Refuge hike

There are two National Wildlife Refuges near where we are parked, Alamosa and Monte Vista.  The entrance to the Alamosa refuge is right down the road.  Yesterday we drove there and hiked on a trail around the meadows and ponds.

The refuge contains 12,026 acres of land that support a variety of wildlife, including songbirds, water birds, raptors, deer, beavers, coyotes.  We certainly heard the songbirds and also saw some large birds.

The most common bird was the redwing blackbird.  They are so beautiful in flight.

This is  a view across the wetlands toward the mountains.  That may be Mount Blanca in the background.

It always amazes to see small birds chasing off larger ones.   It happens often when  the large bird tries to steal the eggs or baby birds from a nest.

This is some kind of heron. We watched it fly off as we approached.

In 2012 we volunteered at Santa Ana NWR on the southern border of Texas, along the Rio Grand River which divides the US and Mexico.  Now we are not far from the headwaters of the Rio Grand, which flows from the mountains of Colorado.  During our time at Santa Ana, we developed a real interest in the lands that are protected in these refuges.

Alaska–Day 44

Today we entered Alaska!  We have spent a month in Canada.  Now we have about 6 weeks in Alaska.  It was just a short drive, 113 miles, to Tok.  Within the first half hour, we saw a bear.  Although it is brown, it us a black bear.

At the Yukon-Alaska border, a group of passengers from a Holland-America tour bus were taking each others’ pictures at the Alaska welcome sign.

A few more miles and we came to the US Border Station.  We saw lots of the Border Patrol while we were in Texas.  It was good to see them again today.  I forgot about the rules against bringing in fresh fruits and veggies.  I had to turn over tomatoes and some grapes.  I don’t understand it.  We went to a store in Tok and bought more tomatoes grown in Mexico, just like those I had to leave behind.

Crossing back into the US means we don’t have to tax our brains as much.  We are back to miles and gallons, Fahrenheit and pounds instead of kilometres, litres, Celsius and kilograms.  Yea!

We saw this old truck on a hill above the highway.  It must date back to the building of the Alaska Highway.

On the whole, the roads are much better here than in Yukon.  The first 14 miles past the border station were new and very smooth.  Then there was some frost heave.  But it isn’t as bad as yesterday.

The road borders the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, which has includes hundreds of lakes, many unnamed, and hosts a great number of birds, both nesting and migratory.  It provides habitat for migrating sandhill crane and nesting trumpeter swan.  We hope be to able to see a little of the refuge while we are here.

Wildlife, Big and Small

Last Sunday we were walking near one of the wildlife ponds when we saw something small, moving away from every step we took. Spiders? Beetles? No, it was these tiny frogs. I don't know if they were tree frogs or ones that spend a lot of time in water. I wish I had put something in the photo to give a perspective on their size. I think they were less than one inch long.



There were lots of moths flying around. When I was a child, we called these bugs darning needles or dragon flies. I don't know their real name. But these were pretty.



Later, we came on this large foot print. We are pretty sure it was left by a bear. Glad we didn't see it up close!



On Monday morning, when we went to work, we found trash spread all over around one of the dumpsters. We picked it up and bagged it. A little later, Lou from maintenance called other workers from his department to the campground to pick up more trash. He said a bear had gotten into a bear-proof dumpster and pulled out trash to eat. The bear had taken it behind some rocks for sorting. We went to help with the clean-up and found more tracks like those above. John had gone running on the road right next to that dumpster earlier that morning. We wonder what time the bear had his or her snack?

Yesterday, I heard something whistling outside our RV and went to investigate. Was it a bird or some mammal? When I figured it out, I quickly went back in to get my camera. This is the bird I saw, a Swainson's Hawk. They are 18 to 22 inches tall with a wing span of 4 to 4 3/4 ft. How special!







Later in the morning, we were in a different part of the park and I again heard the whistle. This time I saw some black birds chasing one of these hawks. Each time one of the small birds attacked the hawk's tail, it would whistle. They chased it back to its nest in a large cottonwood tree in the group campground. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me at that time.

It is so wonderful to spend our life surrounded by nature and so many of God's creatures. That is one of the real blessings of living in our RV.

