New Paltz birding

The weekend in New Paltz, NY, was nice! It was really hot and humid, but we had a good time. I finally got to meet AB's parents and her sister CB and CB's hubby SB, which was really fun. Her mom and I immediately began nerding-out over wildflowers, sharing photos and stories of Pink Lady's Slippers. We celebrated AB's birdday too, with a delicious orange-chocolate cake that AB's mom made. Lots of good food, great conversation, and family love made the weekend pretty spectacular.

I took a few photos too, though not many bird photos came out. Still, my list was decent for the Wallkill Rail Trail:
Canada Goose X
Mourning Dove X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
American Crow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 2
Yellow Warbler 3
Common Yellowthroat 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow X

as well as for the yard at the rental home we stayed in:
Canada Goose 35
Mute Swan 1
Mallard 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 8
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Least Flycatcher 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 2
Barn Swallow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Carolina Wren 1
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 2
Yellow Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 2
Indigo Bunting 2
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
House Finch 2
House Sparrow X

I FINALLY saw my FOY Indigo Bunting, one of my favorite birds.

Now I'm in my old bedroom in Texas at my parents' house. I'm planning to do as much birding as possible down here, but as I pored over my field guide on the plane I noted that there aren't as many great birds here in the summer as there are in winter! Still, I'm planning to bird City Park and perhaps the Botanical Gardens here in San Antonio, then MAYBE a trip to Hornsby Bend near Austin, and then a swing south to Kingsville and the coast (Kaufer-Hubert Memorial Park, on Baffin Bay) to see my brother Ricardo.

Chances are good that I'll see at least some of these potential lifers:
Painted Bunting! Finally! I hope!
Northern Bobwhite
Neotropic Cormorant
King Rail (maybe--rails are tough)
Clapper Rail (maybe)
Wilson's Plover
Sandwich Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Least Tern
Sooty Tern (maybe!)
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (if we go into the King Ranch near Kingsville)
Lesser Nighthawk
Green Violet-Ear (hummingbird--I pray!)
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Bank Swallow
Cave Swallow
Summer Tanager
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Dicksissel!
Pyrrhuloxia (maybe)

I've been checking the local eBird reports, Rare Bird Alerts, etc., to get an idea of what's being seen out there. If I see half of these guys, I'll be happy. I'll really be flirting with the magical 300 lifebirds if I see them all, but I'm trying to be more realistic (not my strong suit, as you know).

So I'll be updating you all week from here in the Lone Star State. And ohmigod, it is even hotter here than I was afraid it would be.

Lucky Charm Kick Start

Franz Kafka wrote, "I had a close look at my desk just now and realized that it wasn't designed for quality writing."

I like my little corner of the house. Here's my cork/white board to my left. I pin cartoons, postcards, and jot due dates for submission deadlines.

Upper right from where I sit is a photo Ray took from the top of the John Hancock building in Chicago. It was a gorgeous day and reminds me about perspective. View plot, characters, etc from all angles.

My gargoyle guards the top of my bookshelf and ponders my every word.

This book, from the library, got me thinking about authors. Jonathan Franzen sits in his lucky squeaky office chair - it's battered and worn. Anthony Bourdain counts on nicotine. Jane Smiley uses hot water (i.e. bath or shower) to re-think plot points. Isabel Young hangs pictures of people she doesn't know - boxes bought at a yard sale. Rick Moody reads a set of "Oblique Strategies" instructional cards - writer prompts or phrases. Jonathan Lethem utilizes lists and lists of names (good idea!). And finally, Neil LaBute plays an old classic album In the Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra.

The lucky charms/processes must work. These authors keep cranking out quality product.
What's your talisman??

Holiday weekend recap

Had a great Memorial Day weekend, birding and looking for wildflowers in the Toftrees State Gamelands and Black Moshannon State Park.

Black Mo has some of the oldest growth forest land in Pennsylvania, and it's located on the Allegheny Front, fabled western gate to the Appalachians. As such, it's normally cooler than the rest of the area (I recall a camping trip one August with Kat and Em wherein we FROZE... in August.), but this weekend we had record high temperatures and humidity, so it was pretty rough going. Still, I saw my first ever Pink Lady's Slipper!We saw four of them, including one that someone had PICKED and put into the crook of a tree trunk, presumably for later. Aren't they protected from picking?

We saw a lot of great sights. Do you see what I see here?Here they are again:Aren't they the cutest!?

After that, it was all wildflowers a-go-go!

English Plantain

Blurrifically terrible photo of Butter-and-eggs

whoops--now how did this shot get in there? That's Owen, being a sweet brother and grooming his sister Maya!

a baby trillium of some sort--can't wait to see!

Bunchberry

Indian Cucumber-root, which is really delicate and beautiful, no?

Jack-in-the-pulpit

our state flower, the Mountain Laurel

Orange Hawkweed, or Devil's Paintbrush

Partridge-berry and a white Canada Mayflower

Starflower

White Baneberry, and here's the beautiful little flower bunch:Pretty sure on this ID based on leaves and flowers, but I'm always open to smarter and more experienced flower minds!

Yellow Pond Lily, right?

I still haven't seen Dutchman's Breeches and it's kinda late in the season for them now, so I'm bummed about that. But I've seen and ID'd a lot of flowers! It's cool to photograph flowers: they don't move, but it's always tough to focus on the flowers themselves rather than the background or foreground.

So that was Sunday. Then on Monday, I went with some local Bird Club members to a place I've walked around but never birded seriously, the state gamelands in Toftrees (a ritzier part of town). Saw some great birds, though no lifers. Still, the birds are in full breeding plumage and brighter than ever!

A Great-crested Flycatcher:Their heads are so funky-shaped.

Here's another flycatcher: This Eastern Kingbird was hanging out about ten feet below the oriole above:You can't see his funky-shaped flycatcher head, but it's there.

The Baltimore Orioles were almost on fire with their bright orange feathers:We saw a few orioles, all of them this absolutely knock-out glowing orange. Awesome!

Also saw some good flowers:Smartweed

POISON HEMLOCK! I always see this stuff and figure it's young Queen Anne's Lace, but it's not. It's all poisonous, the entire flower and plant. Look out.

Kinda cliche, no? Sadly, I couldn't get some direct sunlight glinting on the drops though; otherwise, it'd be a Hallmark card or something.

Barren Strawberries in their not-so-tasty-fruit stage:

An Eastern Painted Turtle:Check out that attitude!

We saw a lot of fouled nests, some with still-soft raw yolks and stuff in the broken eggs:I think all of these were probably disasters rather than hatches, sadly.

So that was the trip. AB was sweet and came along, but a group walk without binocs can be tough--and boring. As her birdday is coming up (Monday), I'm getting her some bins! She says she's excited, and I think it's gonna be so fun really birding with her!