Photo Illustrated Account

Thursday, Jan 12—Stillwater, OK, to Fort Worth, TX, Stockyards, 257 miles

Photographer friend, Deb Hirt, and I had been planning a winter birding trip to Texas’s Lower Rio Grande Valley for some time. Our itinerary scheduled an early morning departure on Friday, January 13. However, a serious ice storm was set to blow in on that day, so we changed our plans and slipped south on Thursday, January 12, at about 3:30 after an appointment with Dr. Tom Wuller (the cycling doc who performed my hip replacement and broken hip surgeries). Deb waited in the loaded car while Tom took and explained x-rays and gave me a steroid shot in the knee; this because I had torn the meniscus in my left knee and he knew I would be in the car or walking trails and birding all day for the next 16 days. Happily, the shot worked and my knee was nearly pain free over the duration of the trip.

Photographer Deb Hirt waiting for a shot of some Inca doves at the National Butterfly Center

Friday, Jan 13—Fort Worth to Mission, TX , 557 miles

We beat it south and beat the ice storm, which was national news for nearly a week. Because we had started in mid-afternoon and were a day early, we were too close to our original Friday reservation, so we cancelled it and asked the Mission, TX, Hampton Inn to add Friday night to our scheduled four-night stay there. They had a vacancy, but it was a handicapped room and contained no refrigerator, microwave, or desk space, so we were moved down the hall to a comfortable suite . . . but were charged the regular room rate. The suite had a king sized bed and a fold-out couch. Though the couch was too short for her, Deb insisted on sleeping on it each night without unfolding it, while I luxuriated in the vastness of the king. 

We stayed at the Hampton for five nights, driving to birding hotspots each day. State troopers were being put up at the Hampton, also. Apparently hundreds of them had been ordered to the southern border by the governor to supplement Texas’s enormous and costly Border Patrol. 

Roma Bluffs World Birding Center,  Salineño Wildlife Preserve, Falcon State Park

On our first day of birding, we drove north from Mission and birded at Roma Bluffs World Birding Center, the Salineño Wildlife Preserve, and Falcon State Park. There was definitely a police presence along this stretch of Highway 83 because we saw highway patrol and/or border patrol every few miles. There were also eyes in the sky, as we saw several large blimps along the border. I learned that the blimps were part of a surveillance system. Called Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS), these blimps watch the border from above because drug cartels are increasingly turning to drones to ferry illegal substances into the U.S. To keep an eye on drone smugglers, the Texas Border Patrol uses six of these blimps equipped with low-altitude radar to detect aircraft flying too close to the ground for conventional radar to spot. The blimps are filled with helium that raise them to 15,000 feet, and are moored to the ground with a single cable. 

On the telephone wires along the way and on many of the billboards were great numbers of Great-tailed Grackles, one of my favorites and a bird species I like to think of as the clown of the avian world. There were great flocks of grackles and of red-winged blackbirds all along our route, which is called the Texas Tropical Trail. Actually the Texas Tropical Trail is a region covering the southern tip of Texas and bordering Mexico to the west. This region is noted for its birding and its Spanish, Mexican, and Native American origins and influence.

At Roma Bluffs, we visited the Roma Bluffs World Birding Center and birded in the courtyard.  Several of the building roofs surrounding the courtyard had pricky pear cacti growing on them and in their gutters. One tree even had a prickly pear growing on it. 

House sparrows, Orange-crowned Warblers, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, and a stray Northern Mockingbird seemed to be the only birds taking advantage of the newly filled feeders at the Roma Bluffs WBC headquarters, so we walked to the nearby bluffs. 

Roma Bluffs World Birding Center

One can stand on the bluffs on a platform and look across the Rio Grande to the city of Ciudad Miguel Alemán in Tamaulipas, Mexico, less than 200 feet away. There were various signs on the Roma Bluffs platform explaining the area: I have reproduced several below.

City of Cuidad Miguel Aleman, Mexico, about 200 feet across the Rio Grande from Roma, Texas

Platform on the Roma Bluffs; Internet photo

The Rio Grande is narrow and shallow as it flows past Roma. There is a trail below the bluffs along the river. Once, there used to be steps down to this trail and a picnic area with concrete picnic tables. Now the steps are fenced off and the crumbling picnic area overrun with weeds. We asked a Border Patrol agent at the top of the bluffs how to get down to the trail. This required walking a couple of blocks and then walking down a dirt/gravel road to the trailhead, which was close to the international bridge. We walked the dirt road along the river, seeing little but more Orange-crowned Warblers, a Killdeer, a Spotted Sandpiper, and across the river, Double-crested Cormorants. We were looking for White-collared Seedeaters but spotted none on the trip.

Photo of Orange-crowned Warbler, c Deb Hirt

What we did see were Border Patrol: There were two border patrol cars parked along the river nearly under the international bridge at the beginning of the river trailhead, the one on the bluffs above, and one at the end of the short dirt road/trail. We were talking to the agent at the end of the trail when a rubber raft full of people crossed to the U.S. side in broad daylight in full view of the Border Patrol, one man “rowing” the raft with his arms. I said to the BP agent, "How ridiculous  is that? Trying to cross right under your nose." He replied: "They are a family trying to distract me. They want me to chase after them, because there is a group on the island in front of me that wants to sneak in."

