Blog#12 Choke Canyon State Park
Day 15-The Greener Side of Texas
It turns out that the Ibex is still being ranched here in Texas, for hunting I am guessing. I passed such a ranch along the way, and there they were. I was sorely tempted to insert this photo into my prior post from Rockhound State Park in New Mexico, claiming I shot them in the wild. That would be another jab for Brian, my husband, but this trip I’m carrying honesty.
Speaking of my husband–
Ibex
Yesterday I drove to Choke Canyon State Park and loved it. Starting to get into the birds here.
Singing for love-Bewick’s Wren
The Vermillion Flycatcher was in the tree directly in front of them. In fact, at one time he mistook one of these cameras for a log and perched on it.:)
Where is Hitchcock? They’re following me!
Crested Caracara in the tree where they are building their nest. These “Mexican Eagles” mate for life and are actually falcons.
Mr Cardinal
Mrs Cardinal
My neighbor campers from Austin, Linda and Jim, were fellow birders. They were resourceful, they set up a bird feeder at their camp. (The park states that you are not to feed the wildlife, but the rule doesn’t apply to birds, apparently. Camp hosts often have feeders out.) Within 30 minutes, the woodpeckers and jays had discovered it. It probably helped that 100 yards away was the park’s bird sanctuary. It had feeders and water features for the birds, (again, birds are the exception. As they should be).
Bird sanctuary-people side
Bird side, looking in windows
It was high fenced to keep out the deer and javelina, and set up like a reverse blind with windows and benches on the outside looking in. It was pretty and well utilized. I was sitting at the blind this morning when Paul, the state ranger, camp into the sanctuary to fill the feeders.
Ladderback Woodpecker
Green Jay, AKA Texas Jay, AKA Rio Grande Jay
We got to chatting and Linda joined us. Paul is a great source for information on Texas wildlife and history. He told us he believed Choke Canyon State Park to be the only state park on federal land. The federal government claimed sovereign domain over the land (and homes) here before the park was formed in 1980. There had been a drought in years past, and the goal was to preclude that from happening again( by building a reservoir? I can’t find any info) Anyway, Paul said there are still those folks living in town who have not forgotten. He said if you go into town and buy something, the cashier may ask if you’re camped at the park. When you answer yes, the cashier might ask, “What number campsite?” And when you answer, the cashier may say, “Oh, yeah. That’s where my grandma’s house used to be”. Yowsa. Glad I didn’t buy anything in town. That’s a scab I don’t want to tear off.
Looks huge, but he’s regular catapillar size
Rio Grande Wild Turkey–the largest of them all. Up to 30 lbs
Paul told us about his mom, and how she cured a relative of cataracts by putting a drop of castor oil in his eye each night for 90 days. The doctors were amazed. If my sister Nora had researched this, she could join me on this trip instead of having surgery. Maybe she could make the effort before my next adventure.
Not really worth the hunt
Paul told us that his mom went to college at University of Texas at Austin in 1966, when Charles Whitman, an exmarine sniper, went into the observation tower there on campus-28 stories up- and began shooting people. Paul’s mom and her two roommates were going somewhere on campus together, but his mom had left her purse behind. Her roommates went ahead and she turned back to get the purse. Her roommates were both shot and killed as they left the building. Whitman stabbed his wife and mother to death that day and shot and killed 14 others. He injured dozens more. Paul’s mom was told to get behind a cement planter by a police officer who said he needed to go home to get his rifle– his other weapon would not reach the tower. His mom keeps the purse in a display case to this day—she believes it saved her life.
American Kestrel
I told Linda—who is a fellow RN who works in Hospice in Austin-about my desire to see a javelina.
View from my campsite shelter
Lincoln’s Sparrow
She wished me farewell as I was packing up my stuff. She and Jim were driving somewhere out of the campground. Five minutes later, they drove back in just to let me know that a family of javelina were up the road. What sweethearts. I put in my cooler and set off to see the javelina, but no score. Maybe tomorrow.
We meet as strangers and part as friends.
Huisache(pronounced Wesach) trees line the roads in the park–at first they resemble scotchbroom
But not up close. They have little ball blossoms.