Forgot to report in that on my respite week, we got off the beaten path on the way home from San Antonio, Name of the place we visited was "Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge." It's a few miles off I-10, not too terribly far west of Houston.
Unfortunately, we didn't actually see any live Attwater Prairie Chickens as they told us that there are only 20 left of them.
This is what a real prairie looks like -- fascinating, and just teaming with all sorts of life.
It's neat to see all the varieties of habitat there are out in the wild, isn't it.
Yours, Luce
Birders
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MaggieRedwings
- King Penguin
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- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 3:16 am
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Morning Luce,
Would love to see one of those. NWRs are one of the best resources to visit since they keep the habitat as it should be. I try to visit any of them I get remotely close to when I am traveling.
Love, Maggie
Would love to see one of those. NWRs are one of the best resources to visit since they keep the habitat as it should be. I try to visit any of them I get remotely close to when I am traveling.
Love, Maggie
Maggie Scarpone
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
Re birding: we were in Texas the last couple of weeks and it was great. It is really like another country. There is so much variety in the landscape/climate so there are a ton of birds. I got a lot of lifers, some very beautiful and tropical looking, like the green jay and the altamira oriole; others were exciting, like the aplomado falcon we watched eating a meadowlark. We also missed a lot, so will have to go back someday.
And we saw lots and lots of deer corn for sale!
And we saw lots and lots of deer corn for sale!
kathy
Great Hazel!
Exactly where were you when you saw these?
By the way, it's going to be freezing almost as far south as Houston's latitude tonight, so most of the state WILL freeze. Course Amarillo is almost in Kansas, so it's been colder there and earlier.
Glad you had such a great time!
Howdy, Maggie!
Yours, Luce
Exactly where were you when you saw these?
By the way, it's going to be freezing almost as far south as Houston's latitude tonight, so most of the state WILL freeze. Course Amarillo is almost in Kansas, so it's been colder there and earlier.
Glad you had such a great time!
Howdy, Maggie!
Yours, Luce
Hi Lucy.
From Big Bend Nat'l Pk. we worked our way down the west coast and around the southern tip of Texas and back up the east coast. Saw my first green jay and olive sparrow at San Ygnacio. First kiskadee, ringed kingfisher, green kingfisher, and chakalaka at Roma. At Falcon Lake saw my first altimira oriole and white tipped dove. First paraque and least grebe at Bentsen St. Pk. Aplomado falcon near Port Isabella, green parakeet and mottled duck at Brownsville. That's it for lifers, but the best trip I've had for a long time.
The high points in Houston were Andrea Zittel's show at the Contemporary Art Center (very interesting) and the Surreal Calder at the Menil Collection. The latter is on til Jan. 8th, if you haven't seen it. I loved it. Whenever you see Calder's work it's always a very similar looking mobile or stabile, but this show has a lot of variety.
From Big Bend Nat'l Pk. we worked our way down the west coast and around the southern tip of Texas and back up the east coast. Saw my first green jay and olive sparrow at San Ygnacio. First kiskadee, ringed kingfisher, green kingfisher, and chakalaka at Roma. At Falcon Lake saw my first altimira oriole and white tipped dove. First paraque and least grebe at Bentsen St. Pk. Aplomado falcon near Port Isabella, green parakeet and mottled duck at Brownsville. That's it for lifers, but the best trip I've had for a long time.
The high points in Houston were Andrea Zittel's show at the Contemporary Art Center (very interesting) and the Surreal Calder at the Menil Collection. The latter is on til Jan. 8th, if you haven't seen it. I loved it. Whenever you see Calder's work it's always a very similar looking mobile or stabile, but this show has a lot of variety.
kathy
Hazel,
Would you believe it, I've never made it down to Big Bend Nat'l Park? Many people head that way over their Christmas holidays as that's a good time to visit that area, apparently.
Also, due to my confinement here, I've never even been inside the Beck Museum. Used to spend lots of rainy days in the original museum growing up, however. Have been to things inside the Menil, however.
