Dispatches from the Field

What Made Those?

On January 25^th I was walking along the greenbelt path in our neighborhood, burning calories like a fiend, while observing nature with a keen eye. As I walked along the path I was seeing lots of muddy paw prints on the concrete.  A cardinal was singing and a crow called in the distance.  Just as I was about to congratulate myself on my expansive bird-song knowledge, this “conversation” happened.

            “Those were different,” my Brain said.

            “Huh?” I replied.

            “Different!  Those were different!”

            “What?” I said, not slowing my pace.

            “Stop and go back and look at those tracks!” my Brain replied with unnecessary urgency.

The Track that Caught My ahem… Eye

I backtracked along the path until I found the track, a mud print on the cement actually.

So, take a moment to think about what your first impression might be. Who made this print?  What kind of animal might it be? Canine? Feline? Raccoon? Possum? Anything else?

I looked around for some more prints and found a trail of them on the sidewalk:

I paced off the length of the trail at an estimated 48 feet.  The mud on the animal’s feet finally wore off and the last print was barely visible.

I went back to the beginning of the trail and carefully searched some more.  People walking on sidewalk quickly averted their eyes when I looked up at them as they passed by.  I’m sure they were wondering what this old guy was doing stalking up and down the sidewalk on his hands and knees looking at that dirt.

I kept my secret to myself and kept searching.  In a thick patch of mud on the sidewalk, I found more tracks!

At this point, because of the size of the track there were really only two options: large dog or large cat.  Of course, a large cat was way more unlikely, even though I did not see any claw marks in the print above.  Hmmmm….

I went to The Google for help to see if a large cat was even possible in this area.  It seemed unlikely.

This came up on the Austin American-Statesman YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPrPMIeTFy0

This big cat was seen in January 2019 about 11 miles from where I found my tracks.

However, I also saw a Great Dane along this greenbelt that the owner said weighed 180 pounds.

I needed data!

As I rushed home to retrieve a tape measure, rulers, field guides, and my Enthusiastic Assistant, I could not decide which animal the tracks belong to.  Dog was more likely, but even I could walk 11 miles, so a Mountain Lion wasn’t completely crazy, right?

When I announced to the Enthusiastic Assistant that WE were going back to measure some tracks, she tried to hide her exuberance behind a gaping yawn.  “That’s nice, dear.” When she realized that I failed to fall for her façade, she took another tack.  “Really, you want me to go?”

We went back to the site to measure tracks. We measured and stalked the tracks like field experts, really cool field experts, who measure tracks in their neighborhood greenbelt with tape measures and stuff for real while neighbors walk by with strange looks on their faces.

These are the two tracks I found in the dirt area on the concrete sidewalk. They are about 9˝ apart.

The first individual track I measured was 3˝ wide. AHA!

The second track in the dirt patch was 3˝ wide and almost 3.5˝ long.

So far, my imagination has the animal standing in the muddy patch with its two front feet. Then it twists to its right and starts down the sidewalk, gaining speed, as I’ll discuss in a moment.

But first, a couple of pictures of the foot prints and measurements on the sidewalk.

Here is an indication of the distance between the right front paw making a mark and then where is lands after a step. That’s about 41-42˝ in stride.  Now, take a moment to make a 42˝ step with your right foot. Hmmmmm.

Here is a picture of a right paw and a left paw with about 17˝ between them.

The trail of tracks went for 45 feet.  There were 12 pairs of front tracks on the sidewalk after the animal left the mud patch.

I said earlier that the animal increased its speed as it went down the sidewalk.  Here’s why I am supposing that. I measured the distance between the 3^rd and 4^th right paw print at 41.75˝, the distance between the 7^th and 8^th right paw print at 48˝ and the 9^th and 10^th right paw print at 51˝.

Again, as an experiment, make a step of 51˝ with your right foot.

It looked to me like the animal stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, the right foot slightly in front of the left, both feet in a muddy spot on the sidewalk from the recent construction. I assumed it was looking straight ahead off the sidewalk, until something made it turn and proceed down the sidewalk. It appeared to be increasing its speed with each set of tracks because the distance between each right paw print increased with each stride. The animal was continuing down the sidewalk but the prints were no longer visible to determine how much farther than 45 feet it went. Based on the size of the strides (36˝ – 51˝), I doubt it was escaping predation.  Something (human activity?) may have spooked it so it was leaving the area. Or, it could have been pursuing something. Or it could have been attached to a leash. No way to know for sure.

I walked up and down the track line trying to visualize what had taken place. First, I imagined I was a cat, and then found running deer tracks where the prints led.  Then, I imagined I was a dog, and saw myself catching up to my jogging owner. Hmmm.

“Are we done yet?” said the Enthusiastic Assistant.

Back at home, I did more research before sending my photos to a tracking expert in Idaho.

