It’s a long, very long, lonely road to drive from Arizona to San Antonio, so unlike northern Texas panhandle driving! Here the majority of the time I was looking at green trees and shrubs, windmills and an occasional small town. The panhandle was dry, flat and brown. The only disturbing moment on this day, seeing traffic on the the other side of the highway at a standstill. There was an overturned tractor trailer in the median! Yikes. A good reminder to always have plenty of gas in the tank and extra hours for your arrival.
Texas is a huge state. For me to eventually arrive in Harlingen for a birding festival in another week, I drove this road with a stop in San Antonio. Past visits to this city, I saw the Alamo and the well-known downtown river walk. This time I looked for new things to see and do. Recently I read, “science shows that giving ourselves the opportunity to try new things improves our memory, mood and motivation, builds our confidence and best of all gives us a ‘rush’ of expanding our horizons.” The quote is from the Insider Weekly of Growing Bolder, and I agree with the science! When was the last time you did something for the first time?
I am traveling in my van. After a good sleep at a KOA, I headed to Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. Easy check-in and paid fee at the visitor center. I spent about a half hour looking at and photographing moths, bees and butterflies. At home I plant native pollinator plants to attract insects, yet these plants have me beat!
Here are some of the insects:
Much of the center is a driving loop. With recent rains, roads are closed, but still can be walked. Some basins were bone dry. As I walked closer to Mitchell Lake, about one mile, a couple of basins were full of water. No new birds for me to discover, and I remain frustrated trying to identify the various sandpipers. I did not include any of them here and await eBird experts to verify my identifications.
Here are today’s bird photos:
