The Birds Of Santa Ana NWR

And yes,I must start off with one of my new favorite birds,the Green jay,and why not two together?

After slowly walking the pathway and climbing the tower,I found I was seeing plenty of bird action but unable to get a clear shot through the thick underbrush,plus,they were always on the move.

I did get this shot below from the top of the high viewing platform.It was about 100 yards out and looking down.

Finally I came across a sign that said “Photo Blind,”so I followed the path to a small building with windows covered in burlap drapes and a nice bench to sit at by the window.And hey!I had it all to myself.

Well I spent an enjoyable 45 minutes there,with a couple of short term visitors,one from a local newspaper doing interviews.

At first I thought that I would see nothing when I first arrived at this blind,but was pleasantly surprised to look up and see my first green jays looking down at the feeding station out front by the pond.Then more birds,soon a steady stream of visitors came.This little guy below.I need my bird books,help!

 

And of course another favorite,the cardinal.I wish we had these in our backyard back home in summer,like they do in the eastern part of the continent.

And I need a more positive identification on this thrasher,as he seems smaller than the curve billed thrashers I see in Arizona.Maybe its not a thrasher,help again.

Here’s another angle below.

Then along came the Altamira Oriole,only seen down in this area and further south into Mexico.

They are trying to attract these here to the NWR.This species of oriole has both the male and female looking the same.They also don’t migrate.

My enjoying stay in the blind came to an abrupt end when some old guy(about my age) came stumbling out of the woods in front of the blind,scattering all the birds,looks at me inside peering out at him and exclaims…..What is this? In wonderment…I answered back sarcastically….It was a photo blind until a minute ago,and left..I guess I was a little rude but he could at least stay on the nicely marked paths.

My walk continued around the lake where I watch several types of duck frolicking,unable again to identify a couple of very colorful ones seen below.Even a couple with a bird book were having trouble.

 

He has orange feet and a bit of a spoonbill.Kathy,this one is for you…Identification please.

finally a couple more random shots finishing with another green jay photo.

I cant get over what a striking colored bird this is.2 weeks ago I didn’t even know they existed.Its also the official bird of the city of McAllen Texas.

My walk through the NWR this past Saturday will probably be my last bird outing for this trip.There are dozens more birding spots in this valley.I would recommend to any serious birder RV’er,that they spend some time in one of the parks in this valley.

I have one serious birder friend who spends his winters in Yuma,birding…….He doesn’t know what he’s missing.Do you hear me Murray?

And one last thing.I found the general lack of any crowds to be great as I found myself alone on the pathways most of the time.An enjoyable experience.

I’m hoping in the next couple of days,that I will hear that my axle’s have arrived and I can get back on the road for Oaxaca and my trailer home,probably full of ants and mice by now.Time is running out before I have to be home in BC,and I still have over 5000 miles of travel ahead of me.

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge Texas

For any birder,coming here will not be a disappointment.It is large and full of wonderful walking trails and photo blinds.To do it justice,would take several days,maybe weeks.

First a little background.

Yesterday unfortunately was my first cool day here in the valley,as the weather for the past week has been quite warm and sometimes humid,with temps getting into the 80’s.But as a cold storm passed north of us the temperature dropped into the 40’s overnight with a blustery wind.

So setting off early yesterday for the NWR with a windy temperature of 46 degrees wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.With over 12 miles of woodland trails to possibly explore,I would soon warm up.

My first stop was the visitor centre,and like all of them so far here in the valley,it wasn’t a disappointment.Like the others,full of interesting displays and nice helpful staff.I paid my small entry fee and set out,finding that the thick woodland trails were well protected from the wind.

Below are a few photo’s of the lay of the land,so that you get the picture.(A little play on words)

 

The shots above were taken from one of the observation towers,taken in two directions.On the left,the Rio Grande river and Mexico are near the top of the shot.

And below are two of the three towers.The two lower ones are linked by a suspended walkway.Much fun away up there as it swings and sways.

And of course I must take a photo of myself,don’t I ?…I was a little worried about setting the camera on that narrow ledge,not even as wide as the camera,and a big drop that would have left it unidentifiable.

The pathways were wide and an easy walk as I chose the trail around the lake.More like a pond as the level was very low.I should have taken a picture of the beautiful photo blind along the shoreline,where you can really get some good close ups of the water fowl.

 

I wanted to show the beautiful Spanish Moss that I found along my almost 2 mile walk.

Now you may be wondering……What birds did I see,well…..lots of them….and in particular I finally got to see my Green Jays,up close and personal…..What a treat.  And an Altamira Oriole too.They are presently trying to attract them to this protected area.

So tomorrow I’ll show some of the birds I saw and photographed.Here’s my Green Jay below.

By request and a great idea I might add,on the top of the blog under the header picture is a (Search my blog)so if I mention other places and things,this will give a quick link to them.

Quinta-Mazatlan….Another RGV World Birding Centre Site

Again the best and I guess lazy way for me to explain this location is to copy from sites that best describe it.

It was a week ago that I discovered that this location was really only a few minutes drive from the motel that I’m currently residing in,so as someone with a passing interest in birds but not a lot of identifying skills,I set out last Saturday morning fairly early to explore this place.

Its,as explained above, an old Spanish Hacienda surrounded by city,in fact the airport is across the road and a huge shopping mall is a block away.Luckily a golf course is also next door adding to the already quite large green space.

