At Last - A Varied Bunting

Last night’s wind was even worse than the wind of the night before. Plus there was lightning and some rain. But it all ended and the wind was gone. As far as night birds went, John did hear an Elf Owl calling. When it was light enough to venture forth we snacked and walked the Window Trail where at last we found a Varied Bunting (web photo). But we couldn’t turn up a Gray Vireo although we found a Black-capped Vireo and a singing Cassin’s Vireo, a rare west Texas migrant that is really a better bird. We went to breakfast at the lodge and found out they had wifi! I could have been connected the last few days. We checked email and ball scores while we sat outside the restaurant in full view of the Chisos Mountains. Then it was back to pack up the tent. While reorganizing things in the car, I found my MiFi. So once I get it charged up, I should be back in. It wouldn’t have helped at Big Bend or in the Davis Mtns because there wasn’t any Verizon service there. But there should be more regular postings from here on out. We’re heading to the Rio Grande Valley but we made a stop on the way at Kickapoo Caverns SP to look for Gray Vireo again. It turns out the park is not yet open, but we did talk to a very nice graduate student who is working on a Master’s thesis on Black-capped and White-eyed Vireos, both of which were singing right next to us. We’ll just have to come back when the park opens. We ended up at a motel north of Laredo TX. The two new birds today gives me 549 for the year