Alligators, Bayous and Crab

There you have the ABC's of our Tuesday. We drove the Creole Nature Trail though far south Louisiana. We saw lots of alligators. After we stopped at the Cameron Prairie NWR Visitor Center, we drove their Pintail Trail and Boardwalk.



At first we didn't understand why there was a warning that hiking was not allowed on the trail. That was before we saw this fellow.



And this one.



And this one.



No wonder we couldn't hike. We didn't even get out of the truck to take pictures. As our eyes became trained to see the alligators, they were everywhere. Interesting, but scary We understand why we saw these signs posted in the area.



The Creole Trail goes south through all the bayous and farms between I-10 and the Gulf of Mexico. This is what much of the countryside looks like.



We drove through Cameron, one of the towns hit hard by Hurricane Ike in 2008. First we noticed these new houses built on stilts.



And others built on a small hill of earth as well as stilts.



Someone used to live on this concrete pad. Their home is entirely gone.



It is truly amazing how much damage a hurricane can do.

Further on we made a short trip on a ferry. It only cost $1 to cross the small bayou or river. I think it is a regular part of life for those who live here.



I had read it was blue crab season, but I had no idea how you catch crabs. It seems you tie a sturdy string around a large portion of chicken leg and thigh, then lower it into the water.



When it starts to jiggle, you pull it up and catch the crabs that are trying to gnaw on the chicken leg and put them in a net.



Here you can see how many crab two women had caught and saved in their cooler. You also can see the blue color on the crab legs.



In addition to alligators, bayous and crab, we saw turtles. This one was the road in the state park as we left in the morning.



And we saw these in the wildlife refuge.



We also saw butterflies.



And lots of birds, including this Baltimore (or Northern) Oriole



and an Indigo Bunting



and also this Scarlet Tanager.

Wildlife--Everywhere

Friday we drove to the Texas Gulf Coast and visited the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. What a great day we had! All of the travel was on non-interstate roads. That means two-lane roads with little or no shoulder. And often the speed limit is 65 or 70 mph. There are interstate highways with speed limits of only 55. But the good side is that most of the time we were the only car on the road. Once and a while we did encounter some farm machinery, like this ... whatever it is.



As we drove down the last section of road before the wildlife area, we saw a wild hog. They are large and ugly. No picture, though. I didn't have the camera out at that point. We had seen them several years ago when we were hosting in a Texas State Park. And the visitor center at the wildlife area had some information about them.

Since we were right on the Gulf Coast, the roads in the wildlife area are fairly flat and we were able to bike the 10-mile round trip route to a viewing platform. There is also the choice of a 16-mile loop road, but we had other things we wanted to do that day, as well, so we just rode the 10 miles. It is very difficult to bike with a camera and long lens around my neck, so I took very few pictures. Along the way we saw an armadillo, white tailed deer, a snake, a turkey, a cardinal and either Eastern Bluebirds or Indigo Buntings. Once we came around a corner and several bright blue birds flew away. I didn't get a close enough view to see what they were, but both of these blue birds are present on the Texas Gulf Coast and there are bluebird boxes around the wildlife area.

Near the observation tower we played hide and seek with this small alligator.



It was in shallow water and alternately showed most of its body and went down into the water so only the head and eyes showed. It turned to keep an eye on us.

A flock of 200 endangered Whooping Cranes winters on the Aransas wildlife refuge. They leave by mid-April to their summer nesting area at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. The best way to see them during the winter is from boat tours out of nearby Rockport. One pair is usually visible from the Observation Tower. I did get this picture of a white bird from the tower. I don't really know if it is a Whooping Crane or not, since it is now late April. But it is an impressive bird.



The forests all around this area are full of live oaks. They seem to present a great home for birds, one that provides lots of protection from prying human eyes. We hear lots of birds, but don't see many.



We really enjoyed the wildlife refuge and would like to return. We are thinking about volunteering there in the winter in a couple of years.

After our bike ride, we drove to Rockport. It is a busy seaside town with lots of shops and big-box stores. We had lunch at this BBQ restaurant. We came to Texas to eat BBQ and this was our first opportunity. It was OK.