I kind of like the Kimball Museum up in downtown Ft.Worth, if you ever get a chance to visit in that area. They get some nice major collections through there often times.
You were very close to the Tx. Medical Center when at the Contemporary Arts Museum. Did you happen to get a chance to drive through it? It's unbelievable in scope, and still growing. Also, did you get to drive inside the Rice University Campus? Fannin St. was lots prettier before they put in the new rail system downtown. The sort of Spanish style hospital on the corner of the medical center right across from the park is the one where the reality tv show, Houston Medical was filmed. It's also the one that flooded so badly during T.S. Allison in 2001, soon after the completion of the filming for Houston Medical. The name of the park down there is Hermann Park, and there's a neat amphitheater in there where they have all sorts of first rate performances for free if you like outdoor productions. There's a small area under a roof with fixed seats, but most people just sit behind those outside, and on up the hill.
Back to birding, did you make it to Anahuac National Refuge? In a way, it's my favorite.
Also, after you cross over the ferry to High Island, there's an Audobon place after a little driving to the end of the beach where you turn right. VERY close to there is where the Boy Scout Park is, and back in that are, as I recall, is where the HUGE rookery is. If you ever get a chance to visit in the spring, be sure to go see THAT! When I visited, it was a little late for most of the migratories, but at that rookery, did get to see what looked like a big mural almost with a solid "wall" of mama spoonbills and a few other species feeding their then hatched big babies. Absolutely unbelievable that all that could be going on behind all that brush!!
I'm assuming that you made it to Corpus and Galveston. When I was a child, there was lots more to that beach than now. There's a lot of it lost to the big storms, even if they don't hit directly here, so erosion is pretty bad, although the engineers and scientists have gotten pretty good at building some of it back nowadays. The beaches there were never as pretty as the rest of the coast with the white sand, and less turbulent and therefore muddier looking water, but I always thought it was much more fun (read dangerous) to play in growing up. Now none of the activities we used to do in terms of tubing way out, etc. are legal. It's a wonder that more of us weren't shark food given the dangerous rip currents not too far out. At least growing up in the area, we knew better what to do should we ever get caught in that situation. I've actually done a little snorkling not to far from that area, and Freeport, west of Galveston, has a big peer from which you can jump off and go straight under and see some neat coral reef. I've not done that because a grad student friend of mine came up with tenacles all over him, but he was sooo leather-skinned from surfing back then, that he just swept em off his body without so much of an ouch.
Did you happen to make it to any of the Rita devastation around the Beaumont/Orange/Port Arthur area? I would imagine you didn't make it that far.
Oh, and there's another area with LOTS of wild life and a rookery that's totally handicap/wheelchair accessible. To reach it, you take I-10 east and just over the Trinity River bridge, there's a way to double back under the bridge (should be a drive there), to reach the area where you then continue on foot or in wheelchair. I've heard that you can see lots of critters, and lots of spoonbills nesting, depending on the season. One of these days we'll have to pack up the whole family and take Mom down there to see that fantastic site!
I'm sure you saw Matagorda Island National Refuge and State Park.
We actually have a little neighborhood park that's right smack in a residential area near here in Bellaire which is supposed to be a good place for birding -- lots of old trees in Bellaire. Actually, until the tornado topped off a couple of our trees, and also, took many big limbs from others, this yard was excellent for bird watching as were the houses across the street, but since we were right in the middle of it, the across the street trees were hit as bad as ours, so now, it'll probably take a while for things to get back to normal. Perhaps with fewer limbs on the taller trees, I'll get a glimpse of some higher perchers in the trees that still have their height. I have some difficulty discriminating between some close species due to some visual difficulties and not keeping up with eye appointments, and I'm not so good at identification without help, so I've quit keeping a lot. However, on my first birding trip around this area (one entire day), I saw 113 species. This was in the spring, peak season, and right after some bad weather causing the migratories to have to rest in these areas. I really enjoyed it!
