto the shallower areas they usually like. We DID SEE, however, two separate Virginia Rails , and this time we took a photo in the open as it crossed the road. It was humorous (to us) when it reaches the edge of a ditch, to hesitate to cross (about 5 feet across) but gathering its courage, it took a big leap with a few flutters of the wings and made it safely into the reeds. That was a highlight of the bird watching today.

This is Verbena and flower that blooms most of the year

A sunset from our campsite two nights ago.

Passing through the G.I. State Park this Osprey flew past us into this snag.

Here is one of the two Virginia Rails that we saw today.

 Tomorrow starts our time with Jim Stevenson the bird"guru" here in Galveston. He is a professional bird guide, has a regular PDF on birds. You can get on the list if you wish, and he has a personal bird list that is in the 9,000's now. Guess what he is aiming for? Tomorrow he has an "Open house" at his place where the North American record for birds in the backyard is unofficially held at 318 bird specie.  Birding inside with bird loving folks! Then on Sun to Wed he will guide us and a few others on a four day local birding expo. We will go in the morning  through the  afternoon with a meal in between. Sounds like what we came for. So sprinkled in here are a few photos  and a few that I went back to pull out.


See you tomorrow. (Rain is (again) in the forecast.)