Biggest Blooms in the Valley

I am not 100% sure that they are the biggest, but they are pretty darned big!

Laguna Atascosa is covered with a large yucca plant called Spanish Dagger. The plants can reach heights of 25' and have fiercely sharp leaves.  We have caught the business end of these a few times and they are dangerous!

This time of year they begin to bloom.  First they send up a beautiful pink bud that can be as large as 6" in diameter.

Spanish Dagger bud

As the bud begins to open to pink color fades.

Spanish Dagger bud

Eventually the bud will expand into a large cluster of flowers that rise well above the rest of the plant.

We have been told that the flowers are harvested and eaten as a delicacy in Mexico.  We haven't had an opportunity to try that yet...

Mark

The Big Inspection

Last week Mark spent half a day finding all of the fire extinguishers (or lack of fire extinguishers) around the refuge compound.  In all he found over 70 extinguishers and empty brackets.  He made an awesome Excel sheet that was a tremendous help for us later in the week.  

One of our tasks on Tuesday was to then go around and gather all the fire extinguishers and put them in one place to be inspected.

Out of over 70  there were only 8 that passed inspection.  The others had to be sent for recharging, replacing, or repair.

By Thursday most of the extinguishers had been recharged and were brought back to the refuge.  We then had to start putting them back where they came from.  This is where the excel sheet came in handy.

On Friday Mark drove to Harlingen to pick up some more of the recharged extinguishers and to take in a few more that we had found.  We got those replaced around the refuge.

And, as expected, the official inspection is Monday so everything is being done in a rush.  Monday morning we should get a few more extinguishers back and, hopefully, get them put out before the big inspection.

Waterfowl Survey

Teri and I do our waterfowl survey here at Laguna Atascosa each Wednesday.  We start each survey by playing "find the geese".  Last year we were able to sit on a paved road outside the refuge and watch the geese fly over each morning.  This year they have been more disbursed and less predictable.

This week we drove into the refuge before sun-up and parked near where we thought they roosted.  We heard plenty of "goose talk" in the distance, but once again most of the geese headed out in the opposite direction.  We were able to see huge strings of geese flying low over the trees, but we weren't in the best place to see them all.  We did manage to count over 7500 geese, so we're finding some of them!

We came across a group of Greater White-fronted Geese (aka Speckle Bellies) that were late-risers.

Greater White-fronted Geese

It didn't take them long to decide it was time to fly!

Greater White-fronted Geese flying

There is a lot of shallow fresh water on the refuge from earlier rains, so the ducks and waders are disbursed throughout the refuge.  We did find this attractive group of Roseate Spoonbills feeding near a road.

Roseate Spoonbills

Later we came across our first Texas Tortoise of the year.  Last year we saw as many as 25 in a day, but this year has started slow.  Perhaps the sunny warmer days will bring them out.

Texas Tortoise

Our final critter of the day was walking on the road as we were finishing up. At a distance we couldn't tell what it was, but we soon recognized an American Alligator.

American Alligator

We gave him plenty of space and he finally turned off the road toward a fresh-water pond.

American Alligator

Mark

Love is in the Air

During our recent waterfowl survey, we noticed that the Crested Caracara seemed a little agitated.  We came across a group of three squabbling over each other in a tree and wondered what the fuss was all about.

Crested Carcaras

One of the trio was run off, and all became clear to us a moment later!

Crested Caracaras mating

A short while later, the male took off.

The female seemed happy enough to be alone again. 

Crested Caracara

During the remainder of the day we saw more of these birds flying around, no doubt looking for love!

Crested Caracara

Mark

Still Hooking

Here is my latest crocheted afghan:

We Did It!

You might have noticed that we are not posting as often as we used to.  

There were a couple of things we wanted to accomplish when we got down to South Texas.

One thing was to quit sitting in front of the computer so much!

The other was to ride our bikes more and to eventually ride the Bayside Loop.  This is a one-way loop that passes through thorn forest and coastal prairies before reaching the Laguna Madre

Yesterday Mark road it by himself and this morning we both made it around.  There was quite a bit of wind that made it pretty sporty!!  Mark even broke the speed limit (25 mph).

Stepping Out In STYLE!

I never thought I would have someone say to me “Better wear your snake guards.”

But those were the words I heard from our biologist, Jonathan, as we were getting our gear ready to head out this morning.

Is this a fashion statement or what?

Our job today was to find 5 irrigation structures, clean out around them, spray herbicide, and get GPS coordinates.

We actually found 8 structures (5 bubblers, 2 vents, and one outlet).  I guess the GPS coordinates will be very helpful in the future.

We got all our gear loaded up:

Ear protection, gloves, bug juice, and tick tape (duck tape works very well for getting the tiny little seed ticks off clothing).

Here is Mark loading up the ORV.

Here is Mark making a fashion statement!  Full face gear, ear protection, snake guards and, although he doesn’t have his gloves on here, he did wear them.

 This is what the areas looked like before we cleared them:

Here is the result of our efforts:

While Mark ran the weed-eater, I raked the cut grass away to make it easier for him to see the area. 

We took GPS readings:

Sprayed herbicide:

What they DID NOT TELL US was to watch out for this bad boy!!  He saw us first and scooted into the water.

Teri