Anyway, I'm actually IN the migratory area where we live. Lots of people have set up habitats to attract birds in their own backyards. I have a "hummingbird tree" with the big red "sparkler" type blooms right by our driveway, so we sometimes sit inside the car as a blind and just watch them flit around that bush.
After the winter kills it back, I chop it down to the roots, and by the end of growing season, it's back to being huge. At first, it was a tall thing, but since I've cut it back every year, it's shoots from the ground have mulitipled, so now it's more of a WIDE bushy tree. Only problem with that is that it has to be trimmed back from the driveway or it scratches the car when I'm driving out. I'm not sure this bush would grown in Ohio, however, but just thought I'd mention it in case anyone is thinking about planting one.
It goes by some other names as well in addition to it's scientific name.
Wow, it won't be long before we'll start to have some springlike weather, most likely, say about mid February, and we're just now getting winter-like weather. Mixed up with the near-freezing mornings, like this morning, I'm still expecting lots of warmer days, perfect for doing things outdoors. If I can get my sister to sit with Mom, I'm hoping to get a head start on some clearing projects this year, but then all the holidays plus things that come up unexpectedly seem to foil (sp) these best laid plans.
Wow, you sound as though you really enjoyed yourself!
Yours, Luce
Would you believe it, I've never made it down to Big Bend Nat'l Park? Many people head that way over their Christmas holidays as that's a good time to visit that area, apparently.
Also, due to my confinement here, I've never even been inside the Beck Museum. Used to spend lots of rainy days in the original museum growing up, however. Have been to things inside the Menil, however.
I kind of like the Kimball Museum up in downtown Ft.Worth, if you ever get a chance to visit in that area. They get some nice major collections through there often times.
You were very close to the Tx. Medical Center when at the Contemporary Arts Museum. Did you happen to get a chance to drive through it? It's unbelievable in scope, and still growing. Also, did you get to drive inside the Rice University Campus? Fannin St. was lots prettier before they put in the new rail system downtown. The sort of Spanish style hospital on the corner of the medical center right across from the park is the one where the reality tv show, Houston Medical was filmed. It's also the one that flooded so badly during T.S. Allison in 2001, soon after the completion of the filming for Houston Medical. The name of the park down there is Hermann Park, and there's a neat amphitheater in there where they have all sorts of first rate performances for free if you like outdoor productions. There's a small area under a roof with fixed seats, but most people just sit behind those outside, and on up the hill.
Back to birding, did you make it to Anahuac National Refuge? In a way, it's my favorite.
Also, after you cross over the ferry to High Island, there's an Audobon place after a little driving to the end of the beach where you turn right. VERY close to there is where the Boy Scout Park is, and back in that are, as I recall, is where the HUGE rookery is. If you ever get a chance to visit in the spring, be sure to go see THAT! When I visited, it was a little late for most of the migratories, but at that rookery, did get to see what looked like a big mural almost with a solid "wall" of mama spoonbills and a few other species feeding their then hatched big babies. Absolutely unbelievable that all that could be going on behind all that brush!!
I'm assuming that you made it to Corpus and Galveston. When I was a child, there was lots more to that beach than now. There's a lot of it lost to the big storms, even if they don't hit directly here, so erosion is pretty bad, although the engineers and scientists have gotten pretty good at building some of it back nowadays. The beaches there were never as pretty as the rest of the coast with the white sand, and less turbulent and therefore muddier looking water, but I always thought it was much more fun (read dangerous) to play in growing up. Now none of the activities we used to do in terms of tubing way out, etc. are legal. It's a wonder that more of us weren't shark food given the dangerous rip currents not too far out. At least growing up in the area, we knew better what to do should we ever get caught in that situation. I've actually done a little snorkling not to far from that area, and Freeport, west of Galveston, has a big peer from which you can jump off and go straight under and see some neat coral reef. I've not done that because a grad student friend of mine came up with tenacles all over him, but he was sooo leather-skinned from surfing back then, that he just swept em off his body without so much of an ouch.