Roma's International bridge to Mexico; Border Patrol vehicle

But I depart from our birding adventures. Not seeing much on or below the Roma Bluffs but Border Patrol, we drove a few miles north to Salineño Wildlife Preserve, a small, 2.6-acre tract of native wildlife habitat along the Rio Grande just north of Roma. In the early 1980s owners Gale and Pat DeWind gifted the property to the Valley Land Fund, and it is now the Kepler Tract overseen by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and volunteers Lois Hughes and Merle Ihne.

Merle and Lois filling one of the Salineño

Preserve feeders; Internet photo

We had a wonderful experience at this small preserve. In this tiny town of about 300 people, the main street—replete with many “sleeping policemen” (speed bumps)—runs past the church and the village square, turns into dirt, and runs down to the river, 150 feet from Mexico. We arrived at a parking area in sight of the river, and walked a path to the Preserve. What a surprise! At a feeding station well provisioned by Lois and Merle with seed, orange and grapefruit halves, and a homemade mixture of peanut butter, cornmeal, and lard, were Green Jays (1), Altimara Orioles  (2), Great Kiskadees (3), Black-crested Titmice (4), Golden-fronted- and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers (5 & 6), as well as Long-billed Thrashers (7), and Plain Chachalacas (8), a bird that I heard a woman aptly call a “chocolate chicken.” Eight or ten White-winged Doves, kept watch from a dead tree.

Also at the feeders were House Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, and Red-winged Blackbirds. The kiskadees kept up an almost irritating chi-reee! kiss ka deeee!, particularly after a Sharp-shinned Hawk swept through several times. After each “now you see it now you don’t” hawk sweep, it was usually the Great Kiskadees that called “all clear” for the other birds. Plastic lawn chairs provided seating not 15 feet from this spectacle that provided Deb with some good photo opportunities. See her photo of a loud-mouthed Great kiskadee below.

Deb's Great Kiskadee calling "All Clear" c Deb Hirt

Grooved-billed Anis cuddled up on a branch;
 Internet photo c Dave Hawkins

We spent an excellent morning at Salineño, and then left to see if we could find some Groove-billed Anis at Falcon State Park, a bit farther north. We located no Groove-billed Anis. We were early in the year for them. Groove-billed Anis are fascinating birds. "They gather in loose groups and nest communally. As many as five pairs of birds may use one nest, a bulky cup of twigs lined with fresh leaves. When the dominant female ani begins to lay her own eggs, the other females lay simultaneously. Up to 20 chalky white eggs have been found in one nest. All parents share the duties of incubating and raising the young. World Birding Centers and the Rio Grande Joint Venture are striving to protect and restore their habitat." (Explanation and photos from birdnote.org.)

At Falcon Lake we saw nothing more than two Golden-fronted Woodpeckers hammering on a telephone pole and a couple of Great Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets in the canal near the ramp. It was very windy and chill so we headed back to Mission and the Hampton Inn, about 60 miles south.

Left, portrait of a Groove-billed Ani c by Gary Kurtz

National Butterfly Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park

On Sunday, after breakfast at the Hampton, we headed for the nearby National Butterfly Center. I must admit that initially I relied heavily on asking my cell: “How do I get to so-and-so from here?” However, the phone’s AI directions were often crazily off track, this time taking us off a main road to a near u-turn onto a high, narrow, curving dirt road atop a dike above a trailer park. I would not have wanted to own a trailer below this road. If a car went off the narrow dike road it would land on a trailer. Nonetheless, despite this adventure in Texas driving, we eventually found our way to the NBC. BTW, Texas drivers also use the shoulder as another driving lane, even those shoulders with bike sharrows. This makes right-hand turns dangerous. One never knows when a car will be zipping up the shoulder to t-bone you as you turn.

Plain Chachalaca

We spent a great morning at the National Butterfly Center. We were the first visitors to arrive, so met Luciano, a photographer volunteer, just as he was about to fill the feeders at the bird feeding area. He told us to follow him to the site. This we did and parked in a protected two-car parking spot near the feeding area.The moment we arrived, so, too, did a “covey” of Plain Chachalacas, seven emerging from the low bushes to walk across the trail to the feeding area. They are large birds but seem to do well in trees as well as on the ground, even landing in small trees and managing to walk and hop along the small branches.

Before Luciano filled the feeders, he took us a short distance down a trail to two nest boxes, each with its own dozing Eastern Screech Owl perched in the opening (one of my photos, left). After Luciano filled the feeders, “valley specialties” were drawn to the feeding area, many of them birds we had seen at Salineño: Great Kiskadees, Green Jays, Altimara Orioles, Black-crested Titmice, Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Orange-crowned Warblers . . . Here, instead of Red-winged Blackbirds, we had Fox Squirrels, one of which comically drank from the drip feeder (see Deb’s photo above). Both of us took pix of a Zebra Helconian butterfly, many Queens and Red Admiral butterflies, plus a good many other butterfly species. I took my near favorite photo of the trip of a Monarch butterfly on cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis). We walked a trail to a photographer’s blind but saw there only a Lincoln’s Sparrow.

Monarch Butterfly, the first photo with my new camera that came out quite well

Deb's photo of a Zebra Helconian and my blurry cell photo of a Red Admiral

(L) Queen; (R) Soldier--I took these photos with my cell phone, hence the lack of sharpness.

