Monthly Archives: April 2006

playtime for turkeys [174 – 178]

No, ma'am, we sure won't

Last night we drove south to Rockport. Most of the drive was in the dark, and we passed several refineries glowing in the night. Ugly places — talk about your Dark Satanic Mills. Our first birding stop this morning was Goose Island State Park, which is on the Lamar peninsula. Before we entered the park proper, we stopped off to see the Big Tree, which is the Texas State Champion Oak, whatever the hell that means. It’s a big ol’ tree, and best of all, we saw a BLACK-CRESTED TITMOUSE in its branches, a lifer for us both. The area was different from most what we’d seen in Texas so far, since there wasn’t garbage everywhere. The reason? The Lamar Women’s Club. (See photo.)

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a blessed day, hot as hell [143 – 173]

Pole on High Island, resplendent in her birder plumage

Today we returned to High Island . . . prepared. The day started out well because we got to check out of the odious La Quinta. We skipped their lousy breakfast, and headed straight to Gander Mountain. Pole wanted to get some of that new-fangled clothing that’s impregnated with bug repellent. They didn’t have it, so instead, we got long-legged, long-sleeved sunblock outfits (UPF 30) that we changed into at the store. Of course, with our sensible pants and shirts, we now looked like the typical dorky birder I ridiculed in yesterday’s post. Pole is particular about how she dresses, and she wasn’t happy about her outfit. And I was kind of disappointed in her, too. The good thing about birding with Pole is that if there are no birds around, I can at least look at her.

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awful, but it’s where the birds are [107 – 142]

Pole in Anahuac (on a tilt, as poles often are)

Last Friday we left for a week-long trip to Texas. We drove Friday night and all of Saturday. Not straight through, mind you. We stopped in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on Friday and made it to Beaumont, Texas last night. So today — Easter Sunday — was our first day birding the Texas coast. And though today was our biggest day ever for birds, it may have been the worst day ever, too.

Starting with the worst, the hotel was a dump. It was old and run down and in the middle of an industrial area right next to the highway. I won’t tell you its name, but let’s just say it was a La Quinta Inn. We knew we were here to bird, so we got over that pretty quick. (Right.) So this morning we headed for the coast down Route 124 toward Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. It wasn’t long before we saw some CATTLE EGRETS in a field along the side of the road. And the a BLACK VULTURE flying above us. Two lifers from the get-go. Then we hit it big.

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heard but not seen [106]

After work, we headed off to Wolf Road Prairie Nature Preserve in Westchester (a western suburb of Chicago) to join a walk led by some folks from the Chicago Audubon Society. The purpose was to view the courtship flights of the American Woodcock. Though we heard several of the birds peent-ing in the grass, not a one flew into the air. Kind of a drag after a long haul to the burbs, especially since we didn’t really have the time for it. (We’re busy getting ready for our trip to the Texas coast this Friday.) We did see some BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS before it got dark, and — this is truly amazing — I didn’t make a single dirty joke about the word “woodcock”.

chicken nuggets [100 – 105]

The view from my cold plywood cell

We woke up at 3:30 am to watch some chickens. I guess that means we’re officially — I don’t know what — officially bat-shit looney. I’m ambivalent about the whole thing. It was really something to see the GREATER PRAIRIE CHICKEN in action (a lifer for us both) — no doubt about it. But to travel 250 miles, to sleep just three hours in a crummy motel, and to freeze our asses off in the Black Hole of Calcutta, well, that’s a lot for a chicken to ask.

Pole, wrapped to her eyeballs, chicken watches

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