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Birding Flowers and Plants Herps Insects

Still Heading North

I left Valley of Fires on Saturday and drove north into Colorado, stopping for the night at the Timpas picnic area. Timpas picnic area is actually a Forest Service (Comanche National Grassland) picnic area/campground of sorts, there are some picnic tables, shelters, a restroom, interpretive signs, and best of all, some pretty good birding. It was here, many years ago, that I got my lifer Cassin’s Sparrow. I saw some again on this stop, along with abundant Lark Buntings, some Curve-billed and Sage Thrashers, meadowlarks, and others. For me, the Cassin’s Sparrow was the most interesting.

Timpas is open for camping and is free and quiet. There is no water and no phone/internet service. There is a railroad that runs close by, but every time I’ve stayed there the only train is an Amtrak that comes by around 8 PM. I left Timpas early this morning and drove to Red Willow State Park near McCook. I like this park but it sure is expensive, $42.00 a night. At least it is quiet. After free camping in the Sonoran Desert all winter, I shouldn’t complain.

I got some pretty good photos of Cassin’s Sparrows. They aren’t much to look at, but their song makes up for that. They fly high in the sky, like Lark Buntings, while singing.
I saw more Eastern Collared Lizards at Valley of Fires. This one is a large male but lacking any color. I’ve read about melanistic individuals living in areas of dark rocks, maybe this is one of them.
This is a blister beetle, Epicauta atrivittata. I saw a couple of them on the walls of the restroom at Valley of Fires. There isn’t much information on this beetle, it is known to feed on mesquites and some species of nightshade.
Also, at Valley of Fires, Red Barberry. The Apache ate the fruits and made a yellow dye from the roots.
I came across two different plants named after the same botanist, Augustus Fendler. I got curious about him and found out that he led quite an adventurous life. Here’s a LINK to a Wikipedia article about him. This flower is Fendler’s Desert Dandelion, Malacothrix fendleri.
And here is Fendler’s Penstemon, Penstemon fendleri.

One reply on “Still Heading North”

Hi Doug, I looked up valley of fires. What a lot of dark fresh looking lava. It sounds like a neat place.

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