Last week of work

We began our final week of work at the Reveg area, thinning grasses and planting a few more flats. they are getting soooo big!  now its time to put them into plugs but we won’t be here!

 

Back over to the Visitor center to clean up brush, limbs etc…   seen a few animals today!

a marine toad:

A baby Great Horned Owl,                        a Mother Great Horned owl (not related)

  

no pictures of the nutria, raccoon and bobcat!  Although a very windy day it was nice to be out on the refuge. dew point this afternoon –2!  how can that be?  humidity at 12%..  cool front coming in.

Tuesday, the high winds dropped some trees on the trails, we could get most but not all.. had to call in the big guns for some like these:

lots of good bird sightings and pictures today:

2 baby Great horned owls:

this Gray hawk was posing:

then took off:

Little blue heron did not want to get its picture taken:

Party in our honor at site #4:  good food, good laughs good friends!

 

Festive cascarones are believed to date back to romantic Renaissance days when Italian gentlemen filled emptied eggshells with perfume or cologne and tossed them to women as a sign of affection. Nowadays, children "bump" the fragile eggs on the heads of others and make a wish. If the eggshell breaks and showers the recipient with confetti, it is said the wish will come true.

I brought a dozen eggs…  some people including me got bumped with the eggs.

Wednesday: our final day of work…  a few branches including this one had to be removed.

two sets of baby great horned owls (we did not see the 3rd set)

set one:

set two:

Bobcat pond is really getting full!

in Dec                                                                 today!

   

Hooded mergansers and a widgeon:

 

after work we packed up, put the flannel sheets on the bed and went for our final Mexican dinner:

hmmm… so so good…  gonna miss the food, beer, cheap margaritas, weather, people, new friends, ME TV, bakeries, A/C in the afternoon, heat in the evening, fresh shrimp, our trips to Mexico etc….  love it here in the valley but it is time to head home.  Tomorrow we hope to leave here early and get to Austin Tx.  We will keep an eye to the sky but hope to be home in a week.