She replied the same day, saying all the tracks were obviously dog tracks and I now have a presentation with 67 slides on how to tell the difference.

I found another set of prints in the mud the next day about half mile south of where I found the first set. I measured these as well and they were the same size.

Several weeks later I did an experiment.

“I think I found some cats tracks and want to measure them,” I told the Enthusiastic Assistant.

“No. I will smack the…..” she replied.

Bird Migration

With a lot of businesses closed this spring, more people were out birding more often than in years past, so lots of new birds were seen and the sightings posted. I saw 19 species for the first time in my home county.  Here are some of the highlights.

I almost missed this guy.  I heard an unfamiliar song in a juniper tree and spent some time looking for the bird, but never found it.  Because I was at the location specifically looking for a different bird I did not spend any extra time looking.

After failing to see the other bird, which I now don’t even remember which species it was, I headed back to my vehicle and heard this guy again.  This time I spent the time necessary to find it.

When I found him, he was about 3,000 miles from his wintering grounds and still about 2,500 miles from his breeding grounds. In the fall, he will make that 5,500 mile flight back to South America.

I was looking for a Brown Pelican when I saw something flying over the lake.  A quick peek with the binoculars told me it was “different” and probably rare in my county since it looked like it belonged on the beach.  I took its photo and immediately texted a back-of-the-camera photo to Birding Expert A.

He replied, “Nice. I’ve only seen one in the county and there are only two records with no pics from our county.”

“Woo Hoo,” I thought. Followed by, “What the heck is it?”  But I could not text that to Birding Expert A.

I thought I could text it to Birding Expert B, though, and ask him. He already knows I’m an idiot. But instead of asking “What is this?” for some reason I asked “Is this a Long-billed Curlew?”

Birding Expert B replied, “Nice. Where did you see it?”

Hmmmm. Not exactly a confirmation it was a Long-billed Curlew, but also not a correction.  I went with it.

Later that afternoon when I filled out my eBird list I called it a Long-billed Curlew.

That evening I received a text from Birding Expert A asking about the Curlew.  He said he saw my pic of a Whimbrel, but did I have one of the curlew.

I immediately began muttering mutters under my breath at Birding Expert B.  When I replied to Birding Expert A that I..um..was…not..sure what it was ’cause I don’t go to the coast much, he politely replied for me to send him the raw photo and he would look at it.  He determined it was indeed a Whimbrel, which had not even crossed my mind.

I registered my complaint with Birding Expert B, and he replied that the back-of-the-camera photo was fuzzy and he assumed I had seen the correct coloration not clear on the photo and the striping somewhere or not like it was supposed to be and the pale wash of pinkish something along that spot where it belongs or not.

So, I meekly changed my eBird list to Whimbrel. Birding Expert A politely took the blame for being a poor teacher when I took his shorebird class 20 years ago. Of course, I had taken no such class, but did not feel a need to address that point.

I think I was forgiven a few weeks later when I found the Blackpoll Warbler and alerted Birding Expert A who came and got it for the first time in the county.

And, all was forgiven on my part with Birding Expert B when he showed me three new life birds later this spring. Birding is just funny that way sometimes.

State Park Hiking…finally…Lessons and Observations

In late April, the state parks re-opened and we were able to get several hikes in after migration had slowed down.  As usual, we were seeking lots of wildflowers, animal encounters, and miles along the trail.  The shortened season did not disappoint.

Wildflowers

At Enchanted Rock SNA we found four of the Big Five: Purple Leatherflower, Mexican Mallow, Basin Bluebell, and Pearlvine Milkweed; we missed the Horned Bladderwort.  Conditions must have been too dry earlier in the spring and none of the flowers or plants were visible in the normal location, which is often the case.

We found a total of 70 species of wildflowers at Enchanted Rock, which isn’t too bad.

At Hill Country SNA we found 84 species, only two shy of last year’s record.

We made a couple of trips to South Llano River SP.  Wildflowers are not as numerous here, but we did find Purple Ground-Cherries and, for the first time at this park, Pearlvine Milkweed and Purple Leatherflower.

Animal Encounters

For some reason I forgot to take pictures of these two encounters.

We left before dawn to get to South Llano River SP early in the morning to try to miss most of the heat. We were walking along a shaded creek bed. The only sounds were the crunch of gravel beneath our feet and birdsong overhead, when suddenly a loud alarm bellow from a feral hog rang out.  I could not see the hog because of a large juniper tree.  I listened for sounds of a charging sow that never came.  I peeked around the juniper and saw two little fat piglet bottoms racing up the hill away from us. Mama hog stood sideways guarding the retreat, listening for sounds of a charging human that never came.  The Bride and I were fortunate we were not incinerated upon reentry into the earth’s atmosphere and continued our hike unharmed.

