Big Bend, Saturday March 13th

During the night some wandering javelinas passed through camp, grunting and scuffling as they went along their way, and as the dawn light intensified in the east, the first birdsong of morning broke the silence. Black-throated Sparrows, Ravens and a Rock Wren called from hillsides far and near - turns out those were the only birds we heard or saw all morning in our Gravel Pit campsite area.

But this morning was not about the birds anyway, it was about the sunrise. We three were up on the hilltop behind camp, dressed in all of our layers, to watch the unfolding drama of sunrise in the desert. The eastern sky brightened to white as the light intensified, then the sun appeared from behind mountains, creating a breathtaking spectacle of dawn light which crept across the desert. First touching the tops of the high Chisos with pink light, then the lower foothills, then sweeping across the whole desert floor towards nearby hills, and instantly warming the east-facing side of our bodies.

Full of the intensity of our shared experience, we slowly walked back down the slope to camp, admiring the assorted cacti and fossil-laden rocks underfoot. Karen made enough hot water for camp coffee and filled the thermos for mate, we downed some bread with nutella and cheese, bananas and peanutbutter, and finished packing up our gear. Maybe we had planned to be back at the Rio Grande Village campground for the early birds, but the beautiful sunrise had intervened...

Again, we're leaving camp around 9 am, first taking time to drive down to the Rio Grande at the end of our driveway, to see what we had not been able to last night. The green river flowed by a thick deposit of sandy river silt on our side, and past a sloping hillside edged with smooth cobbles on the opposite side. Last night's cows had moved on and a pair of ducks flew off on our approach.

The US and Mexico, separated by this quiet, though fast-moving ribbon of water - with the birds free to go back and forth, the way nature intended. And still, there were very few birds:

Mexican Duck, Anas platyrhynchos aka Mallard - confirmed (better looks than two days ago)
White-crowned Sparrow
Say's Phoebe
55. Rough-winged Swallow, Stelgidopteryx serripennis

Driving out along River Road, back towards Grand Canyon Village, we had some repeat birds:

Northern Mockingbird
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Northern Flicker
and a Black-tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus, very close to the road

Despite arriving very late (by birding standards) we did pretty well birding around the campground and the marsh between 9:50 and 11:15 am. In this area we added five new species:

56. Verdin, Auriparus flaviceps
57. Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris
58. Cooper's Hawk, Accipiter cooperi
59. Pied-billed Grebe, Podylimbus podiceps
Great Blue Heron
American Coot
Turkey Vulture
Roadrunner
White-winged Dove
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Vermilion Flycatcher
White-throated Swift
Eastern Phoebe
Hutton's Vireo
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Chipping Sparrow
House Finch
Goldfinch

We turn our backs temporarily to the river, leaving Rio Grande Village behind as we drive back to the Chisos Mountains to say goodbye to Karen. She signed up for the late shift at the Lodge today so we could have the whole morning together for birding.

Back at Karen's house, she and I unpack her stuff from the van while Jorge tries calling in an Acorn Woodpecker. We have time to prepare and share a mate while sitting in the sun on her back steps, but the woodpecker never shows itself.

Birds around the house:

Canyon Towhee
Pyrrhuloxia
Cactus Wren
Northern Mockingbird

Karen's work shift is fast approaching now, so we drive up to the Lodge together, she checks in while Jorge and I browse the gift shop for "something Big Bend". Taking advantage of her 40% employee discount we choose a mug, a painted owl and a hat - Indiana Jones-style. We take our final farewells and obligatory group photos and must now go our separate ways. It has been a very special two days together.

Our plan for the rest of the day is to drive the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and Old Maverick Road, exiting the park at Maverick Junction. The highlights of this route will be Castolon and Cottonwoods campground and then a short hike into Santa Elena Canyon. Old Maverick Road is an area that Karen never explored, so we don't really know what to expect, except more beautiful desert scenery.

Driving out Basin Road we had a brief glimpse of two Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger), as they scampered away from their roadside feeding spot to take cover under dense bushes. They were larger than our Eastern Gray Squirrels, and the coat had a coarse look. The under-fur was a warm ochre tone with the outer coat being brindled black and white - appearing overall dark gray. Wish we'd had a better look!

Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive meanders the high desert, following the western side of the Chisos Mountains. For the next hour and a half, we take in the sights of volcanic formations - dikes and rubble - the Mule Ears and the curious pale gray Tuff Canyon. We arrive at Castolon at 2:45. Castolon has a visitor's center, a ranger's house, restrooms and a general store. The store was "closed for lunch until 3 pm".

Birds seen along the way - just the occasional Turkey Vulture and a Rock Wren in Tuff Canyon.

Cottonwood Campground is just beyond Castolon, along the Rio Grande, and is maintained in a similar way to the big campground at Rio Grande Village. It seems to have fewer visitors (human ones, that is), but we stopped briefly to do a little birding in a dry grassy area between the river and the manicured camping area.

60. Inca Dove, Columbina inca
61. Gray-headed Junco, Junco hyemalis
62. Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis
Vermilion Flycatcher
Black-throated Sparrow
Pyrrhuloxia

Leaving Cottonwood Campground, the road follows the river westward to Santa Elena Canyon, while the desert to the north reveals still more curious volcanic geology. Now, the opposite side of the river is a looming cliff - and we pull off the road at the Santa Elena Canyon interpretive site to learn how the river created the canyon and this 1500 foot-high cliff.

Karen had recommended the short hike into the canyon, so we, along with many other park visitors, start out over the sandy river shore to reach to trail into the canyon. To set the scene a bit as we approach the canyon's mouth, the green Rio Grande flows directly toward us, out of the canyon and the nearly dry bed of Terlingua Creek feeds in from the right (north).

We cross this creek simply by walking over the mostly-dried mud of the exposed riverbed - the surface pocked with footprints of those who crossed when the muddy silt was still soft. Once we reach the far side, there are a few access points amongst riverside shrubbery where we scramble about a meter up the riverbank to reach the trail proper.

Here at the mouth of the canyon we have another new bird - in a small flock of Turkey Vultures was one:
63. Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus
also another Say's Phoebe
more Rough-winged Swallows
a White-crowned Sparrow
and some Common Ravens

The views from the trail are pretty spectacular - way out to the north over the desert to the Chisos Mountains and beyond, straight down to the green water, 500 meters up the yellow canyon walls to the blue blue sky, and ahead into the narrow Santa Elena Canyon itself. Of course, we stop at every bend in the trail to photograph a scene, a cactus, an interpretive sign.

There is little evidence of birds in the canyon - we had hoped for a Rock Wren, but it still eludes us. Then Jorge hears the cry of a raptor, and looks up to see a falcon fly from its rocky perch.

64. Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus

The bird disappears from view and doesn't return until an hour later as we are hiking out of the canyon - then there are two, masters of the airspace at the highest heights of the cliff walls. Their cries are wild and piercing, and turn more heads than just ours. Several hikers pause to take a look in our Sibley guide to get an idea of what that bird was...

Leaving Santa Elena Canyon, visitors have a choice of two roads, Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive back towards the Chisos Mountains, or Old Maverick Road north to Maverick Junction at the western entrance of Big Bend National Park. Most visitors turn east, most likely heading back to a campsite or lodging in the Basin, and a few of us head north.

Earlier today I asked a park service employee about the advisability of driving Old Maverick Road in our rental van, and was assured we would have no problem this time of year. The road is unpaved and crosses many arroyos along its route, but it had been a long time since any water flowed in those washes. The only trouble might have been encountered by a small car in soft sand - we were fine.

Sights along Old Maverick Road included the western terminus of the Chimneys Trail and Luna's Jacal. Luna was a Mexican who lived on this particular patch of Chihuahuan desert until his death at 107 years of age. We stopped to take in Luna's surroundings, and imagined him waking up in this spot with his family every morning, under the clear desert sky, the quiet unhurried life.

The jacal is the particular type of hut built down into the earth, and roofed with Ocotillo stalks and adobe. With ventilation ports at both ends, and a door towards the western view - it must have been an ideal shelter, warm in winter and cool in summer's heat. The screen door is pad-locked now, but that probably never occurred to Luna...

Not far beyond Luna's jacal, we crossed the double-channel of Javelina Wash and caught sight of a treetop bird just up the arroyo. Pulling the van to the side of the wash, we jumped out with cameras in hand and approached a Loggerhead Shrike. The clean black and white plumage is so striking in this land of browns, ochres and muted colors.

As the sun dropped to the horizon on another desert day, coloring the hillsides pink and purple, we took a short walk away from the road to look down into a vast water-carved crater. It was nearly circular in shape, very lunar in aspect, and definitely created by nature in a distant and turbulent time.

By 7 in the evening we have reached the plateau at Maverick Junction and the sun has disappeared in a final blaze of pink and gold, silhouetting ocotillo on the nearby hills. As we pause for a photo before leaving the park, a few unseen sparrows are chipping their night-time contact calls, a bat sallies out for insects, and we say goodbye to Big Bend.

Just outside of the park in the town of Terlingua, we hope to find a restaurant with local fare. Learning from our experience in Alpine, first we pick up some Bohemia Mexican beer from the convenience store then bring it back to the Chili Pepper Cafe to enjoy with our Tex-Mex dinner. It was probably the best restaurant in town, but nothing to write home about.

Our journal says
8:22p, 466 mi
leaving Terlingua after dinner

Route 118 takes us north to Alpine, and just over an hour later, we stop at Border Control, 16 miles south of town. The two young officers ask if we are US citizens, examine Jorge's green card, and had probably never seen an Uruguayan passport before. Tonight, just like on our early morning drive Thursday, we saw many small groups of Mule Deer along the roadsides.

In Alpine we wait five minutes at the railroad crossing for a train to pass, then it's on to Marathon, 30 miles to the east along route 90, for a hot shower and bed. Back home in Willington Connecticut, many weeks earlier, I had made reservations for tonight at the Marathon Motel. The hostess left our room key in a self-check-in box, since we knew we would be arriving after 10pm, and boy, did we enjoy that hot shower...

Another long and beautiful day in the Chihuahuan desert, in which we shared sunrise from our own hilltop with Karen, hiked back in time into Santa Elena Canyon, and yes, added some new birds to our Texas list.