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| Moonrise over Bentsen Palm |
We just finished our 8 month long adventure in the state of Texas. This is the longest period of time we have spent in any one state since we retired 5 years ago. But Texas is so big, we didn't even get to every part of the state. Next time!!
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| Elf Owl finds his old woodpecker hole |
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| Scorpion zeros in on a beetle |
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| Scorpion in Black Light |
We finished off our time at Bentsen RGV State Park with a Ranger led night adventure. The Elf owls arrived on April 16th and the warm night brought out scorpions, spiders, bats, pauraques, and even a skunk.
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| Tomato Hornworm Moth |
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| Bronzed Cowbird tries to impress |
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| Altamira Oriole completes his nest (over 24" long) |
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| Black Phoebe |
We totaled 360 species of birds in our time in Texas this winter. It took us 40 years to find that many in Wisconsin.
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| Cave Swallows take a short rest |
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| Ox Beetle |
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| 14 Mississippi Kites spend the night at Bentsen |
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| Mississippi Kite |
We enjoyed our 2 months of Spring raptor migration with record numbers. We had 115,699 raptors cross the sky observing them from the "Hawk Tower" at Bentsen. That included 45,439 Broad-winged Hawks, 14,214 Mississippi Kites, 46,189 Turkey Vultures, 3,650 Swainson's Hawks and 19 other species of raptors. Amazing sights!!
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| Lesser Nighthawk leucistic plumage |
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| Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake |
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| Cane Toad |
On May 1st we left Mission and stopped at San Ygnacio and found the rare White-collared Seedeaters. We had this gray fox right in our RV Park.
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| Turkey Vulture on the grill |
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| Black-throated Sparrow |
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| Lake Casa Blanca |
Then there were stops at Lake Casa Blanca in Laredo, Garner S.P. and Lost Maples Natural Area in the Hill Country and Kerr Management area and a stay along the Cypress-lined Guadalupe River.
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| Prickly Pear Blossom |
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| Carolina Wren |
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| Garner State Park |
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| Golden-cheeked Warbler |
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| Tom Turkeys try to impress |
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| Black-tailed Jackrabbit |
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| Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
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| Lost Maples State Park |
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| Guadalupe River |
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| Yellow-crowned Night-heron |
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| Mayfly hatch |
We are headed north through the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma into Kansas carefully watching the weather radar and avoiding the severe weather as much as possible.
May God bless us with sunshine and birds all the way into Wisconsin.
Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann
Great Photos! Quite a variety.
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