Our 'extended back yard' - overlooking the Rio Grande just outside of Daniel's Ranch at Big Bend National Park. Thanks for two exciting years, Brewster County!
Blogging from Marathon, TX about birding, butterflies, moths and more. Exploring the gems of Brewster County, Post Park, Big Bend National Park and the surrounding region. Bird watching: Big Bend and beyond!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Guestbook
To celebrate two years of blogging the region, we've decided to add a guestbook. Since the blogger format doesn't have an easily embeddable guestbook option, this post will have to suffice. Life and blogging out here has been quite the adventure; while we've amassed a pile of comments on individual posts, it seemed like a good idea to have a designated place where folks can leave comments that aren't tied to a specific topic. We welcome feedback regarding all aspects of our blog, so comment away!
Our 'extended back yard' - overlooking the Rio Grande just outside of Daniel's Ranch at Big Bend National Park. Thanks for two exciting years, Brewster County!
Our 'extended back yard' - overlooking the Rio Grande just outside of Daniel's Ranch at Big Bend National Park. Thanks for two exciting years, Brewster County!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Birds & Butterflies of the Big Bend announcement! July 19-22, 2012
This post will remain at the top of our blog as needed: scroll down to see newer entries!
Pre-registration ends July 5th; call Michelle at 1.800.884.GAGE ext 263
Full event package is $350 (this does not include photo blind reservations), ask for details about separate pricing for the Kaufman talk / banquet / etc.
Official registration forms do exist! Click here, or on the button below for the registration form!
(The pdf file should open in a new window, contact h.trudell/at/gmail.com if there's a problem with the link above!)
For hotel reservations, call 432.386.4205 or 1.800.884.GAGE
VENDORS: booth spaces are still available; please e-mail h.trudell at gmail.com for information.
Vendor area will be free and open to the public.
Pre-registration ends July 5th; call Michelle at 1.800.884.GAGE ext 263
Full event package is $350 (this does not include photo blind reservations), ask for details about separate pricing for the Kaufman talk / banquet / etc.
Official registration forms do exist! Click here, or on the button below for the registration form!
(The pdf file should open in a new window, contact h.trudell/at/gmail.com if there's a problem with the link above!)
For hotel reservations, call 432.386.4205 or 1.800.884.GAGE
VENDORS: booth spaces are still available; please e-mail h.trudell at gmail.com for information.
Vendor area will be free and open to the public.
Guess two members of this larger team effort....
I'll spot you Kenn Kaufman.
EDIT: Via the Gage coordinator, with activities subject to change:
Thanks for your interest in the Gage Hotel's Birds and Butterflies of the Big Bend. The inclusive package for the festival itself is $350 which includes a hummingbird banding workshop the morning of Friday, July 20th and a guided butterfly walk in the afternoon. The Gerald Sneed art exhibit will be followed by a cocktail party and Mexican dinner at the 12 Gage restaurant.
On Saturday July 21st there will be a private guided ranch tour in the morning and the Kenn Kaufman lecture in the evening, followed by a banquet at the Gage Gardens.
The package also includes breakfast Friday and Saturday, gourmet boxed lunches Friday and Saturday, a VIP packet and special room rates at the Gage Hotel.
The Maravilles ranch tour is only available to those purchasing the inclusive package and spaces are limited.
Al a carte options will be available for those who do not want the total package.
I recommend booking your hotel room early if you are interested because the event has generated a great amount of interest even before we have really advertised. I would also suggest booking Thursday the 19th if you are interested in Friday's activities because breakfast is served early on Friday morning and we will have an informal welcoming party and registration Thursday night.
We will have more information and a detailed agenda coming out soon that I would be happy to email you. If you have any questions you may also call me at 432/ 386-4205 ext 263.
To book your hotel reservations you may call 432/386-4205.
Michelle West
Events, Sales and Marketing
Gage Hotel
432/386-4205 ext. 263
I'll spot you Kenn Kaufman.
EDIT: Via the Gage coordinator, with activities subject to change:
Thanks for your interest in the Gage Hotel's Birds and Butterflies of the Big Bend. The inclusive package for the festival itself is $350 which includes a hummingbird banding workshop the morning of Friday, July 20th and a guided butterfly walk in the afternoon. The Gerald Sneed art exhibit will be followed by a cocktail party and Mexican dinner at the 12 Gage restaurant.
