Florida Circle: Texas and Alabama

Fun in Texas and Alabama

For a while, I had little to blog because I was stuck at home during the pandemic. 

Whew!

Sure, I did a few "quarantined" trips (see February and March, 2021, of this blog). 

We also cancelled about five trips that would have yielded more interesting results.

Then, we got vaccinated (both of us got the Moderna shot and we were so happy!). Almost immediately, we hit the road. 

My blog

Then, I had no time to blog. 

I know, I know, one should be able to blog WHILE traveling, except for a couple of issues:  

#1 We are type A travelers: up at 4:00 a.m., out all day, home late. 
#2 I use lots of photos in my blogs and, while I do try to get some processing done on the road, I get behind. And, with my crappy eyesight, I like to do final clean-up on my desktop at home instead of relying on the laptop. 
#3 Many places we visit have terrible WIFI; one does not want to blog with terrible WIFI. 
#4 If I force myself to do it quickly, it starts to feel like work. 

#5 It’s kind of fun to do it later because I get to relive everything. 

Since our shots, I have taken several trips and have yet to post blogs on ANY of them (although I have posted lots and lots of photos on FaceBook). 

Now, I have a little downtown before my next trip, so, hold onto your hat, we’ll be going to: 

Texas, Alabama, Florida and Oklahoma ...

Varied landscapes and critters across the Southeast

Two Moosecapades at Rocky Mountain National Park ...

Moose and scenery

Southern Arizona for some incredible birding ... 

Southern Arizona is great for scenery and birds

Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks (with great bears) ...

Famous bears on this trip!

The Pacific Northwest with some fun stops along the way ...

Orcas were our main goal

I also did a lot of local birding/looking for critters (is that “crittering?”) when I couldn’t have contact with people ... 

Colorado is full of great critters

... maybe I’ll get to that, too ... We’ll see. 

Driving Trip to Florida and Back 

South Florida

So, let’s get on with it. 

Our first post-vaccine trip was a driving to trip to visit Scott’s mom in Florida. With her dementia, she didn’t really understand the pandemic, so we felt that we needed to get there as soon as we could. Not ready to fly yet (and always seeking some adventure), we drove. 

We used a route that is similar to other trips, so there are only a few “new” locations in this blog series. 

I thought that would make for short posts, but it didn't.

North Texas 

Our first stop was to visit friends Bob and Adriana Washington in Texas, which, as always included some time at the fabulous Colleyville Nature Center, which I have written about before. 

For Scott, the draw of Colleyville is both spending time with his best buddy, Bob, and playing surrogate grandfather to Bob’s two local grandkids. 

Scott with the newest addition

I usually duck out for part of the time for some walking and photographing at the Nature Center. As I have mentioned, we used to live in both Grapevine and Colleyville, so this is hardly new ground. And, we’ve been there so often, there aren’t many birds or creatures I haven’t seen. But, I always try. 

This time was fairly tame. I did locate one of the famous Colleyville Nature Center Barred Owls ...

Barred Owl

... but per usual, I missed seeing the chicks by a couple of weeks ...

Only one Owl ... in the trees

And, I photographed some of the staples, such as Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays … 

Blue Jay and Male Northern Cardinal

Canada Geese … 

Canada Goose "mug shot"

A great display of how nature can use the same colors in different species: a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle and a male Mallard both sporting some metallic green ...

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle and Male Mallard

Red-eared Slider turtles (always plenty of them) … 

The are turtles everywhere!

Blue-winged Teals … 

Blue-winged Teals: two females and a male

And, some very cooperative Tufted Titmouses (mice?) and White-throated Sparrows … 

Tufted Titmouse and White-throated Sparrow

We got another quick dose of nature on Easter Sunday when we went to Chisholm Park in Hurst, Texas ... 

At the park

Among many, many picnicking families (with almost NO masks), Scott played on the swings with his little buddy ...

On the swings

... and I photographed Northern Shovelers and Great-tailed Grackles (an EXTREMELY LOUD bird, if you are not familiar) ...

The park had a nice lake with a small smattering of birds

No new ground here, but nice to get out, even if the day was cool and overcast. But, then, it was time to move on. 

Gulf Shores, Alabama 

Gulf Shores 

Our next stop was Gulf Shores, Alabama, where we have also been before. It’s a nice beach, but not spectacular. 

White sand and clear water

It just happens to be conveniently located along our route and it has some good places to bird.  

The State Park's boardwalks help you get close to birds

I have noticed lately that Scott picks spots to go so that I can bird there, without actually asking if I WANT to bird there. It’s a nice gesture, but it sometimes results in just seeing the same birds again and again. Now that I have figured out his motivation, we may not return to as many spots. 

But, then, Gulf Shores also had a draw for him – seafood. And, we did eat a lot of seafood. 

One of Scott's favorites

As it turned out, the March weather wasn’t that beach-friendly, so we spent most of the time eating, visiting Fort Morgan ... 

Examining an old cannon

... and looking for wildlife at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge .... 

Bon Secour is across an inlet from the beach

The birding was not as good as our previous visit, but we did see some of the usual suspects – nesting Ospreys … 

Ospreys are very common along the Gulf of Mexico

Red-winged Blackbirds …

He just felt like singing

Northern Cardinals …

A pretty female Northern Cardinal

 And, a beautiful Yellow-throated Warbler … 

A gorgeous bird!

I found that I had been away from birding so long that I could not remember what birds I had seen. I thought the Yellow-throated Warbler was a lifer, but it wasn’t! 

Not a lifer, but still a great find!

Ebird stats

Speaking of lifers, I came into the pandemic with about 675 life birds (a pretty pathetic number, but I am a relatively new birder). I had set a goal to, at minimum, hit 700 in 2020. With all my cancelled trips, that didn’t happen. 

Now, in July 2021, I am at 692. I NEED to get eight more birds THIS year. 

But, so far, I am not doing that well. I am going to try to avoid returning over and over again to the same spots. 

But, still, Gulf Shores was pleasant.

Trip date: April 1-19, 2021