At Colorado Bend SP, we were walking along one of the upland trails that winds its way through some sparse live oaks along a grassy meadow.  We stopped in the trail for a brief moment when motion caught my eye.  About 15 yards away, a black and white fuzzy looking thing arose out the grass about a foot or more. A skunk’s tail! Thankfully he was moving away from us and only gave the warning instead of exercising the nuclear option.

At Hill Country SNA we found bobcat tracks along a sandy stretch of the trail.

The Bride may be sneakier than I suspected.  During the same hike at Colorado Bend SP, she had been leading our hike over the previous mile when she stopped and asked me to take the lead as we entered an area of scattered junipers along the trail.  A few moments later this appeared before me at nose level six inches away.

It was only by using my cat-like reaction skills that I was able to avoid a face full of a Giant Lichen Orb Weaver spider by employing an evasive maneuver I call The Heebie Jeebie. Somehow, we all survived, which defies scientific explanation.

Baby Critters

I found this guy one morning about ten feet off the concrete path along the greenbelt.  He remained motionless. I did not linger, and I saw a few folks walk past him without seeming to notice him.  I had walked past him before subconscious told me something was there I’d missed.

We found this 1.5 inch little dragon in a flower pot in the front yard.  He must have been very sleepy because he went to sleep while we were taking his photo.

It took us a week and a half or so to re-find him. In that time he had developed a full blown Anole attitude.

Dispatch Correspondent #1 – Report from the Field to the South

Here are some photographs of wildflowers and other stuff DC#1 found this spring.

DC #1 had his own spider encounter.

“It charged us on a narrow trail, and the Dobie counterattacked but was driven back.  I dove to one side and managed a half twist, so that I could snap a picture just before I rolled into the woods.  You can tell that’s how it happened because the picture is a little fuzzy.”

Although his maneuver was a bit different than The Heebie Jeebie, he too has a good reaction skills game.

Dispatch Correspondent #2 – Reports from the Fields to the North

Exciting news! We have a new Dispatch Correspondent. She has had some interesting visitors to her backyard so far this year.

This guy came by for about a week and helped aerate their garden until he moved on to help someone else.

I have never seen one of these pigeons before.

She also had a nice encounter with the local Grey Fox.

“A few nights ago we were walking just after dusk with our newly adopted greyhound, Charlie, when I noticed a fox dart across the street. Now this must’ve been a teenager fox because it had no idea that dogs and people are not something you dart towards, but always away from. It stayed in the yard and stared at us while we walked by and even let us take a video. I tried to explain to the fox that our dog was specifically bred to chase down foxes, rabbits, etc. and it best move on its way, but still it sat and watched us. We continued our walk and the fox stayed in the yard.

Now that it’s 100+ degrees out, we’ve even had to stop our night walks. As a replacement we toss a squeaky light-up ball around for Charlie in the backyard after dark. We were squeaking the ball when I saw a fox in our next door neighbor’s yard, and to my surprise it was running towards our yard. The fox hit the brakes pretty fast when it saw us, turned, and darted away. My theory was the fox was attracted by the squeaky toy. This theory was confirmed about three minutes later when we were still playing and the fox came around to the back fence. This time Charlie saw it and chased the fox away from the fence. The fox ran about two houses down and barked a couple of times. Eventually we all lost interest in each other and went back inside, not before making sure the chickens were safe in their high security compound. I hope to see more of this fox, safely on the other side of our fence and away from our chickens of course.”

And DC#2 has been doing an experiment that was briefly mentioned in Dispatch No. 1.

“In a previous dispatch you mentioned a man who stopped mowing his grass and all the different flowers and grasses that came up. We mow infrequently and with this warmer weather we had tiny purple flowers pop up in half of the yard. I noticed bees were feeding on the flowers when it was warm enough for them to leave the hive. Eventually it was time to mow, but I didn’t want to take away the bees’ food supply.  I couldn’t commit to the entire yard, but we now have a nice sized patch that’s wild and free. It’s been agreed this patch will be left untouched moving forward. Can’t wait to see what else sprouts!”

It will be nice to hear how what this patch provides in the future.  Maybe I can convince The Bride that our entire backyard should be like this.

In Memory Of…

In late 2019 and early 2020, a couple of friends lost their good dogs and faithful outdoor companions. If you have experienced this in your life, you know what a no-good, very-bad time this is.

I don’t remember where I read it, but the author said, “Our dogs give us some of the best days of our lives and one of our worst.”

I heard good stories over the years about these two and just wanted to share a picture or two.

Finally – A New App

I found a new app that has been very helpful this year.

The app is Seek by iNaturalist. It uses your camera to help identify animals, plants, and fungi.

We used it on wildflowers, butterflies, spiders, and birds. Sometimes the app will identify to the species level, but if that isn’t possible it will identify to the genera or order.

One evening I tried an experiment.  I used a photo of the tracks I found on the greenbelt and discussed earlier in this Dispatch.

Could the Seek App identify tracks? I gave it a try and received this reply.