On Saturday July 21st there will be a private guided ranch tour in the morning and the Kenn Kaufman lecture in the evening, followed by a banquet at the Gage Gardens.
The package also includes breakfast Friday and Saturday, gourmet boxed lunches Friday and Saturday, a VIP packet and special room rates at the Gage Hotel.
The Maravilles ranch tour is only available to those purchasing the inclusive package and spaces are limited.
Al a carte options will be available for those who do not want the total package.
I recommend booking your hotel room early if you are interested because the event has generated a great amount of interest even before we have really advertised. I would also suggest booking Thursday the 19th if you are interested in Friday's activities because breakfast is served early on Friday morning and we will have an informal welcoming party and registration Thursday night.
We will have more information and a detailed agenda coming out soon that I would be happy to email you. If you have any questions you may also call me at 432/ 386-4205 ext 263.
To book your hotel reservations you may call 432/386-4205.
Michelle West
Events, Sales and Marketing
Gage Hotel
432/386-4205 ext. 263
Gage festival update! Registration, too!
Greetings, blog readers!
Apologies for less than two months notice with the registration form, but for anyone interested in exploring West Texas as it recovers from last year's droughts and fires, this event should fit the bill quite nicely. The plants and animals are rebounding beautifully in northern Brewster County and the Gage Hotel & Gardens birding festival should be quite worthwhile.
Here is a link to the registration form pdf and current schedule (it should open in a new window) for participants; the a la carte option does NOT include the ranch tour, so with the full package comes the ranch tour and pretty much all meals and meet & greet options and the whole nine yards.For anyone wondering about meals at the Gage, check http://www.gagehotel.com/dining.html - the White Buffalo Bar page also has the menu posted. The event is being catered separately, so anyone with questions about meals, special diet requirements, etc, should contact Michelle West at 432/386-4205 ext. 263
For locals, anyone wishing to attend the Kaufman lecture should be able to make it; it's Saturday afternoon and admission is $30 for talk. Book signing TBA, but either Friday during the vending session (12-7 pm) or Saturday after the lecture seems logical. I know Front Street Books has been stocking up in anticipation!
Vendor spaces are still available (they'll be inside!), though the registration form still isn't final; it is $50 for commercial booths, $20 for non-profits and each space includes one table and electricity is available upon request.
Please pass this along to anyone who may be interested!
Many thanks!
Edit: As of June 1, the form is also available on the Gage's home page, http://www.gagehotel.com/ look for a "button" with the event logo on the lower left side of the page!
***
Involvement disclosure:
Matt works on grounds at the Gage and has provided scouting for the festival, Heidi consults and helps coordinate for this event. Both will be helping wrangle trips/activities during the event. Compensation is overshadowed by feedback and enthusiasm.
Apologies for less than two months notice with the registration form, but for anyone interested in exploring West Texas as it recovers from last year's droughts and fires, this event should fit the bill quite nicely. The plants and animals are rebounding beautifully in northern Brewster County and the Gage Hotel & Gardens birding festival should be quite worthwhile.
Here is a link to the registration form pdf and current schedule (it should open in a new window) for participants; the a la carte option does NOT include the ranch tour, so with the full package comes the ranch tour and pretty much all meals and meet & greet options and the whole nine yards.
For locals, anyone wishing to attend the Kaufman lecture should be able to make it; it's Saturday afternoon and admission is $30 for talk. Book signing TBA, but either Friday during the vending session (12-7 pm) or Saturday after the lecture seems logical. I know Front Street Books has been stocking up in anticipation!
Vendor spaces are still available (they'll be inside!), though the registration form still isn't final; it is $50 for commercial booths, $20 for non-profits and each space includes one table and electricity is available upon request.
Please pass this along to anyone who may be interested!
Many thanks!
Edit: As of June 1, the form is also available on the Gage's home page, http://www.gagehotel.com/ look for a "button" with the event logo on the lower left side of the page!
***
Involvement disclosure:
Matt works on grounds at the Gage and has provided scouting for the festival, Heidi consults and helps coordinate for this event. Both will be helping wrangle trips/activities during the event. Compensation is overshadowed by feedback and enthusiasm.
