Big Bend, Friday March 12th

You know how difficult it is to wake up for work at 6 am, but how easily you wake up, even before sunrise, as soon as you're away from that schedule... Now, our days are set by the rhythm of the sun, and nothing else - what a pleasure that is!

Overnight, the desert releases its warmth gradually, with the night at its coldest in the hours before dawn. That must be when I reached for my hat, which I had strategically left close at hand. But we were very comfortable all night, and I'm sure, just like the previous night, the temperature was below 40 degrees F.

The sun rose, as it had set, behind mountains and over the beautiful Chihuahuan desert, bringing instant warmth to the chilled air. Karen prodded the cookstove to life and made hot water for our breakfast and we started looking for the first birds of the morning.

36. Curve-billed Thrasher, Toxostoma curvirostre - heard singing in the nearby mesquite trees before dawn, a pair sat together
37. Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Picoides scalaris - heard drumming nearby, very delicately, and responded to playback, giving great views and photos
Eurasian Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto - sunning on an exposed perch
38. Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus - exploring our campsite, even hopped inside the tailpipe of the car

Breakfast was hot oatmeal, Wednesday's croissants from Alpine and Karen's gluten-free raisin bread, spread with Nutella and peanutbutter, cheese too. mmm. Powdered drink mix (maracuja - passion fruit from Suriname via Brazil), instant coffee for those of us who indulge and a thermos of hot water for mate later on. Campsite packed away, we surprised Karen with a new iPod, already pre-loaded with hundreds of songs and calls of North American birds.

In short order, she called in the Ladder-backed Woodpecker and brought the Rock Wren into view. This iPod Nano has enough memory for 2000 songs, (of course the industry counts it in terms of music songs, not bird songs), a video camera and an FM radio - all this in a hand-held device so small and light you hardly feel it in your hand. In our package for Karen, we also included a little battery-operated speaker which is essential for doing playback in the field.

Leaving our campsite, we're rumbling along Grapevine Hills Road at 9 am, with a plan. First stop Panther Junction Visitor's Center to ask if they could please plug in our camera-battery charger for the morning, next stop Sam Nail Ranch, along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, for more birding. One of Big Bend's birding hotspots, Sam Nail Ranch has a functional windmill, which today creaks in the breeze and brings up a trickle of water.

An easy trail, with benches for relaxing, meanders through dense low trees and shrubs supported by the little oasis generated by the windmill. Sheltered now from the breezes, the morning is pleasantly warm as we stop to survey the local birds.

39. Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
Canyon Towhee, Pipilo fuscus
Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos
White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys
Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Aimophila ruficeps
Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura

Many insects, especially bees, are also attracted to the water, and one cardinal seems to be prevented from coming to drink because the bees harass her.

Karen has been here before, and leads us off the well-worn path, along a narrow track through dense tamarisk growth and down to an arroyo. These days the riverbed is dry dry dry, but a beautiful spot to sit and enjoy our surroundings. The air feels delicious on sun-starved skin. We watch a few early butterflies work their way along the flowering shrubs, listen to occasional birdsong from the thickets, and open the thermos of hot water to prepare our mate.

After this immensely pleasant respite, where all cares, schedules and anxieties have vanished, and we feel as though we could LIVE here awhile, we slowly pack up and walk back to the road to continue our adventure. Driving back towards Panther Junction now, to pick up the camera battery, we get our first roadrunner - actually running across the road in front of the van before vanishing in the cactus and scrub of the desert foothills.

More Chihuahuan Ravens, the resident Red-tailed Hawk, House Finches, House Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, White-crowned Sparrows and Turkey Vulture are seen around the Visitor's Center. We take advantage of the Basin Post Office to send a few postcards (available next door in the park service gift shop) then quickly get out of this congested little hub. We're on our way to bird the Rio Grande Village campground and see the big river itself.

It's probably important to mention the gas station, located on the main park road right near Panther Junction, because it's one of the few around. While Jorge refueled the van, I made a round of sandwiches - salami and cheese, which we enjoyed with more water and maracuja juice. And a general aside about food too. We brought backpacking meals from home (the couscous-and-salmon), instant coffee, instant oatmeal, tea, sugar, Powerbars and Dove chocolates.

The rest of the food we picked up in Alpine Wednesday evening - a quick shopping trip to the Thriftway, squeezed in between sundown at the town park and closing time at the local restaurants. Here we bought bread, cheese, deli meats, Nutella, peanutbutter, bananas, mandarines and bottled water. In the end, everything was consumed except the peanutbutter, which we sacrificed to airport security, along with the remaining Nutella, deemed too hazardous to carry onto the plane.

Okay, back to the Chihuahuan desert. Descending the long, gentle grade from Panther Junction, on the flanks of the Chisos, down to the Rio Grande valley, we seem to be in a more populated section of the park. Big camping rigs, motor homes, families and college students on spring break are all here to enjoy this high desert-and-mountain country.

