Birding The Rio Grande Valley

 

We checked into our hotel in San Benito and decided we still had enough enough time to drive to Laguna Atascosa NWR.  I had great memories of the cooperative hawks and wildlife that I had photographed there.  The 15 mile Bayside Drive is one of the most unique and beautiful locations on earth.  The habitat is coastal prairie and it is the largest untouched piece of land in the Rio Grande Valley.  It looks pretty much the same as it did when the first Spanish explorers arrived in the 1500’s.  Part of the drive is along the Laguna Madre.  This huge body of water is very shallow and with evaporation and few fresh water rivers feeding it the water becomes much saltier than the Gulf.  Fishermen and birders flock to this area because of its productivity.

 

 

The roads leading to it were very chewed up and had many potholes.  I assumed heavy rain events in the previous years and budget cuts were to blame.  The parking lot was full with cyclists finishing an event. The visitor center had closed at 4 but the feeders were hopping with Plain Chacalacas and Green Jays.  I headed out to the beginning of Bayside Drive only to discover the gate shut.  Sadly, I was told the drive is permanently closed to autos because the sanctuary’s ocelot population has not looked both ways when crossing the roads.  I do remember driving slow here, obeying the low speed limits, and being passed by speeding tourists who decided they were sick of the scenery and wanted to hurry up along the one-way road and be on their way.  Once you entered the drive you were committed to the 15 miles.  Edie and I drove out to Osprey Overlook but found little except a couple and their photographer from Mexico shooting what I guessed were engagement pictures.

Edie decided that she craved Mexican food and had been told about a restaurant that we would pass on the way back.  We arrived to find it closed-the only day it closed early.  We found a Texas Roadhouse near our hotel and broke our seafood diet with steak.

Great Kiskadee

Plain Chachalaca

 

The next morning we arrived at Santa Ana NWR with the sun just beginning to burn through some fog.  This sanctuary boasts over 400 species of birds and 250 species of butterflies.  With over 2000 acres one can find enough trails to satisfy even the most hard-core birder.  We presented our National Parks Pass and were given wrist bands.   We were invited to join a guided birding tour that was going to leave at 8:30.  The leader, Major, was raised in Iron River, Michigan.  Major and his wife had a house in Austen but volunteered during the winters, living in their RV on the refuge.  The ever present Green Jays, Plain Chachalacas, and Great Kiskadees mobbed the feeders as we started out.  Major was hoping to find us some Groove-billed Anis, a rather strange, black, heat loving bird which is more common south and usually doesn’t get this far north in the winter.  They are communal nesters and are often found in small groups.  As we approached a large field a black shape flew out of a nearby bush and headed for the field.  It was followed by four others.  This was a bird I wanted to add to the trip list so even though its coloring is unexciting I was happy to see it.  Other target birds soon made their appearance.  A distant perched hawk morphed from a Broad-winged Hawk, to a Cooper’s Hawk, and finally when two scopes were focused on it became a juvenile Gray Hawk.  Further discussions ensued when Major quickly identified a Pied-billed Grebe and moved on.  A female birder, staying, called back and said, “No, it was the much rarer Least Grebe”.  Everybody returned, focused binoculars on the disputed grebe who kept diving into the sun.  It was tough to see this back lit and quickly reappearing and then disappearing mystery.  The group seemed evenly split.  Field books were taken out. Size, beak shape, and yellow eyes were discussed.  Suddenly two grebes surfaced together at the same
time.  Side by side it was very apparent that everybody was right.  One Pied-billed Grebe and one Least Grebe.  I began to think Grebes may have a sense of humor.

Groove-billed Ani

The tour ended just as the day was beginning to turn hot.  We ate lunch while watching the hummingbird feeders and talking to a few other birders.  We were told about a guaranteed Common Pauraque at Estero Llano Grande State Park near Weslaco.  I wanted to visit the park in the morning but since it was on our way back decided to stop and go Pauraque hunting.  This park has the reputation of being the most productive for birders in the valley the last couple of years.  It has a beautiful visitor center and shaded area overlooking the small fresh water lake.  Over a hundred species of birds can be seen in a day.  Guided tours guarantee over 70 birds on their morning walks.  I wanted just one-the Common Pauraque.

The volunteer at the desk talked me into a $70 annual pass to all Texas state parks.  Daily admission is $5/person.  Since I would be visiting this park twice I would already be $20 in.  Between the National Park Pass and this one I should be able to bird a lot of Texas without additional fees.

The Common Pauraque is a strange night insect-feeding bird which sleeps during the day and is extremely well camouflaged and tough to spot.  An individual has been sleeping on the ground every day in the same spot for several years.  This bird has been seen by thousands of individuals and is mentioned quite a bit on the web.  Many times people have been shown exactly where it is sitting by a brush pile and they still can’t see it.  The friendly volunteer was not a birder but she knew about this famous resident.  She put an “x” on my map and wished me luck.  I was hoping for a crowd of people at the site pointing to it but being hot and late nobody was around.  I figured it was going to be a long, hot, and maybe futile search when suddenly I heard a slight rustle 3 feet in front of me.  There it was!  It acted like it was waking up from a nap, even stretching a wing, and then went back to sleep.  I began to take some photographs when suddenly a second bird moved about two yards from the first.  Looking at their bodies and especially their tails one can see how they disappear so well into their habitat. 

 

On returning to the visitor station we had a cold drink on the shaded porch and then decided to visit the Frontera Audubon Center which was just a few miles away.  They, however, were closed and all we found were some Inca Doves sitting on the porch waiting for somebody to come in and fill the feeders.

Inca Doves

We were a bit tired by this time and looking forward to the Mexican food we had missed out on yesterday.  The hotel clerk had recommended “Sabor De Mi Tierra”, near our hotel in San Benito.  From the “Mi Tierra Favorites” menu we both ordered the “Mexican Supreme” which consisted of 1 beef Chalupa, 2 beef Enchiladas, and 1 small Beef Fajita Taco served with rice and beans for $8.50.  The waiter brought us some chips with a very tiny bowl of salsa.  My first chip was very stale but Edie said they were fine-until she tried her third one .  My guess is that they had poured fresh chips into a half empty bowl from the night before.  When the meal came the Chalupa was hard to get down.  No dressing-just rather dry meat wrapped in the tortilla shell.  The enchiladas were very bland.  When Edie found a hair in her beef fajita taco the meal was over.  There will be no appetite for Mexican food in the next few days.