Bat Crazy

Zac, Melissa and I finally went to the bat cave a few days ago. Supposedly, it's got the 2nd largest bat population in the world. Damn! They say 10-13 million, MILLION!! bats. That's pretty badass, you gotta admit.

So it was awesome. We saw a few raptors snag a bat meal a couple of times. The bats started coming out just after 8pm and don't stop unil 10 30 or something crazy like that. Mexican Free-taileds and Cave miotis. We were the last people to leave. On the walk back to the car, Melissa almost stepped on a baby bat. A tiny, itty bitty baby bat. He must have fallen off mom when she left the cave :( That kinda sucked, cause there was nothing we could do for him. Maybe somehow he survived. I really hope so, cause i cried some tears for the little guy. He was so cute, and awkward, and tiny. My god. I've never seen a baby bat before. The noise the bats made when they were coming back into the cave was pretty nuts. Crazy whooshing sounds. So the bat cave exceeded my expectations. I give it lots of thumbs up. Rad stuff!

Tortoise Pee on the Border

We drove the long drive to South Texas this weekend to look for birds and other things that aren't birds. We indeed saw birds, and also non-birds.

I had never been to that part of the state before and was mildly hesitant but I was impressed with the mass amount of National Wildlife Refuges and state parks in the area. Good job, Texas! I was not impressed with other things in the area, such as the cities and the dumbass border wall going up through said parks and refuges. Really, all I can say is what the fuck?

Highlights for me were the Texas Indigo Snake and the Gopher Tortoise- both rare species. I got wildly urinated on by the tortuga while Zac was holding it. That thing has a giant bladder and released it all on my shoes and pants, i mean, soaked me. Wow. I can handle a little tortoise pee though, don't worry.

We also saw a bigger than life Golden-cheeked warbler. On a billboard - hot damn! I'll give Texas Parks and Wildlife props for this. There were other threatened/endangered animals on billboards down there also. Well done, well done. Be it known how much i despise billboards, but this was actually for a good cause, making the GCWA a star. Oh yeah!

I don't know who this lizard guy is, but he posed nicely for a photo, so I like him. The ribbon snake was really pretty also. The coast shot is from Laguna Atascosa. Too bad the rest of the Texas Coast doesn't look like this...nice spot! The water didn't look like a sewer tank here either - we were shocked!

I finally saw a Green Jay. Man, those guys are good looking. I wish I was that pretty. What?

Other little friends I got decent pictures of were the Altamira Oriole, Plain Chamamamalackawhacka (i prefer this little used spelling), Eastern Meadowlark fledgie, and White-tipped Dove.

The Canon has decided to turn against us and kind of, well, just decided not to work so well right now. The flash mount is all screwed up and it the camera itself only turns on sometimes (rarely). So that's just freaking swell. And by swell I mean this: it's making me insane. And by insane I mean: just bordering on becoming physically abusive with the camera.

Here's a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a Bronzed Cowbird fledging that was being fed by a Mockingbird. Sigh...

The Birds

Got a little less than a month to go in Leakey. The birds are getting pretty quiet, but not that quiet, they are about ten days late this year it seems. Lots of fledgie action but quite a few unpaired males also, go figure, eh? We have a TON more Black-capped Vireos this year too, so that's kinda fun. I finally managed to snag a somewhat decent photo of one, on about try number 568. Here's a bunch of fledgling pics.

We have been following some Huttons Vireos too this season. We've found two different sets of fledgies and about 20 other adults. I've managed to get a few photos too, for evidence. We're writing a little blurb up for the Bulletin of the Texas Orn Society (they're pretty rare around these here parts). Ohh, Fancy pants!

Oh and about a month ago we went to the coast of Texas (yes yes, I said i would never go back there again, this time I mean it). We saw some good birds there too, though I'm rather sleepy and don't remember them all - it was a lot. So here's just a couple pictures from that weekend. (Blackburnian, Chestunt-sided, Carolina Wren Fledgie, Spoonbills, and Prothonotary)

Won't you be my neighbor?

These animals live right next door to us. Have yerself a little look, please. Thank you.

And let me remind you that yes, we are still in Texas...

Oh The Cave The Cave The Cave!!!

The cave, it kinda rocks my socks. It's a secret cave, not open to the public, mapped by USGS - it goes back for miles. Last year we explored the other side, because the other passage was full of water. Thanks to the drought, no agua is stopping us from playing in that spot this year. All right! Turns out that way is well, freaking rad!! There is still some water, chest level on me, that we had to wade through, but it opens up into some pretty big rooms with some pretty fantastic formations. We saw that goofy little bug below and a bunch of really, really, I mean, really! old chicken type bones underneath about 4 feet of water. Cool! Last year we saw a bunch of fossilized canine teeth and bones. Hmm. Interesting stuff! I give it a whole lotta thumbs up. Check it out...