Did you happen to make it to any of the Rita devastation around the Beaumont/Orange/Port Arthur area? I would imagine you didn't make it that far.
Oh, and there's another area with LOTS of wild life and a rookery that's totally handicap/wheelchair accessible. To reach it, you take I-10 east and just over the Trinity River bridge, there's a way to double back under the bridge (should be a drive there), to reach the area where you then continue on foot or in wheelchair. I've heard that you can see lots of critters, and lots of spoonbills nesting, depending on the season. One of these days we'll have to pack up the whole family and take Mom down there to see that fantastic site!
I'm sure you saw Matagorda Island National Refuge and State Park.
We actually have a little neighborhood park that's right smack in a residential area near here in Bellaire which is supposed to be a good place for birding -- lots of old trees in Bellaire. Actually, until the tornado topped off a couple of our trees, and also, took many big limbs from others, this yard was excellent for bird watching as were the houses across the street, but since we were right in the middle of it, the across the street trees were hit as bad as ours, so now, it'll probably take a while for things to get back to normal. Perhaps with fewer limbs on the taller trees, I'll get a glimpse of some higher perchers in the trees that still have their height. I have some difficulty discriminating between some close species due to some visual difficulties and not keeping up with eye appointments, and I'm not so good at identification without help, so I've quit keeping a lot. However, on my first birding trip around this area (one entire day), I saw 113 species. This was in the spring, peak season, and right after some bad weather causing the migratories to have to rest in these areas. I really enjoyed it!
Anyway, I'm actually IN the migratory area where we live. Lots of people have set up habitats to attract birds in their own backyards. I have a "hummingbird tree" with the big red "sparkler" type blooms right by our driveway, so we sometimes sit inside the car as a blind and just watch them flit around that bush.
After the winter kills it back, I chop it down to the roots, and by the end of growing season, it's back to being huge. At first, it was a tall thing, but since I've cut it back every year, it's shoots from the ground have mulitipled, so now it's more of a WIDE bushy tree. Only problem with that is that it has to be trimmed back from the driveway or it scratches the car when I'm driving out. I'm not sure this bush would grown in Ohio, however, but just thought I'd mention it in case anyone is thinking about planting one.
It goes by some other names as well in addition to it's scientific name.
Wow, it won't be long before we'll start to have some springlike weather, most likely, say about mid February, and we're just now getting winter-like weather. Mixed up with the near-freezing mornings, like this morning, I'm still expecting lots of warmer days, perfect for doing things outdoors. If I can get my sister to sit with Mom, I'm hoping to get a head start on some clearing projects this year, but then all the holidays plus things that come up unexpectedly seem to foil (sp) these best laid plans.
Wow, you sound as though you really enjoyed yourself!
Yours, Luce
By the way, if you ever DO get to that Refuge for the Attwater Prairie Chicken, and it happens to be spring, you'll get to see LOTS of wildflowers, particularly if conditions are just right. We aware that it may be slow moving as lots of people go out there every weekend just to see the wild flowers. They are plentiful all around the town there called Eagle Lake, just south of I-10 somewhere around Columbus, I think.
OK, better get off of here.
Yours, Luce
OK, better get off of here.
Yours, Luce
Wow, Hazel, I made lots of typos in that first post, but the biggest error was when I said to "turn RIGHT at the end of the beach in High Island. If you do that, and keep going, you'll drive right into the Gulf waters, so be sure to turn left to get to that Boy Scout Park/Audobon and rookery thing. One of the parks has SMITH in the name, by the way.
Everything's pretty close together.
Yours, Luce
Everything's pretty close together.
Yours, Luce
Thanks so much for all the info, Lucy. I printed it out (changed RIGHT to LEFT so we don't go into the drink!) We will probably visit Texas next in the spring, but not Spring 2006 as we're going to Greece. Anyway we would love to see those prairie chickens. My husband has seen the greater prairie chickens in NW Indiana, but he hasn't seen the lesser prairie chickens that you have. I guess it is really something to see/hear them booming.
