Peter and Marie had another visit to the Knolle Farm & Ranch just outside of Corpus Christi, Texas. They spent last year's fall migration at the ranch watching thousands of raptors flying south, so this time they were there for spring activities, which corresponded nicely with the solar eclipse. The latter, however, was hidden behind heavy cloud cover, but their birding was very successful.

Peter brought along a camera trap, which captured a young greathorned owl happily and goofily hunting a variety of bugs just a few yards from the little ranch house Peter and Marie were staying in. The spring birdlife was fantastic! Turkeys, roseate spoonbills, blackbellied whistling ducks, cardinals, whitetailed hawks, northern caracaras, American kestrels, barred owls, herons of many varieties, and an interesting encounter with a stunning green jay, locally known as the Rio Grande jay, that Marie won't soon forget.

In its previous life, the ranch was a dairy farm with the largest herd of Jersey cows in North America. At one point over 1,000 people were employed, but since the death of the founder, the milk production has ceased and the ranch has been split up amongst descendants into smaller parcels. Beth Knolle and her husband Steve now operate their part of the ranch as a destination site for weddings, hunting, and other activities. Birding has simply evolved because of the great habitat that Steve and Beth work at making wildlifefriendly. The ranch has been featured in the book, Birding in Corpus Christi. If you can book a stay, Beth is a fabulous cook on top of everything else she does!