Day 33 / 332 The Last Bite

Goliad, Texas Partly Sunny, Windy 85 degrees

Rain is coming just in time for us to pull out in the morning.  I get very reflective at this point in the journey. As I take my walks through the park, drive through the little town that has been my home this past 3 months, or simply sit in the lawn chair watching the world go by; I find myself savoring everything I take in. Much like the last bite of a really decadent desert. You take your time, really taste it and hate when you swallow and know that it is gone.

[caption id="attachment_659" align="alignleft" width="300"] Long Billed Thrasher[/caption]

My birders ear has received some good training here. The foliage is so dense that you can't find birds easily unless you recognize the song and know what you are looking for. I am surprised how many songs I have learned this winter. In 90 days here I have identified 59 species ( about half of those with the help of experienced birders). The cool part is 10 of them are birds I had never seen before and 6 of those are birds that I will never see in my native stomping grounds of the upper midwest. I wasn't keeping a list when we went to South Padre and Mathis but there were many new ones to me during those  2 months as well.  I'll do better about keeping lists in the future. Oh God, I just realized I've become a  birder!

[caption id="attachment_658" align="alignleft" width="300"] Eight Spotted Forester Moth[/caption]

I have also grown quite enchanted with butterflies and moths and have started studying and researching in an effort to become 'the butterfly lady' someday. Here at Goliad, I saw 9 new species, to me, all of which are specific to this part of the world. I have seen several that I know will be in Iowa eventually. I'll be a part of the efforts at the Saylorville Butterfly Garden so will get a front row seat to their arrival later this spring.

[caption id="attachment_657" align="alignleft" width="300"] Herbertia or Prairie Nymph[/caption]

A trip to south Texas this time of year, is not complete without seeing the wildflowers!  I saw 4 new ones this year that I did not see at Balcones NWR last winter.

I'll catalog my photography and save it to watch when I get to missing the place. At the same time I'm looking forward to going to a new part of the country next winter and discovering all of the things that make it special and unique.  The hard goodbyes are coming.

Until tomorrow...