Mitchell Lake Audubon Center

This past weekend, Dave and I took a little trip to San Antonio! We were able to go without Jed thanks to our wonderful friends the Rosses. Joe is our branch president and Sue is our primary president and they are basically Jed's 3rd set of grandparents. We all love Miss Sue and Mr Joe and couldn't get along without them.

Since we were going without Jed, we decided to do all the things we don't normally get to do. Friday night we were able to do a session at the beautiful (and tiny!) San Antonio temple. I was so sad to discover that I had left the camera at the hotel! I really wanted to have some pictures for you--it is a gorgeous temple, set on a hill overlooking all of San Antonio. The stained glass windows are especially beautiful and remind me a lot of the Winter Quarters temple. We had a peaceful session and enjoyed our time there so very much.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. I guess out west it would be a wildlife refuge, but Texas does things a little differently, so...

The visitors' center was an old house remodeled a little to accommodate a check-in desk. It had great creaky floors and lots of windows so the inside staff could watch the birds, especially the hummingbirds, that proliferated the garden. I can't decide which I loved more--the big house or the tiny bird house that was an exact replica of the big house, down to the red door. So adorable.

There was an incredible garden that surrounded the visitors' center. I don't know my Texas plants as well as I wish I did, so the name tags were a huge help. We also saw the most immense caterpillars in this Lantana. They were easily as long and as big around as my pinkie finger. You can see one just to the left of the red flowers in the center of this photo.

This gorgeous plant is called a Pride of Barbados bush. I am so in love with it and need to do some research to find out if it would grow well this far north.

Pride of Barbados blossoms

Some more garden













After signing in, we took off down the trails to see what we could see. It was really nice to stroll along and listen to all the different birds calling like crazy. Dave was a good sport and carried everything in his backpack...

so I didn't have to carry anything at all! (Oh, and yes, I cut my hair again. About 3 weeks ago, I was hot and hormonal and I was seized by this odd urge. Unfortunately the stylist and I didn't communicate very well and this is what I ended up with, but I think I am beginning to get along pretty well with it. When it grows out a little more I will try something else. It's easy to do--just step out of the shower and throw in a little mousse!)



After we walked for a while, we came to a couple of ponds. We saw LOTS more birds than I have pictures of here, mostly because our binoculars are more powerful than our camera zoom. We saw so many species that are new birds for us and it was terribly exciting. We saw black-bellied whistling ducks, eastern meadowlarks, clay-colored sparrows, dickcissels, and of course, we saw a few we couldn't identify. 







The little guy in the front is called a Wilson's Phalarope, and I was pretty excited about him. I've never seen one before, and he was so well-behaved--just swam around and let us look at him for so long! The ducks behind him are blue-winged teals, and while they're not rare by any means, it's always a treat to see them.

These guys were also new birds for me. They're called Black-necked Stilts and when I first saw them, I was so excited that I couldn't remember their common name. I could only point and gibber to Dave and finally I sputtered out "Himantopus mexicanus!" I guess all that studying in ornithology really paid off.

Not a new bird by any means--we have cardinals all over our yard constantly--but they're so pretty, especially against the green trees that it's always delightful to see them.

This guy isn't a new bird either, although I still remember my excitement 2 years ago when I saw one for the first time. I made Dave pull off the side of the road so quickly that I'm sure the person behind us thought we were totally crazy. This bird is a Swallow-tailed Flycatcher. The tail is about 6 inches long and because of it, they're able to perform the most amazing stunts in the air. As the name suggests, they eat insects and it's really fun to watch them hunt, because they'll hover in the air around a hatch of mosquitoes or gnats, eating away. I think this one is a female, because males are typically a rosy color on its lower stomach. So beautiful!

We had such a good time birding that we hated to leave. But it was getting warm and we were hungry for lunch, so we bid the birds farewell. There are always more birds to see! Stay tuned for more of our trip in the coming days.