It was a great weak birding along the Rio Grande River in the southeastern portion of Texas. We were so close to Mexico that we saw some of the border wall as well as walked around the area where the new wall is to be constructed. We also were at the National Butterfly Wildlife Refuge which has been successful in its attempt to have the wall divide the refuge. The river is so narrow in many places that even I could swim across it, but there are many, many border patrol who are well aware of this fact! There are also some very sophisticated surveillance cameras that most likely do not miss a trick. Let's not digress.
The trip extended from San Ygnacio, Zapata, Harlingen, Mc Allen, Brownsville, South Padre Island, Mustang Island to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. We birded along the roads, in national wildlife refuges, world birding centers, state and county parks.
The birding was fantastic and we had two wonderful guides, Jake and Evan. They were extremely knowledgeable and able to spot the tiniest of birds from great distances. They were also able to identify birds by their call and able to flush up birds for our views. Jake kept an eBird list for us, which makes it very helpful to identify some as I am editing my photographs.
The weather was variable, from cool mornings where I had to put on my winter gloves, to hot afternoons in some areas. But there were minimal mosquitoes, many blue or slightly overcast skies, and just great birding weather in general. I already posted about observing my whooping cranes - cold and rainy. But that was the exception.
Here are several pictures of the birds and flowers and scenes we observed. I hope you enjoy them.
Sunrise in Zapata, Texas. Start the day early, but not too early as we were well within a close ride to all sites visited for the most part.
Orange crowned warbler.
Mocking bird.
Grey hawk.
Vermilion flycatcher.
White pelicans.
Long billed thrasher.
Yellow crowned black hawk.
Parauque.
Turtles!
Long billed thrasher.
White tipped dove.
Crimson teals.
Mural on Nana's taqueria. Was going to be the bird I posted if none of mine were clear!
Inca doves. Beautiful birds and lovely to observe.
Great tailed crackle displaying and calling almost nonstop. Common and beautiful bird.
So to keep this file from becoming too large and unwieldy, I will post more pictures under separate entries. Stay tuned, there are many colorful birds on the list to enjoy!
The trip extended from San Ygnacio, Zapata, Harlingen, Mc Allen, Brownsville, South Padre Island, Mustang Island to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. We birded along the roads, in national wildlife refuges, world birding centers, state and county parks.
The birding was fantastic and we had two wonderful guides, Jake and Evan. They were extremely knowledgeable and able to spot the tiniest of birds from great distances. They were also able to identify birds by their call and able to flush up birds for our views. Jake kept an eBird list for us, which makes it very helpful to identify some as I am editing my photographs.
The weather was variable, from cool mornings where I had to put on my winter gloves, to hot afternoons in some areas. But there were minimal mosquitoes, many blue or slightly overcast skies, and just great birding weather in general. I already posted about observing my whooping cranes - cold and rainy. But that was the exception.
Here are several pictures of the birds and flowers and scenes we observed. I hope you enjoy them.
Sunrise in Zapata, Texas. Start the day early, but not too early as we were well within a close ride to all sites visited for the most part.
Grey hawk.
Parauque.
Turtles!
Long billed thrasher.
Crimson teals.
Mural on Nana's taqueria. Was going to be the bird I posted if none of mine were clear!
Inca doves. Beautiful birds and lovely to observe.
Great tailed crackle displaying and calling almost nonstop. Common and beautiful bird.
So to keep this file from becoming too large and unwieldy, I will post more pictures under separate entries. Stay tuned, there are many colorful birds on the list to enjoy!
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