Patagonia and beyond.

 January 6, 2026

We arrived at Patagonia Lake State Park on December 19 and spent nine nights there.

We had beautiful weather for all but one day. We have been there several times before and did all of our favorite things. We hiked the birding trail almost every day but we did not see a lot of bird this time. It has been very dry and warm at Patagonia, and in many places in the West, and many birders suspect there has not been as many birds migrating yet. We saw lots of Yellow Rumped Warblers (butter butts), Northern Cardinals, lots of water fowl, a few Black Capped Night Herons and one Vermillion Flycatcher. Even at Paton Center for Hummingbirds we only saw a few hummingbirds including a unusual Violet Crowned Hummingbird. We did see lots of wild turkeys and one time watched a coopers hawk for a long time. He kept all the other birds away.

Wild Turkeys at Patons

Birding Trail

Broad-Billed Hummingbird

Northern Cardinal 

Pied-Billed Grebe

Hepatic Tanager

Cooper's Hawk terrorizing the birds

Eared Grebe

Ann's Hummingbird

Double Crested Cormorant

Black Bird Evening Murmuration

Many hundereds of blackbirds in Evening Murmuration

One day we hiked a Sonoita Creek Natural Area adjacent to the park. We saw only three birds the entire hike. The creek that we usually have to cross on rocks and the spillway from the lake were completely dry. It was really weird. 

Mark did a lot of kayaking and we took a pontoon boat birding tour one morning and a twilight pontoon tour another day. They were both lots of fun. We also took a guided bird walk one morning. Mark also sailed his model sailboat a couple of times.

Of course, we drove over to Elgin and Sonoita to do some wine tasting. We went to Deep Sky Vineyard in Elgin and Dos Cabezas Wineworks in Sonoita, which also has excellent  pizza. Every time we go to Patagonia Lake, we drive into Patagonia to eat at two of our favorite places : the Gathering Grounds for breakfast or lunch and the Velvet Elvis for pizza. This time we also ordered guacamole and chips for an appetizer and neither of us had ever tasted such delicious guacamole in our lives.

Dos Cabezas Wineworks

Velvet Elvis guacamole and chips!

On December 28, we left Patagonia Lake and headed east. We spent the night at Rockhound State Park near Deming, New Mexico. You are allowed to collect rocks at this park, but we are not expert rock collectors and the prettiest rocks we saw were some that someone had left on our picnic table. We did take a nice hike on the thunder egg trail which was covered in prickly pear cactus.

 It got very windy during the night and was quite windy all day as we continued east to Balmorhea State Park in Texas. It also got colder as the day progressed and when we arrived at Balmorhea it was 37 degrees with a wind chill of 30 degrees. We quickly got our heavy winter coats out and walked around the park to see the huge spring fed swimming pool which maintains a constant 32 degree temperature. The spring puts out 15 million gallons of water a day and the rest of it goes on to fill a nearby lake.

Great Horned Owl

We continued east. To say Texas is big is an understatement. The western part of it is also quite flat and empty. On Tuesday, December 30, we arrived in Fredericksburg, TX and stayed for four nights at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Campground. The campground is part of a larger city park and next to the municipal airport. Mark enjoyed watching all the private airplanes and jets land and take off. We also enjoyed the parks nature trail and birding blinds. Fredericksburg was originally settled by Germans in the 1840’s and they have really kept the motif going. The first night there, we went out to a very delicious German restaurant.

Texas is BIG

One day we went to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park and the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site. We saw the house he was born in and grew up in and took a motor tour of the ranch. We learned all about his accomplishments as president. The parks also had a “living farm” with interpreters. We talked to one woman about how they preserved food in the early 1900’s. She showed us a big barrel of lard and showed us how they used to preserve sausage in the lard. It was a very interesting day.

'Living Farm'

LBJ's Boyhood Home

Lesser Goldfinch

We also walked the main street of Fredericksburg which was very touristy, but had some very beautiful Christmas decorations including a 26 foot four tier wooden German Christmas pyramid with moving characters on each level. It was really neat.

One afternoon we went wine tasting. The Hill Country is well known for all its winery although much of the grapes are grown elsewhere. The first winery we went to was Signor Vineyards. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed 5 different wines including one made from grapes from Oregon and a delicious charcuterie board. Next we went to Becker Vineyards and enjoyed tasting 6 different wines. Again we sat outside and and enjoyed the great people watching. They really do wear cowboy boots and hats in Texas.

Signor Vineyards

Becker Vineyards

Now we are in San Antonio, but that is a story for next time.