I also love the spoonbills (saw them this time at Aransas) and would love to see a whole rookery full.
How is your Mom doing?
I also love the spoonbills (saw them this time at Aransas) and would love to see a whole rookery full.
How is your Mom doing?
kathy
Hazel,
Thanks for asking. Mom has delusions and hallucinations which are a side effect of her medication, but she's on such a low dose now, that I really think they're vascular in origin. In general, when the very elderly begin to have those, that's the reason.
I have to stay right with her, but now that she's on a new medication to keep her BPs from diving, this one doesn't stop working all of a sudden, and is only given once a day, so the coverage is continuous. This helps in that I'm able to walk her about a little more for short distances, but have to hold on to her as the PD symptoms of stiffness, plus lots of other issues which are tied into PD in some way, make it really hazardous for her to walk by herself. I have to watch her continuously or she'll take off on her own without me. This can be a challenge as you can well imagine. I feel fortunate that she can and does eat fairly well most of the time, and isn't experiencing any choking, and that her speech, though soft, is still intelligible. I just wish that she wasn't so deaf -- hard to communicate, and it would so broaden her world if she could hear. She used to read all kinds of stuff until very recently. She's told me it's her eyes, so I need to get her some reading glasses soon. We have the script now. These patients have a problem with downward gaze, so she needs separate glasses for reading instead of her bifocals so that she can look straight ahead at what she's reading, so she'll just have to switch glasses back and forth. It wouldn't be safe for her to try to walk wearing that type of reading glasses. Wish us luck on getting her to use them. Think part of it is the slow deterioration of her brain, but it's worth a try to get those glasses.
More than you wanted to know, I'm sure! Ha!
You should have lots of fun in the spring of whichever year you come. Think we saw the big baby birds at the rookery around the last week of May, but I could be mistaken. Probably, it was two years ago.
Yours, Luce
Thanks for asking. Mom has delusions and hallucinations which are a side effect of her medication, but she's on such a low dose now, that I really think they're vascular in origin. In general, when the very elderly begin to have those, that's the reason.
I have to stay right with her, but now that she's on a new medication to keep her BPs from diving, this one doesn't stop working all of a sudden, and is only given once a day, so the coverage is continuous. This helps in that I'm able to walk her about a little more for short distances, but have to hold on to her as the PD symptoms of stiffness, plus lots of other issues which are tied into PD in some way, make it really hazardous for her to walk by herself. I have to watch her continuously or she'll take off on her own without me. This can be a challenge as you can well imagine. I feel fortunate that she can and does eat fairly well most of the time, and isn't experiencing any choking, and that her speech, though soft, is still intelligible. I just wish that she wasn't so deaf -- hard to communicate, and it would so broaden her world if she could hear. She used to read all kinds of stuff until very recently. She's told me it's her eyes, so I need to get her some reading glasses soon. We have the script now. These patients have a problem with downward gaze, so she needs separate glasses for reading instead of her bifocals so that she can look straight ahead at what she's reading, so she'll just have to switch glasses back and forth. It wouldn't be safe for her to try to walk wearing that type of reading glasses. Wish us luck on getting her to use them. Think part of it is the slow deterioration of her brain, but it's worth a try to get those glasses.
More than you wanted to know, I'm sure! Ha!
You should have lots of fun in the spring of whichever year you come. Think we saw the big baby birds at the rookery around the last week of May, but I could be mistaken. Probably, it was two years ago.
Yours, Luce
Actually, it sounds like she is doing pretty well, considering. I think I may have told you, a long time ago, maybe even on the other forum, that my mother-in-law had Parkinson's so I know how it goes. It is a very hard disease! But you know that, so I won't go into it. Did you read that Fidel Castro has it?
I'm glad that she can still communicate and get around some. You have my admiration for your caring and patience!
I'm glad that she can still communicate and get around some. You have my admiration for your caring and patience!
kathy