Spring Break 2017: DON'T POKE THE BEAR

The beach proved a smidge chilly for Spring Break last year, so this year we decided to camp at Garner State Park. It was a little damp and cold, and the Frio was, indeed frio, but we didn't let that get in the way of a good time. The bird watching was splendid. Here's the list:

1. Eastern phoebes (they started singing VERY early. Good morning FEE-bee)

2. Eastern bluebirds
3. Vermillion flycatcher (he was so handsome)

4. Carolina chickadees
5. Goldfinches
6. Carolina wren
7. Great horned owl!! (I saw this handsome fellow sitting on a fence post)
8. ladderbacked woodpecker
9. Golden-fronted woodpecker
10. Rio Grande turkeys
11. black crested titmice
12. tufted titmice
13. Great Blue heron (swooping across the Frio. It was HUGE--looked like a pterodactyl!)
14. Vesper sparrows
15. chipping sparrows
16. sedge wrens
17. kestrel
18. nighthawk
19. roadrunners!
20. cardinals (soo many)

The turkeys were hilarious. There were lots of females who would wander around in an utterly disinterested clump as these three males would spread their gorgeous tail feathers and strut nearby. There were also some juvenile males who would go full fan as long as the older toms weren't around, but as soon as the older toms came back the younger males (they are called 'jakes'--just looked it up)  would quickly skulk away with their feathers lowered, and start pecking under the feeders like they were just super cool and sulky, and not afraid. You'll get your turn next year, young jakes. The females will ignore you just as assiduously as they did those big toms.




Hudson got a pair of Carolina chickadees to follow him around by playing their call on the bird app on my phone, like a chickadee pied piper. With a smart phone. And a happier ending.

 I named these spider web beauties 'fairy hammocks.' Sometimes magical things happen when you wake up early.

The Daddy sprained his ankle on this hike. But we also saw road runners! So, worth it?

We hiked, we found a bat in a hole in a cave (headlamps=finding reclusive mammals in tight places),
we saw a baby porcupine! waddling around behind the bird blind, and we made s'mores.


The kids skipped rocks in the Frio, splashed in the Frio, dropped small boulders into the Frio, and generally delighted in river life, just like Rat and Mole and the gang.




Everyone got along pretty well, until the third day, when the Daddy was packing up, it was misting rain, and the sibling quibbles reached a fever pitch. One sibling in particular was being extremely prickly, so I said to the other siblings, in a loud and growly voice,"DON'T POKE THE BEAR!" and it broke the tension nicely. It has since become a reliable giggle-inducer when things get tense. Even The Bear laughs when it is invoked.

We also spent a few days with my parents, including an afternoon at the Stark Museum in Orange (the kids thought they might have an Iron Man sighting. Alas, wrong Stark), and an evening at the Nederland Heritage Festival. It was a good week all around.