Red Bluff Guest Ranch

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Lometa, TX
Red Bluff Guest Ranch

Red Bluff Guest Ranch is a VRBO- and airbnb-listed working ranch on the Colorado River, 75 miles N of Austin.

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10/23/2024

I VOTED. Feels good!

10/09/2024

Eastern bluebirds are permanent residents of Central Texas, but they seldom visit my yard. .I've been planting berry-bearing bushes in an attempt to lure them to the yard--maybe it's working. This little fellow was perched outside my kitchen window this morning, not far from a pomegranate tree and the remains of my tomato and pepper bushes.

10/02/2024

Red Bluff Guest Ranch has its own booking website. Finally. (Who knew a website has a longer gestation period than a baby?) The address is redbluffguestranch.com Check it out and let us know what you think.

09/10/2024

Extended drought and deep winter freeezes seem to have significantly reduced the bird population the last few years. I'm hoping our wetter spring and summer, along with milder temperatures, will reverse the trend. In the meantime, I was reviewing past photos and took a look inside my bluegray gnatcatcher folder. I think he wins the CUTEST BIRD category. He's not much bigger than a hummingbird (weighs .008 ounces) and is in almost constant motion deep in the branches of a tree. Thank goodness he's a constant chatterer; otherwise, I don't know how anyone would spot him. The photos below are a compilation of some taken over the last 5-6 years. I hope they bring a smile to your face.

08/23/2024

The bluebird of Happiness stopped by the ranch yesterday, 2 feet or so from Redbird Landing, and we had a photo shoot. This juvenile lacks the striking blue and brown feathers he'll have next year, but he didn't seem to mind and I think he's darn cute.

08/07/2024

I love spring on the ranch--and summer in spite of the Texas heat--because that's when the wildlife nursery is busiest. A few of the newbies we're watching grow (the axis and fallow have youngsters as well, but I don't have photos).

07/05/2024

The newest kids on the block at Red Bluff Guest Ranch are Pere David deer, currently considered an extinct species because there are fewer than a thousand in the wild worldwide. They were hunted down to a handful in China when, in 1865, a Catholic monk, Pere David, smuggled a half dozen of them to England where they were protected and allowed to reproduce. Current population estimates worldwide are between 5000-10,000. They're still considered extinct because it's unknown whether they can survive and multiply in the wild.

These odd deer are my favorite of all our animals--so much fun to observe. They're swimmers and take a dip multiple times a day in the ranch tanks. The Mandarin translation of their original name is "four not alike," and it's apt. The Chinese observed they have heads like horses, tails like donkeys, antlers like stags, and hooves like cows. We are SO honored to welcome them to our motley crew. AND...we've had a calf born since their arrival. Never ever get tired of watching the miracle of reproduction.

10/30/2023

After months of triple digit temperatures and not a drop of rain, we had 8 inches in a 36-hour period a few days ago. Instead of raining cats and dogs, it rained turtles. These little fellows were everywhere and seemingly oblivious to the imminent danger of being crushed by a vehicle of one sort or another. In one of the tanks (ponds), I saw a row of 8 little heads, up for a breath of air I guess, swimming synchronically. Not as majestic as the male blackbuck or as showy as the painted bunting, but a dogged reminder that “slow and steady wins the race.”

10/15/2023

Last week John and I had the privilege of seeing the ranch through the eyes of 5 energetic, curious, and delightful siblings, ages 1-13. They explored the ranch from the Texas Star Gate entrance on the east to the river boundary on the west. They fed the exotics. They found unusual rocks & harvested a museum-worthy collection of bleached skulls and bones, which I'm told became halloween decorations on their return home.
A special thank you to their amazing mom and dad for choosing Redbird Landing for their family getaway.

09/08/2023

Loggerhead shrike high in one of the pecan trees that so desperately need rain. Loggerheads are year-round residents in this part of Texas, but this is the first one I've seen since last spring. Interesting fact: these relatively small raptors can catch prey as large as themselves, but they can't hold onto it. So they "skewer" it on barbed wire or wedge it in a tight place, then return later for a meal.

09/03/2023

One of a hundred reasons I love The Ranch at Red Bluff--painted buntings. The males are usually long gone by August, but I captured this beauty at one of the birdbaths a few days ago. Hanging out with the girls, who don't migrate until September.

08/25/2023

"I've just about had it with this heat!" Cardinal on birdbath at Redbird Landing.

08/22/2023

Axis fawn about 50 yards from the cabin--definitely in the running for "oughta be a pet"'

08/21/2023

This morning at the caravan: Prep the bathroom walls for painting or watch the birds? Hmmm....

Birds I heard but didn't get to photograph: white-eyed vireo; Bell's vireo; pyrrhuloxia, crow, Bewick's wren, Carolina wren

05/24/2023

New bird on the block: western kingbird. Excited to add him to my 100+ different species I've photographed on the ranch.

05/20/2023

This is Cooper, who is at the ranch this weekend to see the wildlife and go hiking by the river. We found a tortoise and gave it a makeshift home in a wheelbarrow long enough for Cooper to enjoy it. He has fed it lettuce and named it Pickle. He’s enchanted by the tortoise and we’re enchanted by Cooper.

05/18/2023

What a great time of the year for birdwatching on the ranch! The photos here were taken in the last week, some from the porch of the caravan. Birds heard but not photographed: green heron, common yellowthroat, blue grosbeak, indigo bunting, white-eyed vireo, downy woodpecker, Carolina wren, and more.

Address

2103 County Road 1935
Lometa, TX
SO76853

Website

http://redbluffguestranch.com/

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