Blue Goose ~ Day 263

February 14, 2015 ~ Okmulgee, OK to Sherman, TX

Well, yes, I did feel better after my marathon sleep. I showered, ate breakfast and went to Deep Fork NWR. The directions took me past the intersection of Lavender Street and Mint Avenue. It was early but the sun was rapidly warming the exposed areas and I hiked an hour. Lately, I've been trying to see at least 12 species of birds at a refuge. This really is a modest goal but it slows me down when I get in that restless mode, feeling the urge to keep moving too quickly from place to place.

Cardinal at Deep Fork NWR - OK

The avian stars this morning were Red-headed Woodpeckers and Tufted Titmice which were all over, at least a dozen of each. And I saw lovely cinnamon-colored birds: a Carolina Wren and Brown Thrashers, along with cardinals, other woodpeckers species, a few ducks, Ruby-crowned Kinglets... I started on a boardwalk off the parking lot before taking the Girl Scout Trail through the woods. It happens all the time....I begin walking, kind of preoccupied, carrying on the inner dialogue, picking apart all the bits and pieces of my life and the people in it, planning the day, what I will do next, etc., and then quite suddenly I feel the sweet balm of nature surround me and give in to it. Most of the disorganized and distracting mind musings smooth out or disappear.

This refuge manages hardwood bottomlands along the Deep Fork, a river in the Mississippi watershed. By the 1980s, 85% of Oklahoma's 2.2 million acres of lowland hardwood habitat had been cleared (USFWS). Not surprising, as I see several loaded logging trucks every day, driving too fast on the two-lane roads.

Most refuges have at least one trail or boardwalk that is wheelchair-accessible. And it is true, as is pointed out nearly everywhere I go, that one's vehicle is the best way to observe wildlife; therefore, auto-routes of varying lengths are maintained (although to varying degrees). Since water management is a priority, the roads will sometimes have dips or low places where water moves across depending on the season and what the managers are doing. These areas are paved with short segments of concrete. So far, I've avoided heavily inundated roads (which would be closed by the staff anyway) and only occasionally have to drive through an inch or two of flowing water.

Tishomingo NWR - OK

I moved south and slightly west to Tishomingo NWR and walked a mile trail. The refuge is named in honor of Chief Tishomingo and had once been the site of a Chickasaw boarding school, the Manual Labor Academy, mostly funded by what is still known as the Chickasaw Nation.

Lake Texoma is the huge reservoir created when the ACOE built the Denison Dam on the Red  River. Tishomingo borders one of the northern arms of this sprawling lake; therefore, fishing for crappie and catfish is a major attraction at Tishomingo. And just because these facts are interesting to me:

WWW.FWS.GOV

Blue catfish will nest in hollow logs, holes under mud banks and underwater ledges. The females will lay up to 10,000 eggs, which are then guarded by the males, who keep intruders away -- including the female. Between six and 10 days later the eggs will hatch and the young fry are looked after by the male who stays around for a short while. Feeding in dense schools when they are young, the fry will grow up feeding on mussels, insects, fish, snails and crayfish and may one day weigh as much as 100 pounds.

It was 71 degrees as I went on to Sherman, TX, and I relished the warmth as it wasn't going to last. I worked at a motel after spending time at the next-door Starbucks where I had a chicken sandwich which was dinner.

Tishomingo NWR - OK