We pull off the road whenever there's an interesting bird, unable to wait for a "proper" pull-off, of which there are many. However we do take time to stop at the Rio Grande Viewpoint, just beyond the tunnel, where we track down a gnatcatcher in the mesquite bushes. There's a mixed flock of sparrows beside the road, another Curve-billed Thrasher, Chihuahuan Ravens and more Turkey Vultures. To bring the list of new birds up to date:

40. Greater Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus
41. Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina
42. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Polioptila melanura

As we walk the trails and roadsides, Karen points out and names the various desert plants that she's familiar with. Cacti, shrubs and wildflowers, all with their xero-phyllic adaptations for life in the Chihuahuan Desert.

With our backs to the Chisos Mountains this afternoon, the main feature of the landscape is the Sierra del Carmen, visible as a high ridge or bluff on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. Strongly marked with horizontal bands of alternating basalts and sandstones, these sierras are prominent in any photo taken looking southeast from the Chisos.

Arriving at Rio Grande Village, we quickly pass the few elements that give this area the name "village" - another Visitor's Center, a park service general store, a boat launching ramp and the campground. Choosing a day-use parking space near the amphitheatre we head out into the afternoon sun, which is strong enough now that we grab hats and waterbottles before leaving the car.

Here along the Rio Grande, the park service maintains a large Cottonwood grove for camping and day use, with grass underfoot, gravel roadways and paths. The Cottonwoods are huge trees, with lofty crowns atop tall straight trunks - and this arboreal environment attracts a different suite of birds.

43. Common Raven, Corvus corax
44. Vermilion Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus - new for N. Amer. list
45. Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Melanerpes aurifrons

Along the river's edge at the boat launch, Karen and Jorge found a new phoebe, which I only saw as two small birds flying away.
46. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans

We tried without success to gain access to the section of the river where the phoebes had flown, just downstream from the launching ramp, but with the riverbanks being a dense tangle of Tamarisk and reeds, it appeared they were better left alone. Rambling and birding our way through the Rio Grande Village campground we added several more new species to our list.

47. Orange-crowned Warbler, Vermivora celata
48. Yellow-rumped Warbler (soon to revert to Audubon's Warbler), Dendroica coronata
another Hutton's Vireo
several Roadrunners
49. American Coot, Fulica americana
50. White-throated Swift, Aeronautes saxatalis
more Vermilion Flycatchers, including a female building a nest
another Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
White-winged Dove
51. Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe
52. Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula
Bewick's Wren
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird

By-and-large, the birds in the campground area were in the small trees amongst motor homes and travel trailers. The occupants didn't seem to mind us stopping to gaze at the treetops near their little patches of turf, in fact on several occasions people came out to ask what we had seen, or to offer anecdotes of birds they had noticed earlier.

A marshy area adjacent to the campground proved pretty quiet this afternoon, with only the coot showing itself. Earlier in the winter a boardwalk through the marsh had been destroyed by high water, so we did our bird-watching from the shore.

With the sun heading towards 5:00 we made a quick stop at the camp store for cold liquid refreshments then drove back up the road toward the hot spring. A natural geothermal spring right on the banks of the Rio Grande, the structure of the hot spring was clearly much reduced from a former glorious day. A stone wall now encloses a three to four meter square bathing area, with a water depth of about half a meter.

You could sit comfortably on the bottom with your back against the wall and arms draped over the wall, or slump down to cover your shoulders. The water temperature at the source pipe was said to be about 110 degrees F - about the same as really hot bath water. At the opposite side of the hot spring the warmth was perfect, very relaxing, with the evening air becoming cooler around us.

After soaking a bit, Karen and I stepped out and dried off while Jorge followed the lead of two girls who were there with their parents - and jumped into the Rio Grande for a cool-down swim! The current quickly carried the swimmers to a beach a short distance downstream, where they clambered out and followed the path back to the hot spring.

Here at the hot spring, we added a few more birds to our growing list:

53. Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes
54. Cliff Swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
more Common Ravens
another Say's Phoebe

Sun's dropping quickly towards the horizon now, and we head out to find our camp site, just off River Road - not far away. The low sun dramatically changes the colors on the Sierra del Carmen, and all of the west-facing hills, beautiful. Big Bend is one of those places with a surprise and a delight around nearly every bend in the road. The evening colors, the desert vistas, silhouetted cacti on a hilltop - everywhere we look is natural beauty.

Gravel Pit-2 is another gem of a campsite - tucked against a steep hill, and we arrive just after sunset, with plenty of ambient light to set up camp, and even scramble up the hill for a look around. The desert underfoot is pale gravel, with what looks like calcium-rich sandstone layers exposed in low outcrops. We'll explore more in the morning.

I take a minute to drape our wet bathing clothes over a thorny shrub, in the dark it feels like a white-thorn acacia or mesquite. Karen sets up the Whisperlight stove, and the menu for tonight is... couscous with salmon. We have plenty of cheese and chocolate for after-dinner sweets and savories, and end the meal again with a cup of tea.

With the star-studded sky overhead and the night air cooling off around us, Karen proposes we walk down to the river. It's a short way along the gravel road to a broad sandy slope which borders the Rio Grande here. In the darkness we hear a cow nearby, and a few more across the river - and the occasional braying of donkeys.

Back at camp, we settle in to our nests, piled high with fleece blankets again, though it doesn't feel as cold as last night. Tomorrow we'll explore this corner of the park some more, then drive back to the Basin and say goodbye to Karen.