Birding the Rio Grande Valley - Part Two

More from South Padre Island

American Avocets and two Black-necked Stilts

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks perched on a roof

Yellow-crowned Night-heron

Sora Rail

Snowy Egret

Another alligator

Sleeping Black Skimmers

Portuguese Man-o'-war jelly fish

Sabal Palms Bird Sanctuary, Brownsville, Texas

Although this refuge is not part of the World Birding Centre, we spent a morning at Sabal Palms where the highlight was seeing a female crimson-collared grosbeak.  This bird is a rare visitor to Texas from Mexico and is often secretive and difficult to see.  She was hungry and was feeding from apples the staff put out in their feeder area, so we were able to get a picture of her.  No male crimson-collared grosbeak was seen while we were there.

Female Crimson-collared Grosbeak

Tufted Titmouse

Red-eared Turtle

Back to the World Birding Centre locations:

Estero Llano Grande (Weslaco)

Great Kiskadee  A handsome flycatcher we also saw in Ecuador and Colombia

Ringed Kingfisher-- Photo taken with long lens. He was across the lake.

Fulvous Whistling-Duck

Anhinga

Old Hidalgo Pump-house

Couch's Kingbird

Quinta Mazatlan (McAllen)

Curve-billed Thrasher

Great Kiskadee displaying rarely seen yellow patch on top of head

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley (Mission)

Great Kiskadee

Hooded Oriole

Birding the Rio Grande Valley - Part One

One of the highlights of the trip was birding in the Rio Grande Valley.  This area of Texas is home to several tropical bird species.  Some of these species are also found in southern Arizona, but many are found only within a few tens of miles of the Mexico/Texas border. The area is also a major bird migration corridor.  Many species that breed in Canada in the summer fly through this corridor as soon as the spring weather begins to move north. 

Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife refuge is located on the southern tip of Texas but not in the Rio Grande Valley.  It is a habitat of thorn forest, wetlands, costal mudflats and beaches.  They say that nearly half of all bird species found in the continental USA feed, nest or migrate through this region.

Green Jay, an intelligent, gregarious and gorgeous bird

Chachalaca- a very noisy chicken-like bird

Golden-fronted woodpecker-How's that for a colourful hat!

Ladder-backed woodpecker

Roadrunner

We visited 8 of the 9 nature preserves that are part of the World Birding Centre in the Rio Grande Valley.  Here are some photos of some of the birds we saw at each park.

Harlingen Arroyo Colorado/Hugh Ramsey Park

Snowy Egret and Little Blue Heron

Altamira Oriole

Resaca de la Palma (Brownsville)

Tropical Kingbirds

Roseate Spoonbill

Least Grebe

Ibises and Egrets

Ibises, Egrets and Little Blue Heron

Water snakes mating

Black Necked Stilts, an Egret and some Dowitchers

South Padre Island Birding and Nature Centre

Laughing Gulls and Black Skimmers     Look at those beaks, will ya!   

Royal Terns,  Laughing Gull and Marbled Godwits

Laughing Gulls  Ha, Ha, ha!

Great-tailed Grackle

Black Skimmer skimming

Yes, we did see an alligator here

This guy was about 6 feet long

Osprey

White Ibises

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Immature Green Heron

Continued in Part Two.....

South Padre Island to Big Bend

As the temperature rose we looked for ways to beat the heat.  What better way than to go to the beach for a few days?  We spent Easter weekend at the county beach park on South Padre Island right across the road from the World Birding Centre wetlands.

Windblown dune sand covers half of the road the farther north you drive on the Island

Maxine on the beach.  You are allowed to drive on most of the beaches in Texas.
Some are better packed than others - we were cautious so we didn't get stuck.

Daily removal of sand from the road, except on weekends.

Enjoying the sunshine on South Padre Island beach

Our indoor dining area - used when too cold, dark or windy to eat outside

BBQ gulf shrimp was our Easter dinner

Eventually we had to begin our slow journey northward, along the Rio Grande with stops to check out the World Birding Centre locations along the way.  We will post another entry with pictures of the wildlife we saw.

A huge cactus in our campsite at the AmeriCana RV park near Mission TX

At Bentson Rio Grande State Park.  We did see some hungry looking alligators there.

Huisache, a type of acacia tree that we saw all over south Texas

The prickly pear cacti were beginning to bloom

On our way north west to Big Bend we passed Laredo, where we only stopped for groceries and gas as the temperature was 42 degrees that day.  No cowboys wrapped in white linen were lying about, but there were lots of Border Patrol trucks cruising around.  We stayed at Seminole Canyon State Park for two nights.  It was very hot there so we didn't go on the guided walk to see the rock paintings.  We sat in the shade for the afternoon watching cactus wrens, mockingbirds and a hooded oriole.

Seminole Canyon

At Big Bend National Park we camped in the mountains at Chisos Basin, where it was a pleasant 26 degrees due to the high elevation.  Down along the Rio Grande Valley it was in the mid 30s - far too hot for much strenuous activity.

Casa Grande Mountain, behind our campsite, with deer in foreground.

Morning light on the Chisos Mountains as we headed out for a day of sightseeing

The yuccas were in bloom at Big Bend

A windy view point of the Chisos Mountains or perhaps just bedhead?

The Rio Grande as it flows along between Mexico and Texas.
The cliff is in Mexico.  

The water in the Rio Grande at this point is very shallow but there are signs all over saying how dangerous it is to wade across the river.  They really just don't want anyone going over to the Mexican side.

Paintbrush along the roadside

The view from our table in Chisos Basin campground.