We had packed a lunch so ate it at the picnic tables near the feeding station, visited a rescued African Tortoise named Spike in his enclosure, walked the trails one more time, and then left for an afternoon at Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park.

A photo of a perfectly round and evenly woven orb spider's web along the NBC trail.
I don't believe I'd ever seen one quite like it.

Deb's portrait of Spike, a rescued African Spurred Tortoise

At Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, we were hoping to find some of the “valley specialties” that we hadn’t yet seen: Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Clay Colored Thrush, Hook-billed Kite, and Gray Hawk. Alas, we saw only more gorgeous green jays and "chocolate chickens." Green jays and chachalacas are pretty sure sightings at most of the birding stops in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. We never did spot a Beardless Tyrannulet, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, or Gray Hawk but did find a Clay-colored Thrush later on the trip.

Bensten trail

It was a very hot day, temps reaching 94F, so at Bensten, we decided to take the tram to the Hawk Tower loop. The tram dropped us at the trailhead to Hawk Tower at about 2:30. It made its last run at 4:00, so we needed to be back at the pick-up spot by that time. We walked the short trail to the tower and climbed to the top, but it was an extremely windy day and nothing was seen from the tower, which had a gradual, solid ramp so I could climb it without my usual acrophobia. 

Ramp to Hawk Tower at Bentsen SP; Internet photo

After the tower, we foolishly did not retrace the short trail back to the tram pickup point, but instead decided to walk the 2-mile loop. Mistake . . . especially for me with my gimpy legs and heat intolerance. After a hot, sweaty fast walk, we got back just in time to catch the tram back to the Center or we would have been in for a long walk on a paved road. On the loop, however, Deb got a nice shot of a Couch’s Kingbird, and I took pix of some prickly pear cacti that were growing in some of the honey locust trees—this because a year or so previously, the park saw much flooding, with some floodwaters 12 feet deep. This flooding drowned many cacti and trees, but some cacti—probably deposited as seeds in bird droppings—survived, managing to take root in trees above the floodwaters.

Deb's photo of a Couch's Kingbird

My photo of cactus growing high in a flood-killed honey locust tree

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

When we got to the Santa Ana NWR on Monday, volunteer naturalist, Laura Paulson, was just about to lead a bird walk. We eagerly joined her small group. Before leaving on the walk, Laura took us to a spot behind the Center where she said a Common Pauraque roosted in the sticks and leaves each day. When she first pointed it out to us, no one could spot it. This bird is a miracle of camouflage. I took several photos of it with my new PowerShot SX60 HS camera—which I’d not learned to use well—but got better pix with my cell phone of a trailside pauraque at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

The Common Pauraque. It was quite a distance off trail behind a lot of limbs and leaves,
hence the foreground. 

We saw and heard many birds on the walk (See Laura's e-bird list below).

The heat got to me, so in the afternoon, I took a tram tour while Deb went back out with Laura on an afternoon guided bird walk. The tram driver told us the history of the area, which was fascinating but difficult to imagine as the area had formerly been a vast ranch and was now wooded and contained several ponds, wetlands, and remnants of an old thorn forest.

Below is a bit of the Texas State Historical Association’s history of this remarkable area. 

   “The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a 2,088-acre National Wildlife Refuge situated along the banks of the Rio Grande, south of Alamo in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Hidalgo County, South Texas. Noted for its unusual birds, mammals, butterflies, and plants, it was acquired in 1943 by the federal government to protect a remnant of the subtropical Rio Grande Delta riparian forest, most of which had been lost to agricultural clearing. The refuge lies in El Agostadero del Gato (The Pasture of the Cat), Los Toritos (The Little Bulls), and Santa Ana (Saint Annie), but actually named after Mexican General Santa Ana land grants, but is largely within the latter.

  “ The Santa Ana grant was conveyed by the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, in which it then lay, to Benigno Leal on May 19, 1834. A ranch house of handmade bricks was built in the Rancho de Adentro (Inside Ranch), and a cemetery was established near the ranch buildings. No trace of the ranch house remains, but Santa Ana Cemetery is still visible. Today the cemetery is protected and maintained and is one of the main attractions in the refuge.”

 

Estero Llano Grande

Black-crowned Night Heron

We arrived at Estero Llano Grande State Park just as it opened at 8:00 and just before a naturalist named Steve was to lead a bird walk. We quickly paid our fees. It was hot, so I grabbed a bottle of water and we both joined the walk. Shortly after we set out, we came to a heron rookery. One would have thought that the naturalists had set the scene with taxidermied birds. The trees were filled with resting Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night Herons, Anhingas, and Great Blue Herons, thus enabling me to get a pretty decent shot of a Black- crowned Night Heron across the inlet and a super shot of two Yellow-crowned Night Herons on our side of the pond.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons, my best photo with the new camera

Deb's great photo of an Anhinga drying its wings; c Deb Hirt

Shortly after the heron rookery we came to a spot on the trail beside which roosted a Common Pauraque. This time the bird was not 5 feet off the trail and not behind dense shrubs and trees. I took several shots of it with my cell phone. These photos are clearer than my Santa Ana photos of the bird, but I was disappointed by what appeared to be deliberately placed twigs framing the bird. See photo left.

Cave Swallow c Tom Johnson

Our walk took us past several ponds in which we saw Northern Shovelers, Blue-winged Teal, White Ibis, and a Solitary Sandpiper, among other birds. We also saw an alligator. The naturalists left the rope bridge to a tower and a high tower climb for individuals to try later, which, being a height wienie, I did not attempt. I did wonder  why they chose to paint the towers and bridge white. One would think a less conspicuous color better. We did climb a dike before Ilano Grande Pond, however, which pond looked more like a river at this point. With Steve's help, we identified, a Cave Swallow, a bird locally common in Texas, Mexico and the Caribbean. The photo of the cave swallow above was taken in Harris Co., TX in 2013. It is from Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds site on the Internet.

Estero Llano rope bridge to small viewing platform; Internet photo

Bird's eye view of the Estero Llano tall viewing tower; Internet photo

After Steve’s bird walk, we searched in vain for the Rose-throated Becard that had been reported, and then walked some of the trails ourselves. I was on a boardwalk on the other side of the pond before the Center’s covered deck when I looked up to find a bobcat walking next to the boardwalk a short distance ahead of me. It kept stopping and looking back over its shoulder at me, hoping, I think, that I would disappear and it could catch a meal from the pond, which was chock-a-block with ducks, herons, egrets, grebes and ibis. The photo left is from the Internet, but had I been faster, it could have been mine.  

We also trailed a Vermilion Flycatcher that kept flying from small tree to small tree. Deb managed to get a photo of it nonetheless (see below).The following day, on our return trip, we sought out the male Rose-throated Becard that we had been unable to find the day before. After a long morning’s search we were successful! Deb got a photo of the becard, but neither her photo nor anyone else's photo was good because the bird flitted from tree to tree and stayed high; thus, the photo below is from the Internet. With my binoculars, I could just see the becard and its dark pink throat high in a leafless tree.

 Vermilion Flycatcher c Deb Hirt

Male Rose-throated Becard; the female is rusty colored with a dark cap; Internet Photo

That second afternoon, at Estero Llano Grande, Deb concentrated on photos of the waders and waterfowl in the pond before the Center’s deck.

Least Grebe c Deb Hirt

American Avocets in non-breeding plumage; c Deb Hirt

Black-necked stilt; c Deb Hirt

While Deb was honing her photographic skills, as exhibited above, I went on a butterfly walk. Gads, if we think birders are single minded, "butterfliers" are twice so. Many of the species they were breathless about were drab and only a little larger than a dime. But, we did see some extraordinary species, and the leader took a moment to point out to me the differences between a Soldier and a Queen. My Nikon binoculars are good at 8 feet, but I borrowed a woman's short-range binoculars and the difference was astounding. I may have to get myself a pair. (Then I could walk around with my camera, two sets of binoculars, and my day bag with water bottle in it hanging from my neck and shoulders.) 

I have made a collage of the butterfly species we saw. (See below).

Carolina Satyr, Mallow Scrub Hairstreak, Mallow Scrub Hairstreak

Cassius Blue, Cassius Blue, White Peacock

Cloudless Sulphur, Dainty Sulphur, Little Sulphur

Varigated Fritillary, Gulf Fritillary, Funereal Duskywing

Brown Longtail, Pearl Crescent, Vesta Crescent

Red -bordered Pixie, Empress Leilia, Elada Checkerspot

Zebra Helconian, White Checkered Skipper, Common  Mestra

Lavinia White Skipper, Pipevine Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail

Red-bordered Metalmark, Tropical Leafwing, Tropical Leafwing

Elada Checkerspot, Elada Checkerspot, Dusky Blue Groundstreak

Texan Crescent, Julia Helconian, Mexican Bluewing

I have been on butterfly field trips in Oklahoma with the OK Nature Conservancy, so was proud to be able to point out a Snout that had been overlooked. Can't find on the Internet the purpose of this elongated snout. Perhaps to sip nectar from deep within flowers?

Edinburg Scenic Wetlands World Birding Center

Texas Blue Indigo Snake; Internet photo

Our visit to  Edinburg Scenic Wetlands World Birding Center turned up little we had not already seen. The center was shaped somewhat like a boat with a glass prow (below). Inside we found a live Indigo Snake on display in a large terrarium. I had narrowly missed an indigo snake at Santa Ana. It crossed the trail while Deb was on her afternoon bird walk. Another woman and I were on the dike behind the spot where the pauraque was roosting, trying to get a better view of it, when the woman I was with saw the snake. I caught only a glimpse of it. These large, long snakes look black unless in the sun  which makes them appear indigo blue. 

We saw more night herons and egrets in one corner of a pond, and we also saw a Ringed Kingfisher here, but the bird was too far away for a good photo. The photo below is from the Internet. 

Ringed Kingfisher

Harlingen Arroyo Colorado (Hugh Ramsey Nature Park)

We arrived at Hugh Ramsey at about 7:30 a.m. to find ours one of only two cars and a pickup in the parking lot. Deb struck up a conversation with one of the men from the pickup truck. When, listening to their conversation, I learned that this man was not a park worker, knew little about birds or the park, and had no binoculars or bird guide. I became suspicious, especially when the man with him disappeared down the trail. I surreptitiously took a cell photo of the pickup license plate, thinking only that the pair were intent on robbing visitors' vehicles in the parking lot. 

The big treat at Hugh Ramsey was the Green Kingfisher. We watched it fishing for quite awhile, and Deb got the great photo below of the female green Kingfisher. The male wears a rusty vest as above.

Female Green Kingfisher; c Deb Hirt

In one of the canals we spotted what we think was a Diamondback Water Snake resting on overhanging branches. Deb captured its eye in the photo below.

Diamondback(?) Water Snake; c Deb Hirt

The feeding stations at Hugh Ramsey Park had not been attended, so we saw few birds other than the "usual suspects." Because there were few people in the park and we were uncomfortable with the pair in the pickup, who also seemed to be meeting others along the trail, we left the park. At this point, both of us suspected that there was a drug transaction taking place or about to.

Old Hidalgo Pump House 

We arrived at the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse early in the a.m. in search of the Black Phoebe. The Pumphouse (left) was just opening. We parked, and a groundskeeper pointed the way to the Center. Then he came back with a finger to his lips and led us to a bridge over "The Swimming Pool." On this little pond were two Muscovy Ducks. I managed a few blurry pix, but by the time Deb got her camera set up, the pair had moved too far away.

Birders of the Lower Rio Grande Valley look hard for wild Muscovy Ducks. Cornell Lab of Ornithology says that "Wild Muscovy Ducks are mostly black. Adult males have large  white patches on the wings; juveniles show much smaller white wing patches. In good light, the black feathers can show a greenish gloss. "Domesticated and feral Muscovy Ducks can have variable large patches of white to brown. Muscovy Ducks have red facial skin with odd warty growths." Because the male, right, had only the one white wing patch, this pair that I photographed was undoubtedly a mix and feral, but thrilling nonetheless.

We entered the Pumphouse after reading a sign that said all photographers had to register and pay a $25 fee. A young guy in the Pumphouse told us that that rule applied only to professional photographers. When we told him that we were after a Black Phoebe that had been reported in the vicinity, he led us down to a platform overlooking the canal. All of a sudden all Hell broke loose. A Border patrol helicopter roared into view, swooped down to check us out, and then circled overhead. Several Border Patrol agents, sirens blaring, parked their vehicles on the road above the canal and came running down the bank to the platform. I was trying to ignore all this excitement and bird, but when I looked across the canal with my binoculars, I spotted not a bird but two Border Patrol in leafy camouflage hiding in the bushes. Shortly after, they hauled a man out of the water and then led two men off in handcuffs.

We tried to ignore the helicopter still circling overhead and the Border Patrol agents and cars everywhere with a walk down a trail, but the mud was deep and slippery so we had to turn back. It took some doing to scrape the mud from our shoes. While we were doing this, we looked up and spotted the Black Phoebe sitting on a sign. Though the bird was at the end of her focal range, Deb got her photo after all.

Deb's photo of the  Black Phoebe; c Deb Hirt

Cobbleheads Bar and Grill
Deb had been in touch with Mary Camp, a former Oklahoma resident who was living in south Texas. Mary, an avid birder, missed birding her favorite, Estero Llano Grande with us, but invited us to have dinner with her on Monday, January 23. We met Mary very near our hotel at Cobbleheads Bar and Grill, an upscale restaurant with a Mexican tilt. I had "The Maine Dish," a combination of fresh grilled flounder and gulf shrimp served with sides of cole slaw and French fries. I asked for a second salad rather than the fries and got two tossed salads rather than two coleslaws. Apparently coleslaw is not considered a salad in Texas.

We had a fine evening with this very prominent birder who personally knew and had worked with some of the big names in birding. Mary also told us how to get to Resaca de la Palma. The previous day, I had asked my cell AI how to get to Resaca de la Palma. The skewed directions took us around Red Robin Hood's barn, right left, right left, right left into a housing development and to a small cement pad next to a house and before a small pond. But with Mary's help, and after some map study and false starts, we found it the next day.

Resaca de la Palma

Resaca de la Palma viewing platform; Internet photo

We were surprised at how large Resaca de la Palma was (1200 acres with a large Visitor's Center, tram routes, and 8 miles of trails), particularly after ending up at the suburban small pond in our previous search for it. We were also surprised at its location, well hidden in the heart of a large city and near the Brownsville International Airport.

Resaca's website relates that "abandoned coils of riverbed, known locally as resacas, create wildlife-attracting ponds. Along the natural levees of these shallow ponds are dense stands of banco woodlands and marsh vegetation. Elsewhere, drier Taumaulipan thorn woodlands include classic mesquite and anacahuita." 

We hung out by the Center's feeding area, where Deb took more pix of "the usual suspects," took a tram ride through this interesting refuge, and took nonproductive short walks on the trails. 

On our tram ride, we were warned about the infamous Coral Snake, found here and at other refuges on our birding trip. Our tram driver related that a Resaca worker discovered a coral snake sunning on the viewing platform above. The worker wanted to capture a cell phone photo of the snake and was searching for it in his viewfinder when he was surprised to find the snake on the toe of his boot. These snakes do not slide off shyly. They are aggressive and highly poisonous, having the second-strongest venom of any snake (the black mamba has the most deadly venom), but they are generally considered less dangerous than rattlesnakes because coral snakes have a less effective poison-delivery system.

Because of the coral snake's dangerous reputation, many nonpoisonous snakes disguise themselves as coral snakes by having similar body patterns. For instance, Scarlet Kingsnakes look very similar to coral snakes, but the red bands of a Scarlet Kingsnake are next to the black bands; whereas, the red bands of a coral snake are next to the yellow bands, thus the rhyme: Red and yellow can kill a fellow; Red and black: friend of Jack. We were advised to be alert and not to go off the trail unnecessarily.

Resaca at Resaca de la Palma

At the resaca above we saw a Harris's Hawk. Actually, we had seen several Harris's Hawks at different locations on our birding itinerary. Where there is one, there are usually two or more because, as unusual as it is, these hawks often hunt in family and cooperative groups, even walking on the ground to hunt prey or to scare up prey for group members perched in trees above. One Internet article I read said that this hawk's "intelligence leads to its social nature and also results in easier training, which has caused these hawks to become popular for use in falconry."

Harris's Hawk c Deb Hirt

The stunning Internet photo above was taken by Donald Brown in November 2011 at Tacubaya Ranch, in South Texas. The hawk was swooping to perch on a log. Look at the way it is using its tail as a rudder.

Boca Chica State Park & South Padre Island World Birding Center

We spent one brief morning at Boca Chica State Park, which sits at the mouth of the Rio Grande where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Located in the Boca Chica Subdelta of the Rio Grande near Brownsville in southeastern Cameron County, Texas, the park was acquired and opened in 1994. SpaceX was granted permission to launch rockets from Boca Chica SP in May, 2013. We saw no signs of launch preparation.

When we arrived, we drove through a checkpoint and found the park quite empty of birds, particularly compared with the wetlands and riparian birding we'd been doing. The Park, a straight shot on Highway 4 out of Brownsville, ends on a Gulf beach . . . but the driving does not. Cars romp up and down the beach and, of course, Border Patrol vehicles are plentiful among them. We joined these vehicles and drove about a mile east. The tide was coming in so we drove only about half a mile on the beach, seeing people picnicking and fishing but nothing more exciting than Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls, herons, and peeps.

Paved road's end at Boca Chica

Boca Chico Dunes

Tide's rolling in, so vehicles have left the Boca Chica beach 

We kept scaring up a small flock of Sanderlings. It is fascinating to watch these small birds follow the ebb and flow of the waves, the birds seeming to ebb and flow themselves.

Sanderlings before the flow of the incoming waves; Internet photo c Terry Sohl

White-tailed Hawk c Deb Hirt

On leaving the park, we again passed through the checkpoint, the border agents remarking on Deb's large telephoto lens. 

Shortly thereafter, we came upon a White-tailed Hawk sitting on electrical wires close to a telephone pole, and Deb had a chance to use her big lens. This was an excellent sighting. Below is what Cornell's Lab of Ornithology has to say about White-tailed Hawks:

"A stocky hawk of open to sparsely wooded, arid regions, the White-tailed Hawk is found from southern Texas to South America. Its white tail with a black band near the tip is unique among North American hawks.
"Unlike most Buteo hawks, the wing feathers of a perched adult White-tailed Hawk extend noticeably beyond the tail. A juvenile bird has a tail up to 15% longer than an adult, and its wing feathers barely surpass the tip of its tail."


The hawk's white tail is not very visible in Deb's photo (don't mistake its wing tips for its tail), but the White-tailed Hawk is aptly named and the bird is unmistakable in flight.

South Padre Island

We spent the afternoon at South Padre Island Birding Center. It is here that some of Deb's bird photos are on sale in the gift shop. Ironically her most popular photo is not of a bird, but a photo of a "smiling" alligator (left). On this visit we saw no adult alligators but saw several hatchlings.

South Padre is best birded in the spring during the neotropical migrant fallout, which we've done, but this year we decided to try to see the winter valley specialties. We saw some good birds: Roseate Spoonbills, Royal Terns, Black Skimmers (one of my favorites), many Red-headed Ducks, Mottled Ducks, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Red-breasted Merganzers, Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teal, American Oystercatchers, Black-necked Stilts, Willets, Tri-colored Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Reddish Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Green Herons, Sora, and many more that I can't instantly recall. 

Roseate Spooonbill with Green-winged Teal and two snoozing Northern Pintails photo c Deb Hirt

Deb took a lot of wonderful egret photos at Padre also. I have inserted some of her egret photos below. The Reddish Egret is always a delight for photographers because it canopy fishes, running, dancing, hopping, and holding its wings up to shade the water so that it can see its food prey better. I bet that someone has even put the reddish egret's comic antics to music.

Reddish Egret in action;  c Deb Hirt

Reddish Egret practicing its dance steps; c Deb Hirt

Reddish Egret canopy feeding; c Deb Hirt

Tricolored Egret c Deb Hirt

Snowy Egret in breeding plumage scaring up food with its yellow "wormlike" feet; c Deb Hirt 

Laguna Atascosa NWR

The day following our Boca Chica and Padre Island birding we left Brownsville intent on spending a day at Laguna Atascosa, a National Wildlife Refuge that is not on the Rio Grande, but is located instead farther east on the Gulf of Mexico. We two had visited Atascosa twice before, once on our 2015 trip to Padre Island and again in 2016 after our Whooping Crane Earthwatch. On our 2015 trip to the Reserve, we encountered no problems, but on our 2016 trip, we encountered the worst road in the world (only slight exaggeration). The road into the Reserve was dirt/gravel and almost appeared bombed. I was driving the low Toyota Prius and had great difficulty navigating the road, which contained vehicle-swallowing holes. Other vehicles had abandoned this "road" and had worn a track to one side of it, but the low Prius could not handle its high crown. So . . . we were fortunate when, at one of the Hugh Ramsey blinds, we struck up a conversation with a couple who warned us about the road to Laguna Atascosa and told us of a different route to it. Nonetheless, we also contacted the Refuge about its road conditions and the best way to reach the refuge. Following the Hugh Ramsey couple's cautions and the Atascosa's directions, we ran into road repair and some poor sections of dirt road, but not nearly that found on our 2016 visit.

The day was forecast to break all heat records and VERY windy. This was a day for four legged animals as the birds were sheltering from the wind. On the way in we saw an Ocelot. We reported this sighting to the volunteer staff. They interviewed each of us separately, immediately took all the details, and reported the sighting to the wildlife manager. Apparently it was a very rare sighting as it was in daylight and there are reputed to be only 20 ocelots on the 98,000-acre wildlife refuge. Below is a photo taken by our naturalist/guide of an ocelot that I saw in Peru while on an Earthwatch Expedition way back in 2008.

We also saw two Javelinas (collared peccaries) at the Visitor's Center feeding area. The two were vacuuming up seeds spilled by birds.

Javelinas (Collared Peccaries)

The Refuge was actually closed the day we were there, so we walked part of a two-mile loop ordinarily seen from the Refuge's tram. We saw White-tailed Deer and also much (large) evidence of Nilgai Antelope (an import from India that has gone wild in south Texas) but did not clap eyes on a nigali, more's the pity. A volunteer who drives the tram when the Refuge is open, said that the last time he was out, he spotted 11 nigali, so the refuge must host a lot of them. Ironically, the weekend after our visit, the refuge was open to hunting these antelope and also the javelinas. The Refuge had one feral hog earlier in the year. It was quickly dispatched. Feral hogs, most escapees from those brought in by hunters, can be found now in many of the U.S. states. They breed like rabbits and are horribly destructive and invasive.

Nigali Antelope at Atascosa; Internet photo

Of birds, we saw only the usual suspects: Caracara, Green Jays (everywhere), Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Great crested Flycatchers (everywhere); Red-winged Blackbirds (everywhere), Great-tailed Grackles (everywhere to the 10th power), White-eyed Vireos, Olive Sparrows . . . . We were hoping to spot the Aplomado Falcon again but did not this visit. We saw many Harris's Hawks, however. One of the bare trees behind the Visitor's Center was decorated with a gang of Great-tailed Grackles, and I couldn't resist the photo below.

At the Laguna, Deb got a shot of a Caracara perched on a small tree and blowing in the wind. Several duck species were also sheltering from the wind in the bay. Deb got a more accurately colored shot of a caracara near Falcon Lake on our way home (see below). Caracaras are very common sightings in this area, and are seen in fields and on the ground as often as in the air and trees.

Caracara blowing in the wind; c Deb Hirt

Caracara at entrance to Falcon Lake; c Deb Hirt

Oliveira Park, Brownsville

While in Brownsville, we learned that several species of parrots fly across the Rio Grande each evening at dusk to roost in the eucalyptus trees in Brownsville's Oliveira Park, so we found our way there two evenings. On our first evening, we expected to see other birders to help us locate the roosting trees in this large park that was full of people picnicking, cycling, playing tennis and playing soccer. We did not see any birders, but we managed to track down a couple of flocks of incoming parrots. This was not too difficult as they are a raucous group. By the time the parrots arrived, however, darkness had also arrived and there was not enough light for photos.

On our second trip to Oliveira Park, we found quite a few birders, and Deb also managed to get photos of Red-crowned and Yellow-headed Parrots. She was helped by the lights for the park's playing fields. It was fun to hear the parrots coming in and to hear them squawking and socializing in the trees.

Red Crowned Parrots; c Deb Hirt

Yellow-headed Parrot; c Deb Hirt

Sabal Palm Sanctuary

Before leaving Brownsville, we visited the Sabal Palm Sanctuary. The Sanctuary occupies a parcel of the former Rabb Plantation, a 19th-century sugarcane plantation on the bank of the Rio Grande. The Visitor's Center is housed in the former plantation's mansion.

The Rabb Plantation House, still decorated for Christmas when we visited in January

This Sanctuary is one of the last locations in the Rio Grande Valley with a large grove of sabal palms. As a relatively habitat-rich remnant, the sabal palm sanctuary is a good spot for birding and butterfly watching. It has about 5 miles of signed trails through the palm grove and adjacent habitats, including an old oxbow lake that is presently evolving into a wetland resaca.

Sabal Palm grove

It was a hot day so I enjoyed resting on the porch and in the coolness of the house with a bottle of water.

We walked through the butterfly gardens and walked several short trails. The shrubs along much of the trail were festooned with spider webs glistening with early morning dew. I could not resist a couple of cell photos of them. I do not recall seeing here any bird species that we had not already seen.

Quinta Mazatian World Birding Center

On our way back up the Tropical Trail, we stopped at Quinta Mazatian. We walked through the historic mansion, which was quite beautiful and decorated with beautiful tiles.

Quinta Mazatian is an urban nature center but has quite a few trails and also a large Learning Center where teachers can introduce their charges to the wonders of nature. A large group of students arrived as we were birding, but the trails are arranged so that the students can get to the learning center without unduly disturbing birders. One of the trails at QM is called The Dinosaur Trail and contained fossilized bones and wood. It also contained many sculptures of the birds and wildlife likely to be found in the area. Most of the sculptures were bronze, but I liked this painted one in a tree.



Flocks of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flew over several times as we were exploring the grounds and trails. They are a noisy group in flight.

Black-bellied Whistling
Duck; Internet Photo

At Quinta Mazatian there was a rock amphitheater before a large feeding area, probably designed as an outdoor classroom for visiting birders and students. It was here that Deb managed to get a photo of a Clay-colored Thrush, a bird we had been hoping to find. Apparently QM is noted for them. She also got a photo of a White-winged Dove, another species we could check off our list. Ironically, on a birding jaunt to southeast Arizona we found white-winged doves everywhere! 

Clay-colored Thrush c Deb Hirt

White-winged Dove c Deb Hirt

Near the amphitheater was a sculpture of an Altamira Oriole's nest. These birds build very large pendulous nests. Below is a QM sculpture next to the real deal.


Salineno & Falcon Lake

Unlike Altimira’s Orioles which were common at most of the refuges around the McAllen and Brownsville areas, Audubon’s Orioles are typically found farther north; thus, we determined to return to Salineno to look for an Audubon's Oriole and again for the White-collared Seedeater.

White-collared Seedeaters are very rare birds in North America.They are generally seen only between Salineno and Laredo in cane patches along the Rio Grande. Though we walked a distance along the Rio Grande at Salineno, and looked sharply at the cane patches that border the stretch of river in this area, we never spotted the seedeater.

We did, however find the Audubon's Oriole at Salineno. Its beautifully whistled song led us right back to Merle's feeding lot. We caught a glimpse of the oriole as we arrived, and then our motion scared it off before Deb could get a photo of it. We were patient, though. Eventually two Audubon's Orioles returned, and Deb got her photo.

Audubon's Oriole c Deb Hirt

Cindy McIntyre's Internet photo below shows an Altamira Oriole and an Audubon's Oriole on opposite sides of a feeder for comparison.

Alamira Oriole (L) and an Audubon's Oriole face off to
 determine who gets to drink from the feeder; c Cindy McIntyre

Merle and another guest at Salineno told us of a man camped at Falcon Lake who fed the birds and enjoyed birders stopping in, so we bid Merle and Lois a fond farewell and drove to Falcon Lake. 

We again paid our $6 entry fee and eventually located our host, Norm Dickerson. He had set up feeders behind his trailer in a perfect location with small trees, a clearing, and scrub. Norm's was our best stop of the trip! Here we saw Pyrruloxia;  Lincoln's, Olive and Black-throated Sparrows; Verdins; Bobwhites; Ground and Inca Doves; Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers; and Green Jays. The three underlined birds were species I was seeing for the first time. Birders call such first sightings "lifers." A couple of Red-winged Blackbirds came also, but Norm would stand up and walk toward them, flushing them from the area. These birds can appear in such numbers that many of the other species stay away.  

Deb got some great photos:

Pyrruloxia c Deb Hirt

Lincoln's Sparrow c Deb Hirt

Beautiful Black-throated Sparrow c Deb Hirt

Plump little Olive Sparrow c Deb Hirt

Common Ground Dove c Deb Hirt

Inca Dove c Deb Hirt

Male Bobwhite c Deb Hirt

Female Bobwhite c Deb Hirt

Verdin c Deb Hirt

Yellow-rumped Warbler c Deb Hirt

When looking up the Verdin on my cell's BirdPro App, I discovered that this very small songbird builds a "complex sphere-shaped nest using as many as 2000 small twigs." I find all of the creatures on this planet fascinating.

Our birding at Norm's trailer was purely magical. The joke of the morning became Norm's pointing out every bird we asked for, with the exception of a Grooved-billed Ani which we were really too early for. 

Susan: "Norm have you seen a Pyrrhuloxia yet?
Norm:   "There's one right there."
Susan:  "A verdin?"
Deb:     "Shh. I am taking a photo of one."
Susan:  (A little later.) "Boy I'd really like to see a Black-throated Sparrow.
Norm:  "Well, there's one that just arrived. Right there by the water drip." 

Actually Deb missed getting a photo of the Black-throated Sparrow, so we returned to Norm's trailer the following morning (feeders were filled and ready by 7:15) and Deb got the photo above before our long drive to San Marcos.

Spring Lake, San Marcos

In San Marcos, we drove to Spring Lake, the headwaters of the San Marcos River, and located on the campus of Texas State University. We had read that the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler nests in the ash juniper and oak found at the Spring Lake Natural Area just north of Spring Lake. Though we were in the area too early for spring breeding, had we been here, we would undoubtedly not have seen the bird. Spring Lake Natural Area closes the areas where these birds breed from March 1 through May 31 annually. Actually we never got to the Spring Lake Natural Area, but we did get to Spring Lake . . . just before dark, and saw our final species of the trip: a large flock of roosting Black Vultures, two Egyptian Geese, and a tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Two Egyptian Geese and a Black Vulture that is about to be run off. The Geese were aggressive, driving off any of the Black Vultures that happened too get too close; photo c Deb Hirt