After the rains, the birds SING

Thunder woke me up yesterday morning. I happened to open the front door, and OH MY the birds were singing singing singing! So I got James' Kodak and recorded the symphony. I believe it was shortly around 6:30 or so. You can even hear some thunder.

Then I recorded the singing from our back door...

 Half an hour or so later, I recorded from the back door again. This time, the phoebe has joined the chirping.

One more recording later in the morning. I was also trying to video our robins... I believe that's one singing the loudest.

Frog call

My good friend and watercolor artist Pat Glenn e-mails me now and then with nice comments about my articles and questions about the flora and fauna around his place outside of Blanco. Recently, he's been stumped by a strange call at night. This week, he recorded it and sent it to me. I tried to figure it out but decided I'd better let an expert handle it. So I forwarded the recording to Dr. David Cantantella, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin and curator of herpetology at the Texas Natural History Collections.

"This sounds like Pseudacris streckeri," he wrote back. "It calls early in the spring, usually before March."

The species is commonly called Strecker's chorus frog. Here's another recording of the frog. Thanks, Dr. Cantatella! In the meantime, I also let Pat know, of course.

"He sure did nail it," Pat wrote me back. "That is great! Thank you so much. I am amazed! Thank your friend for me. Now that you have solved it, what are we gonna do for entertainment? I just am amazed at this, there is no doubt."

Of bats and roses

Last Saturday, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary. James, as he always does, sent me a dozen red roses. As for me, I had something extra special up my sleeve...

I called ahead and made dinner reservations at Alamo Springs Cafe, not far from Luckenbach, Texas. I spoke with Missy on the phone there, and she agreed to set up a special table for us. I had asked for a tablecloth and maybe a candle. Meanwhile, James had no idea where we were headed or what we were going to do. I just told him to dress comfortably and throw in some walking shoes. Then off we went.

Along the way, James told me later, he kept trying to figure out where I was headed. Fredericksburg for dinner? A picnic on our 11 acres outside of town? Nope, nope. I just smiled and kept driving. But when I took the turnoff to Grapevine, then he started figuring it out. A picnic at the bat tunnel? I kept mum.

Then I turned toward the cafe. Ah, dinner here! He laughed. As we walked inside, imagine my surprise when I spotted our table.... Beautiful candles, lovely fresh flowers, and a tablecloth! I was so touched (THANK YOU, MISSY!). James was stunned. Together, we enjoyed our meals.

I ordered the shrimp salad, served over spring mix, tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, and sliced Provolone cheese, all splashed with a tequila lime vinaigrette...

And James enjoyed the Saturday night dinner special:
cheese enchiladas, boracho beans and rice.

Then we shared a slice of German chocolate cake.

By this time, James had figured out the rest of my plans...visit the Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area that's right around the corner from the cafe and watch the Brazilian free-tailed bats emerge at dusk.


We got there in time to hike a little and also listen to a bat presentation given by the park manager Nyta Hensley. Just as she was wrapping up her talk, the bats started flying out. It was our first time there to see them (we've hiked the nature trail a few times in the past), and James' first time ever to watch a bat emergence. He shot a video, which I'm sharing.



I think I'd better get to thinking about what we'll do for our fourth anniversary next year.....this one's gonna be hard to top!