Still in South Texas

This is Owlet #1, all fledged and ready to leave the RV Park for the more wild areas surrounding us.  Most of the people also are leaving for "up north" to their homes all across the U.S.  We too will be leaving soon but not to Wisconsin as we had planned.  With the extended lockdown there, it would be impossible to see family and friends, so that has been postponed until August.  We will head to Montana to be near Ty's brother Daryl and wife Vicki and the wide open spaces of "Big Sky" country,  (social distancing always practiced).

Great-tailed Grackle doing Border Patrol duty at sunrise from where we were counting hawks

Yellow-headed Blackbirds join the huge blackbird flocks by the cattle ranch.

Look closely - these are the tiny Crazy Ants carrying their eggs after a heavy rain

Hong Kong Orchid Tree in bloom

Lark Sparrow

Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Coral Bean blossom

Youngest Owlet, didn't quite get it's ear tufts yet

Golden-fronted Woodpecker peeks out of nest cavity in palm tree

Tarantula Hawk Wasp on Rose Petals

Mississippi Kite reaches for an insect (10 inches in front of beak)

Got it!  Passing the snack from talon to beak.

Inca Dove

Brown-crested Flycatcher returns to nest in South Texas

Clay-colored Thrush, nesting nearby,
Serenades us each morning before dawn

White-tailed Kite

Cattle Egret

Buff-bellied Hummingbird - the South Texas Gem

Buff-bellied Hummer loves the Coral Bean and our feeder

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk does a low flyby

Try counting these Mississippi Kites....the challenge we faced each day.

This was our final day, month and seasonal count.  A record.  132,000 raptors passed over our modified count station.  Here is the breakdown by raptor species.

Migrating Anhingas also soar on the thermals

Western Kingbird stops by on it's way north

While we were doing hawk watch, one of the ladies in the RV park brought us a stunned Ruby-throated Hummingbird male.  A minute or two later, she found a second male stunned and on the ground.  We concluded that they must have been fighting and each were exhausted.  So we let them rest and pretty soon they were looking more alert.

They both flew to the nearby Esperanza (Sun Trumpet) bushes to feed and then to the ground to rest some more.  Then back to eat.  Soon they were ready to go their seperate ways.

The trunk of the Silk-floss Tree
Not a huggable tree.

It has been very hot each afternoon, high 90's to 103.  So happy to have air conditioning and a swimming pool for a dip.  We were limited to 10 people in pool area, so took turns, no longer an issue, very few people left to share it.

We have been very blessed to be in this area of almost no virus problems.  We pray that it stays that way.  We pray for our country and the many lands around the world that have been impacted by this pandemic.

Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann