Magnus to the Coast, Day 2

Tue 5 Dec 2023

A second day at Buescher State Park. I'm not sure why I reserved a second day here, but it was nice not to move.

On our camping loop (Oak Haven) there were some cabins with have balconies that overlook the lake very nicely. Looking through tree trunks, I could stand up there and see ducks in the water, most likely pied-billed grebes, a coot, and a very large duck with a dark head, light-colored bill (blue, maybe?), white body, dark tail with a single white feather in it. What in the could that be?  Just a mallard? I didn't have my camera when I saw the one big duck, but I did get some of the little grebes (I think)

While standing on the balcony trying to photograph ducks, I was pestered by a large crew of chickadees, titmice, ruby-crowned kinglets, and a carolina wren or two.  But no nuthatches--darn!  I like nuthatches.

Ed and I took the scenic and hilly drive between Buescher and Bastrop parks. The first half of it was okay--pretty but nothing special. The two scenic overlooks on the map just overlooked farmland and cows down below. And lovely pines. Nothing to complain about but no oohs and aahs, either.

But after that, the road got really steep and fun for a couple of miles. Wow.  What a place to ride a bicycle.

Then, since we were so close to Bastrop, we stopped at a pet supply store and then a tractor supply, looking for a new bed for Molly. She'd been needing one, but I have to confess that our real motivation was to get something in a gray color that would coordinate with our new Magnus Motorhome's red/black/gray decorating scheme. The little pet store was lovely and if I lived there I'd shop there frequently, to support small business if for no other reason. But they didn't have what we wanted, and Tractor Supply did. Which sucks.

 

 

When we returned and Molly and I set out to jog for "at least" one hour. Which wasn't going to work, because I also wanted to hike the trail that paralleled the scenic drive we'd taken earlier.  So we jogged to the trail, then walked out, returned, and jogged back to the camp. All in all, we only got in 30 minutes of jogging but almost two hours of walking. So that was exercise.

We saw a large number of people on the trail--four--large considering that this was a Tuesday on a weekday in December. All were guys; one on a bike, two walkers; one with a dog. None of them had binoculars--idiots.

And just as we'd stopped to let one of them pass by and were getting going again, Molly jumped a little at something just off the trail--a bird.  A quail-sized, dark, skulking bird. I just got a glimpse of it as it snuck away, and after ten minutes of squeezing through the dense undergrowth and straining my eyes, I only got a briefest glimpse of movement.  So I have no freaking idea if it was a bobwhite quail or a woodcock. Darn!   You'd think a woodcock would be unmistakable--a little chunky bird with a beak much longer than its head. But without even seeing the head--or the beak!  How am I supposed to be sure?

Damn. damn. damn.