I’m just saying.

The big trips to state and national parks are fantastic and should be worked into our schedules as much as possible.  But I would go crazy if my encounters with nature were limited to only those trips.  Neighborhood Nature comes to the rescue. Our neighborhoods, home counties, and even our backyards can offer unique wildlife and wildflower encounters.  We just have to pay attention.  Here are some of the encounters I had with Neighborhood Nature in 2019.

Let’s talk about turtles.

I witnessed two behaviors by soft-shelled turtles that I’m still a little baffled about. One morning while on a walk through the neighborhood Karen and I stopped to look at the creek.  The flash of a fish and agitation at the surface caught our eyes. We watched a couple of sunfish (I presume) darting around a large (14-16 inch carapace) soft-shelled turtle that seemed to be biting at things in the water.  I could not clearly see what the turtle was up to, but guessed it was eating something dear to the fish.

Now, if that was in fact what was happening, that would not have been strange except for what we saw a couple of weeks later.  In the same stretch of creek, but about 300 yards farther downstream, I watched another (or the same) large soft-shelled turtle sitting submerged in the creek, while some sunfish and a small bass seem to take turns eating algae or something off the turtle as it held very still.  There were no aggressive movements by the turtle and the fish seemed to be calmly waiting their turns. Does this happen? 

A couple of more weeks later, we came upon a large soft-shelled turtle out of the water, travelling across land at the neighborhood park.  As I approached it, I was a little taken aback by the size of its head and beak.  I paused a moment to evaluate the situation, but decided to get a closer look.  I made one step, and the turtle whipped around and raced, yes, raced, back to the pond. I was shocked at the speed it moved.

I was quickly reminded of something I read many years ago in an old Field Guide to Mammals of North American: Feral hogs can retreat or charge at 35 mph.  What if that soft-shelled turtle could retreat or charge as fast as I witnessed? Hmmm… I have not seen any more soft-shelled turtles since that day, and I might be okay with that.

I suppose I should mention the large Common Snapping-turtle we have seen in the same stretch of creek. Without exaggeration, its head is as wide as a paperback novel. My grandmother once told me when I was a little boy that they will bite you and not let go until it thunders. Hmmmm…wiggling my toes in the creek has now been removed from the Bucket List.

Backyard Travelers

I would like for you to do an experiment as you read this section.  Find a quarter and nickel and put those in the palm of your hand.  Feel the weight of it, then keep that in mind.

In the spring and fall we had visitors or travelers originating from Central America to the northwest part of South America stop by on their way to the northern United States. They would only stay for the day or so and then leave us just after sunset the next evening. These little guys have a way of filling up the backyard.

Oh, that 30 cents you have been holding weighs more than any of these birds that traveled over 2000 miles to get here.

These three-and-half-inch-long birds can travel all that distance, avoiding swooping hawks and leaping cats, fighting through rain and wind, finding caterpillars and insects in the trees of my backyard to power their journey to the next backyard or woodlot until they reach their summer and winter homes. I like to think about that sometimes. 

First Fox

We left for our Yellowstone trip at 5:30 am, and within a quarter mile of our house we saw a grey fox. This was the first fox I have seen in our neighborhood.  One of the neighborhood churches leaves about an acre of their property growing wild in the spring. It has the appearance of a wildflower meadow that I have seen many people enjoying. The fox came from this meadow and hurriedly crossed the road in front of us. I’m sure the mice did not enjoy his visit as much as we did.

Surprise Visitor

This summer I was standing on the bank of a nearby creek at dawn focused on trying to determine if the legs on the sandpipers stomping around in the creek were yellow or black when I had the sudden realization that something had just walked up next to me. I looked down and I saw my visitor. I could tell by its reaction that I surprised him as much as he surprised me.

A half-grown skunk! Startled, he froze in place with his head low and backend elevated and his impressive tail sticking straight up. He seemed very frightened, which makes skunks dangerous.

Two things happened next that surprised me.  First, he was so cute that I started scrambling for my cell phone to get a photo. Second, I noticed that I was getting farther away before I realized my feet were doing a Michael Jackson-like moon walk backwards all on their own. I decided that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing and continued on my way.

The little skunk began moving again once I was no longer a threat. He went to a rock pile and disappeared amongst the rocks.

Moving Day

One evening, as I walked by a window on the side of our house, I heard a strange chittering sound. One of our cats alerted to the sound and immediately went to the window. I peered out the window and saw a momma raccoon with two young ones following close by her side. She was alert and watchful, pausing every few steps to scan the area for dangers.  The youngsters were in constant motion around her. Satisfied no danger was about, she and the young disappeared around the corner of our neighbors’ house.