When I first entered the grounds,I was greeted with a very familiar sound from Mexico,as I used to hear this every morning during my several stays at Celestino RV Park,but could never locate them.They are the Plain Chachalacas.

They are just a little smaller than a chicken,and very noisy when they get going in a group.This is the closest I’ve ever been able to get to them.Just a few feet.

Below more views of the hacienda and grounds.

This Rio Grand Valley is probably the top birding spot in all of the USA with more species found here than anywhere else.

It is the home to many tropical species usually seen further south in Mexico,for example,the Green Parakeet and Red-Crown Parrot can be found all over the Valley.These birds are thriving here as poaching in Mexico has lessened their numbers.

What I had hoped to see and maybe still will,is the Green Jay.This bird is also native to further south but is doing well here along with the Brown Jays,which were in abundance at Palenque Chiapas when I was there a few weeks ago.

Below is what I think is the very striking pair of Green Jays .I still hope to see one before I leave here.

And here is a shot of what I believe is the Tropical Kingbird.

Correct me if I’m wrong but as I said before I don’t have my bird books with me but some on- line identification and the fact that there are many here,leads me to believe this is what it is.

The feeding stations that they have here make things a little easier, as there are benches to sit nearby and wait and watch.One odd thing with the many hummingbird feeders here,I saw no hummers that day.Maybe the cold snap a few weeks before had some thing to do with that.

And a couple more characters encountered that morning.That squirrel needs to see Jenny Craig,as he’s had too many sunflower seeds.

One final thing I wanted to add,that goes back to the night before my broken axle incident when I was at Puerto Arista.Just before dark I looked out to see many birds on the ground around my trailer.They looked like robins,sort of…So I gently slid the screen door slide open and took these shots in the almost darkness.

  These are definitely not the American Robin that we are used to back home,as they don’t go that far south.So they are probably the Clay-colored or White Throated Robin,it was too dark to get a good look.Even these photo’s show more light than I actually saw.They sure looked and acted like the American Robin to me until I looked it up and discovered that there were other varieties that I wasn’t even aware of.

Then in the morning as I was preparing to leave the campground,all hell broke loose with all kinds of birds descending into the trees around me.Magpie Jays and several others I couldn’t identify were all around,including a bunch of Great Kiskadee’s who took delight in climbing all over my truck.Yes and that’s right,my camera was in the truck.

finally below a couple more taken on my final day at Puerto Arista,as I sat out by the lagoon a few feet from the trailer.

So now doing this post has got me all ramped up to get off my butt and stop watching HBO all day while I play this waiting game.Maybe this weekend I can explore some more birding sites,as there are many more here in the valley.

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San Antonio And The Alamo…My Short Visit.

When I left the Toyota Plant on the south side of the city,out in the sticks,I was a little apprehensive about driving into the 2nd largest city in Texas,with a city population of 1.3 million and a metro population of 2 million.I still really had no map, outside of an aging Rand McNally,so I relied on Miss Garmin to get me to the Alamo,which I knew was down in the heart of the city.

Below as I enter,with the downtown in sight and hidden behind the telephone pole is the Tower of The Americas.I was surprised to find the traffic very light on all the downtown streets,especially around the Alamo.

My trusty GPS took me right to it,but of course there were “no parking” signs everywhere,but a block later I found a large, half full parking lot…..Perfect…I was good to go…Even if it was $6.00 and hour.Those trees are part of the Alamo grounds.

 

So another long time dream has come to pass….Me at the Alamo.Will this be my new header picture? Hummm.

The famous landmark behind me that most people recognize,is the museum (The old Mission)and they ask that no pictures be taken inside….Hmmm,this is not my day,so we are relegated to photos of the grounds.The museum had a nice scale model of how the old mission looked during its hay day and I was surprised to see that most of the original grounds are now swallowed up by city buildings surrounding us.In fact the chapel behind me was actually in the right  rear of the rather large compound.

Some of the remaining grounds above.The museum did have some of Davy Crockett’s personal things like clothing and rifles,and a portrait that didn’t look at all like Fess Parker:) And of course we must not forget Jim Bowe and his collection of knives.

You can see below how deeply entrenched the old mission is,in the down town core.

 

I really was running out of time with a more than 4 hour drive ahead of me.It would have been nice to have spent more time but the thought of paying for a motel here overnight,plus the one in Pharr and the campground fee in Oaxaca all at once,was too much,so I opted to head back.

I did make a stop at the very nice gift shop and bought a tee shirt to mark the occasion and headed back to the parking lot.It was exactly an hour as I paid my 6 bucks and within seconds was on another interstate heading out past the Alamo Dome and southward.I must admit San Antonio deserved a longer look like the “River Walk” among other things,but maybe another time.

I knew that I wasn’t going to make it all the way back without some kind of a nap, as the first hour back on the road had my head nodding,so a very convenient Interstate Rest Area came into view and I picked a back corner and climbed into the back seat where my trusty pillows were waiting and dropped off quickly.An hour later and refreshed,I was back on the road getting back to the RGV around 8:30.So another big driving day with the better part of 14 hours on the road.I have to keep up my conditioning for 1000 mile return to Oaxaca,then my 3500 mile return home.I’m sure this winter will go well over 10,000 miles total by the time I get home.

Just as an update,I haven’t been answering some of the questions in the comment section because I don’t have an answer.I’m probably looking at early next week before I see my new axle’s,so I continue the waiting game here in the “No-tell-Motel”……..But I got HBO!