A Hike Up The Hill

We had planned to get out very early yesterday and do some bird watching up on the hill but, we were lazy and didn't make it up there until around noon. The weather was gorgeous (clear skies, mid-70) but as any photographer will tell you, the noonday sun is absolutely horrible for making pictures. Harsh shadows, blue skies turn white, too much contrast, etc., etc., etc. That being said, here's some of what we saw on our hike up the hill.

Back in August I told you about several trees that had fallen over since we first arrived. This large Live Oak fell across the road (near the game fence at the back property line) sometime in June according to Lou. Well, here we are in October and it is still alive! It's as green as any of the trees surrounding it that are firmly planted in the ground. How crazy is that? It survived the extreme drought despite being knocked over! (It sure doesn't look like the roots are still attached although they must be.)


Here's another one of the trees I told you about in August. I put CG next to it this time so you can get some idea of its size:


Out of curiosity CG climbed up a couple of the trees and took a peek into the nesting boxes (B-14 & B-15). It wasn't readily apparent as to how to take it apart to inspect it but just by looking in the hole he was able to see there was nesting material (and a spider web) inside both of them.

I had seen several small cacti on previous trips so we set out to find them again thinking they might the endangered Tobusch Fishhook Cactus (Sclerocactus brevihamatus subsp. tobuschii). We found them but I'm fairly certain they are not the endangered fishhooks variety. (More research is required to find out what species they are.)



We arrived at the back of the property, turned right, and walked south along the fenceline. (At least, I think we were walking south. I'm not good with directions... everyone who knows me is now laughing hysterically because saying I am not good with directions is an understatement. Well, not even an understatement. It's more like a big fat lie. I can barely find my way out of my own driveway. But, I digress. Again.) This was the first time I've walked this portion of the property. It's very rocky:

We walked and walked and walked until we reached the corner. We made another right turn and headed west (towards Hwy 16) along the southern boundary. After walking downhill for quite sometime, we came to a clearing and were treated to this beautiful vista:

(click on the photo to see a larger version)

Eeewwww... a snake skin. It was huge - at least five feet long. (It broke into pieces when he picked it up.) A rattlesnake, I think.

At that point the terrain became much steeper so we decided to turn around. We made our way back up the hill and headed home.