12/31/09 Blue Moon, Altamira Oriole, and a bobcat!

As we rode our bikes out of the campground this morning at 6:55 AM the moon was just setting on the western horizon. As we arrived at the state park maintenance shed to exchange our bikes for the golf cart and pickup the bird seed, peanut butter, and citrus, we ran into one of the park rangers. Carol asked us if we saw the "Blue Moon" and we said yes. Maybe you are like us and not sure why it is called a blue moon so here is Wikipedia's explanation:

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years, there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon."

The term "blue moon" is commonly used metaphorically to describe the rarity of an event, as in the idiomatic expression, "once in a blue moon."

So above and below are my photos of the 12/31/09 Blue Moon! My zoom photo below is a little blurry.

At our 4th feeding station, an Altamira Oriole showed up after we put out the fresh citrus. We have seen quite a few of these colorful birds but I hadn't been able to get a photo of one before. If you click on the photo and enlarge it, you might be able to see the female and male cardinal ground feeding in the background to the left of the Altamira.


I just love how they bend upside down to eat the orange.



The photo below is a photo of Doug looking out over the La Parida Blanco resaca in Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park. Resacas are former channels of the Rio Grande but after floods, the river changed its course and they were left unconnected to the river channel. Most are dry except during rainy periods (which seems to be all the time this winter!) but many are now used as part of the irrigation and wildlife habitat and are pumped full with river water.

BIG DISCLAIMER HERE.......
I did not take the photos below (I found them online and put these here so you could see what I saw) - I was too much in awe as I saw a bobcat this morning at our next-to-the-last feeding station. It actually scared the daylights out of me. Doug was on the other side of the feeding station filling the sunflower and mixed seed feeders. I take care of the sticky peanut butter/suet mixture that gets pushed into holes drilled into hanging logs. At this feeding station, the suet/peanut butter log is hanging from a branch at the edge of the undergrowth. As I walked up to the suet/peanut butter feeder, the bobcat apparently had been laying under some brush about two feet away and it got up and walked away from me. It was so unexpected and happened so fast that I didn't even think of taking a photo. It didn't run away but just walked like a cat does - absolutely silent. We knew there were several bobcats in the park and my goal was to see one while we were here. I should have made that goal to see one AND get a photo of it but I might have to settle for just seeing one! They are about twice the size of a big house cat.