The next evening just about dark I heard the same chittering sound and called for Karen to join me at the window. The momma raccoon led one baby to a nearby tree where it scrambled up about five feet.  She then went back to our fence and made more chittering sounds and two more youngsters followed her to the tree. Three young ones! She returned to the fence and repeated the behavior and two more youngsters followed her back to the tree.  Five young ones! Yet again, she went back to our fence. Even more talking this time.  The last one was not easily convinced it was safe to venture out so far.

She finally talked him into following her to the tree. There she raised up on her haunches and looked for trouble. The shy one clung closely to her side, the others were in constant motion, up the tree, down the tree, all around momma.

Satisfied it was safe, she quickly led them to the dark shadows against the house and clung to these shadows as she disappeared around the corner with her SIX young swarming around her. Then they were gone. Full dark now, except for the street and porch lights.

Well, we had plans for the next night indeed.  Karen and I were going to watch the raccoons leave the shed and walk across our patio, then we would go the window and watch them leave the yard. That evening as the sky was darkening, we turned off all our lights in the house, moved chairs up to the window, and waited for the show to begin. Ten minutes went by without any raccoons. Then fifteen. I started looking at my watch. Twenty. Uggg. We never saw them. Not the next night either.

I think the night we saw the mom and all six young was Moving Day. The two boldest ones had ventured out the first night I saw them, and now mom had moved them, even the reluctant last two. This was the most baby raccoons I have ever seen with an adult.

Why the Cats Stay Inside the House

One reason is we don’t want our cats eating our traveling guests or the local birds. 

Another reason the cats stay inside is we don’t want the local birds eating the cats.

Crunches ‘em like Granola Bars

I am very excited to announce there is a correspondent for Dispatches from the Field. He lives a good distance south of me and has spent significant amounts of time exploring his patch of neighborhood. This summer, DC#1 found these wildflowers

I also received this correspondence from DC#1:

“As the flowers wane, I’m spending a little more bike time looking at Odonates along perennial creeks and ponds….”

“My favorite so far is the Great Spreadwing damselfly.  It’s the biggest damselfly inthe U.S., and it literally eats little damselflies for breakfast.”

I replied back with the question about in what manner this “literally eats little damselflies for breakfast” occurs, and received the following reply.

“There’s an extraordinary website covering Arizona odonates, and the gallery for Great Spreadwings includes a couple of photos of them crunching smaller damselflies like granola bars: http://azdragonfly.org/species/great-spreadwing

Now the website is here for your enjoyment.

DC#1 also reported another find:

“I’m pretty sure that it’s the giant member of a genus of robber flies that mimic and eat bees, and also eat wasps and other insects.”

“Assuming that’s correct, the common name for it is the Beelzebub Bee-eater (aka Mallophora leschenaulti), and it’s known to occur in Texas”

Yikes! Even the plant this monster is perched on looks scary.

DC#1 is very tall so he sees more than I do.  I hope very much to have more DC#1 reports in the future. 

My Neighborhood Park

The local park is typical of most city parks, but we had a couple of nice encounters this past year.

A somewhat rarity for our part of the state showed up at the park this past January – a Couch’s Kingbird. This bird is more common in Rio Grande valley, but they are known to venture north in the winter.

We also had a nice splash of color at the park when this wandering flycatcher stayed for a few days.

But danger also lurks at my neighborhood park.  Almost every time I go, I have to fend off an attack from this guy.  One day I took a peace offering and tried to hand feed it to him and was promptly bitten quite hard for my troubles.  We have not come to terms of peace yet.

A Brand-New Animal

I might be stretching the definition of “neighborhood” with this, but it did occur in the county where I live, so close enough. This October I saw an animal I had never seen in the wild before.  I walked to the edge of a bridge to look down at the creek and saw that the silt in the creek had been disturbed. I thought to myself that maybe a turtle had crawled into the creek.  Then, I saw it move on the bank, and I think my mouth literally fell open.  I was not expecting an otter!  I know a couple of folks that have seen otters in my home county, but I could not even find one in Yellowstone. Now here was one right before me.

I was so stunned I forgot I had a camera for a moment, so I did not get a picture until it was swimming away.

I could go on with even more adventures and encounters from last year, but will stop for now.

For the upcoming year, I hope to have more frequent posts, new types of Dispatches, more reports from DC#1, and maybe even more correspondents’ reports.

What was your favorite Neighborhood Nature encounter last year?

Go spend time in nature and tell someone about it.

Karen and I met our friends Jason and Nita at Big Bend National Park recently. Well, to be more accurate, we may have crashed their vacation, but they were kind enough not to hold it against us. The three-day, four-night trip consisted of multiple hiking extravaganzas (read: death marches – okay, maybe they did hold it against us).

The Park

Big Bend National Park (BBNP) is located in the Chihuahuan Desert – yeah, that’s right we went to the desert in August…on purpose. It was kinda hot too. Who knew?  Anyway…

According to Wikipedia, “The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States. The park protects more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56 species of reptiles, and 75 species of mammals.” We would not have minded seeing all of them, but we came for a very rare species of warbler and any other migrating birds to be found, blooming wildflowers, any animal willing to show itself, and a stunning night sky. The park does not disappoint, but effort may be required.