July 23-29 is National Moth Week
If you're in the Marathon area for the Gages's Birds & Butterflies festivities, why not stick around an extra day or two for the kickoff of National Moth Week?
Not that we're participating or anything... (yes, yes we are!)
Not going to be in our neck of the woods? There's probably something near you. Check out National Moth Week locations - and if there's nothing near you but you still want to participate, snag a blacklight and a pale wall or a white sheet and you're good to go!
Here's our super-fancy setup... plus a porch light to the right (also a blacklight).
...and here's one of the results: Halysidota davisii, 19 June 2012
(This post will also be at the top of our blog until NMW - please scroll down for more recent posts!)
Edit: Bug Girl's Blog now has a lovely NMW post up; check it out!
Not that we're participating or anything... (yes, yes we are!)
Not going to be in our neck of the woods? There's probably something near you. Check out National Moth Week locations - and if there's nothing near you but you still want to participate, snag a blacklight and a pale wall or a white sheet and you're good to go!
Here's our super-fancy setup... plus a porch light to the right (also a blacklight).
...and here's one of the results: Halysidota davisii, 19 June 2012
(This post will also be at the top of our blog until NMW - please scroll down for more recent posts!)
Edit: Bug Girl's Blog now has a lovely NMW post up; check it out!
Post Park, 1 July 2012
Unless things were heard only, almost everything was carrying food or nesting material!
2 Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo heard only
15 Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
2 American Coot Fulica americana
2 Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
10 White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
2 Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus
1 Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
1 hummingbird sp. Trochilidae sp.
6 Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
2 Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
8 Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
1 Ash-throated Flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens
12 Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis
4 Bell's Vireo Vireo bellii
12 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
4 Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
6 Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
4 European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
3 Yellow-breasted Chat Icteria virens
2 Summer Tanager Piranga rubra
7 Blue Grosbeak Passerina caerulea
3 Painted Bunting Passerina ciris
6 Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
6 Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
4 Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus
2 Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
8 Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
1 House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus
28 species
...very low diversity, but for the morning after a dance, not bad!
2 Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo heard only
15 Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
2 American Coot Fulica americana
2 Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
10 White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
2 Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus
1 Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
1 hummingbird sp. Trochilidae sp.
6 Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
2 Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
8 Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
1 Ash-throated Flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens
12 Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis
4 Bell's Vireo Vireo bellii
12 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
4 Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
6 Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
4 European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
3 Yellow-breasted Chat Icteria virens
2 Summer Tanager Piranga rubra
7 Blue Grosbeak Passerina caerulea
3 Painted Bunting Passerina ciris
6 Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
6 Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
4 Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus
2 Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
8 Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
1 House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus
28 species
...very low diversity, but for the morning after a dance, not bad!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Off-topic: Tropical Mockingbird fledges young!
Folks on the Upper Texas Coast have been following this saga for a while, but in a nutshell:
Tropical Mockingbird plus Northern Mockingbird nested at/near Sabine Woods...
Photo via Andy Bankert - and that, my friends, is a young hybrid!
Andy asked me to pass it along to Texbirds and the image wasn't working on facebook, so this will be linked... what a great shot.
Edit: A question of fledgie numbers was sent to Andy, his text response:
"Only found one but the adult moved around a lot so probably more."
Edit 2: I'm getting emails asking for directions. I've not been to Sabine Woods in a few years, so please check the archives of Texbirds for that... and if you do go out there, PLEASE give the birds plenty of room. Raising kids is tough. Call out people who get too close; it makes the rest of us look bad.
Tropical Mockingbird plus Northern Mockingbird nested at/near Sabine Woods...
Photo via Andy Bankert - and that, my friends, is a young hybrid!
Andy asked me to pass it along to Texbirds and the image wasn't working on facebook, so this will be linked... what a great shot.
Edit: A question of fledgie numbers was sent to Andy, his text response:
"Only found one but the adult moved around a lot so probably more."
Edit 2: I'm getting emails asking for directions. I've not been to Sabine Woods in a few years, so please check the archives of Texbirds for that... and if you do go out there, PLEASE give the birds plenty of room. Raising kids is tough. Call out people who get too close; it makes the rest of us look bad.
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