January 11 - 13, 2011

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Brrrrrrr! It only got up to 48 today. It was pretty windy and very cloudy. Not at all like we have been having. Today was Mark’s first bird walk. We got to the refuge early so we could put out peanut butter, birdseed, and oranges. We had 8 people on our walk. We saw 45 species. I think everyone was pretty cold by the time we got finished.

After lunch we decided to walk the trails again. We were out about 2 1/2 hours. Saw a few birds. It’s suppose to be even colder tomorrow.

Some birds of interest were Ringed Kingfisher, Olive Sparrow, Long-billed thrasher, Altamira Oriole, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Black and White Warbler, Pine Warbler, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, and hundreds of Great Egrets and Neo-tropic Cormorants!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

We worked in the butterfly garden all day. Mostly watering, pulling weeds and picking up trash. It was very cold and windy!

We had our first volunteer get-together this evening. We have a very nice woman here who has taken on the project of being our social planner. She really seems to enjoy it and is very good at finding interesting things for us to do and getting everyone together. Almost all the volunteers showed up and most everyone brought a snack to share. Every couple said a little about themselves and where they had volunteered or were going to volunteer next. It was pretty enjoyable. They want to try to get together every Wednesday. Next week we already decided on a restaurant in McAllen.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Another cold, cloudy, misty/rainy day. We worked in the butterfly garden again today. Since all the watering has to be done by hand because of the powdery mildew problem, it takes two days for us to get all the watering done. We spent a little time walking around with our notes trying to learn the different trees and shrubs.