The Chisos Mountains

These mountains are the only mountain range in the United States to be wholly contained within the boundary of a national park. For me, they are the heart of the park. The park’s three canyons are fantastic, and you should visit Santa Elena Canyon as quickly as you can. The river with its green valley running through the desert is essential for wildlife and people of the region. The desert with its rough and tumble landscape and horizon-to-horizon sky is a spectacle to behold. I love all aspects of BBNP, but my eyes and thoughts always return to the Chisos. It seems to me more adventure awaits in the mountains. They seem to require more from you, but they always give in return. It was in these mountains that Karen and I would spend most of our time on this trip, test ourselves to our limits, and be most rewarded for our efforts.

The Hike: Round 1

As you begin the drive up to the Chisos Mountains, you are greeted by this sign along the road.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the first thought that crosses my mind when I see this sign is not “let’s go hiking in the dark.” Jason, The Hiking Machine, not only thinks like this, he will actually go do it…alone. On this trip, I am scheduled to hike up to Boot Canyon with him in the dark.

“Good news,” Jason says, “The sun comes up later this time of year. We can get a late start.”

At 4:57 a.m. I see the glow from his green head lamp coming toward me, right on time. I make my first mistake within the first 10 feet of the trail.

It wasn’t really my fault; someone moved the trail since last November. Oh sure, the sign said “Authorized Personnel Only” were to go the direction I chose, ignoring the arrow pointing the other direction to the trail.  But this is my 26^th visit to the park—who would be more authorized than me? And I have been up this trail several times. I know where the trail is supposed to be. After 50 yards of a severe uphill we ran into a closed trail sign with no passage. I offered a gasping explanation of it used to be here and this is where it was then and uh…sorry.

The Hiking Machine is not amused. Two things worry me at this point: my significantly elevated heart rate after only 50 yards up a three-mile trail and the low, rumbling growl coming from my hiking companion.

Now, on the right track, we start the climb up the trail.  We have about 1800 feet of elevation to gain over the next three miles, in the dark, in mountains where we were warned that mountain lions and bears roam. Surely, they are asleep and not interested in one wheezing, stumbling person moseying up the trail, right?

The green glow from Jason’s headlamp disappears into the dark trees ahead. After a few hours (might have been a few minutes) of hiking alone, I find him stopped in the trail where he was kind enough to wait for me. He tells me of the dazzling meteors streaking across the Milky Way and how they illuminate my shirt. I try to remember what it is like to breath air again. I quickly realize that the mountain lion and bear threat to me is miniscule compared to the clear and present danger of death from trying to keep up with Jason on this hike. He clicks on his headlamp and strides into the dark. I will see him again in a few minutes when he stops to wait for me once again.

As so it goes for the next two hours until we reach the top of the Pinnacles Trail as the sun begins to brighten the eastern sky. I have slowed Jason down significantly, but he still seems in good spirits, or at least he has lost the growl. From here, the trail levels out some, and in another mile we begin our hunt for a rare warbler, or two.

The image below is a screen shot from my Fitbit that shows my heart rate during this part of the hike.  According to the mostly-accepted formula to calculate maximum heart rate mine should be 167 beats per minute. According to my Fitbit, my heart rate reached 175. I may have survived the hike up. However, it has now been over a week since the hike, and I’m still not completely sure that’s true.

Boot Canyon is beautiful, especially early in the morning, which makes the strenuous climb well worth the effort. At Boot Springs, Jason quickly finds our first warbler – a Painted Redstart. Not long after that we spot a Slate-throated Redstart.  Acorn Woodpeckers and Mexican Jays seem to be everywhere in the canyon. A Colima Warbler, a BBNP specialty, gives us a quick sighting. Western Wood-Peewee, Cordillean Flycatcher, Huttons Vireo, and Broad-tailed Hummingbird round out sightings in the shaded valley.

After spending about 45 minutes with the Slate-throated Redstart, we agree to go see the South Rim – sometimes described as the best view in Texas. We take in the big views along the rim then begin the return trip down the Laguna Meadow Trail and arrive back in the basin around 2:30 p.m., 11.8 miles later.

It has been a fantastic day. I haven’t been to the South Rim since 2009, but I still made it.  I may be old, but I begin to think I might just be awesome. As I collapse in our room, I realize my feet feel like they have been gnawed on by an alligator for hours; I hurt in strange and unfamiliar places; and it is entirely possible I might not be able to move ever again. “Awesome” is no longer how I describe how I feel.

The Hike Round 2

So, of course, we do it again on Monday, two days later.

This time Karen and Nita joined us.  We are going up the Laguna Meadow Trail this time because it is “easier.” Easier in an Einsteinian Theory of Relativity way imperceptible to mere humans, except, of course, Jason. Rather than the more exposed route of the Laguna Meadow Trail, our afternoon descent by way of the Pinnacles Trail is promised to be much cooler because of the languid stretches of dappled shade and gentle, caressing cool breezes.

In no time at all, Nita proved she was no slouch either on this hike.  Both her and Jason left Karen and I (certified slouches in almost every way) waaaaay behind on the trail. They got far enough ahead of us that they felt compelled to leave us a note in the trail.  My first trail note, which now resides in my Big Bend NP Trip Journal.

Of course, we left at 5:00 a.m. to hike in the “cool of the dark.”  On the way up the trail we stopped, sweating like beasts of burden, to…uh…watch for meteors, we hear a night bird calling in the distance.  The call is described as a “bouncing ball call,” which is quite true.  You can listen to it here.

This hike was about birds, but also about a special flower – the Cinnabar Ladies’ Tresses, a rare orchid that blooms in the high Chisos. Karen and I first saw it in 2003, but it was not in bloom then—almost, but not quite.  This would be the first time we would see it in full bloom.  It did not disappoint.

On the ascent up the Laguna Meadow Trail, while Karen was photographing some wildflowers, I checked the surrounding area for danger. Suddenly, I spotted a tawny patch of fur moving in the high grass twenty yards away. I froze, all senses on high alert. I slowly reached for my pocket knife in my pants pocket to defend me and my bride from the lurking creature below. Failing to find said pocket knife, I employed a technique I learned as a student of Patrick McManus many years ago. – The Modified Stationary Panic.  Mr. McManus recommended this technique in lieu of the more common, Full-Bore Linear Panic. I was very thankful I had learned this lesson when I realized what the tawny desperado was.  The Full-Bore Linear Panic would have been quite embarrassing.  As it was, Karen was none the wiser.

But all good things come to an end. And the goodness of this hike ended 3.2 miles before it was over.  The Pinnacles Trail loomed painfully ahead. The Pinnacles Trail is a steep descent with many rocky, downward steps that twist and grind and wrench old knees into mush.  At one point Karen stopped atop a step with a significant drop to the trail below and said, “It’s like the high dive!” Which was funny and true, except there was no ladder with which to shamefully give up, climb down on, and go home. Oh, would that it had.

We dreamed of the promised shaded realms that lie before us somewhere as the onslaught to the knees thankfully ended (mostly), and gave way to sweltering, murderous heat. So bad, that I unzipped the leggings from my hiking pants and wore shorts the rest of the sun-blasted way down. Muttering about the blinding glare, Jason and Nita quickly disappeared farther down the trail. The shorts helped me only a little.  Someone must have moved this trail too. 

We would find out later that the high temperature in the Basin that day was 97 degrees F.  This is only 2 degrees below the all-time high temperature for August in the Chisos Mountains which occurred in 1937, according to this source.

Finally, we made it to the end of the trail to find Jason waiting for us, yet again, to make sure we were okay. We did appreciate that.

We had one more treat waiting for us at the end of the day:

Wildflowers

Karen identified over 40 species of blooming wildflowers on our trip.  Most were up in the Chisos Mountains around Boot Canyon and the trails leading to there.

Wildlife – Mammals

Here is a list of some of the mammals we saw”

Black Bear

      Carmen Mountain White-tailed Deer

      Rock Squirrel

      Grey Fox – only heard this guy

Wildlife – Birds

Here is a list of some of the Big Bend NP specialties we saw:

                Painted Redstart

                Slate-throated Redstart

                Lucifer Hummingbird

                Blue-throated Mountaingem

                Rufous Hummingbird

                Varied Bunting

                Colima Warbler

                Hermit Warbler

                Townsend’s Warbler

                Mexican Jay

                Acorn Woodpecker

                White-throated Swift

The End

We left sore, tired, proud, and determined to wait several more years before we come back during the middle of the summer.

We had a great time with Jason and Nita on this trip.

You too should go to Big Bend National Park with folks you enjoy!

We had a sudden opportunity to visit Yellowstone National Park, so we jumped on it.  This would be my second visit. I knew the Lamar Valley and wolves were still there, but first we had thermal features to see.

We stayed two nights in West Yellowstone, MT and visited the Old Faithful area of the park for two days. This area of the park also seems to be one of the most crowded areas I have been to in the park. We did about a five-mile hike in the geyser basin around Old Faithful and visited some other features in the area. Below are photos of some of the sights to see.

One evening on the way back to West Yellowstone, we came upon a traffic jam.  These jams are often related to animals. Bison standing on the road. A bear foraging along side the road, maybe with cubs. We were late to the jam so we could not see what caused it.  We asked a visitor what they had seen, and he said, “A wolf was just right there, right there.” Of course, this news got my attention fast, and I may or may not have used proper driving etiquette to secure a parking spot as soon as possible. Here is a photo of what I found.

The “wolf” turned out to be a light-colored coyote. A nice sighting anyway, and the next evening we spent over an hour watching this coyote hunting voles and ground squirrels near a herd of bison as a mountain bluebird vied for our attention.  Not something we see every day at home.

Lamar Valley

Then…the time had come for the Lamar Valley.  In June, the valley is filled with the young of the year.  Bison calves, also called “red dogs,” were numerous in the Madison area, but they were even more so in Lamar.  We spent a lot of time watching the red dogs and concluded they mostly follow three basic behaviors: 1) nursing, 2) sacked out on the ground sleeping, sometimes sprawled completely flat, and 3) romping about, kicking legs, and butting heads.

We also saw baby cinnamon teal, barrow’s goldeneye, Uintah ground squirrels, yellow-bellied marmots, grizzly bears, pronghorn antelope, elk, and mountain goats.  It was difficult to watch the mountain goat baby because, even at this very young age, the nanny took it on nearly vertical slopes.  You could see it hesitate to follow its mom in some areas.

Wolves

My main goal in the Lamar Valley, as always, is to watch wolves, and that first evening would be the first real effort to do so of the trip.  The pullouts along the road through the valley are named by the full time wolf watchers to help share location information with other watchers.  Our first stop was at Dorothy’s – no wolves.  Then we moved to the Slough Creek area and looked until evening was well underway – no wolves. Karen began to get that concerned look on her face that I interpreted as, “It’s 8:30 p.m. and we still have a 45-minute drive to Cooke City and we are still out here looking at nothing…” We started to the east toward Cooke City when we saw wolf watchers gathered around the confluence of the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek.  Of course, I stopped and asked what was being seen.  They let me look through their spotting scope at a black shape in the sage brush and declared it was a wolf laying down.  I found it my scope and began to watch this “wolf” as the light dimmed and Karen’s concern grew. After a few minutes its head popped up.  A wolf! We all got a good view of the wolf as it stood and resettled once.  We headed for Cooke City because dawn would come early the next day.

We were in Lamar Valley the next morning after sleeping in a bit because of rain.  The first pullout we tried gave us no wolves, but we did find a grizzly bear foraging along a ridgeline to the north of the valley.  After we filled our eyes with the bear, we headed for Dorothy’s pullout again.  We arrived, uncharacteristically for us, at the perfect time.  As soon as we stepped out of the car, our best wolf sighting of the trip began to unfold.

A black wolf, a yearling from the Junction Butte pack, was descending the slope we were on heading toward the valley floor with three coyotes on his tail. The coyotes, despite their much smaller size, were attempting to escort the wolf out of the area.  They barked, yipped, and harassed the wolf.  One coyote was so brave as to nip at the wolf’s haunches; once it even bit the wolf. The wolf mostly ignored the coyotes, but the bite did cause a brief chase that the coyote easily avoided.

Once on the valley floor, the wolf and coyotes neared a bison herd, which caused some alarm.  The red dogs quickly attached themselves to their mother’s sides. Once a group of female bison formed a ring with the red dogs in the middle, protecting them from the wolf. The bison did not appreciate the coyotes’ efforts and made sure they stayed away from the calves too.

I watched the wolf howl twice through the spotting scope, but the road and spectator noise were such that we only heard one howl briefly. I don’t know if there was any answer.  The coyotes continued their harassment, and the wolf moved up the valley to the east, causing quite a traffic jam along the way.

Badgers

I saw the first two badgers of my life on this trip.  That was quite a treat.  The first badger was about 30 yards away when we first saw it.  It appeared to be hunting along Slough Creek.  It stopped once and contemplated us as if deciding what to do next.  I’m glad it decided to keep along its route and not come “investigate” us.

Other Animals

We saw several grizzly bears, including a sow with two cubs, but all were quite distant, which is not altogether a bad thing. Through the spotting scope, we could see the cubs wrestling almost non-stop. We did not see any black bears during our last trip, but we had several on this trip, and all different colors – a cinnamon, a blonde, and a black variety.  A couple were quite close to the road.

We had one red fox, a couple of full-curl bighorn rams, one high-speed chase of pronghorn males, several more coyotes, elk, a golden eagle, bald eagles, an osprey, and more. And MOOSE! I can and did spend all day in the valley looking for and at wildlife.

Nurse Rocks

Nurse Rocks are glacial erratics that create a microclimates that supports sampling trees.  These rocks are named “nurse rocks” because they help to hold moisture, lengthen the growing season, provide limited shade, trap seeds and give them time to root, and shelter saplings from the extreme winds. Look for these along the road in Lamar Valley. Here is a link that describes these rocks: https://www.mtpr.org/post/nurse-rocks-shaping-montanas-ecosystem-10000-years.